Poor Folk Marketing.com

 

marketing iedas internet marketing online marketing offline marketing

Featured Business, Start a Personalized Candy Wrapper Business:  Wrapcandy.com

  Home  | Small Business Information | Pay Per Click Advertising | Affiliate Revenue | Web Promotion

How to Promote Your Business by Entering Contests


You are probably hard at work promoting your business (and if you're not, you should be!), but if you haven't submitted your profile to any contests yet, you may be missing a golden opportunity.

Receiving an award for your business can increase your company's credibility. Winners can brand their businesses as "Award Winning" in subsequent advertising and often receive a logo or emblem to note the achievement on web pages and promotional materials. Participating in events like these can generate valuable exposure to the business community and the media loves to cover these events and often interviews participants for stories. Even if you don't win, simply participating could open doors you didn't even know existed.

Your local chamber of commerce, small business administration center or trade association may sponsor an awards event. Many contests charge an entry fee so you must weigh the cost against the value of participating. If the rewards and/or exposure are great, the entry fee can easily pay for itself. There are also a number of events that you can enter online. Here are a few to consider:

The Small Biz Games
(http://www.SmallBizGames.com) offers cash prizes from $500 to $2000 for winners in categories such as Entrepreneur of the Year, Best Internet Business of the Year, Best New Company of the Year, Best New Product of the Year, and Most Creative Marketing Campaign. Winners will be honored at an awards dinner at a small business conference in Las Vegas with keynote speaker Jay Conrad Levinson (author of the ever popular Guerrilla Marketing series of books). Deadline for entry is December 31, 2005.

The Webby Awards
(http://www.WebbyAwards.com) are presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence in website design. There are over sixty categories including Arts, Blog, Community, Events, Games, Lifestyle, Health, Sports, Travel, and Weird. The deadline for 2005 has already passed, but you can sign up on their website for notification of future contest details.

The Stevies Awards for Women Entrepreneurs
(http://www.StevieAwards.com) honors winners from 18 categories including Best Company, Best Entrepreneur, Best New Product, Lifetime Achievement, and Women Helping Women. This contest is open to all U.S. based women-owned businesses with fewer than 100 employees. The 2005 contest details should be announced soon and there is an opt-in mailing list on their site for notifications.

The folks at InsideBlogging.com hosted their first Business Blogging Awards (http://www.businessbloggingawards.com/) in 2005. Some of the categories included Best Blogs: Overall, Entrepreneur, Leadership, Marketing, About Small Business, and PR. The prizes were donated by sponsors and the winners were selected by voters from the public, providing great exposure to entrants. Watch for updates from this site and an announcement on a new contest for Technology Awards.

While entering awards may not be a traditional venue for marketing your business, it can certainly pay off in exposure and other opportunities. The best strategy is to enter these contests early, be thorough with the details, and participate in any events or forums offered by the hosts. This is a great chance to "sell" your business to the public so be sure to word your entries carefully. Use the opportunity to network with other businesses and make new connections. Soon your advertising strategy may shift to hype your "Award Winning" business.

Stephanie Chandler is the author of "The Business Startup Checklist and Planning Guide: Seize Your Entrepreneurial Dreams!" and the founder of http://www.BusinessInfoGuide.com, a directory of free resources for entrepreneurs. Sign up for the BusinessInfoGuide newsletter to receive hot resources and tips every month.


MORE RESOURCES:

8x8, Inc. Joins Small Business Bailout Efforts
MarketWatch - 7 hours ago
For a small business, this can result in significant cost savings as there is no expensive equipment to buy or maintain. Additionally, monthly service fees ...
8x8 Cuts Fees in Half in New VoIP Services Offer for Small Businesses TMCnet
D-Link and NGT Partner to Drive VoIP Service Adoption for Small ... MarketWatch
This Holiday Season, Give the Gift of VoIP TMCnet
all 18 news articles


SAIC Presents UAV Communications, Inc. 2008 Small Business of the ...
MarketWatch - 8 hours ago
today announced that it has presented UAV Communications, Inc. (UAV) SAIC's 2008 Small Business of the Year Award. Tony Moraco, SAIC senior vice president ...


BBC News

UPDATE 1-HBOS to provide small business support package
Reuters - 13 hours ago
HBOS also said it would guarantee pricing on Bank of Scotland small business customer overdrafts for 12 months from the date of arrangement for new loans ...
Bank of Scotland Announces Small Business Support Package istockAnalyst.com (press release)
Britain's clearing banks fast-forward aid for small business Daily Mail
Jeremy Warner: 'Not guilty', plead bankers on small business lending Independent
Mortgage Introducer - Manchester Evening News
all 94 news articles


Wall Street Journal Blogs

Small-Business Owners Divided on Auto Maker Bailout
Wall Street Journal Blogs, NY - 2 hours ago
Many small-business owners vehemently oppose bailing out Wall Street. But what about Detroit and the Big Three auto makers? That’sa little more complicated. ...
Small businesses depend on auto industry rescue Detroit Free Press
all 2 news articles


Small Business Initiative Sponsors Education & Professional ...
MarketWatch - 5 hours ago
The Prince George's County Small Business Initiative has teamed up with Forrester Construction and the Prince George's County Public Schools to provide ...


Financial Roundup: LandAmerica Leaves Investors Hanging, GAO Urges ...
BNET, Ca - 4 hours ago
[Source: The New York Times] Credit not the problem with small business lending — An SEC panel says that credit is available for small business lending. ...


SBA Disaster Loans Available Following Secretary of Agriculture ...
MarketWatch - 4 hours ago
ATLANTA, Dec 03, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The US Small Business Administration announces today that federal economic injury disaster loans are available to ...


Small Business Puts Healthcare Reform First
PR Web (press release), WA - 2 hours ago
Small Business Majority founder John Arensmeyer comments on new research from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that finds that small business owners put ...


Alaska small-business owners vote
Bristol Bay Times, AK - 25 minutes ago
While final votes are tallied in national and state elections, voting continues for Alaska’s small business owners. Each year, the National Federation of ...


Five Creative Ways to Start a New Small Business
Main Street Business Journal, UT - 53 minutes ago
Research by the US Small Business Administration shows that nearly three-quarters of all new businesses (with or without employees) survive two years or ...

Small-Business - Google News

home | site map
PoorFolkMarketing © 2007