A few months ago, I read as short rip on drawing traffic to your blog through giveaways. I was a bit skeptical, but decided to give it a try for myself. So here’s my latest learning experience, that I applied to my work at home business blogs. 
On my first try, I hosted a giveaway on my blog with the least amount of followers. I decided that if it worked, new followers would mean a lot and help me stay motivated in blogging. Not to mention keeping up with new posts and information. I came up with a simple giveaway that wouldn’t cost me an arm and leg. I left the giveaway up for one week, and did some heavy marketing. The giveaway was very successful and doubled my readers. Not bad, right?
So I waited a couple of weeks and gave it another shot. This time, I came up with a rather unusual giveaway. I applied the same marketing techniques. I waited a week before the giveaway closed. I only gained a handful of readers (if even that…) and very few people entered.
Curious as to why the giveaways were so different, I sat down and examined each giveaway. The main reason for the second giveaway that flunked?? Simply, I didn’t put much thought it the giveaway its self. My readers were not interested in the item, and didn’t apply to that readership group.
Still with me? Well if you are, I’m a tad impressed, so forgive me. I thought I should document this journey so I could remind myself from time to time. 
Now taking all that I learned, I decided it was time to take it to my next blog. My other blog was a more personal/hobby blog and it was sucessful. I had a good readership, made some extra money with it, and well….I loved every minute. This blog was more of my “baby”, so I was pretty timid when it came to trying new things out with it.
But, I took the plunge. I researched a giveaway that my readers would both want and enjoy. I tied the giveaway in with a fun theme, and then hosted it for one week. I marketed it as heavy as possible and made sure to remind me readers every couple of days to enter. Once again, I had a great influx of new readers! Plus, at the end I had a very happy winner.
All this to say…giveaways do work. Here are the simple things to remember and apply when doing giveaways. During you work at home business experience this could be vital in meeting new people and bringing new readership to your blog!
1) Research your readership. What is that you all have in common? What is it that they enjoy about your blog?
2) Tie your giveaway in with a theme. Tell a story and end it with a giveaway, etc. The more enthusiasm you can generate for the giveaway, the more successful it will become.
3) Be enthusiastic about your giveaway. Be sure to remind your readers about through your twitter or Facebook. Ask fellow bloggers to share the giveaway on their own blogs, as well!
Have fun!
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