My First Article on Ezine Articles

7 Reasons Why I Like Giveaways
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Marilyn_Parmelee]Marilyn Parmelee

I've been asked why I like giveaways so much and why encourage others to enter giveaways. So here goes, are you ready?

1. It builds your name recognition.
2. It helps build your brand.
3. It keeps you up to date with what others are promoting.
4. You can download products for your own personal or business use.
5. You can download products to give away and use them to promote your business.
6. You can build your own very targeted list.
7. When you upgrade, you can make money from the One Time Offers you enter. (I wish AOL would come up with a way to say "You've got money!" instead of "You've got mail!" when there's a receipt for payment in your in box. Wouldn't that be fun?)

So, how do you enter a giveaway? Here's what you need:

Create a new folder. Label it "Giveaway Records" I keep this as a main folder and add individual folders for each giveaway to this folder.

In this folder, you will keep all information you need for the giveaway. I use notepad to list all my information.

You will need the following:
For your profile, you will need to enter the email address you're using for the giveaway and the password they've given you or that you have created. You will also need to put your picture in your giveaway folder, because they'll want you to include that in your profile. They'll also need your Clickbank ID, your PayPal nickname and your Twitter username.
Your Giveaway Product:
1. Product Name
2. Product Image
3. Short Description Of Your Product (around 50 characters)
4. Product Description (up to 300 characters)
-Squeeze Page URL
-Direct Download URL (Here is where I put my thank you page with the download link.)
-Support Contact (Email address is what I use.)

You'll also want in this folder:
- your unique link to invite contributors and the one to invite members after the giveaway goes live
- the giveaway rules
- the date the giveaway goes live
- the date the giveaway ends
- copies of the emails to use for the giveaway

For those of you who do not have your own product to give away, go to my website on the 'find products' page. There you'll find three sites where you can access free private label rights products you may give away. Be sure to check out the license you get with the product and follow it to the letter.

Another question I often get is, "How do I promote a giveaway? I don't have a list!" I know what you mean. I had a hard time with that one, too. Here are a few ideas:

Email family and friends. Have them invite their friends. It's for a good cause, building your business. There are always products there they may find interesting.
Twitter about it.
Contact your friends on social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Ning, Yahoo and others. You CAN promote without a list. Use your imagination. DO NOT spam.
Blog about it.
Squidoo it.
Twitter it.

I hope this gives you some ideas. Take the plunge, promote your business by participating in giveaways! For more information on frugal and free ways to grow your business, go to http://www.frugalebizproducts.com

Marilyn Parmelee is a published author, pastor and internet marketer. She helps author's, nonprofits, and small businesses develop a web presence. To find out more go to http://www.frugalebizproducts.com/