Nintendo Wii Giveaway

[MeddyDuo]

Supa Crayzay Update
I was planning on working on my site and forum a little more before doing this contest, but I want to get this going as quickly as possible, so I'm starting the contest now. Details here

(I have also changed my avatar as requested )


Ok, so I have a new video game site and forum. Kind of like IGN where it has tips and stuff for games, but MUCH smaller (especially now because I just started it). I would like to either promote my forums or get content for the site.
For example, to promote my forums, I could do a giveaway contest for whoever joins and makes a post or something.
Or to get content for my site, I could do a giveaway for people that send me a tip/review/glitch etc...

With the forum giveaway I would get a lot more participants because they don't have to do much. With the content giveaway, I wouldn't get as many participants but I would get content that I could add to the site.

What are your thoughts on this?

EDIT: I am kind of worried about doing the content thing, because I don't want people to just go to IGN or GameSpot and copy and paste.



UPDATE: I have decided to give away the Wii, which should be in stock at my WalMart on the 28th. I am thinking that the contest will be like this: Register at the forums, and PM me your article (reviews, glitches, tips, etc). For every 100 words, you get 1 entry into the raffle. This way I get content AND forum members (even if they don't stick around after the contest). Then I will have a running tally of everyone's points.

So now a couple more questions: How long should I run the contest? I was thinking 2-4 weeks (probably 4). Also, is it legal to do this raffle type thing?

 

[ahurtt]

I will tell you my thoughts on this if you send me a Wii.

 

[Stiganator]

I like free stuff. Depending on what it is people might be interested. More details. Giving multiple consoles away would be spensive...

 

[meltdown75]

free iPods.

oh and wrong avatar.

 

[MeddyDuo]

Why do people keep telling me to change my avatar? Am I supposed to change it to the black man when I give away iPods because spammers do that?

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: MeddyDuo
Why do people keep telling me to change my avatar? Am I supposed to change it to the black man when I give away iPods because spammers do that?

Yes.

 

[dfuze]

Personally, I would rather go there for in depth reviews than a contest any day (probably because I never win ). Another thing that would be nice are gaming articles in general. Talk and explain technology in simple terms. Explain what the difference in processer nomenclature is.

What is the site in question?

 

[MeddyDuo]

Originally posted by: dph1077
Personally, I would rather go there for in depth reviews than a contest any day (probably because I never win ). Another thing that would be nice are gaming articles in general. Talk and explain technology in simple terms. Explain what the difference in processer nomenclature is.

What is the site in question?

Well right now it is getting basically zero traffic. The point of a contest is to get a ton of traffic and then hopefully some of those people will like the site and favorite it or something.

The site is going to stay secret for a little bit longer...

 

[dfuze]

How do you get traffic if you keep the name a secret?

 

[Captante]

Givaway in exchange for content.

Wii (or maybe X-box)

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: MeddyDuo
Well right now it is getting basically zero traffic. The point of a contest is to get a ton of traffic and then hopefully some of those people will like the site and favorite it or something.

The site is going to stay secret for a little bit longer...

Make it requires involvement that's more than just entering your e-mail address. Since I'm not sure how your website works... it could be submitting a tip for a game first gets you entered (once).

 

[MeddyDuo]

Originally posted by: dph1077
How do you get traffic if you keep the name a secret?

I'm not holding a contest right now, am I?

 

[eits]

lan party sponsorship

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: dph1077
How do you get traffic if you keep the name a secret?

because as soon as he/she posts the site this will make everyone call him/her a spammer since he/she is new.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

OP - you're missing the point of driving traffic to your site entirely. You need to give them a reason to come and that is usually because of the content you have on your site - start there.

Once people start coming regularly, add a forum, and *additional reasons* like prizes. Prizes and giveaways are just short term things that will attract worthless posts to your forum, no real reason to do that except for more short term visitors and spam.

Also, remember, forums are to DISCUSS, so give something to discuss! If you don't, it's failed from the start. That's like funding a business project with no real chance of success, might be better off sticking your money in a savings account with a 5% yield.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: MeddyDuo

Originally posted by: dph1077
Personally, I would rather go there for in depth reviews than a contest any day (probably because I never win ). Another thing that would be nice are gaming articles in general. Talk and explain technology in simple terms. Explain what the difference in processer nomenclature is.

What is the site in question?

Well right now it is getting basically zero traffic. The point of a contest is to get a ton of traffic and then hopefully some of those people will like the site and favorite it or something.

The site is going to stay secret for a little bit longer...

Content first and let google drive your traffic, the search engines including Google are your most valuable resource.

Think about why people came here to AT - was it because they were giving away processors or something? No! Many came because they found it from a search engine, needed some help, troubleshooting, etc.

I think prizes work well if you want to go from 500 ---> 600 members, but not for 0 ----> 500, success will not be overnight!

 

[NuroMancer]

Tough call on the content thing, but people that are willing to put the time into content are the type of member you want.

 

[gwrober]

Originally posted by: Stiganator
I like free stuff. Depending on what it is people might be interested. More details. Giving multiple consoles away would be spensive...

Yup - in my line of work we do giveaways/promotions now and then - the consensus is that you have one or two large products/prizes (the anchors) and then plenty of smaller ones (shirts, geek gear, etc).

But definitely do it in exchange for a review or something, so that your ad dollars don't go to waste. Get something for your time/money, something to add some meat to your site and retain visitors.

As for the cheaper prizes, you should be able to afford holding smaller contests every few weeks/months after the large contest, to help retain interest. That way folks that come looking for the big prize may have missed out, but here's another chance to win, etc.

If you need product ideas or solutions, shoot me a PM. We do this for a living...

 

[MeddyDuo]

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
I think prizes work well if you want to go from 500 ---> 600 members, but not for 0 ----> 500, success will not be overnight!

0-500 would be simple I think. Let's just wait and see, shall we?
I should have this contest ready in a week or two.

 

[MeddyDuo]

Update bump

 

[tasmanian]

Originally posted by: eits
lan party sponsorship

 

[MeddyDuo]

Originally posted by: tasmanian

Originally posted by: eits
lan party sponsorship

We have already PM'd about this.
Basically I feel it is a much better investment to give away a product on the Internet, where 10's of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of people would see it. This way people can write stuff, and I get to put it on my site.

Or I could get my name on t-shirts at a LAN part, where there are a couple hundred people. :/

 

[James Bond]

I like shirts.

 

[MustISO]

I think you need to make the contest easy and accessible for everyone. Make it something like for every 5 meaningful posts you get an entry.
Or maybe, post in a thread and have everyone write a mini-review of a current game they're playing. The number of words per entry is an okay idea but maybe just so many words equals a completed entry. So you have to write 150 words or it isn't a valid post.

 

[fongo888]

I'd do a month or so with maybe weekly prizes like a game card or $10 giff certificate that way you will get them consistently rather than people waiting for the last minute. The only thing I can think of is if people have the same tip/ review of the game (i'm sure that you only really need 1 review).

If I were you start networking with gaming communities, clans etc and have them spread you via word of mouth. Personally it maybe hard to out do Gamespot or IGN.

Just out of curiosity are you doing this for Fun, or to turn a profit?