Free Giveaways or Bonus Gifts (”ethical bribes”, as Alex Mandossian would call them) are almost a necessity these days for anyone looking to increase the number of people (prospective customers, donors, customers, clients) to opt in to their lists.

Everyone likes getting stuff for free if they perceive some value in it. Free is such a powerful force in innovation, especially online.

One innovation that sprung from the idea of individual “gifts” is “giveaway events” and they have now taken the internet by storm.

What is a Giveaway Event?

When several to hundreds of people or entities contribute products or services as free gifts for other people who visit a website that might be promoting a product launch, a new service, a particular promotion, then it’s considered a giveaway event.  

For people to receive each giveaway item, they must subscribe to the contributor’s mailing list. Done correctly and depending on the quality or perceived value of the gifts they offer, the contributors can build their lists exponentially in a much faster period of time than if they were to do it on their own.

That’s why Giveaway Events are such a GREAT idea for those just starting out!

Although giveaway events greatly benefit “newbies”, ANYONE can benefit from them, all the way up to multibillion dollar corporations or international non-profits.

Each contributor agrees to send traffic to the event website site so every contributor benefits from the mailing list of each other contributors (also known as Joint Venture Partners or JV Partners). The gifts you give can either be your own product or service or it can be a gift you own the rights to give away for free.

The event organizers send you instructions and promotion materials such as sample email messages, endorsement letters and sponsored ads to use in endorsing this give away event to your subscribers who are already subscribed to your mailing list. Again, if your list is small, you can always team up with a colleague or a mastermind group of people you like and trust and present a united front…VERY POWERFUL!

That’s exactly what I did when I received an email from Chet Holmes International informing me of their MASSIVE Giveaway Event that kicks off TOMORROW, June 4th

After experiencing first-hand the power of their big event last year, I knew I’d be crazy not to take part once again. As I thought about whom I could partner with, it occurred to me that this event would tie in nicely with my 2008 goal of raising the visibility of women, their businesses, products, services or causes on the Internet.

So I put out a call for women who were interested in joining me and it’s an AMAZING group of women from all over the world who are movers and shakers who have INCREDIBLE gifts to give!

We’re calling it the GutZy Women International Mastermind Alliance and we invite you to take part in this EVE-olution by checking out the Event website. It will fill you in on all the details.

CLICK HERE to read the rest of the article & follow the rest of the story:

“Free is such a powerful force in innovation”

Think about it…the financial risk is removed when something is free. Removing risk is powerful! We are much more easily motivated to take action when there is nothing to lose. But have you ever thought about how if something is free it encourages us to be innovative?

It intrigued me because although I know the word “FREE” is a proven motivating word in sales, I never looked at the fact that FREE is one of the great motivating factors behind the innovation of the Internet.

Now, FREE is one of those words that sets off the SPAM filters. The word is WAY over-used at this point and has become one of those words that sets off the skeptic in all of us…and yet:

FREE “giveaway” promotions are the latest and greatest in getting people to subscribe to your list. People sign up by the hundreds or thousands.

FREE information, free entertainment, free phone calls across the world, free software, free graphics, free hosting, free consultations, free samples…Just about everything that exists is given away FREE these days.

FREE helps “newbies” get started in the learning process of creating and interacting on the internet. FREE helps “intermediates” grow and start to compete with the “experts”.

FREE helps the Mom & Pops compete with the Mega Corporations.

FREE helps the “experts” create their Maven status, warp speed their viral marketing and position themselves as generous “good guys”.

FREE lets us spend our money on other things like gas & food

FREE makes us crazy when we’re on the other end of the deal…trying to make money.

Never-the-less, below is a list of some “freebies” I’ve used myself and like or have had other GutZy Women tell me they like.

 Check them out! And if you get some value out of these FREE tips, feel FREE to subscribe to our FREE RSS feed, or our FREE newsletter, or FREE social networking site for more FREE tips, strategies and valuable information.

1.   Website builders:           

      http://www.weebly.com

      http://www.webnode.com/en

2.   Resize & Optimize pictures:         

      http://www.shrinkpictures.com

3.     Public domain image resources:

       http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Public_domain_image_resources#General_collections

4.   Cover generator for ebooks, CD’s etc.           

       http://www.groundbreak.com/graphics2.html 

5.   Internet Calling:     

    http://www.skype.com 

6.   Live Video Broadcasting:      

      http://www.mogulus.com                        

      http://www.ustream.com 

 7.   Podcasting:    

     http://www.talkshoe.com     

Obviously this is a very short list compared to what’s out there, so why don’t you ADD to the list with YOUR favorites in the comments section below. I can just feel the Innovation coming on! For MORE innovative articles and videos click here:

Promote your events.

