|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 8:18 pm
I'm thinking of holding a lottery to help with my quest for an ancient katana. I want to keep it simple, a 50/50 draw, 1000 tickets for $100 a piece, making the prize 50,000, and five bumping prizes of donation letters (first 500 bumps). Has anyone here held a lottery, and if so is there any advice you could share?
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 8:25 pm
No I haven't sorry, but I wanted too. So goodluck!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 2:00 am
I have, and they all failed, so I can tell you what I did wrong, and offer advice so you can learn from my mistakes without making them yourself.
But first thing... do you mean 100$ or 100 GOLD? Thers a big diffrance. I wouldnt spend 100$ real money for a chance at 50K. It takes too long to make 100$, but 100gold is like, three posts.
okay here are tips from what I've learned running (poorly) lotto games and playing ones both well run and poorly run.
1. Be clear, be consice, and proofread.
No one wants to give gold to some one who cannot spell propperly on their thread, not for donations, not for lotto, not for anything. Be clear and consise. People want to be able to read all the rules, see the prizes and the entry fee as quickly as possible. You want your information post to convay all of the nessary information:
A. Price per ticket
B. Number of tickets total
C. Number of tickets remaining
D. Lotto prize
E. additional contests (mention them here but give them their own post for the explanation)
F. Rules
G. penalties for breaking the rules.
H. (this one is optional) Why you are holding the lotto/where any money not given for prizes goes.
2. Be orginized.
A. An intro post that is polite and upbeat.
B. An information post as outlined above
C. A list of who has what ticket numbers with a legend to show who has confirmed/ finished paying for their tickets Also here, its a good idea to show the tickets that remain.
D. If you have any other conests, their rules, and winner lists.
E. A thank you list for donators, and people who are friendly and/or helpful in the thread. This is also a good place to give shout outs.
F. A black list. A sad but nessary art of any charity or game.
Always reserve a few more posts then you think you need, other things come up that ou might not expect. Things like banners if you decide to cross affiliate, or donated avi art, or any number of other things, Its alwyas usefull to have a few extra posts reserved.
3. Read the forum rules. Be sure you are in the right forum and are following all rules.
4. Check back and update CONSTANTLY. Moniter the thread. If some one breaks a rule, either Gaia TOS or a rule of your own (Or both) deal with it. Black list them, and if applicable, report them.
5. Do not get discoraged. Get a few friends together and have a discussion on the thread so you're never bumping alone.
6. Handle all trades and prizes through a mule. VERY IMPORTANT. People aren't going to feel comfortable giving gold to an account they think might accidently spend it. Mules make people more comfortable. Have the mule make one of the early posts, let the people know early on, in the rules who your mule is and that ALL trades are to go through him or her.
7. Do not UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, and I'll repeate, DO NOT enter ANY of your own accounts, mules or otherwise into ANY contest, be it lotto or bump. NEVER EVER ENTER YOUR OWN CONTEST.you are expected to bump and follow your own rules, but you mustnt ever let ANYONE even THINK you are eligable to win your own contest. They will be sure its rigged, even if it isnt. and if they dont report you for scamming then and there (which they should) then if you win, you definatly WILL have an angry mob bearing falming torches of mod calling. Its bad. Don't do it.
8. Decide before you begin the lotto HOW you will choose the winner. That should be in your information thread somewhere too. Choose at the start and stick with it. I suggest the random number gnerator, since everyone can see it in your post.
9. Be nice. No one HAS to bump/play/post/donate. Thank people. Show appreciation.
10. Never curse, it turns people off.
11. Rotating polls, maybe a diffrent one each day, so they can always get gold for poll voting. This is optional of corse, but you know how well polls and interesting thread names draw people in.
12. Interesting thread name. It should tell what the thread is, but also stand out. this is perhaps the hardest.
13. advertise your lotto in your siggy with something eyecatching that links to it, but ni where else. Except to friends. To friends you can always send adverts about your new endevrs, but do not randomly pm anyone else, or advertise your lotto in some one elses thread/guild. Thats just wrong.
14. Be realistic. If people dont know you to be trustworthy as a lottoteer (and they wont since this is your first) no one will pay 100 gold for a ticket when there are 100000 tickets. Start smaller lottos and work up. A lot of people wont enter long term lottos. maybe 5 gold a ticket and sell 400 tickets to start. Also set any bump or dice contest accordingly. A good way is to say that the highest bumper when the lotto closes wins, another is to estimate about how long it will take to sell all those tickets and say a number of bumps that is close to that.
15. Dont charge sepratly for seperate contests. dont make there be an entry fee for the bump contest. Though you might want to say that the only bumps eligable are the ones made AFTER they confirm the trade for their lotto tickets. Thats okay.
16. encorage chat on the thread, to keep it to the top,
17. a good way to keep people bumping after they know they should be in bed is to give page number contests. first or last post on page X is a great way to keep the thread active if you do it every 20 pages, then when you hit page 18 youll have a spike and you'll get 2 pages in almost no time, from people sure thata they will be the one to hit that key spot. This keeps the thread up at the top.
18. Thats about it for now, but as with any lotto, you need one more thing... LUCK. Good luck.
Hope this helps.
heart
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 5:56 am
Wow, thanks for the tips... Also, use a font style that is readable and clean. (Pink is really light) razz
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 10:19 am
Yeah, I live for pink. Pink is my trademark color on this name. (even if they call it violet.) heart
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
