Lucky Door Prizes - Tips To Make Them Legal And Work For Your Business

Many businesses use competitions and lucky door prizes as a way of generating leads or building their data base. But if done incorrectly you will end up losing customers and could even find yourself on the wrong side of the law.

So how do you run lucky door prizes or competitions that are legal and get you brilliant results?

Top 10 Tips for competitions

1. Work out your intent. You need to know why you are running the competition in the first place. Is it to qualify leads, get email addresses for your database, get a new marketing slogan, and get feedback on your product or some other purpose? Start with the end in mind. When you know why you are running the competition you will adjust the prizes, competition form and process to best match your needs.

2. You need an entry box. A lot of people use clear bowls or fishbowls for people to put their cards into. These don't keep the details private so could breach privacy regulations in some locations. The best option is a solid sided cardboard entry box. You can buy a gift box and cut out a hole or buy a blank entry box from a cardboard box manufacturer. You can of course get one purpose designed and built for you. For online competitions I suggest setting up a separate email account just for each competition to keep your entries separate.

3. Somewhere to lean on to complete the forms. People need somewhere to lean on to fill in the forms. If the table you use is too low or you force people to sit down to complete the forms, many people won'T bother entering. Make sure your table is the right height for people to lean on (and no handing out clipboards with forms isn't the solution. Many people are juggling bags and kids so can't juggle a clipboard as well). Being comfortable also works for online competitions. If your form is tricky to complete you can expect people to click away rather than stay.

4. Make it obvious. Your competition needs to be located at the front of your trade stand or your office. It needs to be clearly and obviously signed so people can find it and are encouraged to enter. Put a banner on your website letting passing traffic know about your competition and where they can find you to enter.

5. Tell people about it. Tell your regular clients about your competition as well as your new clients. You could also tell some of the major competition sites ... where the site collates competitions and lets their members know so they can enter them.

6. Make it worth their while. Giving away a low value item is not likely to generate much interest in your competition. Make the offer enticing with high perceived value.

7. Protect their privacy. You need to make it very clear how you will handle their personal details. Will you pass on their information to other people? Will you contact them to send them marketing material? You need to tell people what you will do with their information. Give them an opt-out box for them to tick if they don't want to receive any further information from you (and respect that tick in the box if you don't want to fall foul of Spam Laws and Do Not Call Registers).

8. Sort out your legals. Many locations have strong rules around the operation of gaming including Lucky Door Prizes.

In Queensland the Office of Gaming Regulation Inspectors check every stand of almost every expo or tradeshow for compliance. You need to download the Guidelines for Promotional Games and comply with items such as retention of entries for 5 years, the order of drawing prizes, written terms and conditions which must include things such as:

a. the name of the person running the promotion
b. Eligibility requirements for players
c. Description and retail value of each prize
d. Closing and drawing dates
e. Order the prizes will be drawn
f. How winners will be notified
g. Whether the results will be published and where
h. What will happen if the winner is not present at the draw
i. Any elimination rounds

It almost goes without saying that of you run a competition you must honour your commitments and actually award the prizes (unless you get no entries at all). Running a competition and not awarding the prizes can see you before the courts.

9. Follow up promptly. If you are using the competition to generate leads or create a data base then follow up on all entries within 14 days of close of the competition. You may want to consider hiring a Virtual Assistant (VA) to convert the entries or business cards into a database for you. Pre-book your VA so they have time to do your data-entry when it arrives. When following up remind the person where you got their details.

10. Trumpet the winners. If you can get their consent, get photos of the winners that you can use in your marketing and promote the details of the winners to your mailing list and local media. Most people love the spotlight (and other people love to know the inside of other people's lives). Good news stories are great for business.

If you follow these top 10 tips you will improve the response to your competitions and lucky door prizes and get more "bang for your competition buck."

About the Author

Ingrid Cliff is a Freelance Copywriter with her Brisbane Copywriting Business (Heart Harmony). Ingrid writes a free weekly small business newsletter packed full of articles and tips and Small Business Ideas blog for small businesses. www.heartharmony.com.au

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Law Firm Marketing Strategies to Use after Securing the Client

Youve finally landed that highly sought after yet elusive client. Now you must give everything you have to keep them. It seems as though youve put forth all of the blood, sweat and tears you could muster just to get this opportunity. Now that you have secured this client, what law firm marketing strategies are you employing to keep them

Other successful firms have found ways to keep their premium clients. What are you doing to keep yours Once again, you may feel like banging your head against your desk; frustrated and fed up because its just one thing after another. You dont catch a break just because youve landed the client. Now you must figure out how to keep them.

Prepare to bleed more effort into serving your new conquest. The process to make the client happy has only begun. You know the only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. Following are some law firm marketing strategies that insure your clients remain in your focus and you must work hard to employ them.

Begin work on the case immediately. As soon as the client signs on, spend some time that day or the next working on the case. This is necessary to protect your clients best legal interests. It also shows their immediate need for legal help and that you genuinely care about them.

Send them some form of written communication within 48 hours of taking the case. It isnt enough to start working immediately on their case. You must also show that you are actively working on their case by mailing them a copy of everything you do. Consider time stamping everything so they will see you started on their case almost as soon as you landed it.

Send out a brief client survey within one week of landing the new client. This can be a great way to collect data on vital questions such as:

Why did they select your firm
Who else were they interviewing
What do they like best or least about working with you
How can you improve
How fast was your response time to their initial request
How did they find you
Do they know of anyone else who could use your services
Important dates birthdays, anniversaries, etc
Additional contact information

Its also a good idea to send out an additional client satisfaction survey when the case is completed. This allows you to gauge their overall satisfaction from start to finish once you have worked on the case.

Project the efforts you have put forth in order to satisfy the client. Give them regular updates on their case, even if it drags out over months or years. Keep the client in your mind at all times and let them know you are always working in their best interests. This shows you care and gives them a reason to appreciate your consistent efforts. Even when nothing is happening with their case, maintain regular contact with your client.

A very important attorney marketing plan is to ensure the client not only sees results, but knows how hard you have worked to obtain those results. Show your client all of the hard work you have put into their case. Even the smallest details or easiest motions you have put forth demonstrate that you care about your client. Show them that you have worked for them to the best of your abilities and did everything you could to serve them well.

If you want to keep your clients happy, begin using these simple law firm marketing strategies now. There are law firm marketing services available to assist you in putting these strategies to use in the most productive ways possible. Contact them and get it right. Dont bleed that last vein dry without a winning plan to make it worth your efforts.


About the Author

Stephen Fairley is CEO of The Rainmaker Institute is the nations largest law firm marketing company that specializes in helping small law firms generate more and better referrals and create a 7 figure law practice. Over 6,000 attorneys have benefited from our proven Rainmaker Marketing System. Attorneys: claim your FREE legal marketing CD 7 Keys to a 7 Figure Law Practice at

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