Attention Financial Bloggers: Free Promotion for Your Top Posts in the FMF March Money Madness Tournament (Free Money Finance)

January 27, 2012

Attention Financial Bloggers: Free Promotion for Your Top Posts in the FMF March Money Madness Tournament

Yes, it's that time of year again -- Free Money Finance March Money Madness is upon us!

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, it's our annual "tournament" of the best personal finance articles of the past year. They face each other in an NCAA-style bracket system, FMF readers vote for the winner, and at the end of it all, the best post is left standing. And like last year, it's all for several good causes. Here are some details from last year:

My announcement post

An example of a "round"

Wrap Up

This year I'm getting a late start on it because I've been on vacation for the past two weeks (more to come on the trip). So we may go beyond the end of the actual March Madness basketball tournament this year, but if so, it won't be by much.

64 posts in total will be allowed in the 2011 competition. Each one will be assigned randomly in a bracket set of "games" similar to the one used for the Men's NCAA basketball tournament. (If you want to see what one looks like, go here to download last year's bracket.) Here are more details:

How to Enter

If you're a blogger and have money-related posts you want to include you can email the following to me:

1. The name of the post you're submitting (must be from the calendar year 2011)

2. The URL of the post you're submitting

3. Two to five sentences on what makes this post so great (I'll be using this wording in the competition, though I reserve the right to edit it, so really "sell" your posts).

NOTE: IF ANY OF THESE ARE MISSING, YOUR ENTRY WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. AND I WILL NOT GET BACK TO YOU TO REMIND YOU THAT YOU SUBMITTED INCORRECTLY.

Entries are on a first-come, first-served basis and all 64 spots usually fill up in a few days. So if you wait, it's possible you're not going to get a spot.

Submission Details

You can submit one post per site. If you have more than one blog, you can submit posts for each blog, though your second blog's submissions won't be considered until all the first-time submissions have been considered from other blogs.

In the past, there were 64 slots open at the start. This year, there are only 54. As noted earlier in the year, the ten best winning posts for the year (as judged by me) from the Best of Money Carnival will receive automatic bids. These entries will NOT count as a blog's official entry and if a blogger wants to submit an additional post for March Money Madness he can without penalty and with the same consideration (first come, first served) that other entrants receive. I'll be naming these winners as part of the seeding process.

FYI, if you have a Best of Money Carnival winning post and don't know if it will make my 10 and yet you might want to submit it anyway, I suggest you simply send me the top four posts you'd like to have included in March Money Madness (in the order you'd like them to be considered.) This way, if one of your posts gets an auto Best of Money Carnival bid, I'll just move on to the next one on your list for consideration. Some blogs have more than one Best of Money Carnival winner, hence you should submit four posts if you want to be safe and get as many considered as possible.

How Posts Compete

The posts will "play" each other with the winner advancing and the loser being bumped. They'll "play" in this manner:

1. I'll post the competing posts, listing who's playing who

2. Readers can leave comments on which they like better

3. The post with the most votes wins -- I'll break any ties

4. The winner will advance in the bracket to "play" again. Ultimately, there will be only one post left -- the "champion" for this season.

FYI, I reserve the right to disqualify any posts if I feel there's cheating of any kind going on (or really, for any reason -- it is my site after all). It's ok to promote your posts via Facebook, your website, etc., but no multiple voting and the like. I'll detail these rules to you in a separate email once your post is accepted.

Criteria for great articles are as follows:

1. Practicality of the post

2. How interesting/provocative/unique it is

3. The "personal-ness" of it

4. Its impact on net worth.

What the Winners Receive

I eliminated the charity component from past efforts because 1) no one seemed to care about it and 2) I ended up on random lists of all sorts of charities that are now sending tons of mail to my home. So this year all participants will receive is tons of traffic, links to their posts, and bragging rights for the winner.

Why Readers Should Care

As readers, you get the chance to read some great pieces and help decide who wins this year's championship. It should be great fun and full of the best personal finance posts of the past year.

Good stuff all the way around!

Posted in March Madness | Permalink