Scavenger Hunts - Gremlins and Prizes, Oh My!

My daughter went on a scavenger hunt recently. She stated quite emphatically that she had the "most fun she's ever had." She's twelve. I believe her. There was even a cool mom involved. It wasn't me.

I can remember going on scavenger hunts when I was a kid. I even did it once for a job at a "fun day" event. I had the required safety pin in my purse and other items which I'm sure won us the trophy. There was no trophy, but I wish there had been. When in its organic state, my purse is a thing of wonder. You never know what buried treasure you might find in there. There could be gremlins in there, too. I'm not sure. I could stick my hand in there for my wallet and lose it, you just never know.

I can be very competitive and brave when necessary. I'm also great at doing research. So when I saw a scavenger hunt challenge on Firepole Marketing, I played my what the heck card and threw in my hand.

As it turns out, I'm finding that online contests often result in... well, things I don't want to do. But the competitive nature in me is strong, so I comply. Some contests are full of self-promotion, like the Top 25 Circle of Moms contest where I had to get my peers to vote for me, and the Firepole Marketing contest where I had to get people to comment, Tweet, share, etc. and another contest I just received word I was a finalist in recently where again, you have to vote for me to win. Here's where to vote for that one. I'm number two.

Please be advised that I despise doing this to my readers. I hate it. I usually don't even enter a contest if I know I will have to bother people to vote for me. I like contests where I do one particular thing and it's voted on by a higher power and I win or I place or I don't. They usually don't tell you, however, until after you've already entered the contest that you'll be required to do this, so you're kind of stuck.

I was happy that I didn't have to ask for votes for the Firepole Marketing Great Online Marketing Scavenger Hunt, however. It honestly would have ruined it for me. But it is a lot of work. Each task I complete earns me points and points mean winners and prizes. There are hundreds of people participating, so I even have to keep score for three other contestants to be kept in the contest. I told you, it's not all fun and games. It's hard work. But the point is to help you grow and gain in certain categories like:

1. Networking and Guest Posting
2. Social Media Mastery
3. Multi-Media
4. Writing, Reading & Researching
5. In Real Life

The duration is long. Five weeks and over 100 challenges. Firepole Marketing can really help you out if you market anything online, including yourself. This contest is hitting me at a very busy time and I'm struggling to stay in it and be productive. My post here about it gets me some points, though, so I'm killing more than one bird with this stone!

Do you participate in contests? What have you won? What do you love and hate about online contests? Have you ever done an online scavenger hunt? If so, tell me about it!