Contest Holder Starter Kit

Guidelines, Contest Dashboard, Tips to Improve Participation & More.

Squadhelp Admin avatar
Written by Squadhelp Admin
Updated over a week ago

It’s easy to get started: just launch a contest, watch as our brainstorming community from around the world submit ideas, and choose the one you like. You define the requirements, you set the schedule!

Important Guidelines

  1. Intellectual Property
    Every entry submitted to your contest is owned by the person who originally created it until it's paid for. You automatically own the entry that you select as the winner. If you intend to use other entries from the contest, you must compensate the contestants who submitted the entry. In case of naming contests, if you want to register additional domain names from your contest, you can do so as long as you pay a $100 bonus to the contestants who came up with the names. Click here to review detailed guidelines.

  2. Private Entries All entries submitted to your contest are kept private from others. Contestants can not see the entries submitted by others. Please respect their work by not disclosing these names in the contest discussion board which is visible to all contestants.

Contest Dashboard 

Within your contest, your contest dashboard will give you access to numerous tools; view your name entries, update your brief, create public messages to the brainstorming community participating in your contest, and other available features! 

Check out this quick article about your Contest Dashboard to learn more.

Timeline of a Contest

From start to finish, your contest should take around 12-14 days with the various stages of launching your contest, brainstorming, validation, and winner selection. If you opt to not utilize our Validation tools, your contest timeline may be different. 

Day 1 -- Fill Out Your Naming Brief 

Begin crafting your brief by answering a few questions about your business or brand that will help convey your overall vision and naming preferences to our creative community.

Day 2 -- Contest Goes Live

After launching your contest, your brief will be shared with our creatives to begin the brainstorming process. 

Day 3-7 -- Name Generation & Brainstorming

Within a few minutes of launching your contest, you will start receiving name suggestions from our creative community. It's important to rate the submissions from your contest dashboard & provide ongoing feedback to the creatives. 

Note: The more feedback given, the more submissions you'll receive that are closer to your vision! 

Day 8-12 -- Audience Testing 

Audience testing will begin. We will setup an audience test to vet your top 6 names with each other by polling real people that fit your target demographics such as age, gender, and location. 

Day 13 -- Comprehensive Trademark Screening 

Based upon the results of your audience testing, we will choose the top 3 names and send them in for a comprehensive Trademark screening.

Please note: not all packages come with validation stages (i.e. Audience Testing & Trademark research).

Day 14+ -- Winner Selection 

After the brainstorming stage, it is time to finalize a winner for your project. You have up to 30 days to select a final winner.

Rating Entries

Rating entries is a key component to a successful Contest. This is where you can notify the brainstorming community if they're hitting the mark for what you're looking for in a name, tagline, and logo.

Check our our Contest Engagement Article for a more in depth look on how to get the best results from your contest.

Shortlist Entries

Once you receive entries within your contest, it's important to start creating a list of your favorite entries that you may want to move forward with in the Validation Phase. 

Here's an in depth article explaining shortlisting entries.

Other Features Available

Instant Trademark 

Our one-click Trademark availability check allows you to check your entries as they're received in your contest against the USPTO database. You will have the ability to get instant information on any US Trademarks for all entries. 

NDA

Privacy is important when it comes to a name -- that's why we offer the option to select a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) option at the time of launching your contest. This will ensure that only those contestants who agree to the NDA will be able to read your project brief and participate in the contest. The contest details will be kept private from other users, as well as search engines.

Trademark Filing 

Our Trademark Attorneys will file your application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on your behalf. 

This includes:  

  • Preparing and filing the application;

  • Serving as attorney of record;

  • Monitoring and tracking deadlines;

  • Responding to non-substantive Office Actions;

  • Advice on enforcing trademark rights;

  • (Including sending up to 3 cease and desist letters in the first 12 months after the application filing date);

  • Advising on proper use of trademarks; and

  • Monitoring and tracking post-registration deadlines.

  • Safeguarding your brand from potential infringement by monitoring and informing you of attempts by your competitors to file similar trademarks.

The cost of our Trademark Filing package is $474 (plus Government fees of $250). 

URL Check

As names pour into your contest, our platform conveniently automatically checks for the URL availability. 

Consultant Support

Have a question about your contest or need help deciding on your top 6 names? Our branding consultants are here to help! Simply reach out for questions surrounding your contest and they will gladly help you.  

Invite Team Members

We offer the available option for you to invite additional team members to help manage your contest. 

Check out a quick article regarding bringing in additional team members.

24/7 Customer Service

Our customer service team is available 24/7; you can reach the Customer Service team by clicking on the blue button in the bottom right corner of any page of Squadhelp.com and ask them about this option on any specific domains.

Email Guide

Squadhelp also conveniently sends out daily tips and helpful guidance via email.

Need more help? Read all about launching and managing a contest here.

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