If my recent post about Klein’s Hybrid pliers seemed a bit odd, it admittedly was.
I started the post off as a giveaway, and then rewrote it with only the subtle suggestion of a giveaway.
There are two prizes.
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Mason – you won the folding hybrid multi-tool and a $25 Home Depot gift card!
David Z – you won the hybrid pliers and a $25 Home Depot gift card!
(I’ve already emailed you both for your shipping info – check your inboxes!)
Klein sent me this media kit a while ago, along with two gift cards. A note asked me to try out the pliers and give the gift cards to a reader so they can buy one for themselves.
As an aside, I love the time and effort that goes into media kit packages like this. I tend to keep the packaging way longer than I really should.
Home Depot is Klein Tools’ exclusive retail partner, and so that’s where the two $25 gift cards are for.
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These tools don’t align well with my wiring tool preferences, and I found myself reaching for other tools every single time. I never used these naturally as part of any electrical or wiring project.
Klein has a lot of different tools with overlapping functionality, and I could never really place these. I used (and continue to use) other Klein tools that work better for my needs.
Usually when this happens, when I’m sent a tool that I am ultimately unable to test naturally, I pass them on to someone else for feedback or potential guest/contributor review.
Maybe these hybrid pliers are suited to meet certain pro preferences that I simply don’t see. I would like to understand that, which is why I ultimately posted about them.
Since there are gift cards tethered to these tools, that required me to keep everything tethered together. I couldn’t give away the gift cards outside the context of sharing about these tools, and I also didn’t want to post about the tools until I had something more substantial to say.
How do I write an entire post centered around “these are great tools, but I found that I never used them and don’t know why I would recommend them over some of Klein’s other nearly identical tools”?
I wrote an informational post about the pliers when they first came out, and with all this time, I had nothing more to add to it.
This doesn’t usually happen to me. I have 3 or 4 (at least) types of Klein wire strippers that can all handle the same job. And, I also have multiple fine and heavier wire gauge versions of some of them. I can recommend each of these tool to different types of users, but the same wasn’t true for the hybrid pliers.
The time has come, and I wanted to do a giveaway to get the tools and gift cards into readers’ hands.
But, I really didn’t want the giveaway to be picked up by “contest sites.”
I also couldn’t find a way to separate things. If I offered the tools and gift cards together, maybe some readers would express interest in the tools when they really only wanted to win the gift cards.
So, I shared what I could, tallied up all of the commentors that expressed interest in the tools, and picked winners.
I thought this was fair – one reader gets the hybrid pliers multi-tool and a gift card, and another gets the Journeyman hybrid pliers and a gift card.
(I was actually going to choose just one winner, but the second comment mentioned interest in the multi-tool after previously owing the hybrid pliers.)
I’m open to ideas on how I could do this kind of stuff better in the future. Thankfully, I don’t usually receive unsolicited tools with free gift cards attached to them. But I have been trying to come up with a way to pass samples to readers in a quick and low-effort manner on occasion.
Jerry
That was very nice of both you and Klein to have a giveaway.
I think a good ‘stealth’ way of doing it would be to put the names of the people who reply with a strong interest in a possible giveaway tool in a hat (or have them randomly selected by a computer) and choose a winner or winners.
Jared
I like the approach you used. Especially for something with somewhat niche interest like this.
MFC
Just do giveaways that help your site grow. If little giveaways are positive to your view count, then great. You are running a business after all. Contest sites might help direct someone to you that didn’t know you existed, so the more the merrier.
The more readers you get, the more gift cards you’ll receive and the bigger the prizes can be, which should help you get more readers. Seems win-win.
Honestly, the giveaways are nice, but I come here for the summary of current tool events and the occasional good deal. Giveaways are more for getting new people than trying to keep those of us that have been reading for a while.
My $0.02.
Jared
I endorse this idea too. As a regular reader, I suppose the “surprise” nature of this giveaway and keeping it from attracting attention from those who won’t stick around appeals to me, but honestly, the true value I get is the content rather than a chance to win something.
It won’t hurt my feelings if giveaways are mostly used to attract attention from outsiders in hopes of growing the readership.
Yadda
Kudos on the surprise giveaway! Tools can be winners and not be your favorites or even the best option. Thank you for sharing with your readers.
JoeM
I was more intent on ignoring this. It just felt… uninspiring? And it’s not you, Stuart, it’s the two Klein tools. I was just kinda… Meh? So what? I have a pair of Klein Curve Electrical Crimpers, and these just seem to be… Two solutions for the same class of Electrical work? I can’t help but think “Anvil” when I see these two. Big, bulky heads (in the good way for Electrical tools.) but one folds up, and the other doesn’t. Also, one picks up in wire gauges where the other can’t go, with mostly overlap between them to cover the bases.
