A girl runs contests for 8 months and gets lots of grief today of all days about them. Let me explain something  that people who are not bloggers don’t realize.

Running a blog takes time.

No. Scratch that.

Running a blog takes HOURS and HOURS and HOURS a day, 8 days  week. Between content management, marketing, subject matter, writing, meetings…and oh yes, we have meetings, and more. And know what? So many bloggers do it as a, dare I say the word, “hobby”.

Hobby meaning FREE.

Can you believe people out there open up a site, spend 25 hours a week on making it awesome, and then donate their expertise and interests into running basically advertising for other companies and for their visitors to receive free products?

I know. Its amazing. Maybe slightly stupid. But definitely amazing.

Most bloggers are lucky to walk away with $50 a month from advertising from their blog, but most just meander around and do it for fun. Just like every magazine, radio station, and media outlet out there, bloggers determine their own site and how their policies work. We have a contest policy, and advertising policy, a TOS, and Privacy Policy. If you scroll over those handy dandy little buttons there on the top you can read everything about us. Its neat. Its called scripting.

The way we do ours is flat out 48 hours to claim a prize. Half the time well over 48 hours pass….its usually more like a week before I get around to repulling. Regardless, why so little?  Why not a week? Why not 10 days? Because that contest is not the only thing I have going on in my life.

Shocker, huh.

I probably have 50 contests going on and 10 blog posts a day, a forum, a show on Fridays, a radio show starting in a week, 2 businesses and a FAMILY.

See how that family thing is written last? That’s because that is how they feel when I have to hold someones hand on claiming a prize. It makes my DH cry when I have to babysit my blog visitors.

This blogs policy is to get a contest moving for the benefit of our readers, pick a winner, get a winner to the sponsor, and be done with it. If someone doesn’t care enough to do one of the following things:

• Follow us on twitter
• Put us in your blogroll to check
• Put us in your feedburner
• Send our posts to your email

Then the prize isn’t that important to you . In fact…I feel a bit used if you drop an email and run.

We run contests for three reasons:

1) the benefit of the sponsor who is looking to get thier face and links in front of an audience

2) to benefit our readers who spend time here and we want to give back as a thank you for their time

3) to gain new readers and expose them to our blog via a contest they may have come over to check out

And yes, we are going to make you visit the sponsors site 9 times out of 10 so puhleese don’t complain about it. In fact, if you don’t want to visit the site and check out the products, why the hell are you trying to WIN a product from that company? I actually heard a blogger a few weeks back say that someone left a comment complaining about having to check out the sponsors site.

HELLO. FREE PRODUCT.

Let me rephrase so I don’t stutter.

F*R*E*E*

In fact…it’s all free. I don’t charge for you to enter and in turn, i expect you to come back and read and interact with my witty and interesting daily commentary.

I suppose I could do raffle tickets….like a $1 an entry on all prizes. Then Ill get paid to do it and can wait out the SEVEN months that it took someone to try to claim a prize from me today. But then I would owe the government like 29 cents for every $1 and…….see, complicated.

The truth is we run contests because they are fun. We want you to be involved, not give us a one night stand comment and leave us with a number that doesn’t work when we dial it. If you don’t have time to visit us, put us in your reader or add our posts to your email and then you can keep up on your own turf. If someone misses out on a prize, show up to our Friday show where we regive  the prizes live to someone that attends.

Second chance, how thoughtful of you Trisha!

I know. I know.

Other than that, quitcherbitchin.

~Trisha