Money contests: yay or nay?

I recently ran a $100 posting competition on my community, and it worked like a charm - it increased our new members, and increased our links because we posted it on a few forums, but as a forum owner, do you think its a good idea to launch a money contest if you have the funds?

Or have you not tried it yet?
This is what I did http://www.virtualpetlist.com/showthread.php/3218-Virtualpetlist.com-launches-a-100-posting-contest

So, have you tried a competition like this before?

 

Hey, if you have the money... then why not? It helps your forum, and helps the contestants.

 

You could also use sponsors to run contests - like a forum software - or affiliate company.

 

Personally I disagree to contests with high prizes, because you end up with the greedy people who just join and post for that prize, and then once it's over you wind back up in the same boat again with very little activity again

 

Not always, whenever I have contests, I set a certain post counts so that regulars are most likely to enter and win, and you dont have to worry about them leaving afterwards.

 

I would do it if I had $100 to spare. I don't have any extra money so this is something I can't do.

 

I plan to have a few contests once I get my paycheck. My forum could use some activity.

 

I have one running right now, though with a much smaller amount of $30 total ($15 first, $10 second, $5 third).

It does work and has helped push my forums back to it's glory age in 2007

 

As soon as the current contest we are having is over, I will have another contest as cash for the prize.

 

Not all the time, it depends how you set it up. My community doesn't struggle with activity, and we run contests from time to time. The money contest went very well, now we're doing an art contest. Our members enjoy competition - battling one one another out for top posts, and I post a lot as well, so the community doesn't end up inactive, from a contest.

I run money contests to also attract people - people see a contest, they go hey, this community gives out free stuff, then they tell their friends, and its a catch 22. Have you ever ran a major money contest, or you're not experienced in running one? Top forum owners do it all the time - but if you base your community around stupidness, and not activity, then of course, you'll have a dead forum after a contest is over. That's not my case, nor some of the forum owners that I know, and look up to.

Money contests drive more content to your community as well, thus, when the contest is over, users have more posts to reply to, and more people to interact with. I gave the winner $100, does he post often now? Nope, and quite frankly, I do not care, because other members have stepped up, and are more active. It's just like real life, you give a hobo some money, and they say thank you, and run off with the money.

Quite frankly, money contests, and competitions, are a great way to get your community flowing with activity. It is up to, to decide, will this contest help us?

 

I think it's good $100 posting contest seems like allot of fun for most webmasters probably.

 

100$ Is a lot so I guess you got a lot of new members.
I like paid contests but I am usually making them with smaller prizes then yours XD

 

I had about $30 in paypal and thought of making a money contest in my forum. But unfortunately, paypal brought a new rule regarding Indians, due to which, we must add a credit card to our account to make any transaction.
As i don't have a credit card, i dropped down the contest idea.

 

So it was recently added? Thats the same here in USA, but its always been a rule. You can only send a small amount at first but then you have to add a credit card or bank account.

 

Money contests are better spent on PAID forum posting because you know your going to get a quality return. When you run a contest on a forum you more then likely going to get people spamming your forum for post counts.

 

We're actually considering creating a contest with a money prize. It wouldn't be a posting contest, however, but a writing competition instead as we are a writing forum. I think I'm going to start off small to see how it goes. If it goes well, I may put it into my budget to put aside money for more contests with cash prizes. I'm hoping it brings back older members along with bringing in some new ones as well.

 

Good idea, always best to start of small. All the best

 

I would be too concerned with spam to run a contest, especially one with such a big prize. But it could be considered an advertising strategy if it brings in a lot of new members and generates a lot of sticky content.

 

Well if you have your guidelines set for the contest it shouldn't be a problem. I had one with no problem, and I got all quality posts.

 

To jumpstart and provide more excitement to a forum, offering money prizes would be a good way to attract more members and posts. However, you should also be aware that after the contest period, there is a big chance for the activities to somehow cool down. I suggest that you plan a series of incentives for the members and may not always be centered on money at all times.