How To Host A Giveaway On Your Blog

Madigan made… a pro and (mostly) con list about giveaways.

Who doesn't like free stuff?

I wrote this post awhile ago. And I put off posting it for many, many months because I was unsure how it would be received. But, I feel like you deserve to know why you've never seen a giveaway on this blog. In addition to that reason, companies recently started emailing me about hosting giveaways and I hope to refer them here to explain why I say 'no'.

Before I dive into this topic, I wanted to give you a little background:

This is not a big blog. But I do not care too much about numbers. My regular readers are more important to me than my pageviews. I have some great readers who do stop by to see what I'm up to (thank you!!!!).
This blog is a hobby for me. I have a day job and I did not start this blog to make money. As corny as it sounds, I blog because I really enjoy writing and putting it together. Read this post for more about why I blog.

After reading up on the topic and giving it some thought,
I have decided that I will not be hosting a giveaway anytime soon on this little blog.

Why? Read below:

As a blog reader , I personally do not seek to participate in giveaways. I do enjoy joining link parties, which sometimes unintentionally counts as giveaway participation. But, quite frankly, my house is small, and I struggle all time to try and not bring in more 'stuff'.

A major theme on this blog is the idea of: "simple".
I have not touched on this topic much with you (yet) but my hubby and I always strive to keep our home simple. This includes constant reorganizing and purging of items we don't need or use.

I have enough stuff in my house. I don't need another twenty dollar thing, even if it is free. Granted, some blogs do give away large value gift cards and big ticket items, which may be worth the effort. But I simply do not have the time to blog stalk.(and I'm not very lucky, either!)

And, I am of the mindset that there is no such thing as a 'free lunch'. Even if I do not pay for something, there is a price for everything. My participation in a giveaway by clicking here and 'liking' that and 'tweeting' this takes time! My time is precious.

Maybe it is just me, but lately I find myself wading through loads of giveaway posts in my RSS reader. Since I don't pursue giveaways, it is more noise to me. Some days it is hard just to find substantial blog content and topics. That's not the kind of effort I want to make my readers go through.

But, I realize that my opinion may be in the minority. I know there are some folks that love to participate in giveaways, and maybe some of my readers would like to see one.
So, as a blog writer , I was exploring what it would take to host a giveaway and immediately hesitated. Others have pondered on the subject here at Elementary Spirits and here at Roni Noone.

After reading several opinions,
I asked myself several questions:

1. First and foremost: Would hosting a giveaway be worth my time? Remember, I do not crave more 'stuff.' But 'time is money', too. Is it worth my time to write a post, several tweets and Facebook posts about a product for my readers worth around twenty to thirty dollars? This post at Blissfully Domestic, this post at Crap I've Made and this post at Modern Mami comment on the time they invest hosting or participating in giveaways. Their experiences made me think twice. If I ever do run a giveaway… I think I would charge a (small) fee for my time. The effort needs to be compensated, in my opinion.

2. But what if I just do giveaways to support small home-run craft businesses?
This point made me pause. It would be nice to support my fellow crafters and help the 'little guy'. I was considering this as an option. But then I got to point #4 below and nixed this idea. I would like to support crafters. But I think there are other ways to support them.
Some of you may know that I toyed with the idea of starting an online handmade shop before I started to blog. I've tried to put myself in those shoes. While I imagine handmade shops like having their product highlighted in a blog giveaway… If it were me, I would be willing to pay a small fee since a giveaway is basically advertising. I also would not want the blogger to put themselves at risk (see #4 below) and would want to ensure the giveaway is coordinated in an appropriate (and legal) way.

3. OK, but what if giveaways help drive up my blog traffic?
And aren't giveaways a way to 'give back' to your readers?
These points were appealing, but again, I got to point #4 below. Even if I do giveaways, the traffic from those contests might not equal more readers.
A wise blogger pointed out that no matter how many giveaways you do, your regular readers are ultimately there for the content. Period. I am not sure, but if a blogger posts more about their giveaways than a new topic or project, I imagine that they will lose readership in the long run. (Well, they will at least lose my interest.)

