Yahoo! Think Big Contest

[rustybrick]

This is a cute contest Yahoo! is running.

http://thinkbig.yahoo.com/

Yahoo! and Sir Richard Branson are teaming up to give one business big exposure. Introducing the Yahoo! Think Big Contest. Here’s your chance to put your business in front of millions of potential customers with the powerful Yahoo! Search Marketing suite of products.

Full press release at http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050428/276174.html?.v=1

[GOTseo]

(i) Novelty of business (business sells compelling product or service) (20 points)

(ii) Ability of Business Website to generate and convert customers (25 points)

(iii) Quality of Business Website's design & navigability (10 points)

(iv) Degree to which Business appeals to a national audience (10 points)

(v) Degree to which Business has an online & offline presence (5 points)

(vi) Entry essay demonstrates a compelling business case, including command of business fundamentals & business knowledge (30 points)

I love how the ii point of judging is based on your website. Interesting though, I'm going to sign up.

[searcher]

Hi everyone ~

Anyone heard anymore about this contest? Like if or when the winner will be annouced?

searcher

[YahooSarah]

Hey-
In regards to the Think Big contest, we'll announce the winner on Thusday, June 23. Look out for the news.

YahooSarah

[searcher]

Hello YahooSarah ~

Thank you for taking the time to answer my post. I really appreciate it. I imagine yahoo got swamped with applications.

Will the 'chosen one' be notified prior to this News Announcement? Or is it like the $1,000,000 winner in Publishers Clearing House - someone will show up at the door and surprise the 'chosen one'?

searcher

[Elisabeth]

Yes, the winner's been notified in advance, and we'll have more details here shortly!

[Elisabeth]

(danny also blogged this earlier)

Yahoo! Search Marketing, formerly Overture Services, today announced that Phoenix-based StairCycle Innovations was selected from among nearly eight thousand entries as the winner of its national “Think Big” contest. StairCycle, co-founded by cardiovascular ultrasound specialist Craig Ridenhour, offers a first-of-its kind cycle that combines the benefits of stair-step exercise systems and a recreational bicycle.

Sir Richard Branson, world renowned entrepreneur, Chairman and founder of the Virgin Group of companies, served as the official contest judge and selected StairCycle from the finalists chosen by Yahoo! Search Marketing. Sir Richard chose StairCycle for its innovative product, strong business plan and proven ability to “think big.” Following the announcement at 11am ET outside the NASDAQ building in New York City's Times Square, Sir Richard and Yahoo! Search Marketing president Ted Meisel will award Ridenhour 10 million free ad impressions across the Yahoo! network to kick-start his global marketing program.

“I was impressed by the entries we received, many describing truly innovative products and sound business practices,” said Sir Richard Branson. “At the end of the day, it was StairCycle Innovations and Craig Ridenhour who caught my attention for their inventive product and entrepreneurial spirit. It’s obvious that Craig has been thinking big for quite some time, and I am eager to watch StairCycle Innovations reach great success.”

“I spent seven years developing the StairCycle to offer people a new and fun way to stay fit, but never had the resources to effectively market it,” said Craig Ridenhour, CEO of Staircycle Innovations. “Having the support of Sir Richard Branson and Yahoo’s team of experts is a dream come true for me. They’ve really helped me learn how to use online advertising and search marketing to take my business into the big time.”

As the contest winner, Ridenhour has been granted his very own Yahoo! Search Marketing advisory team, which guides him as he creates his specially customized, targeted online advertising campaigns. Yahoo! Search Marketing’s array of sponsored search and contextual ads, coupled with Yahoo! graphical ads, will help Staircycle Innovations market its products to millions of U.S. Internet users.

[eagent]

Originally Posted by searcher

Hello YahooSarah ~

Thank you for taking the time to answer my post. I really appreciate it. I imagine yahoo got swamped with applications.

Will the 'chosen one' be notified prior to this News Announcement? Or is it like the $1,000,000 winner in Publishers Clearing House - someone will show up at the door and surprise the 'chosen one'?

searcher

One of our clients, http://www.staircycle.com actually won this thing, and like you, I'm having a difficult time finding it online yet.

