No problem, Brian! Partnering with manufacturers might be tough, but it’s certainly a great way to gain more exposure. I saw DSW do it with the makers of the shoes they carry. They would give away shoes of a certain brand and have the brand page promote the giveaway as well.

Now, if you want to give away your own products or services, you could ask some influential bloggers in your industry to host the giveaway instead of doing it yourself. They already have an audience you’d like to reach and many can’t afford to host giveaways = win/win for both!

Vanessa, thanks for stopping by. Not sure what the deal is with the white out on the blog. I never saw it so I couldn’t fix it. Guess the bug worked itself out. Blog on!

You are right absolutely right Elena – it’s the basics that we need to remember. Like scheduling your posts during the holidays: http://yoursocialmediamentor.com/2012/07/03/take-advantage-of-scheduling-facebook-posts-during-the-holiday-weekend/

Shameless plug – couldn’t resist. But I also wanted to let you know that I can now see the full blog – no white outs. Great job!

Thanks for your feedback, Vanessa! Yes, many of the points are obvious, but sometimes we get so worked up designing complicated marketing strategies, we forget about the simple things that have proven to work the best. As for the whited out section, I hope Denise looks into this; the blog looks fine on my computer.