Greg Simpson, founder of Press for Attention PR and the PR and Communications Ambassador for the IoD in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, shares award-winning tips. I was discussing the Bricks Awards with Tess from editorial and the wider commercial team at Business Link Magazine this week. I have sponsored them since way back and they are now a fixture in the business calendar. The guys mentioned that there were hundreds of entries last year – not bad considering the pandemic factor! Hundreds! Trust me, this is NOT usual. Why? Well, most small businesses are REALLY BAD at awards and by that I mean they simply do not include them in their planning. Or sometimes, they don’t feel they deserve one. So, there are often not actually that many entries in “proper” awards – the ones you earn… Well, trust me, if you’ve been through this pandemic, there is an award out there for you! However, it became apparent chatting with other businesses this last month that another BIG problem is that businesses simply don’t have time or the resources to write them properly. So they either don’t bother or they do it very, VERY late, which invariably leads to stress and frankly, pretty average award submissions. Well, I sit on three awards panels (not including The Bricks) and I write lots of them. I know I read well over 100 entries last year of frankly varying quality. Harsh? Fair? To give you plenty of time this year, I thought I’d share some top tips on how I help my clients to win awards. I hope it is useful for you. For starters, why bother? Well, how about industry recognition? Local, regional, and sometimes national profile? How about a motivated workforce that is proud to be a part of your success? Nevermind the major leverage an award win can give to the rest of your marketing – if you harness the dark arts of PR! So why don’t more people enter awards? I suspect the main reason is time. However, you need to consider these as a major part of your marketing and PR campaign, not an afterthought. Sure, there is a bit of science to it and some art (the creative bit) but basically it comes down to reading the criteria CAREFULLY and then making it as easy as possible for the judges to consider your case. Now is NOT the time for florid prose! Although…there is a place for this… (warning, secret sauce alert). Ssssshhhh…it is right at the start… This is the bit the judges read first and tends to be the part they will read out IF you get to the final and you are waiting there, glass of wine in hand, as the names are read out. So, if yours sounds like this: “We were established in 2002 to provide added value services to the Widget industry. Our commitment to SOMETHING or OTHER bland and jargon heavy issue and our inevitable PASSION (because nobody is going to say ‘APATHY’) for innovation is what lies at the heart of our success…” Stop. It. Right. NOW! Can you imagine a judge reading that and thinking “whoa, we’ve got a live one! Let me get a coffee and settle in, there’s gold dust here.” You want this bit to sound like they are about to announce the best thing since sliced bread! Try this: “20 years ago we discovered a problem. Not just a wrinkle. Not an inconvenience. We had unearthed one of the biggest issues to ever face our industry. If it could be overcome (and we thought it could), it would save Widget manufacturers across the globe millions in costs, whilst also massively reducing the impact on our environment. So, we got to work. Two decades on…we did what follows below and it changed EVERYTHING!” Do you see the difference? You’d at least read the next para or two! You actually WANT to know what they did. Like all good marketing, awards are all about storytelling. Our clients see entering awards as part of their wider marketing strategy – they see the ROI. It is a fantastic way to gain objective third-party endorsement (a major goal of PR), great coverage and one of the best ways to foster employee and company relationships. People proudly point to articles in the press and say: “I work there.” Other highly-skilled people start thinking “maybe I should work there?” So, ahead of the Bricks Awards launch, start to think about what other awards you might enter in 2022. They might be local, regional, national or industry based but you can bet that once you integrate them into your marketing, the effects can really make a difference. Start now or get in touch with me and we’ll help you get cracking because I am launching something pretty darn cool this Spring which I think might help a lot of businesses. There’s even an offer! Will I find them for you? Will I write them for you? Well…yes. That’s exactly what I will do and more, so much MORE! Here’s to your success!   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 May edition of East Midlands Business Link Magazine.

