Cash Give Away

[mjm1905]

Considering offering a cash prize to the Webmaster that sends the most referrals in X amount of months/weeks.

I am considering using the referral code that is built into the Classifieds program. I seen competitions similar to this between SEO professionals. I am a bit skeptical about the ability for people to cheat and if it would open the door for someone to do a scam.

Has anyone ever done something similar, or seen something similar? One winner gets the entire pot. Maybe a level two and three.

Just something I am tossing around. Would love to hear some insight...

[bengel]

Your question is too vague to answer. A cash prize of what--$25--$5000??
It seems that your goal in doing this is getting referrals- again for listings, free listings, paid listings?

If your give away is minimal, it is not worth anybody's time. And if it is large, you don't have a measurement for success. If you give away say $1000, and the "most" listings is 8, was that a good use of your funds?

I am still building my site, and not yet launched. I am targeting my efforts now on website optimization so that natural listings help drive traffic. But my business experience and research tells me that I need traffic and listings first. How many depends on the site to some degree, but fewer and broader categories might help avoid the empty appearance of no ads.

I am also spending time researching internet directories that are related to my site and getting my site listed. Most are free, and or just want a reciprocal link. That too will help drive targeted traffic.

I really would like to see more discussion on what people are doing. Yes, we are often competing, but sharing and networking can help us all.

Other thoughts as to what has or has not worked?