New social shopping site JoeShopping hopes to spend its way to awareness by giving away $5,000 to celebrate its launch. Through the site’s refer-a-friend contest, 20 members will win $100 each, while the grand prize winner will walk away with $3,000. While not an “organic” way to grow a web presence, kudos should be given to the site for tapping into its own viral potential.

To participate members must log on to JoeShopping.com, visit the Refer-A-Friend page, and fill out an entry form. Participant members are then given a personalized link to share on social networks and when new members sign up for JoeShopping via that link and begin interacting with other users on the site, they earn points towards the contest for writing status updates and uploading photos. The person with the highest number of total points at the end of the contest wins the Grand Prize of $3,000.

Participants can earn additional contest points if their referrals continue to use the site. The more active a member's referrals are, the more points that member can earn so the contest is particularly well-suited for avid social media users.