4. A re there any risks to me if I host a giveaway?

Honestly, there are some things about blog giveaways that worry me:

Could my contest participantsaccuse me of rigging a giveaway (as this post at She Posts suggests does happen)?
I wonder about the liability implications to running a contest! There is more to consider than simply having an item to give and publishing a post. For more information, please read this post at MizzInformation, this post at Marketing Roadmaps, this post at 5 Minutes for Mom, this post from Saving for Someday and this one at It's Not a Lecture. When companies give out a product for a blog giveaway, it is an easy way for them to create buzz about their product without hosting a contest themselves. The blogger is doing most of the work and the liability will likely be on blogger, not the company.
Keeping the legal logistics straight could be tough. Giveaway laws are complex and can vary from state to state (and US vs. Canada). My head started to spin when I tried to look into the differences.
How do I write out a giveaway to minimize my risk? Think about all the 'fine print' you see on any contest run by a large company (I swear, every year I'm gonna win HGTV's Dream Home!). "No purchase necessary." "Void where prohibited" "This contest is not valid in these states/countries: ___" etc. I rarely see that kind of wording or detail on blog giveaways, even bigger blogs. Here is one example I came across that looked very detailed. And I know that some blog publishing networks help host giveaways for some of their members. But I noticed that those contests are written with great detail and many rules. I would not know where to begin if I wanted to write a giveaway correctly.
And I found out that making someone 'click here'or 'tweet that' for entries could border on consideration – which technically (based on my naive review of the topic) might not be quite legal in a giveaway. If I ever did run a giveaway, I probably would avoid asking for extra effort/entries from my readers. For more discussion about consideration and whether or not your giveaway could be an illegal lottery… read this post at It's Your Blog.

5. Finally, do my readers want giveaways?
Honestly, I'm not sure the answer to this one and I defer to you. In the 1+ year I've been blogging, I only recently was approached by folks to host a giveaway. And it was not my readers demanding a giveaway, but companies asking if I hosted them. In the survey I did on my one year blogiversary, only a couple of readers checked off that they wanted to see giveaways here. So, I'm not seeing a large crowd of my subscribers calling for free stuff.
In a way, I'm proud of the community and readership I've built without the lure of giveaways. You all are clearly here for one reason (I hope!): the content.

There are a ton of blog posts and advice about how to host a giveaway. I was a little shocked at how few articles discussed the cons of hosting one, particularly the time commitment and risks to the blogger.
Why is this topic not discussed more? Is it a 'everybody's doing it' attitude so we all should host one?

Maybe I am too new at this blogging thing to know any better. Maybe I worry too much.
But the cons seem to outweigh the benefits to hosting a giveaway…. at least for a small blogger like myself that can't attract/afford large value prizes OR hire a lawyer to write my terms and conditions.

This does not mean that blogs should stop hosting giveaways or that it can't be done. I bet there is a way to host a giveaway that is appropriate. I just wanted to bring up some of my concerns and explain why I do not want to host a giveaway at this time.

If you have hosted giveaways without a problem and you have advice, puh-leese give feedback!

Perhaps there is a better way to host a giveaway that… doesn't take a ton of time… is worth my time… can be worded correctly… and limits my liability. I would consider hosting giveaways if these concerns could be addressed. (and if you wanted them)

Any advice would be appreciated!

My blog is small. Did I mention that already?

And my time is precious. I think I mentioned that, too.

So, my goal is to continue to write about what I love (creating stuff) and share it with you .

I do not want to dilute my content with giveaways. I'm hopeful that concept is enough for my readers.
Are you OK with that? Do you 'need' giveaways on Madigan Made?

Unless this post gets me banned from blogland (as I nervously hit the 'publish' button), someday my little blog might grow up to be a big blog.

At that point, I will have (hopefully) created a quality site with quality content that may attract quality advertisers seeking to pay quality money for space (or time) here. And right now, that relationship would not include giveaways.

Develop a rapport with a sponsor who wants to be a part of this blog's philosophies?
That would be worth my time.

And a little disclaimer: I have never hosted a giveaway. I am not a lawyer. The information and links in this post are what I found on the Internet about this topic. It is not meant to be legal advice. If you have specific/detailed questions about your own blog and giveaways, it is always a good idea to research the topic and seek the appropriate legal counsel in your state. The links above are for informational use only. This site does not control their content. Please contact each site if you have questions. (And some of the links above may use a few four-letter words. You've been warned.) I have 'won' 2 blog giveaways inadvertently (through linking up with a meme) but I thanked the sponsor and said: 'no thanks, please feel free to give to another reader'. At the time of this writing, I do not accept any form of compensation on this blog. I may at some point, but right now I blog because I love it.

Thanks for reading Madigan Made!