Green Flamingobecause I said so

I meant to write this earlier  but oh well, read it now or never.

There have been many contests circulating since June, that is when I really noticed a kick in all the contests that were being started.

Since June I have seen a few well run contests, and a few typical ones that are always great but are having almost the same contest as 70 other blogs (don’t ask me why I picked 70). These contests can get annoying as well. Though I do love contests and prizes, there are SOOOO many out there that I don’t have time to join and participate in every one, for there is just no point.

Usually, I would not care that tons of blogs are having contests, but in a certain way I do. See I love to read blogs, be surfing them, comment and get to interact with the author and other readers. When a contest comes up, the calm is disrupted and people will go crazy for the prize. There are a lot of spam comments, a lot of questions, and a lot of worthless and foolish stuff circling the blog. I almost feel like I should participate, but know I don’t have the time or energy to be the top commentator with 80 comments, write 10 blog posts about it and link to all the prizes and all the sponsors. It would just drive me crazy!

Recently, a friend and fellow  blogger Rajaie talked about how he hated that so many contests were being started, and I have to agree with him. Though contests are great, they can be a huge annoyance and sometimes you have to lay off the shit and get the gold.

Now we will move on the the real topic of this post, and that is what I qualify as a good contest vs. a bad or unworthy contest.

What makes a contest worth it

Some contests are really worth it to enter, let me share some of the reasons with you. I should tell you, I feel that our friend Ben Patton’s contest will really be worth it, he is giving away a laptop! And here are our 10 good reasons to enter.

1. You have a unique or uncommon prize
2. You have a great or valuable prize
3. You have interesting ways to enter and earn points
4. You do not have 4 million prizes or sponsors
5. You are a good blogger with shark-bait content
6. Your previous contests have been great (not always a reason)
7. You don’t make your readers sweat to much
8. You are always interesting no matter what
9. You give a chance to get something for nothing
10. The thing I forgot [fill in answer here]

I was not sure I would come up with 10, but I edited and got that many. I hope you agree with those, be sure to fill in your answer in the comments.

What makes a contest hit the fan (what makes it suck like hell)

1. Your prizes are all too common
2. You have 10 million prizes and sponsors
3. Your prizes are worth 2 cents
4. You have stupid ways to enter and win
5. You never have good content
6. You have other contest failures
7. You make your readers go get you a million dollars
8. You are a dull person
9. Every prize you have to work your ass off for
10. You are a mean person

There are a few reasons for you that make your contest terrible.

Now neither of these qualifications really fit anybody, most are average, a lot of recent contests leaning to the bad side, maybe because it is just too small or some other reason. Most contests manage to pull of a good show, not quite like Jon Stewart or Chris Brown but still something that’s ok to waste your time on and win a few prizes.

So I am not saying your little contest is bad, but I am saying that next time you should think before starting a contest, you really have to make it worth it and not pull it out of thin air with a few ad spots, text links, and some reviews. You have to make it more sophisticated and interesting and then bloggers and sheep will come flocking to you like crazy.

I also have another post that I add onto and that adds on to mine, they would work combined I guess, so I should let you stomp on over to Jay at Datmoney and then come back and tell me what you liked of his article telling you 5 reasons why he WON’T sponsor your contest.

I should also tell you again I am thinking of running a contest, have no fear I will have most of the pro reasons in mine. I am looking for sponsors, so if you have a great idea for a prize let me know.

-The Green Flamingo

This won’t count as 2 posts today, pretend it is only one. Or I should actually say, ” Don’t expect two posts a day, I’d love to do that, but it is almost impossible.” Sorry I am throwing you off balance into some inconsistent land. But, there is something I am announcing I have been wanting to announce for about a month…

drumroll….

at Big Ben Patton’s Place…

A contest EXTRAVAGANZA is being held!

Some of you may already have heard and participated in this wonderful contest, but I would love to announce it for those of you who haven’t!

This contest has over $2000 worth of prizes!

I better get down to telling you what’s going on and how to enter. First, as a little advertising fun, I have prepared a video. The video is NOT perfect. There were things I could have done but I don’t feel like doing it over.

The video, the voice at the end sounds bad. I don’t really sound like that.

Onto the prize list.

