  Contests & Activities
This week: Edited by: Sarah Rae  
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1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions
The contests and activities on this site are constantly changing! Almost every day there is something new and exciting to view and participate in. The ideas are endless. Some succeed, some manage to get along, while others, unfortunately, are left behind and forgotten. My goal as your Contest & Activity newsletter editor is to provide each of you with the tools it takes to create a great success.
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| ASIN: 0995498113 |
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Amazon's Price: $ 19.95
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As any seasoned contest or activity host can tell you, the key to a successful contest or activity is advertising. The world of Writing.Com has many ways to advertise your item. Some require gift points, most do not, and all require a little bit of creativity.
Advertising starts with the creation of your item. Your title must be creative but informative. "A Poetry Contest" for a title does well in informing people what the contest is, but isn't very memorable. "Yellow Peels and Rhyming Wheels" might sound creative, but it doesn't bring to mind a contest. Try to find a middle ground. Likewise, your brief description should be just as creative and informative. Including a teaser about what the prompt is, or a quote on how much the prizes are might draw in more interest than "it is a poetry contest with prizes".
Once the item is created, it's time to get down and dirty with the real advertising. Utilizing the "Writing Contests @ Writing.Com" and "Activities @ Writing.Com" are great ways to get started. Remember to only post your item once, then wait for it to fall off the page. You have 255 characters to spend in advertising your piece, which might not seem like a whole lot, but it's almost 3x as much space as your brief description allows. Use all 255 characters to give as much information as possible!
Other ways of advertising include adding a tag to your signature during the duration of the contest. You can also submit a link to your item to this newsletter and it might be included in future editions and sent directly into the inbox of 20,000 members! (Scroll further down to the bottom of the "editors picks" section to submit an item for consideration). Another popular way is advertising in scroll. Do this with consideration to others. I'm sure members in scroll do not want you plugging your item every other minute. Do it every half an hour to an hour if you have time. One thing you must NOT do is email people with an invitation to check out your contest, unless specifically invited to do so. If you do so without an invitation, it is considered SPAM and could result in losing your account!
There is also the bid-click system which is a great way of advertising your contest or activity, though it is not free. For more information, visit: "The Writing.Com BidClick System" Another way of advertising is limited to preferred authors and above, but is another fun tool. Preferred authors and higher are given a chance to create a billboard for the "Who's Online" page. {item:} and {ritem:} links are allowed on this page. To edit your billboard, go to "My Account" then scroll down to "Billboard". On this page, available to everyone, there is also a section for "Highlighted Items". While you're at it, plug your contest or activity there too! Your bioblock is another great place to draw attention to your item.
There are plenty of ways to advertise your item! Try each of them and see just how successful your contest or activity is. |
Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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| ASIN: 0996254145 |
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Amazon's Price: $ 12.95
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Contests & Activities: October 25, 2006 Issue [#1346]
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