Win Stuff Every Week Just for Speaking Your Mind!

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Introducing the Weekly Comments Contest!

All you have to do to be entered in the contest is to add to the conversation with a relevant comment- that’s it!

How this contest helps you to create business growth:

Not only do you get a chance to win a fun weekly prize, but when you write a compelling comment, it gets other readers interested in you and your blog â€“ wow! If you’ve ever followed a link from a comment back to the commenters blog, then you know how powerful a good comment can be.

The more thought provoking your comments are, the more likely it is that another reader will be intrigued by you and follow the link back to your site. More comments mean more opportunities to connect with like-minded people who will be interested in reading and subscribing to your blog.

Like all of our contests, this is an experiment in blogging that you will also benefit from. We’ll soon post the results and some lessons learned from our first contest for your blog marketing benefit.

How the comments contest works

Each week, I’ll randomly pick one commenter to win the prize of the week. Each of these prizes will be chosen for its ability to get your mind thinking and your business growing.

Comments need to be relevant. Comments that are obvious comment spam or filler comments like great post or cool won’t be eligible to win. I’m looking for comments that contribute to the conversation and add new points to ponder. You can comment on the post or comment on other’s comments. It doesn’t matter whether you’re brand new or if you’ve been a reader from the beginning, I’m just looking for lively discussions!

This Weekâ€™s Prize:

Your choice- one of these 2 books!

Blog Marketing 4 Hour Workweek

We’ll give out $100 Visa debit cards on random weeks so comment away!

Why a comments contest?

It’s great that you come hear to read what we have to say, but we and everyone reading is just as interested if not more interested in what YOU have to say! I want to get to know you better and to provide a place where bloggers and entrepreneurs can get to know each other.

As solo-entrepreneurs and bloggers, many of us don’t have the kind of interaction with other like-minded people readily available. I hope that by striking up lively discussions, we can all meet and connect with new people who are similar to ourselves and find some great blogs in the process.

Your Perspective:

If you’re a solo entrepreneur/blogger, how do you make opportunities for yourself to connect with other like-minded people on a regular basis? And/Or, which blogs do you read that do a great job of evoking reader comments?

13 Responses

Noah writes:

July 23rd, 2007 at 7:08 am

I’ve heard great things about the 4-hour workweek Book. Let the games begin!

The Happy Rock writes:

July 23rd, 2007 at 11:35 am

Do you think the contests give you good return on the money? I am by no means judging, just wondering for my own curiosity. Or do you want to just help your readers?

erin writes:

July 23rd, 2007 at 3:24 pm

i comment on here and will continue to with or without the contests:)
to answer your posed question: two things have helped draw attention me connect. 1. being active on mybloglog. 2. commenting on my friends’ blogs. mybloglog is helpful for obvious reasons and if you haven’t joined yet, you are asleep at the wheel. and my friends have been a big help partly because they are accomplished people who are involved in many different organizations that span the world. i’m constantly getting people who linked to me from a friend. birds of a feather…

Khalid Hajsaleh writes:

July 23rd, 2007 at 6:07 pm

Hi Christine,

I like the idea of the contest a lot. Most people who visit the blog are passive when it comes to posting comments, so this is a good way to encourage them to participate in the discussion.
Most of our online connections take places via blog discussions such as this one, mybloglog and online forums.

Khalid

Jon - SmartWealthyRich writes:

July 24th, 2007 at 1:24 am

Hey Christine! That is a great idea!
You always seem to come up with awesome ideas, and this one is definitely cool! A great way to increase participation and interaction. Although you know I don’t leave comments on your blog to win something, it’s always nice to have a little incentive, as it may help get more people to comment and possibly build nice relationships this way.

Chris Rubal writes:

July 24th, 2007 at 9:18 am

Re: How do you make opportunities for yourself to connect with other like-mindhow do you make opportunities for yourself to connect with other like-minded people on a regular basis?
I have recently joined fastpitchnetworking.com which is a fantastic business networking site. It matches my business with synergistic businesses in my area, and around the country. It also has a blogging area and motivated me to start my own blog.
I just stumbled upon this site through my iGoogle subscription, and it looks interesting. Definitely interested in the 4-hour work week book. (I’d take 4 day!)

Christine writes:

July 24th, 2007 at 4:19 pm

Hi Happy! I think there is a good return. Being a brand new blog, we did gain 250+ subscribers in about 10 weeks which I think is pretty good. I’m not sure if that was because of the contest, but I can’t help but think it helped. In fact we’re getting ready to publish a 14 page “e-byte” about lessons learned in the first 60 days of blogging that may give some more insight.

With the books – first of all, it’s a lot of fun Second, I’m really interested in building a community and getting to know people. In a very busy world where we have to make decisions about how to spend our time, an incentive doesn’t hurt.

Great question!!

Christine writes:

July 24th, 2007 at 4:29 pm

Thanks for sharing Erin! I always enjoy your comments and insight. I definitely agree with you about the power of MyBlogLog – I use it too but really need to use it more.
And you’re right – you can’t underestimate the power of “real” friends.

Christine writes:

July 24th, 2007 at 4:32 pm

Exactly! A lot of times I could comment on blogs but feel like I don’t have the time. Also I know that there are a lot of people who read but don’t comment and I would love to hear those voices.

Way back when I first started visiting blogs I felt a little intimidated to comment. But once I started commenting I realized how beneficial engaging in conversation is. I hope this inspires others to come out of their ‘comment shell.’ ~ Thanks Khalid!

Christine writes:

July 24th, 2007 at 4:35 pm

Thanks Jonathan! I think this is a great way to reward those such as yourself who have been active on the blog and a great way to encourage others to share their ideas and perhaps meet some new friends in the process.

Christine writes:

July 24th, 2007 at 4:39 pm

I’m glad you stumbled upon us Chris! David is a big fan of FastPitch too – in fact he just met with the CEO Bill Jula last week while traveling in Florida. Very cool! We posted a bit about how FastPitch has helped us on the social networking tab above. You’ll have to find David’s profile on FastPitch (David Williams) and connect!

Christine writes:

July 24th, 2007 at 4:40 pm

The 4-Hour Workweek is definitely on my list of books to buy! Could it be possible – 4 hours? I’d be happy with 30!!!