Blogs, t-shirts and competition tips..

Hello again avid readers - the multitudes of you out that read this, I hope..I'm sure..Well, as always we've been busy here at LadyUmbrella ladies t-shirts, foraging away diligently behind the scenes, running our competition and trying to get the word out..trying to get the word out - the story of my life, I'm a bonafide promo pimp now..

..and, I'm happy to say things are working out nicely so far..one thing I've learned is that you need to, or should really try to, get blogs written about you, your brand and company..Its incredible what happens if you get a few and then as a result you get some nice traffic to your page and can connect with some more people who like what you are doing..We've recently got 3 blogs written about us and I'd just like to list them here for you all and also say thanks to those who wrote them for us...
Mums Day Out - A blog all the way from New Zealand..nice to get a mention from the other side of the world..Shirt Snob - An informative blog that you don't have to read - it will read to you - how nifty is that? And lastly, but by now means least, Rock Steady Vibes - a very well written blog, longest one yet about us..cool stuff..These blog posts have help spread the word of LadyUmbrella and we're forever indebted..

And what about the LadyUmbrella t-shirt competition..well, its too early to call it a success but to any t-shirt company out there looking to get more fans or whatever I can't recommend getting a competition going enough..They are incredible..To date we've had over 80 entries from all over the world..We have gained about another 150 LadyUmbrella facebook fans and ultimately a lot more people know about LadyUmbrella t-shirts. So, how do I suggest you do it?

Firstly, I think its important to make sure your competition is easy to enter, not just the actual entering part itself but also the question or puzzle..you want to include as many people as possible and make it simple for them to enter..KISS - keep it short and simple..

Secondly, you should set targets for what you want to achieve out of a competition..Do you want to swell your mailing list numbers, get more facebook/twitter/myspace fans or do you want to try get sales as a direct result of the competition? For us, we want to get more fans and spread the word of LadyUmbrella..this is primarily because we are a new t-shirt brand and company..more bedded in brands may want to get sales directly from the competition..

Once you have decided upon your competition and how it will be entered with some realistic targets set now the games begin..You have to promote the life out of the competition..Get on twitter, facebook, myspace and shout about your competition (obviously don't shout aggressively though, be friendly like)..this will get you some traffic and entries..Get down and dirty with Google and see what it returns for searches like "sweepstakes submit", "online sweepstakes", "sweepstakes forums"...If you get lucky you'll find some incredible forums with thousands of active members who just live to "comp" (as they call it)..there are also lots of directory type sites for competitions that also have huge numbers using them to "comp"..Here are a few that we have used and that have been effective for us:

- www.contest.co.nz - very active forum in NZ, quite a few entries and a nice friendly forum
- www.sweeps247.com - not sure how much entries this one has given me but we do get page views from it
- www.hypersweep.com - has got a lot of traffic for me, not sure about entries/new fans
- www.gimme.co.nz - got a few entries from here
- www.winprizesonline.com - not that successful but they all help
- www.online-sweepstakes.com - not a lot of traffic from here but again all helps
- www.forums.about.com - not a whole lot of success here but....

Ok so, the last three listed weren't dynamite fan making entry yielding machines for me but...in this day and age of King Google it is important to get backlinks to your page to appease the SEO(verlord) and the even if sites don't give you a lot of traffic they will give you that all important backlink..hopefully some of you will find some use for the above?

And what about LadyUmbrella t-shirts..when will they be here? The quest in trying to get t-shirts produced to our exact spec is drawing to a close..we hope..its been a long and winding road but the end line is almost in site..Production should commence soon and then it will be party time..(or time to sell t-shirts rather)..Rest assured that once we get them I'll take pictures of them like they are a new born baby and have them up here for you all to see..

Alright, I'm going to call time on this soiree...first blog in October, in the can..rock on all...