Win a mascot at BloggingTips.com
I have been wanting to come up with a fun competition for readers here for a while. It’s something i hope to do on a regular basis so i hope you all enjoy this one 
I have been thoroughly pleased with the work SOS Factory have done for me so i want to spread that love!
Lets get those mouths watering first with the $400+ prizes and then ill explain what you need to do to enter!
The Prizes
1st Place
A complete mascot from SOS Factory worth $300 plus a free domain name from 815Domains*.
This is the kind of quality you can expect
2nd Place
2nd place gets $50 cash via paypal plus a free domain name from 815Domains*.
3rd Place
Free domain name from 815Domains*.
* The domain name will be registered for you by myself and then pushed to your domain account
Special Prize - $50
If this type of competition proves popular then i may use it again however i am keen on using a different type of competition. The blogger who suggests the best competition idea here for BloggingTips in the comments of this post will win $50 via paypal.
What kind of Mascot Can you expect?
Here are some more examples of Sosfactory´s work. A complete list can be found on SOS Factory.
The Competition
My post to see what competition i should run failed miserably so i came up with this.
I want bloggers out there to link to this competition using the title of this post. So all you need to do is link to this page using the text win a mascot at BloggingTips.com. Thats it. To make things even easier for you, here is the code you need to enter to add the link :
<a href="http://www.bloggingtips.com/2007/05/05/win-a-mascot-at-bloggingtipscom/" target="_blank">win a mascot at BloggingTips.com</a>
In about three weeks time i will check google for the phrase “win a mascot at BloggingTips.com” (enough time for everyone to take part and get their pages indexed). Pay attention to the parentheses around the search term. This ensures that google only searches for that exact sentence which means that the only websites that will be listed in the search will be this one and anyone who is linking here through the competition. I strongly encourage you all to NOT create a new post to link to me. All i’m looking for is the link to this page. My suggestion is to include a small reference at the end of a post but you could instead add a link to the competition in your footer or somewhere out of the way.
There are a few prizes up for grabs. 1st place will go to the highest ranking blog on google for the search term i mentioned, 2nd place will go to the next blog listed and so on and so on. Obviously, BloggingTips.com doesn’t count and no blog can come 1st and 2nd etc.
So for example , if the listings went like this :
- http://www.bloggingtips.com/2007/05/05/win-a-mascot-at-bloggingtipscom/ - ie. this page
- BlogNumber1
- BlogNumber1
- BlogNumber2
- BloggingTips.com home page
- BlogNumber3
- BlogNumber1
- BlogNumber2
- BlogNumber4
- BlogNumber2
then BlogNumber1 would be first place, BlogNumber2 would be second and BlogNumber3 would be 3rd. I know im perhaps stating the obvious to some but i wanted to clarify things from the start so that theres no confusion as to how the winner is declared.
Here are some examples of how you could slip the link into a forum :
‘And the next day i was so drunk i could hard’ly eat….oh and before i forget you should try and win a mascot at BloggingTips.com‘
‘Unrelated Link : win a mascot at BloggingTips.com‘
‘Great links ive found the last few days : linka, linkb, linkc, win a mascot at BloggingTips.com, linkd’
Notes, Rants, Ants & Pants
Some more details :
- First off, good Luck to everyone who takes part!
- You can link anyway you want - infact, im interested to see how the winners reached the top of the rankings and could prove to be a good case study.
- 3 weeks from today is May 26th 2007. The results will be taken from the .com version of google that day (which is the international one).
- Last but not least, if you have been reading this blog regularly you will know that i dont like link trains and those ‘review me and ill link back‘ competitions. I have nothing against any bloggers who use this technique and good luck to anyone who finds success with it. I just really do feel that filling up a blog with those ‘link batch’ posts to repay those who linked to you really does reduce the actual quality of posts on your blog (i mean they’re hardly offering the reader anything). I’m also not a big fan of google bombing campaigns either as the only person who benefits is the person who is offering the competition.
However, i hope that this competition is a better solution for all those involved. I want to clarify to anyone who thinks im being a hypocrite about my stance on ‘link me for review’ type posts. First off, im getting no benefit at all here as “win a mascot at BloggingTips.com” is not something anyone is ever going to search. Competition entrees can link in a post, underneath a post, in your forum footer, on your links page, on your about page - anywhere really. This competition is one thing though - linkbait! I want to get some advertising in return for the prizes etc. I want to generate an interest in the blog and bring attention to people who haven’t came across BloggingTips as yet. This is the aim of every blog who runs a competition - mine is no different
Also…more importantly, if you read my first competition you’ll know my head is completely blank for any other competition idea!!! (see the special prize info further up about this)
Nothing more to say except…
Good Luck to everyone who takes part!
If you have any questions about the competition please leave a comment and i will answer as soon as i can
Kumiko | May 5th, 2007 at 4:01 am #
Great mascot! The likeness is uncanny!
Kumiko
Kevin | May 5th, 2007 at 4:07 am #
yeah im very happy with it…though i’m not usually in spandex
Nice | May 5th, 2007 at 6:30 am #
hmmm I’ll try it eventhough my site is not ready yet. lol
StockTube | May 5th, 2007 at 6:31 am #
i love to have a mascot for my site … what’s the rules of the competition? where do i get the info?
Tara | May 5th, 2007 at 12:35 pm #
Ah, so thats a macot! What muscles you have
! Good luck with the competition
Frucomerci | May 5th, 2007 at 8:27 pm #
Hey!
what a great idea! I would like to have a mascot for my site as well!
