You might be wondering the best way to run a blogging contest, but based on a few that I’ve run, it doesn’t take a lot of money to run a successful one. Be surprised or not, the best way I’ve found to gain not only subscribers, but also comments, is to give away free postcards when you run a blogging contest.

Why Postcards Work for a Blogging Contest
1. Cheap: You can get a free pack of 100 postcards from Vistaprint by using the coupon ““BlogPostcards100″ at checkout.

2. Vista Print will custom print your design. I ran a contest over at sampleaday dot com and gave out free postcards for commenting. We made them funny. Users liked it.

3. With a set of 100 free postcards, you can can give away 100 postcards throughout the next year for signing up, commenting whatever you like. You could also use them as promotional material giveaways to advertise your site.

Other ideas?
You could try giving away customized magnets, checks, and even stamps if you so want, something I’ve used Vistaprint for, though I’d tend to stick with the postcards, though magnets are pretty sweet too.

*Tip: Make sure you specify limits to your contest. Mailing your custom postcards from Vista Print can get expensive if you have to mail them halfway around the world…

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