When ManyVids announced they were doing away with the Daily Grind, I noticed a number comments from people saying they wished the weekly Winning Wednesday contest would be the next to go. As someone who participates with both free and paid votes in nearly every contest, I was disappointed to learn they felt that way. After reading through the responses and talking with some MV Girls, I feel like a lot of criticism is founded on misconceptions. More importantly, it’s unfortunate people don’t see and take advantage of the tremendous opportunity these contests provide.

I have my fetishes and kinks the same as anybody else. ManyVids is such a large site that searching for even the most specific porn, let's say "Deepthroating cucumbers while wearing Hello Kitty panties," will yield pages and pages of results. At least I have been told it will. By a friend. Point is, search for more general fetishes like exhibitionism or anal and forget about it. You'll have literally hundreds of results to go through and even then there's a good chance clips of interest which are either mislabeled or uncategorized will slip through the cracks.

The purpose of ManyVids is to expose yourself, figuratively in addition to literally. Contests are a great way to gain exposure. If I were new to this site, I would enter every one I could. I can't begin to count the number of girls I've come across through their contest entries who I otherwise would have never heard of. Much like the late, lamented Recently Sold ticker (RIP), participating in contests is a fantastic chance to get noticed by a much wider audience.

A frequent complaint was how hard they are to win. While winning is certainly everyone's primary goal, the publicity from just getting your name and face (and boobs) out there make participating worthwhile. If you take advantage of that attention to market yourself, you'll find there are many financial bonuses beyond simply winning first prize.

Let's assume my wit and eloquence has convinced you Winning Wednesdays are, as my friends in California would say, hella cool. How do you take advantage of them? How do you market to your audience? Allow me to share some thoughts from the point of view of us users, your potential customers.

First, entry pictures matter. Yes, I've noticed sometimes the winner completely disregards the contest theme which is why I certainly think the Best Picture bonus is very important. That aside, if you're trying to connect with customers, a good way to get noticed is for the viewer to recognize a shared interest ("Omg! She likes Harry Potter too!"). So if the theme is sports, wear your favorite team's jersey. If the theme is cosplay, dress like your favorite superhero. Seeing that a girl likes baseball or Aquaman - just kidding, nobody likes Aquaman - might entice somebody to read your entry and/or visit your profile.

Secondly, keep everybody in mind when it comes to your voting rewards. While mobilizing your cam fans or legion of Twitter followers to send free votes can definitely impact your standing, paid votes are what everybody's after. Big-ticket deals like "$100 for all content" are great if your only goal is to sell to your existing fan base but if you're trying to build your popularity, that's going to be a missed opportunity. If "Breaking Bad" taught us anything, it's that the first taste is the hook with the ultimate goal to keep the customer coming back for another fix. Offer rewards at price points more agreeable to someone who has never seen your videos or cam shows and a couple discounted videos could turn into a lot of repeat business for your future content.

I hope this post explains why many of us think MV's Winning Wednesday is a fun and valuable site feature. I also hope I've given a few of you reasons to either reevaluate your thinking on contests and/or incentive to give them another shot.  

I look forward to seeing some of you soon!

- Cactusbix