Kevin | May 5th, 2007 at 11:05 pm #
StockTube - the rules are in the post above. if your unsure please email me
after 1 day the first result in google is from bumpzee, then cymru66 and then this page
so cymru66 is 1st place so far
it will be interesting to see how this page is listed in a few weeks
Sosfactory | May 6th, 2007 at 8:42 am #
Hey, here Sergio Ordoñez from SOSFactory, I just wanted to hope good luck to everyone who takes part.
Hoping to do a great job for some of yours
Good luck!!
Kevin | May 6th, 2007 at 11:19 pm #
9 listings for the term so far guys
for now the placings are
1st - cymru66
2nd - Graphic Design Blog
3rd - My Fish Tank
4th - Fuzzy Future
5th - Lilibeth the Beagle
6th - The Flying Beagle
good luck all
steve | May 9th, 2007 at 5:55 am #
haha! i usually don’t win anything, so i’ll be surprised if i stay at the top come judgement day.
actually things seem to be hotting up. i did the “win a mascot….” search on google this morning and there were 73 results returned, compared with about a dozen a few days ago.
all good fun anyway. can’t wait to see who the winner is?
–steve
–cymru66.com
Kevin | May 9th, 2007 at 6:00 am #
yeah its proving popular. it will be good to see what kind of design the winner gets. i just checked - it looks like The Flying Beagle has stormed into first place pushing you into second
let the war begin hahaha
Market Matador | May 11th, 2007 at 1:53 am #
That is such a cool link baiting contest! Cant believe there is a $300+ FIRST PRIZE Package!
So cool man,
-Sam from MarketMatador.com
Nick | May 11th, 2007 at 11:55 am #
Check and Mate. Johnchow.com just entered.
narendra.s.v | May 13th, 2007 at 7:20 am #
what is the last day??
Kevin | May 13th, 2007 at 9:56 pm #
narendra - May 26th 2007
update - myfishtank is leading in first place, cymru66 has dropped down to second with dylankingsberry in 3rd place. However, with Kumiko in 4th place and John Chow next in 5th i predict some change in the next 12 days.
Kumiko | May 15th, 2007 at 5:38 am #
Competition idea - It’s a bit of work for entrants, but I think competitions that encourage people to make a video are brilliant. Less entries are received but what you do get is really viral. You could try “Make A Movie About Your Most Momentous Blogging Moment!”
Kumiko
David Wilkinson | May 15th, 2007 at 11:00 am #
I joined in the fun too!
Roberta | May 15th, 2007 at 11:39 pm #
I’ll be on the first page of the results before you know it
Kumiko | May 16th, 2007 at 9:01 am #
Competition idea - have readers take a photo of a piece of paper with your URL on it in a variety of locations! Most creative photo wins!
Kumiko
Kevin | May 16th, 2007 at 10:05 pm #
like your ideas kumiko - keep em coming
latest update - kumiko has jumped ahead of the competition into first place, adgridwor jumps into 2nd place and bigplansbigcrash has leaped into 3rd
Dan | May 17th, 2007 at 2:19 pm #
My entry is in. Let’s see how it goes.
Dan | May 17th, 2007 at 2:22 pm #
A personal site assement might not be a bad prize for a competition. Not sure what the actual competition would be, but I wouldn’t mind being able to get professional ideas on a particular site…just my 2 cents
Kevin | May 18th, 2007 at 3:20 am #
what exactly do you mean by a personal site assessment dan? Could you expand this a little
Win A Mascot At BloggingTips.com | May 18th, 2007 at 4:08 pm #
Well, you could look at the winner’s site and tell them what SEO improvements then can do. Maybe some design improvements too. I know consulting fees are mad expensive, a freebie would be nice.
Ashwini | May 21st, 2007 at 8:59 am #
Just wanted to say,
my blog is listed on 7 th Google Result page
Hope that will not affect my chances of winning
Kumiko | May 23rd, 2007 at 2:11 am #
Competition idea - I think competitions need to be really easy for people to enter. You can always try the “predict my traffic for June” or “guess how much money I’ll make next week” promotions for a large number of entrants as they’re really easy to enter!
Win A Mascot At BloggingTips.com | May 23rd, 2007 at 11:54 am #
HERE WE GO LIVERPOOL!!!
engtech @ internet duct tape | May 23rd, 2007 at 10:31 pm #
Cool contest idea.
Let’s see what I can do with only 2-3 days and the fact I just bought my domain name today.
sergio ordoñez | May 24th, 2007 at 3:10 pm #
Lets go guys, lets go!!!!!
Just a few days and Sosnewbie is in 1st position.
Obviously SOSNewbie and SOSFactory doesn’t count either, but its being fun
Cheers Kevin
Sergio
Make Money Blogging! | May 25th, 2007 at 11:53 pm #
Competition Idea.
I think you should have a competition, where you declare 3 topics, topics you have chosen regarding blogging or making money online etc etc. Have all entrants create a video stating that it is for submission to a contest at Bloggingtips.com (this way you receive promotion regardless of where it is published.) and blog about one of the three topics.
This way the user can choose their favorite topic, the videos are as kumiko said, viral, so when they hit youtube its an exponential increase.
Then have them comment your blog with the address of the blog post with the video included.
Perhaps have a user vote to determine the winner.
Thanks for your time Kevin
Dylan
Win A Mascot At BloggingTips.com | May 26th, 2007 at 3:47 pm #
You can see my own Win A Mascot At BloggingTips.com review here. It’s great to be taking part Kevin… Thanks again for giving us guys a chance. You da man!