Running a contest for those working with your business or those considering working with your business is a great way to generate positive attention and get people interested in your products and services. Contests are inexpensive and they help you get your products and services into the marketplace. You might be giving away something for free, but you have one more person enjoying what you offer and that one person could generate handfuls of new customers for you. Plus, the contest is a great way to generate interest. If you have ten people enter, there are ten people interested in getting what you are giving. Though one will get it for free, nine might decide to buy the items or services if they do not win. The contest helped you snag them and now they are hooked. Running a great contest is simple. You need a sweepstakes entry box and promotional displays. You also need whatever item is the price, which should be something related to your business.

Make sure the details of your contest are fully explained. You might need to set some ground rules, so if you get someone who wants to cause a problem in the future, you can refer back to the original ground rules. This is something that is unfortunately necessary in this day and age. Though you are offering people the potential to win something for doing nothing besides filling out a form, someone will cry foul and accuse you of wrong-doing. Make sure the contest rules are outlined clearly for everyone and make them as simple as possible.

Do your best to spread the word about the contest. You should use it as an opportunity to generate attention for your business. It is an advertising opportunity and it is one that is interesting. Instead of just telling people the benefits of your product or service; you are grabbing their attention with a built-in reward. They can get something for nothing and everyone is interested in that. Once you have their attention, take the opportunity to give them the specific benefits of what you do.

Set a very specific time limit for the contest, date and time included. “All entries must be received by,” is a great phrase to use on all of your marketing materials. This is especially true if you are running a contest online, as well as in person. If you have a traditional brick and mortar shop, it will close at the end of the business day, limiting the number of contest entries. Online though, your business is open 24 hours a day. Setting an end time is important so entries do not continue to roll in indefinitely.

Once you have your entrants and you have picked your winners, follow through. Make sure the winner gets his or her prize. Nothing will let someone down more than thinking they are going to get something, only to be disappointed. For those who did not win, offer them some sort of consolation prize. A discount on a future purchase is a great idea because it gives them an incentive to buy, even though they did not win.

Author Bio: Ellie Lewis recently purchased and set up a sweepstake entry box at the office of the high school where her baseball team was conducting a fundraiser. She set up promotional displays introducing her new boutique to the local community.

Category: Business
Keywords: sweepstakes entry box,promotional displays