Well the "contest" is over....

With all my efforts I couldn't crack the top 10. I was in the local paper, in my college's alumni magazine, asked my FB friends and linkedin contacts to vote and get the word out everyday and my biggest exposure was a live interview on the number one morning station in Denver:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADlXaTKbf2A

I was frustrated that my video was getting far more views than products that were appearing in the top ten. It became clear the contest as it is structured is not really contest about what is the best product for Walmart but who can get the most votes. These votes don't even have to know what your product is or does. Any many of the voters were voting with out watching the videos.

Yes, I got some exposure and did sell some of my products. I enjoyed figuring out how to get my message out but in the end I don't think this contest was set up very well. I now understand why other online contest have a panel of judges to narrow the submissions to a manageable number so it the contest is really about the BEST idea/product.

I will go back to growing my small business slowly.  If you would like to know more about my bath toys please go to www.ZooPoo.com