Giveaways

What is A Design Story “Gracious Giveaway” anyway?

We host product giveaways that we like to call “Gracious Giveaways” for our reader to win. We love our readers and like to reward them for their support and continued devotion! Each giveaway is hosted by yours truly and sponsored by a company. The products are shipped directly to the winner upon the close of the contest.

You can browse past giveaways on under Gracious Giveaways category to get the idea and see how they are formatted!

How does a Gracious Giveaway work?

We announce giveaways on Mondays {we do make other considerations} with a post chock full of information about you, your company, your products as well as the prize itself. We include as many details as you would like and include photos from your website or images you have sent to us directly. Readers may enter once per email address {unless a bonus entry is permitted by you}. We usually make it fun by asking readers to answer a fun question or make a statement! For example, a jewelry giveaway was entitled “You’re a Gem” and we asked readers to make the statement “I am a true gem” and tell us what their passion was growing up and if the continued it. Each giveaway closes on Thursday at midnight and is announced in a post on Friday.

Here are some other details on how giveaways are operated around here:

Why is a Gracious Giveaway Beneficial?

It’s all about getting the consumer to remember you.
Raise awareness of your company
Increase brand image
Gain invaluable feedback of your products & company
It puts your product into the consumer’s hand
Increases the chances that the next time they shop for your product category; they will reach for your product.
Our audience is likely to share their experience with our giveaway & your product with their friends & family through word of mouth, the most powerful marketing tool

Everyone loves “Free stuff”. Giveaway posts benefit everyone involved because product owners get exposure, and consumers get free stuff…

Who can sponsor one of these Gracious Giveaways?

Anyone! We had a plethora of company types sponsor a giveaway here on A Design Story. All we ask is that your company and product line be something our readers would be interested in. Anything home décor, garden, craft, DIY, accessory, jewelry, baby, pet, home improvement, eco-living, entertaining, dining, party or even any seasonal home related items would be perfect! Have an item you would like to gift to one of our readers and don’t know if it is a good fit? No worries… just email and we will let ya know!

Wow. You are ready to get started? Here’s what we need from you:

We just need a few things from you in order to get you scheduled for the next Gracious Giveaway! Please email us over this information to Lindsay@adesignstory.com with the subject line: Giveaway!

What prize would you like to give away? If you have too many favorites to decide, no worries, we can help you determine the best prize for our readers. Each prize needs to have a value worth of at least $40.
Where can we find the information and photos we will need to make a giveaway post? If you have a website, great! We are usually able to grab anything off your website we need to juice up the post {all photos will clearly note that you are the source}.If not, please send photos!
Where do you ship to? We would rather your prize ship to at least the lower 48 states. But some of our other readers would even be happier to have a gift shipped internationally! Your choice!
Would you like to offer any special discounts to our readers? Many of our giveaway sponsors like to offer a fun discount to our readers when we announce the winner. For example, 20% off checkout with the code: ADesignStory. Totally up to you, but readers love a discount!
Would you like to also sponsor a sidebar ad? We give great discounts to any sponsor who took part in a giveway! Just say the word!

Anything else we need to know? Include anything in your email to Lindsay@adesignstory.com.

Here are some other details on how giveaways are operated around here:

How will you announce the Giveaway: We will build an entirely new “winner” post with more fun details about other products you offer! It will go live after the winner has been chosen no Friday morning.
If you would like to give us the opportunity to test out one of your products as well, we would be thrilled too! All we ask is that it ships to us at least a week before the launch of your giveaway post so we can have the chance to use it before we talk about it!
The minimum prize value should be at least $40. We are flexible on the number of prizes and winners you want to have!
The sponsoring company needs to ship the winner the prize within 10 business days of when the winner responds to our email confirmation with their mailing address.
The reader will get entered in the giveaway by commenting on the post. If you would like to add a bonus entry, please let us know. We usually add bonus entries for ‘liking’ your facebook fan page or twitter mentions etc. You can make the rules there!
The winner can by chosen 2 ways- 1) We can personally pick a winner by our favorite comment or 2) We can use random.org.
If the winner doesn’t email back confirming who they are and they mailing address, we will select a new winner within a 3 day time frame.

So, let’s talk time…How soon will my giveaway go up?

We would like to solidify and schedule your giveaway two weeks in advance. That allows us to familiarize ourselves with your company & your products, accurately & effectively showcase your product within our fabulous posts and prepare our site for the giveaway. If you would like to share your product with us to try out, we would love that! As mentioned earlier, we will create a video using/ displaying your product in our humble abode! We would like to receive the sample of your product 2 weeks before the start of the giveaway, so we can become intimately acquainted with your product and share the many benefits and features first hand.

Can I schedule my second giveaway & when?

We would like to introduce a variety of products to our readers, so it would depend on how many different product categories your company offers. Exceptions will be made on an individual basis, however, our advertising partners will be granted carte blanche as a Thank You for their loyalty and support.

Some other quick facts:

Offering free product samples and free giveaways provide businesses with the opportunity to listen to consumer preferences and market demands – which must be done when launching any type of new product.
Many consumers are hesitant to spend money on a new product that they may – or may not – like or enjoy. However, if you give them the opportunity to try a product, free of charge, they will more than likely purchase that product in the future.
Consumers are often quite finicky when it comes to trying new products, and often times the only way to get them to change their attitude about certain products is to offer them product freebies.

Again, email us @ Kevin@adesignstory.com or lindsay@adesignstory.com for questions or to secure your giveaway spot with us!