So ...

As a first step, you'll have to create your free Rafflecopter account here:

https://www.rafflecopter.com/

The basic account is free, but of course they do have paid plans too with additional features.

The business plan does not have Rafflecopter branding in the widget, and it also has some awesome features to boost the viral reach of a giveaway campaign.

However, if you are not a business user and just starting out then the free plan would work just fine.

After sign up you will be taken to Rafflecopter dashboard.

Now you need to click on the "New Giveaway" link to create your first giveaway:

On the next page, you will see a form to create your giveaway.

First thing you need to do is to add the prize(s):

With the free account you can't add an image of the prize, but in most cases you don’t need to do that ...

So just add the list of prizes and define a nickname for your giveaway. The nickname won't be displayed on the widget, but will help you to organize your giveaways on the Rafflecopter dashboard:

The next option is to choose how people can enter the giveaway.

There is a checkbox to enable "Referring their friends" option, but this feature is available for business accounts only.

Simply click the "ADD AN ENTRY OPTION" button to see a list of options that you can add.

These are tasks that you can ask the user to perform to enter your giveaway.

The real beauty: you can add multiple options and give your users opportunity to maximize their chances of winning while also spreading the word about your website:

With a free account you'll be able to add these options:

• Visit a Fan Page = like a page on Facebook; you will be asked to provide the Facebook page URL and title

• Tweeting a Message = for example, a tweet about the giveaway; you can compose the tweet message add your website’s twitter handle and perhaps a URL to either the giveaway or to your website’s main page

• Following a Twitter Account = you can provide a Twitter account that users will have to follow to earn an entry

• Commenting on a Blog Post = users can leave a comment on a blog post

• Invent Your Own! = you can create your own option, for example, you can ask users a simple question ...

And with a paid account you can add these options as well:

• Subscribing to a Mailing List = users can join your Mailchimp, Aweber or Constant Contact email lists

• Pinning an Image = users can pin an image on Pinterest

• Following a Pinterest Account = you can provide a Pinterest account that users will have to follow to earn an entry

• Answering a Poll = you can create a poll/survey where users can answer questions to earn an entry

Here's my list:

After adding the entry options, the final step is to choose the start and end dates of your giveaway.

The goal here is to allow the maximum number of your readers to join.

I recommend that you run the giveaway for about 7-10 days, but of course, you can choose any limit you want ...

And that's it! Click the "Preview & Install" button and you are done!

Congrats! You have successfully created your first giveaway.

So let's move forward to the next lesson where I will show you hot to add the Rafflecopter widget to your site ...