In December, we launched our Do-It-Yourself online contest platform. Since then, we've been fielding a lot of requests from clients looking for help with designing and customizing contests, or incorporating contests into their existing marketing mix.

We simply can't keep up. Demand is out-pacing what we can deliver on, and the product is already at a state where fulfillment on these requests can come from other sources.

The Strutta platform is multi-faceted. There is the online solution, which itself is quite extinsible and customizable, and then there is the pending API, which will help put the control in the hands of developers to repurpose as they see fit.

While we work with developers to prepare the API, we have demand for CSS designers too. The online DIY contests still need to deft hands of a CSS designer to make them unique for each client, and we've made the process relatively simple. Ask us about how you can use our style kit to build contests that match existing client websites, or create your own original designs.

We're hoping to team up with a number of trusted partners to help us fulfill many of these requests. Put simply, we may have some work for you, so if you're interested or have questions, please get in touch so we can talk specifics by using info[at]strutta.com.

*img: "Help Wanted" by Egan Snow on Flickr.

225 x 127. These are the magic numbers for building a great Strutta contest, and you can do it yourself in just minutes if you follow these tips:

Getting Started

Click the "Create A Contest Now" button on any page (it's on this page, at the top right). You'll be taken to the pricing matrix. For the purpose of this exercise, we are going to choose the "Basic" or free option from the grid. You will have to either create an account or sign in at this stage, so follow the prompts and you'll be taken back the first phase of contest creation:

1. Contest Type. Select your chosen media submission types from the pretty icons. Your choice of: video, photo, text, audio or mixed media submissions. For the sake of this demonstration, choose any one of these and click the save button.

2. Now we're into the fun stuff, the "Look and Feel" options. Select one of the available templates, paying special attention to the backgrounds, the location of the sidebars, the color of the voting buttons, etc. If you click the small magnifying glass in the theme thumbnail images, you'll be able to view a larger preview of that template.

We also now have the ability to add some custom images or videos to our contest. Here is where our magic numbers of 225 x 127 come in handy. That's the available size of the "Contest Logo" block, so browse and upload to your 225 x 127 contest image and upload it. Allow a few moments for the progress bar to complete before starting the next step. When that's done, you can choose an option of having an "Intro Photo" or an "Intro Video," and then upload the applicable file.

Tip: For best results, use a widescreen video. Regular non-widescreen videos are ok too though, so no worries there. If you're uploading an image, for best results use a 640 x 360 image to promote your contest in this space.

Click "Save and Continue" when your uploads are completed.

A Contest, By Another Name...

3. Next you're taken to the "Summary" page, where you will select your contest title, summary and description. In the plain-text description field, be sure to share any contest-specific rules and guidelines (ie. Videos no longer than 2 minutes, etc). Enter your name as Contest Organizer and fill out the address field.

With the free option, you can create your contest as a sub-domain of Strutta, for eg. http://AnyDamnNameYouWant.Strutta.com. If you wish, select the custom domain option, and follow the directions given. Just remember that you'll have to pay the $25 domain upgrade before launching the contest.

Strutta will generate a Contest Rules document for your contest for no charge, you just need to select what region you wish. Canada (excluding Quebec) and the US are available. Make your choice and click "Save and Continue."

Taking a Look at Your Work

4. You've come a long way already, baby. You should now be on the "Voting" tab, but before we continue, let's click the "Preview" button on the top right and see what we have so far. A new window will open, and you'll be able to preview your contest. Everything look ok? Are you sure? Because sometimes contest names and summaries are a bit too long. To make everything looks nice, make sure these two fit on one line each in the design (I like it to look that way, anyhow). If you're happy with how things look, let's choose some voting options. For the sake of simplicity, let's choose a basic popular vote option, wither either the 'Vote Count" option (voters can vote once for each entry) or the "5 Star Rating" (voters can rate each entry between 1 and 5 stars). Carefully select the contest start and end dates for your contest, and decide on a number of winners.

Note: For each "Winner" you add, you will be required to enter a prize, and approximate retail value for each in US dollars. The prize images are, you guessed it! 225 x 127.

5. In the "Options" tab, you have the ability to add any number of sponsors and survey questions to your contest.

A note about sponsors: When uploading the sponsor images, we find its best to make them all on uniform size. As you might have already guessed, using 225 x 127 image sizes will make you a nice row of four, eight or 12  sponsors to anchor your contest. If you wish to use just one sponsor image, make it a single banner that spans 950 x 127 for best results.

A note about "Survey" Questions: You can add as many as you like, but too many will scare people off, so be careful! It's a good idea to ask at least one, and here's the one I suggest: "Yes, it's ok to add me to the <Contest Creator's> newsletter." (y) (n).

