Wow, there are a lot of Contests and Promotions going on these days. But many (most?) of them don’t seem to generate a ton of interest. The reason is simple: they’re too complicated.

“Stop by each of their 5 locations and register at each one.” Nope. Not gonna happen.

“Go to our website and sign up. Then listen for the Daily Clue all month long. When you hear your name called… etc.” No. I don’t have that kind of time.

“Tell us why you think you should win these tickets…” I don’t want to tell strangers my life story in order to win two tickets to a concert where all I’m going to hear is tuneless bellowing from the tone-deaf people around me.

“When you hear the duck quack, jump from the top of the tallest building in town. As you fall, look for the clown in the 12th floor window. Wave to him with your LEFT hand and give him our ‘secret sign.’ Then, before you reach the bottom floor, flip your body over and try to land face down on the sidewalk in front of the building. If you have the most body parts left inside the chalk outline that we’ve drawn on the sidewalk, that puts you (or more likely your surviving family members) into a drawing for a free one-day pass to Disney World! (Plane fare not included.)”

No… just no. ONE step is what works.

“When you hear this sound (sound effect plays), be the 9th caller and you win!”

Keep it simple, or just have the same 30 people win every prize you ever give away. Better yet, offer something that people DREAM about having (or doing). Then just let me take one step to win it. You’ll be amazed at the response you get.