Hi, my name is Maria, and I'm a blog giveaway addict. (Pt. 2)

You can read Part 1 here.

So I've discussed how to enter giveaways; today, I'd like to talk about where.

And no, it's not under a rock.

There are several approaches to finding giveaways: blog link-ups, giveaway blogs, review blogs, search engines, and social media.


1. Blog link-ups
There are many blogs that host a weekly link-up, in which bloggers everywhere can post a link to their giveaways.

Pro: You have a zillion giveaways right there at your fingertips. You can pick and choose what you'd like to enter!
Con: You have to search through the long lists for the things you'd like to enter. It can get tiring!

Here are some of the blogs with link-ups I like to look at, and the days they're posted:

Tuesday: Mrs. Nespy's World
Wednesday: Busy Mommy Media
Friday: Fitteds, Pockets, and Snappis, Oh My! (this one is mainly for cloth diapers and baby carriers, but other bloggers will link up other stuff, too), The Cloth Diaper Report




2. Giveaway Blogs
There are blogs out there that exist solely to be your eyes-and-ears for giveaways going on.

Pro: If you're interested winning in a niche item, like cloth diapers or knitting materials, this is a good one-stop way to see what's going on around the internetz.
Con: Since this type of blog usually makes multiple postings in a single day, it will clutter up your blog reader horribly if you subscribe (a better option is to subscribe via email, which will deliver all the day's posts in one lump email).

A couple niche giveaway blogs I check:
Etsy Giveaways
Cloth Diaper Giveaways

3. Review Blogs
These are blogs in which the author reviews and gives away items herself, usually with the help of sponsors.

Pro: this is a great way to discover new products from up-and-coming companies. Also a good way to find products for your niche.
Con: Along with giveaways for products you want, there will be lots of giveaways for items you don't want. Also, these blogs often require that you follow them in order to enter a giveaway.

A couple review blogs I frequent:
A Mom's Take
Cloth Diaper Addiction




4. Search Engines
Sometimes, if there is a specific item I am looking for, I will turn to my good friend Google it to see if it's being given away anywhere. This was how I won my Best Bottom diaper, which I had been coveting for quite some time. I googled Best Bottom giveaway February 2011 to see what blogs were giving it away that month, entered the ones I could, and hoped for the best.

Pro: helps you find giveaways for a specific item.
Con: You have to read the taglines carefully,  because Google will sometimes put up links to old giveaways.

Must... enter... more... GIVEAWAYS!

5. Social Media
Rachel (who is coincidentally running a mineral makeup giveaway right now!) brought up a good point on my previous post: social media can be used to find giveaways, too! If you "Like" a certain company on facebook, chances are that they will post any giveaways of their products. Also, many companies will have special facebook-only giveaways when they reach a certain number of followers. I personally don't follow too many because it clutters up my facebook feed (can you tell I'm really big on streamlining feeds? :-P), but it's valuable for those certain products I absolutely want to win.

Twitter is also a good place to find giveaways. Use hashtags (#clothdiaper, #giveaway), and search for companies (@Ergobaby, @bumgenius). Often, tweets will have a link right to the giveaway page. In this way, twitter is even better than Google-- tweets are arranged chronologically, so you can see at a glance what is going on right now in the blog giveaway realm.


So now you know all my secrets for entering giveaways. Let me know if you found this little series helpful!