I've Entered The Contest!

Ummm...I haven't been too active with this blog recently, but I can respect someone who contacts me to list their contest, especially as by so doing I am entering it, too. Brain Foggles has created The SEO Optimized Blog Giveaway where one lucky winner gets an SEO optimized Wordpress blog with:

1. Hosting for one year
2. Keyword research
3. Advice on picking a profitable niche for the blog
4. Complete set up of Wordpress and associated plugins
5. Your choice of SEO Theme
6. Technical support and continued advice through the Advisory Panel
7. A custom header made by Lori of A Cowboy’s Wife.

Entry is easy: comment, blog about it, post banners, Fave it with Technorati. Contest ends May 30th.

Feed Flare is having a big contest, but before you copy and paste like I'm doing, make sure you read their entries entitled Really Simple Syndication and Feed Flare (contest details). Then enter by subscribing, blogging and commenting. $500 Grand Prise!

Here are the prizes!

1. Mini Unix web hosting package free for 1 year - Donated by BlurFur web hosting services (value - $70.00) - random draw
2. Advertising voucher with Bidvertiser worth $200.00 in free clicks (value - $200.00) - random draw
3. Blog branding package which includes (Favico, header, logo, 125×125 button) design package donated by Graphic Identity (value - $200.00) - random draw
4. Free advertising for one month in the form of a 125×125 button on Blogging Cents. (value - $35.00) - random draw
5. Win a free advertising spot on the “You Can Learn Series” blog in the form of a 125×125 ad button (value per spot - $5.00) - random draw
6. Exclusive Theme donated by Unique Blog Designs (value - $99.00) there is around 10 different themes you can chose from if you win - random draw
7. Win one of 2 copies of the “Written Promptly Everyday” E-Book donated by The Prompt Writer (value per book -$5.00) random draw
8. Win a copy of “How to launch a profitable free lancing business for under $50.00″ donated by the “Self Made Chick” (value - $12.00) random draw
9. Custom banner design and the size will be of your choice donated by Dat Money dot com (value - $50.00) random draw
10. One month free 125×125 advertising on Jason Boom dot com. (value - $20.00) random draw
11. Grand Prise - 25,000 Entrecard credits (one lump some, the largest amount to be given away in a contest to date) draw date is March 31st (value - not really sure but some where around $250.00 I think)
12. Bonus gifts - we have 200 pages on the “One Buck Wiki” to give away - the first two hundred contest enterer’s will be each given one page as a bonus gift just for entering our grand opening contest.You will still be able to win any of the other prizes we have as well. The current selling price for a page on the “One Buck Wiki” is $20.00 making this our largest prize package worth over $4000.00 in cash value.
13. Featured Grand Prise = $500.00 cash payable via PayPal with the draw date being March 31st. You can thank my nice income tax return for this prize!!!

Total prize packages are worth just over $5200.00 (cash value) plus the 25,000 Entrecard credits. Contest ends March 31st.

I'm guilty several times over (Entrebank, Entrepolls, Entremoney, etc.) of the EntreFad and so I was interested to see what the EntreInsider was all about. So far, the answer is an EntreContest. First prize is 300 ECs, small by recent standards, but I'm playing along because it's a first contest for a new site. Entries are earned by blogging, subscribing, and dropping your card 3x. Contest ends April 1.

I didn't enter as many contests in February as I did in January. As a result, I didn't win much of anything. True, there are thousands of Entrecarders who have been added to the potential contestant pool...but there are also many more folks who are holding contests.

(Yawn.)

So what. I just can't get excited about a 200-1000 EC grand prize at this point. What with 20 different Entrecard accounts I get 200 ECs just on daily ad revenue alone. Drop like a madman for a couple of hours and I've rolled up 2000+ ECs. I've even burned out on subscribing to blogs as the vehicle for entering contests. By the time I get the email subscription I have already been to their sites and decided whether or not I wanted to read the posts. Archive. Archive. Archive. Oh, why bother signing up in the first place? You didn't really want me as a reader...you just wanted bigger numbers for your chicklet.

