WordPress.com is an easy way to start blogging. Get a blog, check out our features, read the latest announcements, choose from great themes, or learn about the team behind it.
Need help? Check out our Support site, then
Does anyone know if there are any restrictions on running contests on our blogs where we offer prizes like gift cards or something?
I'd like to run a contest where for each post that someone shares on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, etc they get an entry into a drawing for like a $50 gift card or something.
Just not sure if that's frowned upon here.
The blog I need help with is themainland.net.
I usually just threaten them into subscribing.
If they don't I'll sell their dog on e-bay.
"What if they don't have a dog" you may ask. Then I will buy them a dog, make them love it, make them care for it, THEN I'll sell it on ebay.
I don't know the answer to your question. Granted most people jump at the opporuntity to get anything at all presumably free of charge but I'm not like that. I If anyone offers a bribe of any kind on their blog I assume they are desperate and I'm repulsed by acts of desperation so I click out never to return again.
I am not desperate, but simply looking for fun ways to attract more readers. I generally get between 100-150 page views a day which is probably better than a lot of bloggers here get.
But I would like more people to share my stuff on social media since it's kind of taboo to do that yourself.
So, I figured that if I offered a few gift cards in a drawing and each story you share earns you an entry into that drawing.
I don't see what would be so terrible about that.
I can see how one could be repulsed by acts of bribery but not, surly by acts of desperation. If someone is desperate then they are in need of help.
@robrubin
i did not use the word "terrbile". I'm sure most bloggers will love it but not me. I'm immune to all bribery and not into any kind of memes, contests, awards, backlinking schemes, free bling or whatever.
I've seen a lot of blogs here suspended for "clickbaiting" and stat gaming, but you'd have to ask staff to judge whether what you had in mind was okay or not.
If you do this to Reddit, by the way, they will come for you and they will bury you in an unmarked grave. Not that people don't do it; it's just that it's classic spam and thus against their terms of service and code of ethics.
There goes my idea of a give away to celebrate 5000 comments.
Ask staff. I'm sure some giveaways are fine.
I've seen blogs suspended for more aggressive things and skirted the line myself when asking for comments on my Mummified Fairy post, but I'm always careful to post those things OUTSIDE of WordPress.com.
There were blog syndicates where every Friday, for instance, you left as many comments as possible on the designated blog, to win something. It was just an SEO game to trick google into thinking those sites were more important than they are, and staff suspended them.
I suppose I won't do it to avoid pissing anyone off. Still seems harmless to me.
Well, ask staff for the parameters. What you have in mind might be fine. But if you do this for Reddit upvotes, you're going to get classed as a spammer there, and what's worse is they will never even tell you. It's just that whatever you post that gets upvoted doesn't ever count, even though it looks like it does.
Why don't you do a semi-fun poll related to your blog's niche areas?
And blog about the results in a light way.
I did. Results in ABOUT page.
I also did a different more serious topic on another blog and got lots of long comments which I created a whole blog post about it and included some choice comments too.
Free giveaways and thinks like that are okay if done in moderation, I think. The bad thing is some people use these contests as foundations for spam and whatnot.
I think one of the above users hit on the true method to increase readership, however. Be interesting! Post regularly about topics that interest you and your readership will grow. :)
No matter what you try, i they don't like your site, they will not subscribe.
There's nothing on my site not to like. (J/K)
teamoyeniyi, I just made a joke in my comment section to my sister about giving her a prize for having the 500th comment! Hopefully that's not frowned upon. Because she'll make me give her a prize....
It's your sister. You know she can do more to you than Matt and the staff ever could if you don't pay up.
This topic has been closed to new replies.
robrubin
jessielansdel
teamoyeniyi
kennethmarkhoover
dribblingpensioner
thepurpledogpaintingblog