It was covered this morning on CNN and Fox... I guess it was quite a blowout, with a studio set depicting an office and Richard handing Craig Ridenour (founder of StairCycle) the prize.

As for impressions, we're hoping Yahoo allows us time to spread those numbers out a bit. Imagine a small business, with a good but not perfected web site getting slammed with Yahoo-level traffic. Sounds like a way to destroy some servers pretty quickly if hosting is not up to snuff. (NOTE: We DID NOT design the web site, nor has it been set up for SEO or eCommerce. So there's a lot of work to be done... but we're glad to be a part of it).

But one of the coolest things about this promotion (aside from shaking hands with a respected billionaire) is that it's NOT just impressions... it's also Overture (now called Yahoo Search Marketing) clicks, which is much more valuable long-term - IF they allow us to craft landing pages and get the checkout process happening).


Congratualtions to Craig and StairCycle. This guy is a mover, a very dedicated entrepreneur, and his company is ready to rock.

[Elisabeth]

eagent:

the online wire release is here:
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/... 1&newsLang=en

Very cool that StairCycle happens to be your client.

(Check your Private Messages, too please

[lorenbaker]

I want me a StairCycle now! Winning a Yahoo Search Marketing team to plan your campaign and free ads throughout Yahoo is a great prize - they're sure to sell some $795 bikes.

Here's a pic Yahoo sent me:

[eagent]

Originally Posted by lorenbaker

I want me a StairCycle now! Winning a Yahoo Search Marketing team to plan your campaign and free ads throughout Yahoo is a great prize - they're sure to sell some $795 bikes.

Here's a pic Yahoo sent me:

ME: Is that cool, or what?!

Funny... Craig, the founder, looks like he could be Richard's brother or something...

Maybe we can convince Sir Richard Branson to spend one year NOT flying his balloon around the globe and instead take a StairCycle!

From an SEO standpoint, this is how this all came about:

1) Craig was posting on a Yahoo forum regarding StairCycle vs Trikke ( http://www.trikke.com ), which is a company I helped launch in 2001.

2) The Trikke zealots were a little protective of their fiefdom, but saw some cool aspects of http://www.StairCycle.com. I though it could be a big hit, and we began to chat.

3) We helped accelerate a PRWeb press release and made it SEO friendly (just a bit). See it at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/4/prweb223913.htm (you can do a LOT more SEO work on an online press release, even after the fact.. watch for the follow-up releases to see those results).

4) Craig was contacted by various parties, and the Yahoo contest came into view.

5) From a general entry to #5 to last Finals... and now look!

Now the work begins: making a real web site that leverages the current activity...

Improving the user experience and the whole click-to-ship process as seamless as possible.

Getting landing pages in place, and upgrading from PayPal to a real merchant account and shopping cart.

Affiliate programs and REAL marketing/promotion.

And gtting manufacturing to be more competitive, reducing costs so the product can have some margin.

Great problems to address... let's see how fast we can turn this machine into an excercise for Craig's bank account!

Have a great afternoon, and we'll keep you posted with updates as this comes alive. And your support on this is very much appreciated.

[searcher]

Now the work begins: making a real web site that leverages the current activity...

Improving the user experience and the whole click-to-ship process as seamless as possible.

Getting landing pages in place, and upgrading from PayPal to a real merchant account and shopping cart.

Sorry, I thought the above were 3 of the 6 requirements....

Congratulations & Best of luck to Craig!

[eagent]

Originally Posted by searcher

Sorry, I thought the above were 3 of the 6 requirements....

Congratulations & Best of luck to Craig!

ME: yeah, we are hoping to hear back soon from Yahoo Search Marketing that we get an opportunty to actually rebuild the site before bouncing 10 million hits off the PayPal cart (wouldn't that be an interesting dynamic...).

So much work... so little time...

Thanks for the kudos to Craig... I'll send him to this thread when he gets back from NY city.

I guess, in a way, he's not a Virgin anymore...;-)