So, methinks, I'll enter those contests with larger prizes, as long as I don't have to write a 300 word review, Digg & Stumble, etc. Make me work longer than 15 minutes for the CHANCE to win 3000 ECs and I'm wondering why I just didn't drop cards instead and get a guaranteed 500 ECs. Still, I wonder how those bigger prize contests are faring....

Not too well, if some recent posts are any indication. Did you enter Saphrym's $250 Grand Prize contest? Apparently only 37 people did, myself included. I like those odds and was willing to spend 15 minutes posting and linking to get in the game. Radical Blogger was surprised to receive a measly 15 entries to his 10000 EC giveaway (1st Prize - 5000 ECs) and 13 year old Marko from Blogging Tips got a whopping 11 entries to his 3500 EC contest. I didn't even enter these latter two contests, opting instead to try to create a caption for some dogs and trying to crack a code.

I repeat, are Entrecard contests a waste of time?

I guess the better question is why did I participate in the contests listed above? As far as Saphrym's contest goes, it was due to the large cash prize. Putting a caption on the doggie photo? I liked the contest in that it was quirky and I could exercise some creativity. Cracking the code? It was a mental challenge (I failed).

I believe the time has come for folks to wschew the 100-1000 EC contests and step up to larger prizes where more work is required of the contestant. Why? Short term spikes in subscriptions due to "sign-up" contests will aid rankings but not gain readership over the long haul. There are other ways than holding a contest to spend your ECs that will build relationships in the Entrecard community, like repeatedly advertising on someone widget.

A suggestion for contest promoters: Shorter time frames, not ending on the last day of the month, guaranteed reward for submitting a fully qualified entry, and make if fun!

Saphrym is holding a contest with a $250 Grand Prize and I've Entered it! Contest Guidelines state:

1. Pick a post (besides this one) from Saphrym.com and blog about it. The post can be positive, neutral, or even negative if you just don’t like me.
2. Include this link:
Saphrym
(Copy and paste that code into your html code for your post exactly as is. The link should look like this: Saphrym)
3. Include a link to the actual post you are blogging about.
4. Include a link to this contest post.
5. Comment below and leave a link to your post making sure to provide a valid e-mail address.


The post on Saphrym's site that I have chosen to blog about is My Turn For Thoughts. At first I found it odd that Saphrym would expose himself in such a personal post about God, Organized Religion, Evolution, Abortion, Flag Burning, Capitol Punishment, and Gun Control. That was likely a result of reading the post via email, right after 10+ posts on how to make money online. Saphrym has already shown his willingness to get personal with his posts about weight loss and other areas of life that many of us would choose to shield from the prying eyes of others. The fact that he stood atop the Entrecard Popular page for weeks shouldn't override his option to write about what he feels strongly about. Saphyrm isn't a spokesperson for Entrecard and I fully support his approach to stating it the way he feels it, even if I don't agree 100% with what he has to say. Kudos to you Saphrym for being honest to yourself.

Mapiles.com is holding a contest where you can help the dogs talk.

Contest Rules:
1) You must be an Entrecard Member.
2) Drop a card on my Entrecard Widget.
3) Make the Dogs Talk by putting the funniest caption you could ever think in the comments box.
4) Nothing more. Yes, it’s how simple it is.

This contest runs for one week and three winners will be declared on February 29, 2008.

The execs over at Executive Apprentice are holding a contest entitled "The Ides of March Monitor Giveaway" et tu can be the winner. The rules are simple, subscribe, comment, blog, and blogroll your entries. From their contest page:

Entries will be accepted until Noon on March 15th, 2008. The drawing will be held on the evening of March 15th, 2008. The winner will receive a new 19″ Flat Panel display shipped with no further obligations, free of charge! This contest is open only to mainland USA entrants. We will not ship this item internationally.

Executive Apprentice is authored by Jon Griffith and is a "blog-powered website running on the popular Wordpress blogging platform....My vision for this site is to create a destination where you can go to learn how to blog using Wordpress."