Towards the end of last month i made a spur of the moment decision to buy a new Canon Camera. This left me with the issue, “What do i do with my existing camera?” ….. hold a competition of course.
What are the benefits / reasons behind me holding a competition? There were 2 main reasons;
1: New Readers - the competition was a good way to draw new readers to my blog by getting the message out through other blogs.
2: Existing Readers - keep those people that come back and visit my blog regularly interested and encourage them to become regular commentators.
The result of all this was a very positive one. I had a total of 302 entries in to the draw for the Camera. I sold some ad space, i had a good increase in subscribers to the blog and a few key rankings within the blogging domain rose favourably, namely my Alexa Ranking and also my Technorati Ranking
Will i hold another competition again in the future? You bet i will, in my opinion, and now experience, it’s a much better return on investment for your advertising dollar than a once off review from another site. When will i hold another competition, i don’t know, i would definitly suggest in the not too distant future or at the VERY least, the same time next year when the new Canon Camera is out and i need to upgrade.
Here`s how it`s going to work. The 1 and only prize is my Canon IXY Digital 1000 camera, 10 megapixel with all the expected functionality along with the charger, software and PC cables. It cost me $450 clams a little under 12 months ago and it`s up for grabs.
From today the 21st of November until Monday the 10th of December i`ll be accepting entries by the following scale;
1 Entry in the draw - Subscribe to neilduckett.com by email, RSS too if that`s your preferred method of reading but email will be the official counter for the draw.
5 Entries in the draw - Write a post on your site regarding this competition and linking back to neilduckett.com. Please write a comment here with a link to your post so i can add you in the draw.
In addition, I like the idea of offering options so for those willing to pay a few bucks you can consider the following.
10 Entries in the draw - Purchase a spot under “Recommended Reading” through here priced at $15
15 Entries in the draw - Purchase a 125 x 125 advertising spot for $20 which will run from as soon as i get your button until the end of January, that’s the best part of 2 months if you get in quick.
Spending a few bucks might not be a bad option considering i`m averaging upwards of 700 unique hits a day before this competition, it`s a win win if you ask me.
On the weekend i upgraded my camera to the new Canon IXY Digital 2000is replacing the existing Canon IXY Digital 1000 i had. There`s nothing wrong with my existing camera but living in Japan and having toys like these so cheap and close to hand it`s hard not to upgrade to the latest model when they hit the stores. One of the major reasons i bit the bullet was the new `Image Stabilisation` feature … this will come in handy as it`s probably my biggest issue taking photos to date.
I`ve taken some great photos over the last 12 months, through my travels in Japan, Seoul and more recently Taipei, however my favourite photo would have to be when i was back in Australia at the beginning of the year.
Out on a Friends boat with a heap of mates we cruised out from Docklands into Port Phillip Bay, the music was cranked up as were the beers …. so was Mousee, dancing up a storm at the front of the boat. I`ll be looking forward to some of these good times when i`m back there in around 4 weeks time for my Xmas.
Unfortunately i had to scale the photo back incredibly to get it in the blog but i`m sure you`ll get the idea.
In case you’re wondering if it’s worth entering or not, here’s a few details on the Camera;
Later this morning i`ll head up to Yodobashi Camera, 8 floors of the latest and greatest electronic gear, to buy the new Canon IXY Digital 2000is …. it`s not quite capable of this but i`m sure it will take some pretty nice shots.
One of the best things about living in Japan is the access to the latest and greatest technology. Whether it’s phones, iPods, computers or digital cameras that float your boat we get them early and we get them cheap, dirt cheap. When i first got here i picked up the Canon IXY 1000 for a cool $450 including spare battery, case and 2gig memory card.
Now less than a year later the new model is out, the Canon IXY Digital 2000is and it’s going for around $350 .. seeing as i don’t need a case or the memory that seems like a pretty good deal to me. So now i’m left to ponder, do i treat myself to an early Xmas present? …. if so what do i do with the “old” camera …. my brother has a new one from when he was here a few months back, my parents got his old one … that leaves me with a less than 12 month old 10meg camera. Maybe i should have a competition to find the lucky recipient of the new camera ….. i’ll look into that over the next few days.
