Well I got some exciting news! I have a new contest that I am busy preparing to launch on the 1st of December. I am really excited because this is not the typical contest and it is something that will definately Stand Out (pun intended :P) and hopefully gain a whole lot of exposure.

This will be one of the most fun and creative competitions the blogging community has ever seen and it is sure to build awareness for the bloggers that enter – plus you will have a crazy amount of fun!

BUT…

As we all know, a contest is not a real contest with out fantastic prizes – right? And I need 12 of them! 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes for each week in December (Thats right, its a new contest each week :D) So the last couple of days I have been doing a whole lot of research into what products I think you will absolutely love! And I have found quite a few that I want to get.

How Do I Get The Products I Want As Prizes?

There are really only three ways that I go about trying to get these products as prizes.

  1. Buy Them Myself

    Honestly, I hate this option! It means I have to spend money and why would I do that if I could get them for free. The only reason I would use this method is if it were for a tangible product like an iPod or Flip Mino.

  2. Get The Products Donated

    This is more like it! If you find a product you like and would love to see as a prize in your contest why not shoot the owner a quick email or give them a call to see if they are willing to donate the prize. You would be surprised how many will.

    Just make sure you focus on the WIIFM factor (Whats In It For Me). The products owner will want to know how giving away a copy of his product will benefit him.

    Here are a few options for you to use:

    • Back links on each post about the contest
    • Entrants are required to link to them
    • Blog has over 500 Subscribers
    • Blog generates over 10,000 unique visits a month

    The better you sell yourself and your competition, the more chance you have of getting the product you want. Never be afraid to ask for something. The worse they can do is say no!.

  3. Joint Venture With The Product Owner

    I have run my fair share of contest, but it wasn’t until today that I thought of this option.

    So what do I mean by joint venture?
    Well let me explain it by how it happened! I was browsing through The PayDotCom Marketplace, and found a product that I was sure you would all love (because I wanted it myself). It was a great product on list building – by a guy that has a built a list of over 200,000 and makes $40,000+/month from it!

    Everyone is talking about how if you are blogging you need to focus on building an optin list. It’s all about lists.. And the fact is, I have just created a new project that is based solely on list building – so I wanted this product as well.

    What if I could get a free copy for myself as well as for a prize?
    Wouldn’t that be amazing? To be able to get free products for our own personal use. But I knew to be able to convince the product owner to give me a copy of his product, free for my personal use I really neaded to ramp up the WIIFM factors!

    That’s when I thought about doing a joint venture!

    • What if I agreed to read the product, and spend a week working the ideas and tips from this product into my new project?
    • What if I agreed to post the results, daily, as a case study on how effective the product really way? – Wouldn’t the product owner love that!

    But I decided that I wanted to benefit even more from this joint venture. I wanted to profit from it – I wanted money! So I decided to ask that during the case study, that I be able to use my affiliate link to his product. That way we both profit – a perfect joint venture!

Interesting concept isn’t it? But I know what you are thinking.

How Do I Word The Email For The Best Result?

Instead of giving you the key points, etc… I decided the easiest way is to show you the email that I used. Notice it is short and to the point – because most successful internet marketers don’t have time to read massive proposals!

My Joint Venture Proposal Email:

Hi Steven,

My name is Thomas Sinfield and I run a blog called StandOutBlogger.com (500+ Sunscribers).

The reason I am writing to you is because I am planning on running a (Insert Contest Name Here) on my blog throughout December and I would love to see you ‘Quick List Formulas’ be one of the major prizes!

I am expecting not only great participation on this competition, but also a lot of exposure and I would like
to ask for your support.

What I Would Love To Receive From You:

2 Copies of your ‘Quick List Formula’

  • 1 for one of the weekly contests 1st prize!
  • 1 for me so that I can do an honest review post on your product.

What Do You Get From It:

  • All entrys submitted in your week will link to your products sales page
  • Your link will be added to all posts on StandOutBlogger.com for that week
  • A full length review post of your product on StandOutBlogger.com (Using my affiliate link)

I am currently in the process of launching a new email list and I would love to use it as a case study for your product. This would mean multiple posts, making reference to your product linking to it (using affiliate links) – Making you extra sales.

My list is: (Insert Link Here) (I would love the opportunity to (Insert Extra Opportunity Here) you when the list launches!)

I know this competition is going to be a huge success and we have already received the support of other high profile internet marketers

And I would love to see you and your product added to it.

I look forward to hearing from you, and really appreciate your consideration.

Thankyou

Thomas Sinfield

http://www.standoutblogger.com

It’s All About Creating Win/Win Senarios

As you would have noticed, I made sure that the offer didn’t just benefit me but instead focused mainly on how my proposal benefits the product owner. If you do this I am sure you will get most of the products you ask for!  (I will let you know as soon as I get a response!)

I hope this has been helpful to all you bloggers that are looking to run contest. But to be honest, to do a joint venture like I discussed above you don’t even need a contest to get a free product and affiliate sales!

So what are you waiting for?

Arrows to ecourse

About Thomas Sinfield

Thomas run multiple blogs and is busy testing different strategies and systems to increase profitability and exposure. He is currently working on a new project (yes another blog) that is set to be his most profitable yet.