Talk Back Thursday

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Attention: Mae and Sydney - you were winners in my last give-away. I can't conatct you through your profiles. Please email me at: gwendolyn_campbell@hotmail.com to claim your gift certificates to Patterns from the Past. If I do not hear from you by next Thursday, I will draw new names.

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Thank you so much to Sarah, Carla, What-I-Found, Faye, Helen, Katherine, Diane, Beckie, Julia, Becky, Corrine and an Annonymous commenter for talking back to my confession last week!

I had been feeling a bit down that my recent give-aways hadn't attracted more commenters, and wondered if I was doing something "wrong". I asked people for their opinions on give-aways and what types of give-aways would draw people to participate.



Your comments reminded me of a fundamental fact of life that I know, but don't always remember and apply...



It's NOT all about ME. ;)



I had this feeling that I had done something wrong and if I could just do it right, then hundreds, thousands - maybe millions! - of people would respond to my give-aways.



(Oh, okay, how about "dozens" ?)



But as I read the replies, I realized that this is just not the case. Almost half of the commenters (5 out of 12) responded that they rarely or never enter any give-aways at all.



And there were a lot of reasons why not, including things like (a) a conscious decision not to accumulate stuff (gasp - not even sewing stuff!), (b) not being sure if give-aways are open to people living outside the U.S., and (c) not feeling comfortable de-lurking for a give-away.



Even among the people who do enjoy participating in give-aways, there were different opinions as to what type is the best. I was interested to see that gift cards received mixed reviews - while several people prefer them, at least one person doesn't like them and would prefer bundles of cute fabric or trim, or an independent pattern.



Someone even suggsted that I have a give-away for my "How Much Fabric?" Reference cards. I do try to avoid making this blog about promoting the cards, but I could be talked into giving them away once in a while if no one objected... ;)



So, I REALLY want to thank everyone who took the time to help set me straight! I will continue to have give-aways for (a) every 100th post and (b) each year anniversary and I'll just be happy knowing that the people who want to participate, will participate and the people who don't, won't. And that there are people out there who enjoy reading my blog, regardless of whether or not I have give-aways. :)



Have I told you recently that you guys rock? ;)