How to enter giveaways...a tutorial

Some of you have asked me to spell it out for ya, so I will.  :D  Entering giveaways can be fun and it can also be confusing if you don't keep your stuff organized.  So here's what I have been doing.  I've been making a txt document "basic entry layout", filling in all the information it asks for on the document and then I copy and paste each entry from my document to the comment box.  Remember, each entry needs to be a seperate comment.  I follow all instructions prior to making ANY comments.  I just find it easier than having to scroll back up and see what the next step is.  Kudos to Aunt Martha for suggesting that.  It works so much better.

So, lets take this giveaway for example, it's a giveaway for $200.00 credit with American Airlines!  Here's the instructions on how to enter (copied from Fabulous Fun Finds page)

To Enter
1 entry- Visit AirportParking.org, come back and comment on a parking tip you learned or something that allows me to know you went to visit the website (REQUIRED ENTRY, may complete this entry daily)
1 entry- Leave a comment ANYWHERE on the AirportParking.org Blog (the comment should be related to the post you are commenting on and not hey, I found you on Fabulous Fun Finds) (May complete this entry daily)
1 entry- Follow Fabulous Fun Finds on Facebook
1 entry- Become a blog follower of fabulousfunfinds.com
1 entry- Spread the word about the new domain with links to the AirportTravel.org giveaway post! Be creative and post how you spread the word!! Thank you, thank you!! (Daily Entries allowed, but must spread the word in a new way each day)


So here we go, don't forget, the mission of these giveaways is to expose you to a new product and get you to visit a store/shop/website that you usually wouldn't visit.  There is ALWAYS a MANDATORY entry.  If you DO NOT complete the MANDATORY entry then you can not do any other entries.  ALWAYS do the FIRST ENTRY OR NONE OF YOUR ENTRIES WILL COUNT!
The Mandatory first entry is always something like; "go visit Alight.com and choose one thing from their page you like, come back and comment on it, or Visit AirportParking.org, come back and comment on a parking tip you learned..."

*TIP* almost all of these blogs have live links to the giveaway sponsor...instead of JUST clicking on it and then having to hit back a bunch of times to get back to the giveaway, click your right mouse button & choose the option "open link in new tab"  This will make it easier and keep you from loosing the original giveaway page.  Do this with ANY live link on the page such as, if it asks you to go like Alight.com on facebook, right click the link, open in a new window, click like on facebook, close window.  :D

*Another tip* Before I start, I make sure I have my twitter and facebook open and logged on!  If you don't use twitter, fine, that's just a daily entry you won't get...BUT, I would make a twitter, just for these giveaways...which is what I did.

So here's what my basic document looks like once I have done all of the things it asks me to do:

I learned that Often the next most convenient
parking to long-term parking at the airport is off-
site parking and then taking a shuttle to the
airport.

I commented on the "How to choose parking" post

I follow Fabulous Fun Finds on facebook

I am a blog follower

I tweeted about this giveaway The URL is:
http://twitter.com/Contest_Andra/status/21715824484

Now, once I have done everything I'm asked to do, I fill in my document with the neccessary comments...as you see above.  Then, I go back to the giveaway entry and start copying and pasting my comments.
First comment would be "I learned that...blah blah blah"
Submit your comment
next comment you will make will be: I commented on the "How to choose parking" post
and so on, and so on.

The very last entry asks you to share a different way every day, be creative.  So, that means you can blog about the post, share it on facebook, share on myspace, tweet it...whatever...just do something DIFFERENT every day and then come to the giveaway and make a comment that you did it. Don't do all of these things in one day, if you do, it will still only count as one entry and it will keep you from getting your daily entries.  If you tweet, always include the tweets URL...you do this by tweeting, then on the actual TWITTER website you will click on your tweets time underneath the body of the tweet "5 seconds ago" it will take you to a page that shows NOTHING but that tweet...copy what's in your browser search bar...that is the URL of the tweet.

Some of these giveaways want you to "like" the vendor on facebook as well as the blog follower.  Use the "right click, open in new tab" method, click like, then go to your document and type in "I like alight.com (or whoever the vendor is) on facebook.

DO NOT EVER PUT ALL OF YOUR ENTRIES IN ONE COMMENT BOX, FOR THEY WILL NOT COUNT.  MAKE SURE THAT EACH THING YOU HAVE DONE GOES INTO A DIFFERENT COMMENT EACH TIME.

It's basic instruction following...but I know that when you see it for the very first time you are like "um, yeah, too much, not doing this"  That's how I was, but once I did my first entry it was cake from there.

Now I'm not saying that EVERY single giveaway is the same...some ask you to sign up for the vendors mailing list...if that's the case it's just another step to put in your document.  Go to the website, sign up for the mailing list, then put on your document "I signed up for Alight.com's (or whatever the vendor is) mailing list.  Use your copy paste method to transfer it to the comment box when you need to.

*Yet another tip* Everybody is different, but what helps me is keeping a document for each blog I visit...and listing what giveaways I entered and when they end.  This lets me know what I need to go back to daily and do either my "daily tweet" or my "daily sharing".  Sometimes you can go to the vendors website every day and pick a new item you like, enter it in a comment for another entry for the giveaway.  If you win, it will either be posted on the blog page, or they will email you.  Make sure to always include your name in your comments.  I sign in with Google and it does it for me, if I'm not mistaken you can also sign in with yahoo, but I'm not 100% sure on that.  If you aren't signed in with anything...make sure to include your name and your email addy in the comments that you enter.

It gets easier every time you enter a giveaway on a certain blog.  For instance if the entry asks you to "follow fabulous fun finds on facebook" and you have done that already in a previous giveaway you entered, you don't have to do it again. You just have to comment "I follow you on facebook"  or "I follow you on twitter under @Contest_Andra."  So on...if you use twitter, MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR TWITTER NAME WHEN YOU SAY YOU FOLLOW THEM ON TWITTER...HOW CAN THEY CONFIRM THAT  YOU DO IF THEY DON'T KNOW YOUR USER NAME?

Just follow the instructions.  It's really not that hard, it just seems a little daunting when you first look at it.  I hope this helped, and didn't just confuse you guys more.  I tried, but I'm not really a tutorial type of person.  LOL