Facebook is a great place to promote your organization’s events. Simply create the event, add pictures, and invite your contacts to join. In addition to groups, you can post details of events in your profile so people can RSVP. You also have the option to leave the event open to people in your network or open for everyone.

Promote your blog or newsletter.

Facebook also helps you to promote your blog or newsletter. This feature allows you to share information beyond what’s in your profile in two ways. You can either post a note on your page or import your external blog. It is a nice way to communicate with your constituents and update them on your organization.

You can also integrate an RSS feed into your blog with notes. When you post it, the note is displayed in your profile and every one of your “friends” is notified and other members can add
comments.

Keep in touch with your members.

Facebook has a feature called “News Feed” that allows you to see all kinds of activity within your network. It’s very similar to an RSS feed, in that when you log in to Facebook you mmediately receive an update of all of the actions your contacts have taken. And if someone posted a new photo album or RSVP’d to an event, you’ll be notified right away.

Maintain some privacy: CliCK Here to read the end of the article:

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This is the latest podcast Debbie Ducic, founder of GutZy Women,  has been a guest on. This show is with Patti Serrano and Rob White of the “Business 101″  on Talkshoe. It was the 52nd episode and therefore an anniversary worth celebrating! Debbie was thrilled to join them as their special guest speaker on this momentous occasion.

Patti is founder of the Entrepreneur Club in Colorado and Rob White is the creator of New Media Pro, Podcasting, Videocasting, and Screencasting.  New Media Pro, the main company behind The NMP Network, produces a variety of podcasts, videocasts and screencasts dealing with subjects like identity theft, podcasting, business and marketing and more!

In part one of an article about RSS Feeds, we talked about how they worked and interesting facts about them. This is part 2 because there is so much to learn and take action on!

CLICK HERE if you missed part 1:

There are many benefits to learning how to use RSS feeds, especially if you are always looking for ways to save time and maximize your efforts.

These are the benefits to each type of User:

• Consumer Bottom Line: Subscribing to feeds makes it possible to review a large amount of online content in a very short time. Very convenient: comes right to you desktop. Don’t have to reveal e-mail address.
• Publisher Bottom Line: Feeds permit instant distribution of content and the ability to make it “subscribable.” Each time you send blog, you are sending out a notice to sign up for RSS feed.
Least time for maximum exposure. Can Set aside a day to set up all the publicizing information that you can.
• Advertiser Bottom Line: Advertising in feeds overcomes many of the shortcomings that traditional marketing channels encounter including spam filters, delayed distribution, search engine rankings, and general inbox noise.

Thousands of bloggers, podcasters, and videobloggers publish feeds to keep themselves better connected to their readers, listeners, admirers, and critics.

Apple, through its iTunes Music Store, offers TONS of audio and video podcasts for download, each of which is powered by a feed.

Here’s how it works for GutZy Women:

POST Content on my debbieducic.com blog >>>>>>>>>automatically pings feedburner>>>>>>>changes content into XML language>>>>>>>>aggregator reads content and forms into list of unread new articles or podcasts into itunes downloadables>>>>I use my feedreader to check out what’s on it>>>>>>>>behind the scenes, I give my feed code to other blogs, social networking sites, as well as other aggregators>>>>>>>>automatically posts entries to many places across the internet each timeI publish. >>>>I’m a HAPPY CAMPER
END RESULT: Saves everybody time! Exponentially increases GutZy Women’s Reach with a little work from the beginning of setting it all up but is automatic from there.

CHALLENGE: Getting people to subscribe. Get over the fear of something new that SEEMS complicated but actually is quite easy these days with the help of companies like Feedburner.

Answer: Social bookmarking sites: Digg & Technorati as 2 examples by inviting people to Digg & Tehnorati your blog posts. Look around Blogoshpere, where else you can post. Invite your list and your friends to subscribe when you communicate with them through e-mail, bulletin boards, etc.

Place your feed widgets wherever you can and “in the fold” so they can be easily seen. Place them right after your posts, so if they just read or heard or saw something they LOVED, they can ask for MORE!

NEXT STEP: Learn more about all the different ways to use RSS Feeds and commit to adding one new way a month. Before you know it, you’ll be RSS GODESSES and will be reaping the VALUABLE rewards!