Greg Simpson, founder of Press for Attention PR, illustrates how to make the most of your award nominations and wins.  Last summer, I began to quietly launch an award writing service. Just ahead of the annual ‘Bricks Awards’ run by this very publication, which will be open for nominations by the time you read this – hint, HINT! Why? Well, it made commercial sense, obviously, but the WHY in terms of the market was simple… MOST small businesses are REALLY BAD at awards, and by that I mean they simply do not include them in their planning. Or often, they don’t feel they deserve one. ‘Bricks Awards’ or not, if you’ve survived the last couple years in business, there is an award out there for you! Let’s imagine you have all this covered and are merrily scribbling away at your ‘Bricks’ entry or any other award you may have your sights on – there are LOADS and I have lists if you are interested. Perhaps you’ve even completed it already, you clever sausage. Go straight to the top of the class. After all, you’ve done the hard work now right? You can just sit back and await the adulation, the confetti, the champagne and the plaudits. Customers will flock from miles around, crawling out of the woodwork, blinking in the dazzling glare of your magnificence! All from you winning an award. Right? Well…they MIGHT. They COULD. But why would you sit and wait and hope? Why wouldn’t you grab the bull by the horns and actually run a campaign around the award? I had a chat with a new client the week before writing this article about an awards entry they’d submitted a few weeks back and the first question I asked was this: “Are you shortlisted and is it public?” The reason I asked this is simply because the shortlisting itself is your first bite of the cherry. Now, not ALL awards folk will allow you to publicise your shortlisting before the final reveal but most will. Why? Well, think about it. The awards folk, their partner media titles and the sponsors backing the awards want the most bang from their marketing buck. They spend big money and time on pushing their awards in the run up to their launch, the reminders, the FINAL reminder and the invariable (almost) deadline extension reminder. However, once they have got the submissions in, their opportunities to push the message dwindles until they get to the big day of revealing the winners. Most will announce a shortlist, but sadly most shortlisted entries will NOT do anything proactive themselves. Nevermind proactive, they don’t even join in with the posts from the organisers reactively! This is different, you will! You might even consider congratulating your fellow shortlisted folk (most won’t be competitors and even if they are, you look by FAR the BIGGER brand if you share the glory and play the magnanimous card!) publicly on social media, tagging them merrily and spreading the word across their channels when they thank you and wish you well too. P.S. the awards marketing folk will LOVE you for pushing the awards message. This doesn’t mean you will sway the judges, but it won’t hurt! So, share the good news on social media, joining in with anything the organisers do, but don’t be afraid to take control here too. You should be writing about your shortlisting and why you are in with a shout on your blog. You might do a little video about it. What about an announcement in your newsletter? But what if we don’t win? Yep, I get this. You want to keep your powder dry. You don’t want to look “foolish” if you don’t actually go on and win. NEWSFLASH! Other than you, nobody will care, and most people won’t notice. There isn’t an audit committee lurking within your audience tutting about you guys not winning! There IS, however, an audience out there noticing that you are nominated, shortlisted or are a finalist and this is not an opportunity to be missed. It’ll be alright on the night So, there you are, sitting in the crowd or around the table in your finest awards garb, studiously trying not to get TOO relaxed from the free booze ahead of your category announcement. You’ve invited some valuable clients and prospects, right? OH. Well, you’ve at least prepared a few lines of thanks, right? No? Do it. Do it way before the event and be sure to mention your fellow finalists. Not only is it courteous, it may well lead to other opportunities down the line. Now, imagine you’ve WON! The champagne is flowing, you vow to make the most of this, but WILL YOU? Will you be asking the organisers about WHEN they will be publishing the results (if they haven’t already). Are you tweeting your thanks and LIVE pics from the event? Have you scheduled your blog post to go LIVE tomorrow using some of the pics your team have taken on the night? You can do all of this, just check with the organisers ASAP so that you don’t tread on any toes embargo-wise – another good way to show how keen you are once shortlisted by the way! So, your blog’s gone out, your newsletter has been issued, the dust is settling. Now the magazine publishes its coverage of the event. What do you do? You go and buy a LOT of copies. Yes, a LOT. Like 50. One of which you frame in reception and the rest of which you send out to your dream list of prospects because it is probably the best damn sales letter your business has had in years! You sweat the asset. You don’t sit and wait for the adulation, you control the narrative, you control the effort, and you make bloody well sure that your best prospects are fully aware of the good news. How’s that for an award-winning campaign?   A former business journalist, Greg Simpson is the author of The Small Business Guide to PR and has been recognised as one of the UK’s top 5 PR consultants, having set up Press for Attention PR in 2008. He has worked for FTSE 100 firms, charities and start-ups and conducted press conferences with Sir Richard Branson and James Caan. His background ensures a deep understanding of every facet of a successful PR campaign – from a journalist’s, client’s, and consultant’s perspective. See this column in the June edition of East Midlands Business Link Magazine here.