Archive for the ‘contest’ Category

Interesting post today from Social Media Examiner, and I think I need to share this, if only so that I can better understand what’s what with giveaways.

Evidently it’s not as easy to do giveaways and promotions on Facebook, and in general there are a lot of guidelines to follow – which I think most of us small businesses do, just as a matter of ethics. Requiring people to “like” a page or become “fans” or do anything changes the rules and makes this a contest, as opposed to a give-away. If you read the comments in the article on Social Media, you’ll find a lot of confusion, especially as regards to doing this on Facebook.

When you read the “Promotions” guidelines on Facebook, (and we’ve all done that, right???), you’ll notice that what many of us have been doing doesn’t seem to fit those guidelines. I think most of us with some sort of fiber giveaway to celebrate milestones – a certain number of fans, reaching a major number of blogs – do so with pure intent – like this and you could win something. We just need to be aware of what we’re doing and make sure everything that we need to do according to federal guidelines, we are.

It’s similar to the FTC guidelines about bloggers promoting an item where they receive a commission – we need full disclosure that we get paid to do this. If you start looking at your spam, you’ll notice a lot of it doesn’t have actual names and addresses at the end of emails to tell you exactly where all this is coming from. More and more sites (mine included) let you know that there are products we promote for which we may receive a commission. That’s how affiliate marketing works, and that’s a great source of passive income for many of us.

So here’s what I’m going to do. When I hit a milestone that I’ve set, I’ll do a giveaway of goodies.  I’ll mention on Facebook that it’s happening, but you won’t need to do anything except head over to read the blog – which hopefully you’re doing anyway.  Any giveaway will run solely through my blog – after I continue to read up on the in’s and out’s of this. I’m interested in your thoughts on this topic.

Boring, huh?  Here’s some eye candy to make up for it (although ya gotta admit this is important information). Enjoy the marbled papers.

Copyright 2009 by Linda A. Moran, all rights reserved.

As I’ve been reading blogs lately, I’m reminded of people I really admire, living and non. The kids asked me to name my heros, and of course they didn’t know any of the names. One even said “Were they around for George Washington?” Nothing like continuing to feel even older! So here goes:

* Helen Keller – actually saw her on television in the 50’s, and have read about her and Anne Sullivan. Remarkable.

* Eleanor Roosevelt – “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” A great first lady, world ambassador, and far-thinking woman.

* Albert Schweitzer – world-class humanitarian; gave up a music career to become a doctor and set up clinics in Africa.

* The Founding Fathers – this was an amazing collection of brilliant minds at one particular point in history; they did what no others have done.

* Nelson Mandela – prison for 25 years for what you believe in.

* Thomas Friedman – NY TImes columnist who makes economics make perfect sense – I actually read him regularly, and The World is Flat” is a must-read.

* Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ghandi – nonviolence should be the only answer.

* Barbara Kingsolver – her writing makes you want to become an environmentalist, she cares so for the world around her.

* Agnes Smedly – a little-known American woman who was on the Long March with Mao and worked with Margaret Sanger.

* Dorothea Dix, Margaret Sanger, Jane Adams, and Abigail Adams – just amazing women who fostered women’s rights and women’s causes – when it wasn’t popular to do so.

Okay, so there’s more than 10, but by grouping them, I could include those who have made a difference for me.

Other Top Ten’s – Martha Stewart, Inspirational books

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