Attendees at the East Midlands Bricks Awards 2022, taking place on Thursday 15 September at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, are set to be bewildered and astonished as award-winning mind reader, magician, and professional mentalist Looch displays his skills during the evening’s networking. Here, Business Link speaks to Nottingham-based Looch, who performs throughout the UK and Europe with acts that need to be seen to be believed. Can you tell us a little bit about what you do? Absolutely, my name is Looch and for the past 20 years I have entertained all over the world as a mentalist. The term mentalist is not often used here in the UK, so I tend to brand myself as a ‘mind reader’, although that is somewhat tongue in cheek. I perform on stage or in a close up environment at conferences, tradeshows and exhibitions and appear to read the thoughts of audience members and predict their choices and behaviour. It’s all very light hearted and I present it in a relaxed and fun way, however it is something that tends to really fascinate and resonate with people, especially at corporate events. What can attendees at the East Midlands Bricks Awards 2022 expect? To be engaged and amazed! I am really looking forward to being in attendance and will be meeting as many people as I can on the day. I want to show them something incredible that will leave them gobsmacked whilst at the same time ensuring everyone has a fantastic time at this wonderful event that you are organising. I want to keep everything else a mystery until the day! With an illustrious career, who have you performed for before, and what are some of the accolades you have won?

Over the years I have been blessed with some very proud moments and I like to try and keep grounded and enjoy the journey as opposed to just focussing on a final destination. Some of my earlier work focussed on entertaining at weddings and I found myself proving very popular amongst footballers, TV celebs and other sports stars. A couple of years focusing in that industry won me the HC award for best wedding entertainment at the TWIA (The Wedding Industry Awards), then in early 2013 I won the #SBS award from former Dragons Den star Theo Paphitis. That opened the door to the corporate world where I have primarily focussed since. The majority of my work sees me working with large companies such as Google, Amazon, KPMG, PWC, 3M etc. at specific events where I am required to create bespoke performances to a set brief. Sometimes that’s promoting a specific product or enforcing a particular company message that they want to reinforce. I am also often hired to work beside teams at trade-shows or exhibitions, I act primarily as a traffic stopper who hooks delegates with a quick demonstration and lead them directly to my client’s booth to increase footfall and generate new leads. You have also written best selling books, what can you tell us about these? My first book was written quite by accident back in 2006. I documented some of my work at the time into a PDF which I sent to a well known publication company within the mentalism industry. At the time I was looking for feedback but was surprised when they asked to meet with me. They wanted to publish the book and did so creating quite a stir in the community. For the next decade I documented my journey transitioning into a full time performer and in 2015 I released it as a limited edition book set which sold out within weeks and went on to win the prestigious ‘Tarbell book of the year’ award for that year. This actually was the catalyst to then set up a limited company that would exclusively deal with the design and manufacture of my mentalism work going forward. I am pleased to say it has proven successful and is now one of the biggest mentalism focussed companies in the UK. What makes you stand out next to other mentalists? There are very few actual working full time mentalists in the world, probably only a couple of hundred so it’s a very rare profession indeed. Of those mentalists you find that success lies within 2 primary areas, the first is as a ‘creator’ who specialises in releasing work to the community and the second are those that focus primarily on the performing side of things. It’s rare to find equal success in both areas, which is alarmingly where I have found myself being positioned. As a result I have consulted for many well known names in the magic community, lectured at every major magic related organisation and convention in the world, whilst also getting to enjoy some incredible moments live on stage myself. I feel very lucky indeed. How can people find out more and contact you? My website is www.looch.co.uk and people can connect with me also on LinkedIn and Instagram searching for @Loochmindreader  

Nine businesses can now benefit from office space in Stapleford’s new hub. Mayor of Broxtowe, Councillor Richard MacRae, officially opened the Stapleford Business Hub the morning of Tuesday 10 May.

Businesses in Greater Lincolnshire are being asked for their views on devolution – the process which would transfer powers and funding from Whitehall to Lincolnshire.