Penucopia
Penucopia
Just wanted to provide a quick update on the Pilot Blue Black giveaway from July. Since I’m a bit of a geek, I decided to post a few statistics. I also wanted to provide some thoughts on my first giveaway.
I received 96 entries total, from 14 countries on 4 continents. The US was the largest by far, which makes total sense.
Out of the 73 entries from the US, 32 states were represented. Top states were California, New York, and Georgia.
I’m glad that I used Google Forms along with Google Docs for this giveaway. I was able to easily start and end submissions, and was able to keep them unique. It was easy to slice and dice the information, as well as export the names and addresses. It also allowed me to further track things such as when I had shipped items and add additional columns and charts, such as the ones above.
I was happy to have structured data with all the names and addresses. I was able to export this information and automate label printing and printing stamps in bulk using my Dymo LabelWriter 450 Twin Turbo. This greatly sped up things, as I was able to pack and ship in large batches.
In order to help lower costs for international shipping to a couple of countries, I asked a couple of friends to help me by shipping domestically from within their own countries. Special thanks to Michelle and Leigh for helping me. I was also able to hand out several samples in person at the DC Pen Show, which not only saved money, but also allowed me to meet some amazing people in person.
In my original giveaway post, I mentioned that I would give away samples until I ran out of ink or sample bottles, whichever came first. I changed my mind. I still had plenty of ink left, so I ordered more bottles. This meant that I was able to fulfill everyone’s request to get a sample of Pilot Blue Black!
Even though it took quite a while to ship out the samples, it was nice to be able to share with others in the pen community. I asked that people let me know what they thought of Pilot Blue Black and to send me a note if they wanted. I’m honestly shocked and humbled to say that I received over 60 letters and mentions on social media from recipients. It was so nice to hear from everyone. It further reinforces how nice this community is.
Will I do another giveaway in the future? Probably. On this scale? Probably not. But definitely be on the lookout… :-)