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First of all, remember when writing a lengthy post such as this, ALWAYS save every few minutes. I’m having to rewrite this because I didn’t.

This is the first contest I’ve held, and I hope all goes well. There is one main prize that I think we could all benefit from. I was going to just use the $50 Google Adwords account to promote this site, but, I’ve decided that not only will I benefit from a contest, but since I love my readers so much, I’ll give them something they can use too. That way I’m satisfied, and one lucky winner is too.

So You Want To Win Some Free Advertising?

When I started writing the original contest post (before it disappeared because I didn’t save) I had no idea how I was going to structure this, but now I’ve got it. It took a while to put everything together and come up with what to do. I hope you all enjoy.

Most contests I’ve seen online differ from the one I’m about to propose to you. A lot of the times I see that the blog author has a few way for readers to gain entries, and then a winner is randomly selected with the readers with more entries having a greater chance of winning. I personally don’t like this setup and now that I’m hosting my own contest, I’m going to run it the way I think it should be run. Read on…

Contest Entries

1. Subscribe to my rssFeed. (This gives you 5 entries)
2. Post about this contest. (Each post gives you 3 entries)
3. Add this 125×125 button to your site. (This gives you 10 entries)
4. Comment anywhere on this blog. (The top 5 commentators at the end of the contest period will each receive 100 entries!)

Unlike other contests, the winner of the $50 Google Adwords account is going to be the person who collects the most entries. I believe that it’s unfair to ask these things of you, and then randomly pick a winner. The person who worked the hardest to win should win shouldn’t they? How upset would you be if you spent the entire month of January trying to win this contest, and someone who just found out about the contest ended up winning because their email was drawn randomly.

If you wish to participate in this contest, leave a comment on this post stating that you wish to be included. You can join in at any time. When you leave your comment though, be sure to provide a VALID email address where you can be reached. If you do not submit a VALID email address and you happen to win, I won’t know how to contact you for your prize. Also, include your URL. I will be associated the number of entries with the email address you provided.

How Many Entries Can I Gain?

Since the prize is going to the person with the most entries, there is no limit. You can earn as many entries and you wish, but only one person will win the free advertising.

There are 4 basic ways (There will probably be more later on) to gain entries for the contest. With these comes a bit of responsibility and some quality control on my end.

First of all, the easiest way to earn entries is to subscribe to my rssFeed. You can only gain 5 entries from subscribing to the feed. Please do not try to subscribe with multiple email addresses because the winner will be contacted via the email you submitted in your original contest inclusion comment.

Another great way of earning entries is to simply post about this contest. You can earn 3 entries for each post you write. If you own multiple blogs, feel free to post on each blog. Multiple posts on the same blog will also gain the author 3 entries a piece. If you write multiple posts, or posts on multiple blogs, each post has to be unique. If you steal posts from others and it is brought to my attention, you will not be eligible to win.

If you do own multiple blogs/sites, the quickest way for you to earn a lot of entries is to add the 125×125 button to your site. I am just like anybody else and I don’t want my button at the bottom of your site where it will not be seen. This button must remain in place for the duration of the contest to receive credit. At 10 entries a piece, those of you with multiple sites can quickly build up your entries and get ahead of everyone. (This is an actual contest, you have to win, not get selected randomly)

The defining point for this contest though, is going to be the fourth option for earning entries. I am going to reset my top commentators widget, and let it run until the end of the contest period without resetting it. At the end of the contest period, the top 5 commentators will each receive 100 entries. Yes, 100. This will set those people apart from the rest. But don’t expect to win by just saying “Great Post” on every post. Quality comments count, irrelevant comments do not and will get deleted.

How Long Will This Contest Continue?

Today is the 25th of December, so this contest will end on January 25th at 11:59PM EST. The winner will be announced the following day.

Want To Sweeten The Pot Even More?

Originally when I had the idea to host my own contest, I wanted it to be a really big contest with lots of prizes and multiple winners. Unfortunately, I don’t have the finances to do such a thing right now, but the contest doesn’t end until January 25th. If you want to increase your chances of winning, heres what you can do. I don’t want to seem like I’m begging for money, I’m just including the option to donate. I just want my contest to have more prize value to it. If everyone donates as much as $1 the amount of prize winners will increase. If $30 is donated, I will add an additional 4 accounts for others to receive as prizes. I don’t expect the donations to go very far, but if they do, for every $30 I will add 4 accounts to the pot. This may sound like I just want you to donate, but in truth each one of these accounts will have $50 credited to it. I just want to give back to my readers. I won’t gain anything but enough money to setup the account.

Want Even More?

I’m a pretty generous guy, and I would feel bad if only one person got something out of this contest. I also don’t think that a $50 Adwords account is a big enough prize, so, the winner of the account will also receive a review of their site/blog and I will also replace my “No Ads By Google” banner with theirs.

What About The Rest of Us?

If you aren’t lucky enough to win the main prize, I’ll still do something for you for getting close to winning. The runner up will also receive a review of his/her blog. The next 8 people in line (With the most entries) will receive a link in my blogroll.

Important Stuff

I like to keep things organized, and I know that if I don’t do things this way I won’t be able to keep up with everything as fluidly as I would like to.

If you make a post about this contest, please leave a comment here (This is a different page) and include the url of the post itself, not just your homepage. Make sure that you fill in the comment form with the email address you used when you voiced your interest in this contest. This helps to keep up with who’s who.

If you include the 125×125 button to your site, also leave a comment with the URL on that same page.

Get Started Trying To Win!

You have roughly 30 days. If you want to win, you’d better get ahead while you still can. There are going to be 5 main competitors and those are going to be the top 5 commentators who earn 100 entries just for being on top.

Help me spread the word.

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