I consider myself very lucky to have been involved with many industry associations over the years and, as an extension, with a variety of awards programs. I’ve sat on committees which made decisions about awards categories, I’ve helped develop judging criteria, I’ve arranged awards features across print media and I’ve even been a judge on occasion.
I’m always surprised that more members of the industry don’t get involved in entering awards but I understand that there are a range of misconceptions around this process which I’d like to dispel. These are the excuses I hear time and time again when I ask members of our industry if they are entering in any awards programs:
“Award entries take too much time”
Any undertaking that has the potential to make a difference to your business will involve time and effort and award entries should be treated no differently to any other marketing or advertising undertaking. If you want to get a good response, then you’ll need to invest some time and energy into the effort.
“The same people win every year”
Well, no, not always but we aren’t a huge industry and if only a small handful of designers or companies are entering each year then of course you’re going to see the same names appearing in the honour roll year after year. The way to change this is to widen the scope of entrants, not reduce it.
“I entered once and didn’t win so I’m not going to bother any more”
Preparing entries is a learning experience and, like anything, the more you do, the better (and faster) you’ll get. Your competition is definitely not giving up so easily so pack away your pity party and start working out why you didn’t win.
“I’ve won before and it didn’t do anything for my business”
If you don’t publicise and market your status as a winner or finalist then people won’t know. It’s that simple. If you don’t do anything with your award then it won’t do anything for your business.
When you are busy working in your business I do understand that it can be very difficult to justify time working on your business but I would argue that time spent preparing award entries is not lost time. You are strengthening the reputation of your business, building a point of difference between yourself and your competitors, investing in client confidence, and challenging yourself to grow your skills and experience. And I’d argue that these are far more compelling reasons to get involved than the ones listed above for opting out.
What’s been your experience? Do you enter awards? What do you think of the excuses I hear? Have you used them yourself?
