Rachel wanted me to share this post she wrote for people who need some extra help winning on Rafflecopters. The 150+ Book Giveaway was all organized by her - including all 60 Rafflecopters - and she saw some people needing direction. She gives great tips so please take a look!
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While I was picking winners from the Rafflecopters I noticed people didn't submit the right links and didn't answer questions efficiently. There were multiple moments when the winner obviously entered everyday, but his/her links were going to a "This page does not exist!" link and I had to pick another winner. This stinks for people who are dying to win! That being said, lemme go through some tips and tricks for you.
1. The more entries you have, the better chance you'll win. I've had over 10 people that won at least 2/3 books each. Why? Because they entered everyday, which earned them many more points. Tweeting was 3 points extra, so the people that would re-enter time and time again earned over 100 points more than others. They won.
2. Rafflecopter is RANDOM, but that doesn't mean I can't pick other people. If the link you submitted is not working or your profile is set to "private" and I can't see your post, then I pick someone else. I need proof of your effort.
3. People check entries. Out of all 61 Rafflecopters, I looked at the winners to see if the links work or if you really did tweet/share everyday. Sometimes people put in the SAME link over and over again. I had to re-picked the winner if that was the case. Whenever you need to enter more information (like "what color is the authors background") don't leave it blank because we will see that the field is empty and it won't count as an entry.
Examples of twitter links I get:
a) http://twitter.com/usernamehere
Seriously. People just gave me the name of their account as an entry. If I can't see the tweet for that day then it doesn't count.
b) https://twitter.com/intent/tweetoriginal_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rafflecopter.com%2
Fembed%2Frafl%2Fcptr.html%3Fxdm_e%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Flivetoread-krystal.blogspot.com%26xdm_c%3Ddefault8690%26xdm_p%3
D1&related=rafflecopter&text=%23Win%20Shadow%20of%20the%
20Mark%20by%20%40Leigh_Fallon%20at%20the%20Live%20to%20Reads%20150%2B%20giveaway!&t
w_p=tweetbutton&url=http%3A%2F%2Flivetoread-krystal.blogspot.com%2F
Fembed%2Frafl%2Fcptr.html%3Fxdm_e%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Flivetoread-krystal.blogspot.com%26xdm_c%3Ddefault8690%26xdm_p%3
D1&related=rafflecopter&text=%23Win%20Shadow%20of%20the%
20Mark%20by%20%40Leigh_Fallon%20at%20the%20Live%20to%20Reads%20150%2B%20giveaway!&t
w_p=tweetbutton&url=http%3A%2F%2Flivetoread-krystal.blogspot.com%2F
WHAT IS THIS? Triple check to see if the link you enter is correct and can be seeable to people who click on the link.
c) they copy and paste the actual tweet into the "Paste in the tweet URL".
"URL" means the web address of a website. So if someone says "Give me the URL of that awesome search site you were talking about" you don't say "Oh, it's Google." you say "It's www.google.com". Does that make a little more sense?
4. Put effort into winning. I put in "free entry" for everyone because I thought it would be awesome if everyone has a chance no matter what. That doesn't mean you can't do other entries on the rafflecopter. Even if it's commenting on the post (which will take 15 seconds) that would be awesome, and it would be great if you could help out the author as best you can! Maybe this one is just me and others won't care, but it's just something I've noticed.
In short: people who handle rafflecopters check entries, so if you leave anything blank or gives us the wrong link - even if you come back everyday - you don't win.
In short: people who handle rafflecopters check entries, so if you leave anything blank or gives us the wrong link - even if you come back everyday - you don't win.
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I'm not posting this to be mean, I promise! It's just good to know so you'll have a better chance at winning future giveaways. I hope this helps!
- Rachel
10 comments:
thank you for the info
Thanks very much for writing this! I'm very cognisant to try and make all of my entries concise and easy to understand, and I appreciate very much reading this written from the blogger's perspective. :)
After entering some Rafflecopters, I've noticed that there are errors on the bloggers' end, too. For instance, One task will be to follow a list of Twitter* accounts found on a different page. It's almost routine for me to refresh the page after I've clicked the Follow buttons to see which ones worked, and which links were broken. After finding broken links, I go to Google to try and track down the correct Twitter url. It's a bit of a hassle to do that, but I don't feel right about falsifying an entry... aside from the fact that it would disqualify me,
Some Rafflecopter tasks also ask you to friend such-and-such a person on Facebook, but this causes problems, too, because most of these accounts have their permissions set so I *can't* send them a friend request. I've messaged a couple people about that, but I've never heard a reply.
All that to say, entrants, play fair and make your entries easy for the bloggers to read; bloggers, please make sure that all of your links are correct--it makes sweeping so much easier and less frustrating! :)
* Twitter is the most common, but I've also seen broken Pinterest and Instagram urls.
I completely understand, Howell! I feel the same way when the entry is wrong on the bloggers end.
I host a lot of Rafflecopter giveaways on my blogs, and I see this problem a lot: If one of the entries asks you to leave a comment on the blog post, many people answer as "Anonymous" and then fail to leave a name or email that I can match up with their information in Rafflecopter. Always leave your name and email if you're going to comment as Anonymous so we can be sure you fulfilled the commenting requirement.
Good post!! I always wonder if i am entering giveaways properly.. What im confused on is if you tweet or share does it show a different url post that wouldnt be the same as you had already posted.. i think im guilty on putting the same url over and over.. Im also scared to tweet everyday (i would).. A year ago i was tweeting everyday for more entries and my twitter account was marked for spam..It was a little embarrassing..plus i saw others tweeting and all and i was so confused of why did this happen to me??? So im careful of how much i tweet now.. thanks for posting about the tips--it helps
I saw this on Rachel's blog and I felt so terrible! But now I know! Thanks for the tips! Hope I don't accidentally mess up again! :(
cool_cat97@msn.com
No Problem, Sarah and Wolfie! I'm glad they helped you. People DO check entries, so don't leave anything blank because we'll see!
I always check my rafflecopter entries when I have a giveaway. I see a lot of the same thing. To be honest i think some of it is people are just not understanding but also, I think it's people trying to cheat. Which is annoying because they won't be chosen and I just generally don't like when people want something for free with no effort. Also...yes I agree...show the author and the blog some love. You are getting something totally for free...no taxes, no shipping, nothing. Give a shout of thanks or something...like Rachel said...it takes 15 seconds to write a quick comment if only it's "Thanks for an awesome giveaway!!"
You know? Thanks for the post chick!!
Jovon from Book2Buzz
Great post! I shared it on my Facebook Page. I have had to do pick a new winner for the same reasons you have listed above.
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