Part of me thinks if you made "starting contests" free for customers, you'd get more traction. On the other hand the other part of me thinks that you've already tried this approach, or at least thought about it. So, which part of me is right?

Also two tiny notes about your front page:

1. I, personally, get really pissed when I'm informed about fees of a service in any step of the process other than the first one. So, I'd suggest show the fees somewhere above the fold.

2. This is more of a UX thing. In the "How it works" box, make the titles clickable.

I love the idea. Simple, yet has a lot of potential. Will be start my own contest someday soon.

Rock on.