Advertising:

3x 125×125 Banner on BigBenPatton.com for 1 month ($30)

Consultation:

2×1 hour consultation with Jason from TheUniversityKid.com ($80)

2×1 hour consultation with Ben from BigBenPatton.com ($50)

1×1 hour consultation with Mattaw from MoneyBites.com ($50)

Wordpress Themes:

1x copy of “Fresh News” the latest wordpress theme from Premiumnewstheme.com ($100)

1x copy of a “Revolution” wordpress theme of your choice from BrianGardner.com ($80)

Books

1x copy of ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income from Problogger (25.00)

1x copy of Living Like Ed: A Guide to the Eco-Friendly Life from EcoIsomniac.com ($20)

Ebooks/Video:

1000 copies of “Seven Ways to Live a Better Life” by Jason at Blog Premiere Forums

2 copies of Referral Madness A 2 video set by MooneyQuest.com ($200)

2 copies of The Ultimate startup guide for blogging by BigBenPatton.com ($200)

Entrecredits:

200 Entrecredits from BigBenPatton.com

500 Entrecredits from Donace of rants.thenexus.tk

1000 Entrecredits from George of gpearce.co.uk

Hosting:

12 months of HostGator’s Swamp plan valued at ($180) : This package includes 1,000gb of disk space. Unlimited monthly bandwidth. Unlimited domains. It a fully loaded nothing left out deal. This is their ultimate package. Thanks again to http://www.hostgator.com for donating this for our contest.

12 months of James Germana’s Ultimate hosting plan. Valued at $500. This package includes 1,000gb of disk space. Unlimited monthly bandwidth. Unlimited domains. It also is a fully loaded nothing left out deal. This is James Germana’s Ultimate package. Also the lucky contestant who wins this prize will also get 3 hours of business consultation from James Germana. This alone is worth $500. That brings the total value of this prize to $1000. A Huge thanks goes out to James Germana for making this prize possible!

Paid Reviews:

One paid review on BigBenPatton.com ($30)

One paid review on Robinhaney.com ($25)

Software:

1 copy of Instant Blog And Ping from BigBenPatton.com ($25)

5 copies of special offer manager from BigBenPatton.com ($25)

2 copies of the list building system from BigBenPatton.com ($50)

Those are the glorious prizes, and I did copy the prize list, otherwise it would have taken a really long time to put all those in, add the inks especially, and keep going back and forth. Thank you Ben!

Now, you should know how to enter this contest extravaganza too. There are a few ways, and you still have time left.

Subscribe to RSS feed – (required) – 10 entries – Of course, this is how you get into the contest, targeting the RSS feed. Go for it!

Commenting on a post – 2 entries – this is an easy one. Just add a valuable comment to one of his posts. Some of you may still have problems with commenting, or maybe it is me that discourages comments, but commenting with something valuable and more than just an I agree, you can earn good entries by that. Be sure to use the same email address for commenting as in the RSS feed.

Blog about the contest – 20 entries – this is simple too. Just what I am doing. I may be over doing it a bit, one’s post should be about 100 words, and mine will end up like 1000. Be sure to link back to the original contest post.

Podcast about the contest – 50 entries – You a podcaster? Here is your chance to earn some real points. It should be 30 seconds or longer, and have some words too in which you link to the original post.

Vlog about it – 100 entries – Vlogging = video blogging = make a video. Not too hard. I did it. Now it is your turn. I call you lucky if you have a mac, I don’t think you even need a camera! It should be 30-60 seconds.

Those are the only ways, but be alert! The video is worth double now! 200 entries!

Get out there and go for it! Earn some prizes! Don’t hold back!

I am so tired, good night.

To all you readers of green-flamingo, I just want to make sure that you are voting. Not because it’s “Super Tuesday” around here, but the poll on my blog. Scroll down a little ways and you will see it. I am going to write in detail or more about one of the subjects. The poll ends February 6 at 9:00 (I may extend it, and the poll won’t actually close, so if you vote after I may not notice) Eastern time zone. (plus five hours is that time is more recognized by I think) . Just giving you the update. I you have already voted thank you, your contributions are important.

Just a little planning I may have for this blog, maybe a contest, I won’t tell you what it’s about because then you’d study beforehand. The only problem with that is I don’t know what the prize would be. If you have any suggestions for a prize, please email me at yoda19@bluebottle.com or leave a comment. You may even have a mention just for giving a good suggestion so if you want you can leave your name and website. NO SPAM PLEASE! I hate dealing with spam. So the things to remember as you leave green-flamingo, vote and think about a prize. I hope it all turns out well!