A couple weeks ago I had lunch with a friend. She confessed that after the posts I wrote last month on giveaways she was scared. She told me:

It’s too hard. I’m just not going to host any more giveaways.

This bummed me out because that was not my intention. My goal was to make hosting a giveaway easier. Because I know that for the most part you are going things right and that a couple tweaks would transform your giveaway into a legit one.

My goal was to make hosting a giveaway easier.

What are the steps?

1. pick type
2. explain rules
3. tell people
4. host it
5. give prizes away

The only step you probably aren’t already thinking about is the giveaway type. But that’s because you, unlike me, don’t know that a giveaway goes by three names.

When it comes to the result of the steps, you just have to make a couple tweaks:

• laying out the rules so you and the entrants are on the same page
• making sure that people can find the rules if they want to
• following the rules, even when you are disappointed with the outcome

Does following these steps require just a little extra work? Yes, but I still bet you can go from idea to launching your giveaway in three hours.

Does following these steps make your giveaway look different than everyone else’s? Yes, but your giveaways will look more like the large established brands. And when did standing out and looking professional become a bad thing?

When did standing out and looking professional become a bad thing?

The other big benefit of following these steps is that this process will help you define your goals for the giveaway. Which gives you a measuring stick to determine how successful your giveaway was.

Do these steps make it seem easier to host a legit giveaway? Share your thoughts in the comments.