Determining The Number of Writing Contest Winners Thumbnail

Thanks to the generous contributions of more than 30 people (see the exact number in our writing contest tracker in the sidebar which will be updated at least 3X a week), we have raised over $850 so far with more in the pipeline.  Given that we have past our goal of raising $500, we’d like to offer a second Writing contest prize to the runner up in the amount of $150 or more.  If there are enough applicants, and if the vote is close, we’d also like to offer up a minimum $50 award to the third place finisher.

Proposal for how to determine the number of Writing Contest winners:

* One winner guaranteed. Every month there will be a $500 Writing Contest winner guaranteed as voted upon by Members and readers.  There is now no doubt in my mind that we will be able to raise $500 a month based on the amount of interest and support so far.  Furthermore, if there is a scenario where we are short of $500, Yakezie.com will make up the difference for our $500 fund raising target and our $1,000 target starting in the summer of 2011.

* Two more winners. If funds raised for the month surpass $500 and go up to $1,000 we will reward 70% of the funds raised above $500 to the runner up i.e. if total funds raised for December is $800, the runner-up will get $210 ($300 X 70%), and the third place winner will get $90 ($300 X 30%) if we have more than 5 applicants.  Again, the 2nd place and 3rd place applicants will get $150 and $50 at least.  This 70/30 ratio for the 2nd and 3rd place finisher will stay consistent for the next 6 months or until we have at least three months of over $1,000 a month contributions.

* Future permanent ratio. When we start raising more than $1,000 for the Writing Contest, we will go with a 60/30/10 split for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers if there are more than 5 applicants.  For example, if we raise $1,200, the winner receives $720, 2nd place receives $360, and third place receives $120 and so forth.  If there are 5 or less applicants, there will only be one $500 winner and the rest of the month’s funds will roll over to the next month.

* Minimum number of submissions. For all the formulas to work, we need at least 6 submissions each month.  If we have 5 or less applications, then we will reward only one winner and carry over the funds to the next month’s Writing contest.

* Writing Contest publication time frame Starting every Monday after the Writing Contest submission deadline, our aim is to publish at least 5 and hopefully one day 10 of the best submissions once a day for everyone to vote on using a simple 1-5 point scale.  You are free to vote each time the applicant’s essay is published, or wait until the end of the week to then individually rate each essay as you are able to then compare the submissions against each other.  The ideal number of articles to publish is 10 over two weeks.  However, everything depends on the number of submissions.

* Fundraiser initiative. Every so often, we plan to run a fundraiser via an affiliate marketing promotion on Yakezie.com.  We will donate at least 50% of the commissions to the Writing Contest Fund.  Members are welcome to promote their affiliate products on Yakezie.com if they wish as Yakezie.com is a platform for all of you.  Furthermore, if there is a great product or deal out there outside of the Network, please feel free to send us an e-mail to let us know to review and potentially promote.

DEADLINES ARE IMPORTANT

We plan to host a Writing Contest once a month for as long as Yakezie.com exists if there is enough demand from applicants.  At the very least, we plan to host a Writing Contest once every two months.  As such, we will run a firm deadline policy as we need to then contact applicants, schedule, publish, vote and announce the winners.  All this takes time as we need to then prepare for the following month.  What we will likely do to help Members and applicants prepare is to post a schedule for the next month’s questions one month in advance as well as the deadline.   After December’s Writing Contest, we will have a deadline of the second Friday of every month i.e Friday, January 14th is the deadline for the January Scholarship.

The deadline for the HowtoSaveMoney.com Yakezie Writing Contest is currently Monday, Dec 6 at 11:59pm.   We currently have two applicants.  I suspect that most people will submit the day of the deadline.  If we do not have at least five applicants, then we will extend the deadline until Sunday at noon, Dec 12th given this is our inaugural launch and we’re still getting the word out.  Again, the ideal number of articles we’d like to publish is the top 10 who will compete for three scholarships since we currently have over $700 raised.

Thanks for your interest and support in the Yakezie Writing Contest initiative!  Feel free to ask any questions in the comments below and provide suggestions.

Regards,

The Yakezie Writing Contest Committee (YWCC)