7 Easy Steps to Winning a Blog Contest - It’s Not Just About Pure Luck

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Over the past 5 months, I’ve developed a reputation as “the contest guy”. Not only have I started some crazy contests that have created a ton of buzz, but I’ve also won a few of them myself. For instance, I recently won a free pass to Affiliate Summit West, an honorable mention in the Bruce Clay SEO Charity contest, and a free pass to the Elite Retreat being held in San Francisco next month. In addition, I beat out Tyler Cruz in a little competition we had where I was clearly the underdog. Not bad if you ask me.

So how do I do it? I’m not really a believer of luck and I think the right strategy can help you to make the most of the contests you enter.

I’ve put together some tips that will help you get started. Read through them and apply them to my latest HUGE contest - The Craziest Internet Marketing Contest You’ve Ever Seen. They might help you win out on March 31.

1. Assess the risk-reward ratio

First of all, analyze the contest and determine whether or not it’s really worth your time. The 3 most important factors are:

• prizes & incentives
• time, effort, and resources necessary
• chances of winning

Look at the prizes. Do you really want what the contest is offering? Can you make use of them? A lot of times, blog contests pump up the value of the prize pool with subjective advertising, points, and services. What’s more important is how much the prizes are worth to YOU. If they’re valuable to you then it’s worth giving it a shot. Some contests come with a lot of intangible value other than the actual prizes as well. The exposure received and the relationships built can be huge. For example, defeating Tyler Cruz in a competition and being mentioned on Bruce Clay, a top SEO agency blog, definitely gave me a big push.

Another thing you should consider is the amount of time and effort necessary to enter into the contest. Obviously if it’s going to take a significant time commitment from you to win, it might not be worth the effort. Opportunity cost is too great as you could be doing something a lot more productive with the resources you have available.

Finally, assess your chances of winning. If the contest is held at a smaller site, your chances of winning are probably great. If the contest is a random draw on a huge site like Yahoo, it’s almost guaranteed you lose.

2. Just try

Sometimes it just doesn’t hurt to try. A lot of people may think they have no chance of winning and therefore don’t even bother participating. What they don’t know is that a lot of people are thinking the same exact thing. This happened during John Chow and Rocket Profit’s contest for 2 free Elite Retreat passes worth over $10,000. Out of John’s 20,000 RSS subscribers, only 15 people participated. Huge missed opportunity for everyone, but better for me ’cause I won.

3. Analyze what you’re up against

If the contest you are considering is performance-based, it might be wise to size up the competition and see what you’re up against. That way you’ll be better equipped to gauge the time and effort necessary to come out on top. For the John Chow/Rocket Profit contest, each participant had to write up an article on how they would promote an affiliate offer to make money online. Many who took part posted their links in the comments section and I was able to use them to my advantage.

For this very reason, I suggest you stay under the radar until the results have been finalized. That way, no one will be able to see what you’re doing and outdo you.

4. Be active in the community where the contest is taking place

One of the main benefits of a blog or forum contest is the community aspect involved. Sure the prizes can be great but the networking opportunities and the chances to connect with other people are even greater. You’ll be exposed to new potential partners, sponsors, and customers. Plus you can do a little sucking up to the contest administrator and develop a relationship in that way.

5. Give it all you’ve got

If you’re going to enter into the contest, why not give it your best shot. An exceptional effort is more likely to be noticed than something sub-par.

6. Make good use of your contacts

If the contest involves voting or a popularity factor of some sort, it’s time to leverage your sites and your contacts. Get your friends and fans to support you and reach out to new people you’re connected with to help you out. It’s a great opportunity to develop relationships and increase your exposure.

7. Win the prize (or don’t be a sore loser)

Hopefully you win the prize, but if not, don’t be a sore loser. Nothing looks worse than someone who cries about losing and acts like he’s entitled to 1st place. Assuming that the contest host is honest and you’ve given it your best shot, there’s really nothing else you can do. Cross your fingers, hope for the best, and chill out with some of the new contacts made.

Cheers and good luck! If you haven’t already done so, be sure to check out the Craziest Internet Marketing Contest You’ve Ever Seen. The contest has over $12,000 in awesome prizes that will be distributed to winners in a random draw on March 31. Don’t miss out!