1.  Lock in the Rules and Regulations. It is critical to determine eligibility, prizes, and how the winners of your contest are selected BEFORE you start promoting. Ensure your contest is legal in your state, and provide a link to the rules. Twitter offers guidelines for contests that you may want to review as well.

2.  Work Out the Kinks. Define the number of prizes you will offer, and a start and end date. Use a unique and memorable hashtag for promotion and analytics software tracking.

3.  Promote, Promote, Promote. This is a marketing campaign that you should treat seriously. Use flashy messages at key times to drive traffic. Encourage sharing of the contest as a way to improve chances to win.

4. Get Set to Launch. Make sure you aren’t bumping heads with other major contests or events on your chosen launch date and ramp up activity on the first day of the contest.

5. Finishing Touches. Once the contest is complete, award prizes promptly. Make sure to use the giving of the award itself as another opportunity to link with the followers and contest entrants.

Doing this right can go a long way toward creating customer crusaders who will promote your brand for you. Check out Mashable.com for even more details on these five steps!

Lynia White

BlackBookReview.com is a new service that may benefit the author in your life. The brainchild of Lynia White, founder of The Quality Corner bookstore, the book review service offers “comprehensive and promotional reviews” for books written by African American authors, or intended for an African American audience.

“The primary goal of my book review service is to help authors become more successful and sell more books,” White says. “In this competitive industry, it is very important for authors to get as many reviews as possible – as they can be very effective in generating book sales.”

Hustletown readers: See the full release here. If you are a published author, tell us about your work!

Yoono is one app that may be worthy of your time. It can sort updates from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Youtube–or you can view them all in one stream instead. (I personally prefer the Firefox add-on, although there are iPhone and desktop versions available too.) Yonoo also allows you update all of your status’ with one go, and provides widgets for shopping, email, and rss feeds.

Hustletown readers: Do you use Yoono, Seesmic, Tweetdeck or any similar software? Weigh in on what has worked best for you!

According to preliminary Census reporting released in December, the nation’s capital has gained nearly 30,000 new Washingtonians in the past ten years–but this new population is primarily Hispanics and Whites. Similar trends are also being noted in Maryland, New York and Los Angeles.

What is causing this shift in population? Speculation ranges from gentrification and a preference for warmer climates, but Census results also show that Blacks are returning to Southern family roots or relocating to suburbs near their current cities. Check out the full story at Afro.com.

Hustletown readers: Are you noticing a Black exodus from your metropolitan area? Share your thoughts on the impact in our comments section below.

1.  Crowdfunding

This concept involves gathering a large donation pool for your start-up through small donations from individuals. Check out Kickstarter, who popularized the idea for artist projects. Deciding how to thank individual donors–through products, special access or thank-you’s–is a key to making this approach work.

2.  Microlending

Many entrepreneurs require start-up funding assistance, but nowhere near the $50,000 threshold expected at the average bank.  Not-for-profit Accion starts micro-loans at $500, with most averaging just over $5,000. Search out more microlending programs at the Association for Enterprise Opportunity.

3.  Credit Unions

Terms are usually better than at your traditional bank–consider becoming a member in order to borrow, especially if you are still improving a weak personal credit score.

4.  Bootstrapping

This is hustling in its most basic form–using your personal savings, leaning on friends and family or negotiating star-up supplies from vendors willing to front for delayed payment. While passing on the loan may be an enormous weight off your fledgling business, be sure to test your start-up product or service for success before investing too heavily in it.

5.  The Slow Money Movement

The goal of this innovative idea is “a million Americans investing 1% of their assets in local food systems within a decade.” Slow money advocates profess helping local entrepreneurs who are committed to local food use and sustainable agriculture by funding their start-ups on a deal by deal basis.

Check out the full story from Entrepreneur.

Majora Carter via SecondAct.com

Second Act, an online portal catering to readers over 40, recently showcased its “Game-Changers of 2010″, fifteen people dedicated to “taking on society’s biggest, most intractable problems and, against all odds, making a huge difference.”

The story features a pair of African Americans who are quietly making their mark:

Majora Carter founded the nonprofit Sustainable South Bronx in 2001 to help rid the Bronx River of trash. She is a MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient and is now expanding her own private, Bronx-based consulting firm, the Majora Carter Group, which helps other organizations duplicate her urban activism efforts in other cities.

Will Allen is an urban farmer who mentors youth and helps raise organic food for the poor. His efforts also won him a “Genius Grant”, sn honor worth $500,000. He is joining First Lady Michelle Obama’s campaign against obesity, and his nonprofit Growing Power Inc. raises enough chemical-free vegetables to feed 10,000 people while also selling to restaurants and wholesalers.

Read the entire story of these amazing entrepreneur-activists here.

Ilyasah Shabazz

Author-activist Ilyasah Shabazz, one of the six daughters of the late Malcolm X, is gearing up for a 2011 national speaking circuit in partnership with The NorthStar Group.

“My passion is to serve and uplift our community, especially our youth who must wake-up and manifest their brilliance in the world,” explains Ms. Shabazz. “I am excited about working with the NorthStar Group and the Malcolm X Foundation to help create a brighter future and advance our community domestically and world-wide.”

Shabazz’s lectures cater in large part to students and at-risk youth, but her message also encompasses business organizations and special events. Some of her topics include:

• Positive Cultural Identity
• Self Love
• Purpose Living
• Black History
• Empowerment

The Lecture Series will include several members of The Northstar Group, such as Bonsu Thompson, Editor in Chief of the Source Magazine; and Beverly Bond, Founder of Black Girls Rock!

For you MacBook users, check out Hidden. For ten bucks this app will track your machine once you mark it as “Stolen” via the web. The app then will collect location data, take screenshots and even snap pictures  of whoever is using your MacBook. Check out the video below.

Hustletown readers: Is there any anti-theft software you personally use? Share your recommendations with our readers below!

Black Enterprise proclaims stylists need to change with the game in order to stay in business. Check out the full article here!

Mos Def

This past year has shown just how much influence our entertainers are bringing to bear, and how powerful social media can be to the dissemination of ideas.

One example is the relief efforts staged in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake in January. Entertainers such as Wyclef Jean raised millions in aid money through personal pleas and benefit concerts.

Conversely, entertainers also made headlines by pledging not to perform. In protest of Arizona’s controversial anti-immigrant legislation (known commonly as SB 1070), entertainers such as Mos Def have joined the Sound Strike, a growing boycott against performances in the state.

While entertainers with political aims are certainly nothing new, their ability to direct the masses is certainly stronger than ever before in our nation’s history.