It shouldn’t be so hard to give away gift certificates to good restaurants. But I’ve had a heck of a time lately.
As many of you know, I have weekly drawings for certificates with winners selected at random from the list of my weekly News from the Flog e-letter. If your name is on my list, you’re entered in every drawing.
Each week I “draw” a name – actually I use random.com to generate a number between 1 and the total number of recipients and then find that line on a spreadsheet of the downloaded list. Then I send an email to the corresponding address telling the recipient what he or she has won. All the winner needs to do is respond to my email. (I even give my phone number in case they think it’s a scam.
But lately, crickets. I send out the congratulatory email and I don’t hear back, probably because it was an invalid email address.
Here’s the thing, people. You need to sign up for the e-letter using a valid address or I can’t contact you when you win. Sign up here
And what’s so important about having your email? Scott Joseph’s Orlando Restaurant Guide is supported largely by banner ads that appear on the website. Each week’s e-letter, too, features one or two of those banner ads. They don’t pop out at you, they don’t sing and dance, they’re just there for your consideration. The good restaurants that advertise on my site want my readers to know about them.
Lately I’ve been offering a “winner’s choice” of a $50 gift certificate to Tap Room at Dubsdread; a $50 gift card to Big Fin Seafood Kitchen; or $40 to First Watch plus a First Watch cookbook.
But let’s do something special.
Instead of a choice, the winner of the next drawing, on Sunday, Dec. 20, will receive all three prizes (four if you count the cookbook).
AND, all new signups between now and Dec. 20 will be entered into a special drawing for a $25 gift card to Ravenous Pig.
Jus so you know, my News from the Flog is a surprisingly unannoying weekly e-letter with links to all the recent reviews and news articles. The only time I ever send more than one a week is if one of the e-letters is smudged.
I do not share my list with anyone else. And of course you may unsubscribe at any time with the click of a button. (But if you unsubscribe you’re no longer entered in the weekly drawings.)