6. When you're finished with all of that, you're on the final stage, "Launch." You'll be asked to agree to the terms of service, and then you can launch your contest to the world.

More notes: You can preview your site at any time, you need not wait until step 4 as I've suggested. I have it that way because after Step 4, you can view your template design as well as the contest name, etc. You may however preview the work-in-progress at any stage of the process.

Once launched, your contest site has a number of promotional features built in. Namely, the ability for any entry to be shared through a number of services and email (see the "Share" button below each entry) and the ability to embed a submission on another site (yes, that's with the 'Embed" button below entries).

Try it out, see what you think. It costs nothing to follow these instructions to create a free contest to test amongst your friends. See if Strutta has what you're looking for. We offer a number of custom options and upgrades too. If you find that you have questions, don't hesitate to address them to us using our contact form and we'll follow up as soon as we can. Our "Tour" page can be helpful too when you're first getting set up, so have a look there for even more help with setting up your first online contest using user generated content!

The soon-to-launch "new version" release of Strutta puts all the power of our technology into your hands.

Whether you are a competitive video creator looking to host your own contest, a marketer wanting to create a UGC (user generated content) contest for a client, or a brand manager that wants a fully customizable contest platform API, the new Strutta will have something for you.

Just yesterday our development team turned a corner that represents a very significant milestone. They sat back in their chairs and started evaluating the mostly-finished product, making the finishing touches before we give you a first glimpse in just a few days time. The good news is that this will free up our beloved team to start telling you the story of how this is all coming together. Over the next two weeks I'll be coaxing them out into the sunlight, and each will share a few notes about our process or our product from their perspective. 

In addition, the "look and feel" of this blog will seemingly change overnight sometime in the very near future, to better match the elements we've already released (see inset photos). When that happens, expect nothing less than total "Strutta team" access via our blog. Our Sr. User Interface Designer Ross Howard-Jones has built a new theme for Drupal that will give you access to such basic blog features as: Search! Archives! Photos! And if I can help it, regular contributions from team members not named Jordan.

Thanks again for your pateince while we prepare to launch. Remember that we're always listening, so if you have any questions or feedback, you can leave them here as comments or hit us up on our contact form.

Thinking about launching your own contest promotion? Why not check around to see some of the current contest promotions on the web, and get a few ideas? 

We'll be honest, there are no lack of contest sites on the web, and a Google search turns up all sorts of ugly sites that are covered in ads and look as though they haven't seen a redesign in decades. We skipped all of those for you, and opted to share a selection of contest sites that are a little easier to read: 

1. Contests.Alltop.com. This is it, the mother lode of contest listings and contest sites. The folks at Alltop do such a good job of finding and listing the best feeds on the web that we'd be crazy not to refer you directly to this list. All of the headlines on the page are links to the actual RSS feeds too, so you can either bookmark this badboy and revisit it, or just pick and choose the feeds that interest you most and add to them to a reader. Need an RSS refresher? Lee can help. 

2. Contests.About.com. While About.com is certainly home to its share of annoying ads and what I like to call "advertorial," there's no question they do offer some decent lists and resources, including a tutorial called "Sweepstakes Basics."

Tip For Contest Enterers:

Not all web browsers are created equal. We recommend using Firefox for its fast loading time and the fact that it will automatically save your information in any online forms you've filled out.

Learning from the Experts

Our searches turned up a number of blogs with useful contest info, and we've been secretly learning from their wisdom ever since.

1. Carolyn, the "Contest Queen." Carolyn operates a great contest info website and newsletter, and publishes a blog as well. She's made a cottage industry of the contest industry, and folks flock to her for advice. Plus, she recently discovered she has personal connections to Strutta!

2. VidOpp.com. This video contest hub will tell you all about the various video submission contests out there. Since video has been a big part of what we do at Strutta, we keep a close eye on this feed. 

3. Momdot.com. The gals over at MomDot spill all sorts of info about contests, promotion discounts and shopping, so if you if you're looking for a resource that has loads of info aimed at moms, and a considerable amount of influence in that community, then you've found it.

Tip for Contest Administrators: 

There are a few key questions that people always have when they enter a contest. The first is "What's the prize?" and the second is almost always "Who can enter?" This information should be made readily available in all contest-related promotions and marketing.

Leading up to the launch of our contest platform, we'll continue to share insight into the online contest space, and as always if you have questions you can ask them her in the comments or visit our contact form. 

If you know of other great online contest resources, feel free to share those here. 

*mgs: "Dart Game" by cheese roc,