This Bud’s For You – Our Faithful Family of PCH Blog Readers!

Here at Publishers Clearing House, we’re ever-so-fortunate to have such a diverse and loyal group of PCH fans and friends. However, in the few years I’ve been with the company and writing PCH blogs, I’ve noticed something even more special – all of YOU, our fans and friends – have banded together in an online community that is genuinely supportive of each other. Of course, I’m sure each of you hopes and prays to become the next big prizewinner. And while there may be some disappointment when it doesn’t happen, the shared sense of camaraderie among the online community overflows with good wishes for the actual winner.

There’s no bitterness or resentment for the actual prizewinner. In fact, it’s exactly the opposite! Winners are showered with congratulations and good wishes by so many of the people who didn’t win!

It’s really an amazing thing to see and, to be quite honest, I don’t know of many audiences, large or small, in which you’d find a similar environment. After all, the home crowd at a baseball game doesn’t cheer when an opposing player hits a walk-off home run!

The outpouring of congratulations must be contagious because it’s not just a few people who post. In fact, an analysis of social media posted by the PCH online community following the February “Forever” prize giveaway revealed that an astounding 83.54 percent of comments were congratulatory! Add in the comments in which people hoped they would be next to win and that number grows to nearly 90 percent. On the flip side, can you guess the percentage of comments in which people were discouraged? If you guessed very, very low, you’re right. Only a fraction of a percent (0.28%) were discouraged.

And that shared feeling of good will is just one amazing aspect of YOU – the online community. In recent months, we’ve seen a number of loyal PCH enthusiasts assuming the roles of both brand ambassador and customer service agent. Fans even use Facebook and blog comments to help answer each other’s questions or help them find something. Lately, we’ve even see PCH fans step up and defend Publishers Clearing House against its detractors.

Personally speaking – though I’m quite sure my coworkers would agree – I think you all have winning attitudes, and I encourage you to stay active within the online community. Remember, we read and talk about your comments and, occasionally, use your comments to make the PCH online experience even better. So, thank you for being YOU. We wouldn’t be us without you!

Russell S.
PCH Creative