Best way to execute a viral contest

[StreetwiseReports]

I have a website that sells books and other military gear. I have a few hundred dollars in free products to give away. I would like to do it in a form of a contest. I am wondering what I can do that is easy to execute but drive traffic to the site and get good back links and social media coverage.

[SEODinosaur]

Step one research:

Are there any similar contests out there? What does your contest offer that other don't?

How much time will it take the user to do the work/enter the contest?

Step two outreach:

Who are the social leaders in or related to your niche?

Can you get them involved?

What are they currently talking about?

Are they friendly? geeky? Can you make them you friends and have them share your contest? Maybe get them involved...

Step three Tracking:

Can you test this out before launching it to see how users interact?

How did the user find this contest? Can you find more users from this same source or related source?

Google Analytics?

Step four Social Media:

Can you create videos for the contest using you tube? http://www.seomoz.org/ugc/dominating-youtube-search-and-related-videos-results-case-study

What will drive people on facebook/twitter to enter the contest?

Is this something worth investing in facebook/twitter adds?