With so little interest in these… Your secret giveaway slipped my mind entirely. Plus… You never run your competitions for Canadians, so… I would have just given up on it anyways. In this case we’re talking about literally respecting your boundaries when it comes to Shipping.
Maybe someone who does more with Electrical would feel better about these Klein tools? I’m… Really quite content with mine, and my Leatherman Tools as well, which are of a higher quality than that folder, as a whole.
There’s a lot in this world that, ultimately, I just am not an expert at. So the tools just pass me by while I’m oblivious. This is one of those times. Contest or not… I drew a blank and said “Okay… So… Klein does those, too… that’s expected, actually.”
Sorry, Stuart. You always do great work, this one just didn’t strike my particular fancy.
ball_bearing
TLDR:
“They made a giveaway.”
“I didn’t win”
“And I took that personally.”
JoeM
TS;NB
Didn’t know there was a giveaway, wouldn’t have won anyways.
Didn’t care enough about the tools to judge how Stuart handled the hidden giveaway.
Feel ashamed for not paying more attention to something Stuart worked hard on.
Stuart
For what it’s worth, I had a backup plan in case either winner had a Canadian address.
Don’t feel bad, nobody reads everything.
Jared
I feel seen. 😄
Frank D
I think the surprise giveaway and keeping things away from the freebie & certain sites is a fantastic idea.
Dave
I liked this way of doing it. If someone feels inspired enough to write a comment it probably means they truly felt something about the product. Although I’m sure from now on, you’re going to receive a few more overly excited comments in case it is a giveaway.
But also, do like MFC said. I’d rather have the site be more successful than have 3 or 4 stealth giveaways a year.
I guess what i mean to say is, keep up the good work.
Stuart
Stealth giveaways (I like that term, thanks!) are meant to put tools in good hands, rather than for promotional purposes.
I have been running ToolGuyd for 13+ years and have hosted many giveaways in that time, both obvious ones and not.
Giveaways don’t foster growth. Maybe they do on social media where entrants must “tag” and annoy multiple friends. But the way I run giveaways, no. There are benefits, but growth is not one of them.
Eric
I thought it was extremely clever to sneakily give it away to someone who bothered to read the article through to the end. It’s a nice way to reward people who are legitimately curious about the product. I saw it, but don’t have any upcoming electrical work that I would have needed them for, and I’m already quite content with my strippers (Ideal and Crescent). I hope David and Mason make good use of these.
Stuart
That wasn’t my intent; I tend to put questions or what-not at the ends of posts.
A lot of people don’t read entire articles, they skim and take note of snippets that interest them, which is also why I tend to ask questions in bold or in separate one-line paragraphs.
Scott N.
I think it was a great way to do the giveaway, and ensure that it went to some of your regular loyal readers!
Franco Calcagni
Whatever your criteria, nice giveaway and I am sure the winners will enjoy them.
I have a fair amount of electrical tools and these being sort of an all in one tool, don’t really interest me. But sure as heck, would have been happy as a winner and found a way to use them.
I see these as having 2 main uses. First, if they are effective at their job, an electrician could put them in their belt to lighten the load by replacing 3 or 4 tools. Many electricians belts look like super heavy; carrying a backpack full of rocks and boulders probably weighs less.
The other main use would be a starter home owner, doesn’t have many tools and for electrical jobs, one of these can serve many functions and less tools to purchase in the beginning.
In any case, when I first saw these a while ago, they intrigued me (what tool doesn’t), but then the reality set in that for me, they would have been a wasted purchase.
Cody
I’m a journeyman electrician who spend my first few years doing remodels almost exclusively. Klein had a spring load needle nose stripper pliers that was similar to these that were extremely handy for attic work. If you climb up with a full tool belt you’re bound to scuff them on the scuttle hole or have tools fall out of your pouches when you’re crawling around. Tuck something like that in your pocket with what ever fittings you need and some wire and you’re good to go. That said it’s not what I reach for when normally stripping wire or using a linesman’s.
David Z
Thank you again, Stuart. I sent my info a couple of days ago.
David
Mopar
I would have been in the camp of “clearly defined contests/giveaways increase exposure, drive new readers to the site, and grow the site”. However, since Stuart stated above that at least in the case of ToolGuyd they apparently do not, I say do more stealth giveaways (I like that term too) and reward the people who read, participate, and show the most interest.
At least when it suites you and your sponsors.
Obviously, when a vendor or manufacturer is donating something specifically for the exposure, you want to give them as much as possible, so you’d want to do those the current way.