The Per Annum Insider - News, Product Reviews, Contests & More

Contests, Giveaways and Prizes, Oh My!

Who doesn’t love getting free stuff?  I’ll let you in on a little secret…giving stuff away is almost as much fun as being on the receiving end.  We love it so much that we are going to do more of it.  AND, by helping us spread the word about Per Annum, our cool products and, of course, our random giveaways, you will have multiple opportunities to enter:

1. Be a Follower.  Follow @PerAnnum on Twitter.  This will count as one contest entry, and you will be one of the first to know about future contests! If you are already following us, we will give you an automatic entry into our first giveaway in November 2010.
2. Like us on Facebook. This will count as one contest entry, and you will be one of the first to know about future contests! If you are already a fan, we will give you an automatic entry into our first giveaway in November 2010.
3. How to get multiple entries per contest:  For each contest (unless noted otherwise), you can retweet the news on Twitter, share it on your Facebook page and/or post it to your blog.  Are you a part of an online community that would be interested in us?  Post about our contest in a forum for another contest entry. Once you’re done spreading the news, come back to our blog post for that particular contest and tell us what you did via comment.

For most contests, winners will be selected at random.  All entries will be entered into an excel spreadsheet and using a random number selector, we will choose the winner.  Winners will be announced on our blog at the designated time.

So, be sure to keep an eye out for contest announcements, spread the word and participate as often as possible – we promise to make it worth your while!

Subscribe to our RSS feed! Is this Greek to you? Read on....

There are so many amazing bloggers out there, and that number grows everyday. Some are informational, some humorous -- the best though, are both.  I have a long list of favorites, and keeping up with their numerous (and sometimes daily) posts was difficult at first.  I used to add each site to my favorites and then click to go to each when I had time.  I often saw the RSS or Subscribe links on these sites, but for some reason I didn’t click on them.  When I finally did, I couldn’t believe how much easier it was.

1. First you need a Reader – there are a number of good ones out there.  For me, I started with Google’s free reader.
2. Once I signed into my account, I had the ability to search for my favorite blogs and “subscribe” to them.
3. Every time my favorite blogger posts an article, it will show up in my reader.  So I just have to go to one place – my reader – and I can quickly see which articles are new or unread.
4. BONUS:  Mobility.  I found a reader app for my phone.  This lets me keep in touch with my favorite bloggers while commuting on my train, sitting in a waiting room, or anywhere I have some time to kill.

Here are some of the blogs that I enjoy following – photography, food, scrapbooking, craftiness, etc.:

The Per Annum Insider (of course!) -- http://blog.perannum.com
The Pioneer Woman -- http://thepioneerwoman.com/
Chocolate & Zucchini --http://chocolateandzucchini.com/
Serious Eats NYC --http://newyork.seriouseats.com/
Etsy -- http://www.etsy.com/storque/feeds/latest/
A Lego A Day -- http://legomyphoto.wordpress.com/
Daily Candy NYC -- http://www.dailycandy.com/new-york/ 
Alie Edwards -- http://aliedwards.com/
Elsie Flanigan -- http://www.abeautifulmess.typepad.com/
Digital Photography School -- http://www.digital-photography-school.com/
Shutter Sisters -- http://shuttersisters.com/
Photojojo -- http://content.photojojo.com/

Hope this helps make your Per Annum Insider experience a little easier!  (By the way, if you want a more technical explanation, Google has a helpful article on the subject.)