How to Make a Blogger Very, Very Happy in One Easy Step

1.  Send her free gin.

2.  There is no #2.

Seriously, folks.  It's a one-step, no-brainer, guaranteed  zinger of a promotion idea.

Best of all, I have two blogs, so I got two packages just like this.

A shot of Hendrick's and a cucumber, along with a little card sending me to their website.  (Note to PR people:  witness the lack of a press kit.)  Hendrick's was already one of my two favorite gins (Beefeater being the one most likely to be found in our freezer, and Hendrick's being the one I'm most likely to order when I'm out somewhere), but hey, send enough of it to me for free and it will become my one and only.

I can be plied with booze.

So much so that I'll even link to their blog, The Unusual Times.

So much so that I'll even link to a specific post on their blog and say that Hendricks Cucumber Lemonade sounds awesome, especially considering that two of the three ingredients just arrived in the mail.  Although oddly, the recipe doesn't call for cucumber.  I guess you're just supposed to figure that part out on your own.

Somebody in the horticultural world was recently telling me that they really wanted to send us some swag, but they thought it might taint our relationship, or our ethics, or our editorial standards, or some such thing.  I had to remind them that this is blogging.  It's the Wild West out here.  There aren't any grown-ups standing around telling us what we are and aren't allowed to do. Like refuse all shipments of free booze.  We would never, ever have a policy like that.  Actually, we would never have a policy, period.

So--Any other gin floozies get a little present from Hendrick's today?

Comments

[greg draiss]

Tanqueray for me! skip the tonic just gimme some ice and a little lime.
THE(summer is for drinking) TROLL

[Eilish]

Is there any cocktail more refreshing than a Gin & Tonic when it's hot? I love gin, but have never tried Hendricks. I'm intrigued now. Their Cucumber Lemonade looks delectable also and now I must try it. (Though I have lots of limes right now, so I might try a lime-ade instead.)

Well played, Hendricks, well played.

[Daphne Gould]

LOL You can't beat a gin and tonic while chatting in the garden with friends. At least in the summer...

[Michele Owens]

Why oh why am I never targeted by anybody except well-meaning authors?

[Marte]

Nobody ever sends me free booze or anything else free; but then I am not a famous garden writer or blogger. I am very jealous.

[Pam J.]

I say Cheers to everything you said, especially to the spirit of the post. Alas, I no longer drink, by choice and necessity. But I successfully drank for 15 or 20 years and can really enjoy a good story about the immense joys of the activity. Enjoy!

And I say right on to this too:
"There aren't any grown-ups standing around telling us what we are and aren't allowed to do."

[Heather's Garden]

Nobody's sending me any swag and I'm offended. How many hits/day do you need before you're considered swag-worthy? Or is it a unique point of view and good writing that I'm lacking?

[Nancy Bond]

Tom Collins here -- lots of ice! :) What a great gift!

[Jessica Damiano aka Charlie Brown]

I got a rock.

[Claire Splan]

I have no words to describe how willing I am to become a ginned up guinea pig. If I didn't already have a blog, I might start one just to get this kind of stuff.

Will blog for gin. (Also wine, tequila, or rum.)

[Christopher C NC]

All I have ever gotten is the leftover swag from here. Leftover swag is better than no swag at all I suppose.

I have no ads on my blog and that just might be a big giant flashing red X to PR people.

[Blackswampgirl Kim]

Whew. I feel better about myself after reading Christopher's note. I'm going to say that I must have the same flashing red X... makes me feel better than to think that nobody likes me. (That would send me straight out to buy my own gin!)

So what in the heck IS in Hendrick's cucumber lemonade, anyway, if there's no cucumber in it?

[Dee/reddirtramblings]

We love stuff, especially good stuff and a link to a website or blog.

Personally, I don't drink anymore, but I love free plants and garden tools and other stuff like that.

All I can promise is that I'll write honestly about whatever is given to me.

Your post made me laugh.~~Dee

[eliz]

I just got an email about a new kind of gin (I have gotten two emails about new kinds of booze so far this MORNING, so eat your hearts out bloggers--editing a magazine is way to get the big swag). Anyway, it's "G’Vine, named Best Distilled Gin in the world by Drinks International." I will definitely have them send a bottle. The other one was "Siembra Azul, a small-batch, artisan Tequila." I'll need that too.

The main thing is not to PROMISE you'll write anything. I just say, "Oh, we'd like to consider that for our blah-blah issue ..."

Amy, thanks for turning me on to Hendricks last summer--I have been buying it ever since. But I hate how you can't tell how much is left. I don't know when NOT to offer it to anyone.

[Carolyn]

Tanqueray, fresh lime/lemonade, fresh mint, lotsa crushed ice, stir vigorously. Refreshes hot, sweaty gardeners. Makes your garden look like a showcase, until the effect wears off.
I don't drink anymore, so I have it without the gin. Still tasty.

[Mary Schier]

Shoot! All I ever get is books.

[Heather's Garden]

Okay, I'm taking heart from the idea of no ads being the reason I'm getting no swag. So basically we're thinking that PR people think that if I'm willing to shill out $50/year to pay for my blog then I'm not interested in free stuff? Not true!