May 15th, 2011

The recent Canadian election has got us in a very democratic mood here at www.contestcanada.net. In particular, the issue that has been discussed a couple of times in the past few weeks is the handling of blog contests. In the past, we included them along with regular contests on the main page, but then we separated them onto their own page. The ongoing feedback we’ve been getting is that it would also be good to have an icon or button that clearly indicates that a particular listing is for a blog contest.

And so, after several minutes slaving over an on-line button-generator, this is what we came up with: Blog Contest button

You’ll see this button on the site and in the newsletter each day, next to the little flags for Canada and the US.

Another thing that we’ve been hearing quite a bit lately is that some folks really don’t like the contests where you have to submit a photo or essay and then get your friends to vote for you. There are more and more of these in recent times as companies jump on the social media bandwagon. Sometimes these contests have pretty amazing prizes, so we definitely want to continue listing them. As John pointed out in a recent comment, “Sometimes the contests that require a little effort mean that the odds are that much better!”

So, in an effort to please everyone, we’ve added a button to clearly identify this type of contest: Votes Required

And, lastly, because some people don’t like Facebook contests, we’ve added a button for that too. This is usually (but not always) pretty obvious from the contest URL, but an extra visual indicator can’t hurt: Facebook contest

One last thing on the subject of Blog Contests: My Little Review Corner has a new entry in a series of posts meant to explain the ins and outs of blog contests. This one is about Tweeting. Check it out.

Hopefully you’ll find the new buttons to be helpful. If you have suggestions on how this could be improved, please feel free to comment below. Or if you’d rather not make a public comment, you can also send a message through our contact form.

 

8 Responses to Democracy and Blog Contests

  1. madame says:

    Thank you soooooooooooo much for this and all your efforts. I for one do not like writing essays and your little sysbold will save me time.
    Many thanks again

  2. Jill says:

    ditto to madame’s comments

  3. Porky Pig says:

    Many people like to complain when it’s
    within their power to enter or not. I luv
    facebook contests and the new icon!

  4. motty says:

    another perfect example of why this contest site always stands so much higher than the rest….very well handled solution that best pleases one and all!thanks again for making the task as easy as you do!the icons are sharp and do the trick.
    best wishes as always

  5. Porky Pig says:

    Politicians make decisions that don’t please everyone. That’s a democratic government.

  6. Porky Pig says:

    People pleasers like to please which is called a compulsion.

  7. Porky Pig says:

    Off the Wall…there are several contest sites
    that are just as popular as this one.

  8. lowrenzo says:

    Thanks. An excellent solution!