I am so excited about this I can hardly stand it!
Here is what you stand a chance of winning in this new GIVE BACK Contest:
A brand-spanking new just released 16GB Product Red iPod Nano with video, custom inscribed, in it’s own little matching gift box (pictured below)
It’s a brand new (released yesterday!) 16GB iPod Nano with video. Not only does it hold 4,000 songs and 16 hours of video, but it’s an Apple Store exclusive: a Product Red product. For those who don’t know, a percentage of the proceeds from Product Red products go to help fight AIDS. AIDS is still a monumental crisis in Africa, with more than 4,100 men, women and children dying EVERY DAY from this horrible disease. Image every single person you have ever met in your entire life gone. It’s impossible to fathom. Product Red products are a direct, powerful way of helping prevent the spread of this horrible disease.
From the Product Red website:
The back of this cute little iPod has a custom engraving (chosen by yours-truly) that reads:
“This cute little iPod
is helping save lives”
It will come in it’s own adorable little gift box, and will be all yours to keep.
Oh, but that’s not all you will win!
Anyone want some cute little socks for their new iPod? I do!! hee hee hee
You will also receive a multi-pack of soft iPod socks to carry your new little friend in. Yes, it IS possible that these are the cutest things ever.
Here is what you need to do to enter, with some contest background info first.
Contest Backstory:
It is no accident I chose this Product Red iPod to give away on the blog. I have been wanting to do a giveaway for a long time now, but there has only been one thing I have wanted from my blog audience. Comments? No, although they are nice. New Fans? Sure, but that’s not the impetus. More traffic? Why not, although this little blog gets a lot already.
What I need my dear blog readers is your IDEAS.
You see, I have been in a place for awhile now where I have been pretty content with my business and my life. But there has been something missing. And I can’t put my finger on it, but I know it involves giving back.
Just like this little iPod is helping give back, I too want to give back. But I don’t know how. I mean, I know I can volunteer and I can donate and I can give, I just don’t feel like any of the things I have looked at are enough, or the right fit for me. Ideally I’d like to design my own project, focused on a cause, and ultimately down the road turn it into a book, with a percentage of proceeds being donated, but not sure what, or how. I love animals but it doesn’t have to be by or for animals. I am really open to anything. My goal before I die is not to have found fame and fortune, it’s to have made a difference in the world. One that I can see and feel.
I want to give my passions and my heart to something that will really make a difference in the world. I want to help bring some visibility to something that really needs it.
I need YOU, to tell ME, what that is.
So here is how you enter:
1. get your thinking caps on.
Brainstorm GIVE BACK ideas I can consider doing. My loyal blog followers may have an advantage here in that they know me well and know my life and what I’m capable of. But I’m open to hearing ANYTHING. No idea is too random or too crazy or too out there. Remember I’m an envelope pusher.
2. leave your idea(s) as a comment on this blog post. You can enter as many times as you like. You can give me as many ideas as you want, but be sure to leave them here, and leave your email address in the comment! (You don’t need to have a website). Please read the rules at the end of this post as well.
3. get on twitter and type some version of this:
“I just entered @cowbelly’s GIVE BACK contest to win a new Product Red 16GB iPod Nano with video. I hope I win! details here (with the link to this blog post)
The more social press I get with this, the more visibility I will be able to give to the project, and the people and/or animals that need my help the most!
4. do this before 10:00AM PST on Wednesday 9/16. Contest winner will be chosen and announced on the blog on Friday 9/18! Be sure to follow me on twitter @cowbelly for my thoughts and reactions to the ideas left for me. I may give some hints about the winner on twitter before they are announced! 
How you win:
Be genius.
Think outside the box.
Brainstorm powerful ideas.
In the end I will (very deliberately) select the idea I like the most, that is the best fit for me and my lifestyle. I will then get to work with my own researching and brainstorming and chicken scratch notes. And hopefully, within a *reasonable* amount of time, I will actually be doing this brilliant idea you shared with me. How awesome is that?!
You can even blog and/or Facebook about this if you like, and create your own GIVE BACK giveaway. Just be sure to link back to this post!
Contest Rules (fine print):
The Cowbelly GIVE BACK contest is open to anyone, anywhere that UPS ships to, anywhere in the world. You MUST be able to provide a shipping address or you will not win the fancy iPod! If you are in rural Alaska or Greenland or some other far off place, please let me know ahead of time so I can look into the shipping process to your area.
Contest entrants must have a working email address, and provide that address in their comment here.
Emailed comments will not be considered as entries. There are no restrictions on comment length or quantity. The comment section expands (scrolls) so feel free to type as much (or as little) as you like! Contest entrants may enter as many times as they like, but only comments with ideas will be considered for winning.
The iPod Nano and iPod socks may not be returned or exchanged for cash or credit. What you see is what you get! Cowbelly makes no warrantees as to the effectiveness of the products, nor provides any kind of warrantee against damage or defects, before, during or after shipment is received.
By entering this contest, you understand that you stand a chance of winning only if you provide a give back idea to Jamie Pflughoeft (Cowbelly owner). Comments left with no ideas will not be considered.
Cowbelly makes no guarantees that it will complete the idea in any pre-set timeframe, or that the idea will be used exactly as presented. Cowbelly will also not be held liable for any non-performance of ideas due to accidents, injury, illness or other life crap that can sometimes occur.
Cowbelly reserves the right to extend the deadline of this contest, or run this contest a second time to find the best Give Back idea, if for some random chance a great idea isn’t presented before the deadline and/or in the first round.
Contest entries will be taken until 10:00AM PST Wednesday 9/16. Contest winner will be chosen and announced on the blog on Friday 9/18. Contest winner will also be emailed on Friday 9/18 to notify them of winning. Notification will take place sometime before midnight PST on Friday 9/18.
The iPod and iPod socks will be mailed on Tuesday 9/22 via UPS. Shipping method depends on distance from Seattle, Washington, USA.
By entering, you accept that the winner is chosen purely subjectively as opposed to randomly.
Ok, now go to it my genius blog readers!!
I’m off to the dog park with the Fergs, and fully expect to see the brilliant ideas start rolling in on my iphone!
Thanks so much for entering and good luck! 
Our awesome friends over at Borrowlenses.com have been kind enough to make available a free week long lens rental (excluding super telephoto lenses) to be given away here on the Cowbelly blog.
