(1) Decide what you will give away. Since the purpose of the contest is to generate interest in your offer, the reward should be consistent with the focus of your business. For instance, if you sell beauty products you could give away a skin care product or a lipstick and matching eyeshadow. Just make sure your prize is something of worth.

(2) Pinpoint the value of the reward. You will need this information when you register your contest using the websites noted in #8.

(3) Order the prize from your affiliate program vendor and have it sent to the winner once she or he has been selected. Or, purchase the reward well in advance so that once the winner is selected you can send it immediately.

(4) Give your contest a catchy name to make it stand out. For instance, if you are giving away a rhinestone necklace, you could title your contest All That Glitters Give Away.

(5) Formulate the rules of the contest. Should contestants be 18 years or older? Is the contest for USA residents only? How many times can the contestant enter? What is the deadline for entering? How long will you wait for the winner to contact you? Concerning the latter, I generally give the winner up to 10 days. If that time period has past and I have not heard from the winner, I hold another drawing. This procedure should be part of your contest rules.Regarding entry deadlines, make sure you indicate a time as well as a date. For instance, your rules could read "Deadline for entering is May 5, 2007, 5:00pm, Pacific Standard Time." Once that time has past, take down your contest web page so that no additional entries can be received.

To review other contest rules as a guideline for your own, visit the websites noted in #8.

Also, contact your state's Department of Consumer Affairs to make sure your contest is in compliance with their rules and regulations if applicable.

(6) Post the details of your contest on a web page including the name of your contest, rules, reward description and value, and your contact information (in case there are questions).

(7) Create an autoresponder for contest entries. Then place a corresponding sign up form on your web page. I find using the sign up form from my autoresponder easiest but your website creation software (Dreamweaver, FrontPage, etc.) may also have a form building feature.

Collecting a name and email address is enough for me. I can always get a physical address from the winner when I'm ready to send their reward. However, if you plan to contact contestants by phone or mail in the future then go ahead and request that information as well.

(8) Register your contest with Contest Hound, Contest Alley, Cashnet Sweepstakes and other websites that publish contests.

(9) Each time someone signs up to enter, you should receive an email. Print out the emails, fold them and place in a large box or plastic bag. This is where you will draw the winner. If you use this method to select a winner, I should warn you that you may receive hundreds of entries if you register your contest with all the websites listed above. If you don't want to print out that many emails limit registering your contest to one or two websites.

Another method would be to download the list of contestants from your autoresponder, print it out, fold the pages and drop them in a box. Randomly pull one of the pages and then point to a name and email address without looking.

These are the two methods I've used in the past. You may have better ideas on selecting a winner.

(10) Announce the winner via email on the date indicated in your contest rules. You might also want to send a separate email to the winner to make sure they receive the good news. When the winner contacts you, get their physical address (if you don't have it already) and send the reward promptly.

Running a contest is a fun, no cost way or attracting attention to your offer. You'll grow your email list fast and have several hundred contacts to market to again and again.