Idea of the Week - Contest Site Using Tideman Voting Methods

I was a little late posting this week’s idea due to a very busy weekend. I apologize.

This week’s idea is relatively simple and straightforward, which would make it easy to implement quickly for anyone inclined to do so. (Should you be, let me know!)

As always, if you have your own idea, email me and if I think it’ll generate some discussion, I’ll write about it as well. You’ll be given full credit.

Concept - Tideman, or Ranked Pair voting is a method of voting that can be used to derive an accurate preferred ranking from having voters select between two of the options available. The wiki article I linked to does a good job of explaining how this really works.

If you combined this type of voting with a decent prize, it might be possible to extend this concept into a viable income source.

Operation - The basic idea would remain the same but the subject being “voted” on could be anything, basically. From best blog story, to best photo, to best home video, to best looking person, etc, etc. All of these subjects have been successful at generating interest in the past or as part of other mediums.

For each contest, you would have a “submission” period followed by a fixed “voting” period. Once the results have been tallied the prize would be awarded; rinse and repeat ad infinitum.

Money Making Potential - There are some interesting ways one could generate income from this idea. The ad model - simply placing ads on the site - is of course the first option.

More intriguing though would be to have an insignificant entry fee, say $1 - $5 and a decent prize: $100-$1000. Combine this with a social network based marketing campaign, and the resulting entry fees would more than cover the prize allocations. Quick math says you’d need 200 entries at $5 to cover a $1000 dollar prize. Even at low levels of traffic that’s pretty attainable these days. In fact, having a fee with a little bit of advertising would make the whole pot bigger still. You could also adjust the prize to entry ratio so that you always come out in the black as well, but that might hamper your ability to draw a crowd.

Downsides - The biggest risk with this idea would be establishing a credible readership base right off the bat. That may mean that for the first few weeks, the contests operate at a loss to draw contestants with large prizes that are easily won.

Once the site becomes popular, the usual crackers and schemers will arrive to attempt to influence the voting, and that would need to be dealt with as well.

Finally, this idea has such a low barrier to entry that the winner will be the one that can build the largest community the fastest.

Worth a Shot?

I think this is worth a shot for anyone who has a few hours to spend coding the ranked pair algorithms, along a few grand to present up front in prizes. What do you think? Is this another Hot or Not, or will it die a quick death?