Raffle contest to promote my business question.

[disneyteddies]

I want to hold a raffle for a bunch of giveaway items at a trade show...(my first one being in).

I want to have a piece of paper with a number on it as well as a spot to ask them if they would like a newsletter twice a month on my website but last year some idiots ran a scam for a free trip and I know this year people will be skeptical to give their email to anyone new.

I'm not selling anything at the show but I'm giving away about 75 items relating to my site so I just want the free publicity and I wouldn't mind starting to build a newsletter group at the same time.

Any ideas on how to go about this??

I don't want to reveal much about the products or what I will be doing for the trade show because I don't want to give my direct competition any ideas but it is a great idea and will get tons of free publicity (we're talking about 15000 and more in a weekend).

Thanx in advance.

Hank.

[Britt]

Instead of asking for their email on the ticket you could direct them to your website. Your website will build credibility for you and they may be more likely to provide their email if they are interested in a newsletter.

[disneyteddies]

Thanx for the opinion,

We're going to have our website all over our booth and flyers as well as about 20000 business cards. (This is just for promotion, not selling. Our actual website is the e-commerce part).

I guess I'm thinking some sort of flyer with our name on it and a portion you can rip off to put in the draw.

That would have our name on the part they keep and their email on the portion we keep.

We figure something like every hour we draw one and if there's no winner we draw again up to five times then either carry it over until the next hour or somehow give the prize away to whomever is there at the time.

This is where we're not sure how to do it...people will return throughout the weekend and we'd like to leave their name in the draw all weekend but I'm concerned that not enough people will be there at the actual hourly draw and we don't want to phone them at home, we want to give the prizes away at the time.

Any suggestions on any of this?

[lindastacy]

If you're giving away products that you'll have right there with you, I think people will be less skeptical about giving their email address. If it's something that they'll get later, then yes, you may have less success.

But I'd still require an email address to be entered. Make it clear that they will be receiving email from you, but that they can opt out at any time. If you rely on them to go to your site later to provide thier address, you probably will get very few.

I think giving them a flyer to keep that has your contact information on it will help with credibility. Make sure all your materials are very professional looking and that your booth and you are also. Be professional in your appearance and demeanor and it will help a lot.

[disneyteddies]

Thanx Linda,

We were thinking along those lines too..we will be giving the prizes away there on the spot and not contacting them after. And everyone will get a business card and/or flyer along with their ticket.

We are also going to have reporters and girls working for us video taping interviews and handing out flyers to everyone all over the show.

And we'll have an opt out later if they even choose to give us an email.

We're not promising a free trip like the scammers last year so I think we'll do okay.

Thanx again both of you.

Take care and I'll let you know how it turns out after Halloween.