How To Enter My Giveaways {Tutorial & Tips}

So you want to enter a giveaway on I'm a Lazy Mom?  Great!  Let me break down how to enter and give you some tips that will help ensure you enter the right way and know how to find out you've won!

How To Enter:
To enter you will need to look for the section of the giveaway blog post that looks like this:

This area will tell you how to enter the giveaway.  Usually the entry is a question that you'll need to answer, like the one in the example above.  Simply answer this question in the comments area of the giveaway post you want to enter.

Please note the bottom portion of the "how to enter" area tells you who the giveaway is open to:

How To Comment:
So, just where do you enter the comment?  Well, depending on what page you are viewing the giveaway on, it can either look like this...

Or you may have to scroll all the way down below all the other comments till you see this:

Either way, click on the "add a comment" or "post a comment" link and the comment window will open up.

Simply answer the question in the comment box and your entered!


Extra Entries:
Now... the extra entries part.  This can be confusing for a lot of people.

To take advantage of any extra entries, you'll need to look for this area of the giveaway post:

As is stated in the giveaway post, these extra entries are not something you have to do. They are simply an optional thing you can do to get extra entries in the giveaway.

Note: Each extra entry you complete you must leave a separate comment for!  The reason for this is because each comment is an entry!  So if you do five of the bullet points, you would need to leave five separate comments stating which extra entry you did (or already do).

How To Earn The Extra Entries:
Let me walk you through the extra entries so you understand what you need to do to earn the extra entry.

The first extra entry looks like this:

So according to this extra entry you can do one of three things:

1. Subscribe to I'm a Lazy Mom - you do this by going to the top right of the I'm a Lazy Mom blog page and clicking on the orange subscribe button and simply follow the steps to subscribe with the reader or method you use.
   
   
   
2. Follow I'm a Lazy Mom on Google Friend Connect - you do this by going up to the top right of the I'm a Lazy Mom blog page and click on the "follow" button under "Fellow Lazy Moms."
   
   
   
3. Email subscribe to I'm a Lazy Mom - which means you'll receive all of I'm a Lazy Mom's blog posts in your email inbox.  To do that, you'll need to go up to the top right of the I'm a Lazy Mom blog page and enter your email address into the subscribe box.
   

You need to decide which one you want to do for the extra entry and then leave a comment on the giveaway post stating which one you did.  You can do more than one, or even all three, but only ONE COMMENT is allowed for this extra entry no matter how many you choose to do.  So if you do number 1 and number 3, you still only get ONE entry in the giveaway.  Capeesh?

The next set of extra entries look like this:

These next four bullet points give you a possible four extra entries into the giveaway.  All you need to do is click on the links at the end of each sentence and it will take you to the page where you can either click on the "follow" button for the Twitter ones, or click on the "Like" buttons for the Facebook ones.

Then you need to leave a comment on the giveaway post stating what you did (or already do).

For example, you would leave a comment saying: "I follow I'm a Lazy Mom on Twitter now!" or "I follow I'm a Lazy Mom on Facebook and have for a long time!"  Something to that effect.  Doesn't have to be those exact words.

The next set of extra entries look like this:

With these two extra entries you can either Tweet about the giveaway, or post on Facebook about the giveaway using the information given.  You can do either or both. Then be sure and post a comment on the giveaway post stating which one you did.  Please remember to leave a separate comment if you do both! Each comment is your extra entry.


The Details:
Below each giveaway post is some "fine print" that looks like this:

The first portion of "fine print" tells you who the giveaway is open to, when it ends and how the winner will be chosen.

The second portion is a bit of disclosure regarding the giveaway.  According to FCC guidelines I am required by law to give you this information.  It tells you if I received any product and/or compensation from the company sponsoring this giveaway on I'm a Lazy Mom.

The fine print is boring stuff, but it has to be done.


How To Know You Won:
So, how do you find out if you won the giveaway?  Well, there's a couple of ways.

1. Up at the top of the I'm a Lazy Mom blog I always post an announcement page.  It may be titled differently, but it will always have the word "winner" in it.  
   
2. I always announce winners on my Twitter and Facebook pages.  You can check there to see if you won.
3. I always try and contact the winner.  I contact the winner by email first if possible.  If no email address is available to me I try other methods like your twitter page or blog or blog profile.

Please note: The winner has 48 hours to email me at imalazymom@gmail.com in order to claim their winnings.  If I don't hear from them after 48 hours I redraw and select a new winner and follow the same three methods of contacting them as stated above.

Tips for Entering Giveaways:

Speaking of winning, I wanted to share with you a couple of tips to ensure you are entering my giveaways the best way possible.

• It's a REALLY good habit to post some "proof" of the extra entries you earn (if you can).  Read this tutorial I wrote to learn how to leave proof for your extra entries.  If I can't prove you did the extra entry, I may have to draw a new winner and I hate doing that!
• Leave an email address in at least one of your entry comments!  It's the easiest way for me to get a hold of you if you win!  You don't have to type it in every single comment you leave as an entry, I do check the other entries you left to see if there's an email address on any of them.
• If you don't want your email address published on a comment, then simply state something like, "you can find my email on my blogger profile," or "If I win please contact me on my twitter page (and leave your twitter name)."  Something to that effect will point me in the right direction if you don't want to leave an email.
• Always remember to leave separate comments for each entry!  Each comment is your entry.
• I do delete comments that are duplicates and/or not a valid way to enter.
• When leaving a comment you may not see it published right away, that is because I'm validating it first or I'm making sure you aren't spam.
• Check your spam mailbox! If the email announcing you as the winner goes to your spam folder I can't honor it after the 48 hours have passed.

I hope this tutorial and the tips I gave you for entering are helpful to you!  If you have any questions please email me at imalazymom@gmail.com.  

Have fun entering!

Posted in: