Pages

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

How to use Rafflecopter Repost

I wrote this tutorial back in July. I don't know why, but, I receive tons of spam emails in response to this post. I am ready to pull my hair out! I tried to adjust my settings on who can comment on my blog, but then I found out that no one was able to comment at all. That's just not cool! So, I'm going to delete the original post from July and repost the information today. Hopefully, those annoying spammers won't find it! And, maybe someone who didn't see it back then, will learn how to use the wonderful rafflecopter.
I have really come to love using Rafflecopter when I have giveaways on my blog. It has some great functions that make it easy to set up for a giveaway and easy for the people who are entering. I am going to explain many of its functions, in the hopes of helping some of you when you go to use it for the first time.

Click the image below to go to the Rafflecopter website. If you have never used it before, you will need to register. Don't worry! It is free of charge!


Once at the site, you have 3 options: 





If you want to start a new giveaway, click on Plan One Now in the  Happening Right Now or Starting Soon boxes. Since I don't have any giveaways running right now, it doesn't matter which one I click on. They both lead to the same page. If I did have a giveaway running right now, it would be shown in the Happening Right Now box.

Once you click on Plan One Now, you have the option of starting a whole new giveaway, or, duplicating a similar giveaway.


This is a great function because if you are having a new giveaway, but the prizes are from the same people as a past giveaway, you don't have to type in all the links again. You can just go in and change whatever is different this time around. 

If you want to plan a whole new giveaway, then skip that box and go right to Nickname This Giveaway. I am calling mine Learn how to use Rafflecopter, just for the sake of this tutorial.


Next, click on Add a Prize.


Type in the prize(s) you are giving away. You will have the opportunity to add in as many prizes as you want. For this giveaway, I am only giving away one prize. If you want to give away more prizes, just keep adding them.


Next, go to the How Can People Enter section and click on Add an Option. This is where you will add all the ways people can enter your giveaway.


Once you click on Add an Option, you will be given several choices to choose from.


If none of them are what you need, click on Choose Your Own Task. This is what I use when I want someone to follow my blog or teaching store. This is what you will see when you click on Choose Your Own Task


If I want people to follow my blog or teaching store, I will type in Follow My Blog or Follow My Teaching Store. Once I do this, I click on the link icon so I can add the link to my blog. This is very important! It makes it easier for people to enter the giveaway because they just need to click the link and they will be taken, automatically, to my blog. I usually make this mandatory by checking the box. (Oops! I forgot to do that!)

This is what it says inside the link box:
[Your text to link here...](http://Your-URL-Here.com)
They make it very easy for you to type in what you want the text to say and where the link is. I type in Click Here on the left side and I copy the link to my blog on the right side. I literally type right over what it says.

Here is one more really important thing! Do you see in the image below where it says I need extra info to verify this entry? And there is a box with a check mark in it? Keep that check mark if you need your entrants to verify that they have done what they were supposed to do before clicking enter. For example, if someone is asked to follow my blog, I will ask them what name they used to follow my blog. When they enter my giveaway, a blank line will appear and they will need to type in their name and/or blog name, so I can verify that they are, indeed, following my blog. However, if I don't need any information, I will uncheck the box so no one sees the blank line. Sometimes, when there is a blank line, people get confused because they don't know if they are supposed to type something in there or not. If there is no need for verification, there is no need for the blank line.



This is what it looks like when you go to enter my giveaway:


When you click on Follow My Blog, it will say Click Here. When you click on Click Here, it will take you right to my blog. You don't need to copy and paste the link. Not only is it easier, it looks better, too, without seeing the long link in there. You will do this for each blog and store you want everyone to follow. 

If you want people to leave a blog post comment, click on that, and type in what you want people to comment on.


You can assign a point value. If you really want people to comment, you can choose a higher number of points. This will increase their chances of winning.

Here is what a facebook option will look like. Just type in the name of your facebook page and paste in the URL. Choose your points and whether or not it is mandatory.


When you are done adding all your options, decide when your giveaway will begin and end. And, type in your terms and conditions. This is what I usually say, so people know that I expect them to enter my giveaway honestly:

All entries will be verified. Please do not click enter unless you have followed what is being asked of you. If a winner is chosen and he/she did not follow all the guidelines, another winner will be chosen. Thank you so much!


Last, click on Get The Widget. Click on Copy The Code. It will automatically copy to your clipboard. When you are writing your blog post, click on HTML and paste the HTML code into your blog post. When you click on Preview, you will see your Rafflecopter. 


My final Rafflecopter looks a bit different than some of my screen shots because I changed a few things along the way. The good news is, you can easily go back to your Rafflecopter and change anything you want and your information will change automatically, without you doing anything, except refreshing your page. Just click on Make Some Changes, which is on the page you get to after you click on Get The Widget.


When your giveaway is over, you just click on Moderate, and you are asked to Pick The Winners. When you click on Add a Winner, your rafflecopter will automatically choose a winner. 


Before I announce my winner, I like to verify that they have entered my giveaway honestly. I click on Show List, and follow the prompts once my list opens up. You can sort your entrants by options and search for the winner. Double check that they did what they were supposed to do. If they did not, I will choose another winner. Thankfully, I rarely have to do this! Then, click Announce and your Rafflecopter will add the winner's name.



That's it! I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and I hope you win the ultimate prize, which is to gain knowledge of how to use Rafflecopter. Feel free to enter my giveaway so that you have a better chance of winning the big  prize. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket

22 comments:

  1. I LOVE using Rafflecopter for giveaways!! It makes organizing it so much easier! Great tutorial Lori! :)
    Lisa
    Learning Is Something to Treasure

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I totally agree with you, Lisa! It's so much easier to pick a winner, too. But, my favorite function of rafflecopter, is the duplicate giveaway option. I choose this for all my giveaways and I never have to change my own information.

      Ѽ Lori
      Teaching With Love and Laughter
      luvyorkies@gmail.com

      Delete
  2. Hey Lori! Great tutorial. The spam has been out of control. You can go in settings and block any anonymous commenters to stop spammers. I had a post is July (I think?) on how to do it.

    Megan

    I Teach. What's Your Super Power?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lori your posts are so incredibly helpful. We cannot thank you enough! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with all of us! You rock!

    ~Christy & Tammy
    Fluttering Through First Grade

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, gosh! Thanks so much for the kind words. I feel the same way about both of you, too! :)

      Ѽ Lori
      Teaching With Love and Laughter
      luvyorkies@gmail.com

      Delete
  4. Thanks for the tutorial! It is so helpful. I will definitely referencing it in the future!
    Jessica

    Apples and Papers

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Lori - I was actually on the TPT forum a while ago and another seller had asked if anyone knew how to use rafflecopter, so I referred her to your post/blog. After that, there were many comments on the forum about how incredibly helpful your rafflecopter info was.
    Thanks again
    Leslie

    ReplyDelete
  6. lori- i feel like your sending me a message by reposting this bc i really need to get on this 500 follower giveaway and im so lost with this rafflecopter thing!! great post =)

    juswildaboutteaching.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Michelle, I can read your mind! I knew you needed help with your giveaway and I aim to please! LOL! Give me a holler if you need help.

      Ѽ Lori
      Teaching With Love and Laughter
      luvyorkies@gmail.com

      Delete
  7. Thanks so much for the tutorial! I'm getting close to 300 followers and am working up the nerve to try a giveaway!!

    Aimee
    aimee@vanmiddlesworth.org
    Pencils, Books, and Dirty Looks

    ReplyDelete
  8. This was helpful. Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you for sharing, always enjoy your posts!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Being new to the blogging world, this post is AMAZING!!!!!! Thank you! Going to read it a few more times just to make sure I get it! Also, I'm in the process of gathering info like this to pin on a new board. I'll let you know when I do and give you a shout out.

    -krissy
    Ms. Hutten’s Buttons

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you found it helpful, Krissy! It took a really long time for me to put all this together. You have my permission to shout as loud as you want! LOL! Thanks for visiting!
      Ѽ Lori
      Teaching With Love and Laughter
      luvyorkies@gmail.com

      Delete
  11. Thank you Lori for the tutorial! I have been using it, but you helped update me! Thank you Lori! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're very welcome. I'm glad it was helpful.
      Ѽ Lori
      Teaching With Love and Laughter
      luvyorkies@gmail.com

      Delete
  12. You can change your settings so anonymous posters can't comment. You can also change it so that you have to approve all comments after X number of days-another good way to catch spammers, too!

    Megan
    I Teach. What's Your Super Power?

    ReplyDelete
  13. This helped me so much, thanks for doing it:) I really appreciate it and could not have done it without you Lori.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thank you so much for taking the time to write this!! I was feeling and lost and googled Rafflecopter tutorial and thankfully your blog popped up (which is super cute by the way)!! It helped so much. I just posted my first ever giveaway and I'm pretty sure it would've taken me like 3 or 4 hours to figure out had it not been for you. I so appreciate it - thanks!!!

    Miss Giraffe

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to comment. I love to read them!

Scholastic Teacher Book Wizard