Monday, April 11, 2011

What do YOU think?

I want YOUR opinion...I NEED your help :)

What do you think about the giveaways?
My hope in providing giveaways is to encourage entrepreneurs and get them more business. I was hoping to be able to help.

I am a huge supporter of handmade. I love buying, selling, and giving homemade. My etsy shop/business allows me to buy handmade things for myself, husband, boys and for gifts. I feel it blesses the maker, the giver and the recipient.
I believe in people using the gifts of creativity God has given them. What encourages YOU to buy homemade?

Do YOU like the giveaways?

Would you RATHER have MORE artist spotlights?

Would you rather have more FAMILY posts?

MORE recipes?

More TUTORIALS?

What do you want to see?

I know this is not for everyone, and please do not feel like I am forcing my beliefs on you. BUT it is who I am. I want to be in God's perfect will. If giveaways are NOT what he wants for me to invest my time in I want to do that. I started this whole support of handmade because I felt like HE was calling me to.

To be honest I have been a bit discouraged lately. it has been SO hard to get entries into the giveaways. I spend countless hours trying to advertise for these businesses and I fell like I am not helping at all. There is so much time invested in this blog. AND I do ALL of it for free. My desire is to help. Maybe there is a better way?

I am open to constructive criticism :) Thank you for ALL your help!
On another note...since this is such a srious post, I thought this would lighten the mood. My dad just sent this to me...HAD to post...:)
Kels
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7 comments:

  1. UnknownApril 11, 2011 at 8:15 PM

    I'm a big believer in your blog reflecting what you feel you want to write about, blog about, do for a giveaway etc. You honor your readers, which is important, but write from an honest place always, and people will enjoy to read it!
    and I'm always up for a giveaway! I love entering them :P

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  2. cristiApril 11, 2011 at 8:25 PM

    A few thoughts. Perhaps the giveaways have too many options for entry which take a lot of time. Ive been thinking about this with my giveaways and simplifying how many ways to enter so it doesn't feel so daunting. The 10 entries for buying seems too commercial and a bit unfair to me. I haven't seen very many giveaways do that. I LOVE your enthusiasm and support for handmade. I think it's a wonderful mission. I also think it's sometimes easy for us to get caught up in the numbers and feel like we need x number of readers or entries but really it comes down to the quality of people entering, i.e. For you...do they really love handmade and are big supporters of small biz or are they just interested in free stuff. Lastly, I gave you my suggestion about the way your posts show up in your FB page. It's hard for me to want to "share" one of your giveaway posts on FB when I'm actually just sharing a quote of scripture. That makes me a bit uncomfortable bc not everyone has the same beliefs about religion.hope that all makes sense! :)

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  3. KathieApril 11, 2011 at 8:27 PM

    Here's my feedback in general about giveaways.

    In general, I love them. Entering giveaways takes a lot of time and I won't enter any that I know I have a slim to none chance of winning.

    I recently hosted a giveaway that only got 6 entries. I had to realize that the giveaway was for something that didn't really interest my followers and there are a LOT of giveaways going on out there. Since it is time consuming to complete all entries for a giveaway (which I do and a lot of others do as well), that means bloggers prioritize their time entering giveaways.

    I hope this lends some insight and helps!

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  4. jillreneeburrowsApril 12, 2011 at 9:10 AM

    as an entrepeneur myself i first want to say thank you for helping support and promote handmade goods!!

    i have to agree with the last couple of comments...there are a gazillion bloggers doing giveaways all the time so i think something needs to be done to be different. not sure what or how...but you need to do something that sets you apart from everyone else!

    and yes...allllll those entry options can be very time consuming!! i'd say just pick one...if you're really truly interested in helping out the entrepeneur then maybe the entry could be 'liking' their fb page and posting a little 'love' on their wall. and if they make a purchase then they could get an extra entry. but that's it. keep it simple...they could even post on the wall that you sent them so your name is mentioned and you get some credit too.

    again...thank you so much for supporting handmade! and keep striving to serve God's purpose...we serve an awesome God!! :)

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  5. Scuba Wife LifeApril 12, 2011 at 10:55 AM

    I love giveaways. I love seeing how creative people are and I love the giveaways drive business their way {granted, I also love winning!}. Pray about it. If you feel like God is leading you in that direction then go with it! :) I love that you are seeking his will in this! :)

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  6. Bella @ Bella before and afterApril 12, 2011 at 1:41 PM

    Kelsey, I know how you feel about wanting to do more for the people who so graciously offer their product for a giveaway. I too, am so happy to support handmade, and would love to start my own shop someday too.

    I do agree that tons of entries is time consuming, but they are not mandatory, so if the person wants to take advantage they can, ( I LOVE when I cab get extra entries) HOWEVER I rarely enter something, unless I can really use it, or love it.

    I know that it takes TIME for your blog to get the kind of following that no matter what you giveaway, there will be tons of entries, but again, I have to wonder if this is really helping the sponsor, or people just trying to score some free stuff. Traffic is good, but in the end there's no point if most of the entries could care less, AFTER the giveaway is over.

    I am still trying to figure out how to approach all this on my own blog, I will let you know if I find the prefect solution, however what works for me, might not work for you, so keep doing what your heart says, and be true to your readers in all you do, the hard work will eventually pay off, I promise. :)

    Stop by anytime to say hello!!!
    Hugs,
    Bella :)**AMAZE ME AUGUST** @ Bella Before and After

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  7. TiffanyApril 12, 2011 at 7:09 PM

    First off I love entering giveaways when it is something that interests me. For instance if the giveaway is girl-related I don't usually enter because I don't have a girl.
    And even if I don't enter the giveaway I still find a new shop or product that I otherwise might never have known about.
    I don't care for the giveaways that have a million different entries, yes I know not all are mandatory. I myself don't care for captchas on giveaway entry posts, I understand some people's want of them on their blog though.

    But most importantly, if you feel this is what you are called to do, then DO IT!! I know the merchants whose shops you are promoting appreciate what you do.

    As for what I want to see more of.
    I love the family posts and tutorials. The recipes, while delicious I'm sure, I usually skim past because I'm not much for cooking, lol.

    In the end though, this is YOUR blog, post about what you want to post about!

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Would love to hear from you! Love reading each and every comment! Remember to leave your email when entering a giveaway so I can contact you!

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