About a month ago I mentioned the importance of awards. The main point was that you should be more interested in the judges that the award itself. Will knew what I was talking about and said that it might be good to write a bit more about it, so here we go…

Top 10 reasons you should apply for awards besides giving an acceptance speech and being able to dance around in a circle with your co-workers chanting “We are great!”

1. The Judges - You may be paying thousands a month to get your message in front of certain editors or experts, the cost of applying for an award is a small fraction of that and it’s a much softer sell to a judge reviewing your application versus someone you are trying to persuade after having begged for a meeting. You’re getting access to the Judge’s network at a fraction of the cost.
2. Strengthen The Message - Most applications are a good opportunity to work on your written message (copy). Many times I’ve re-used paragraphs from applications for future powerpoints and brochures.
3. Add to The Message - This is big on the consumer side, look at car companies bragging about JD Power. Who is he anyway?
4. Publicity - Frequently awards are sponsored, or even run entirely by trade publications. They usually write up the results as an article, often many times. Again, the application is far cheaper than the price of an ad.
5. Motivation - Pursuing an award makes an excellent milestone to push a team forward, even better if they are a runner up pushing for a victory the next year.
6. The Competition - This is another opportunity to showcase the weakness of your competitors to industry luminaries (again, the judges).
7. Networking - Awards dinners are a good chance to get some fresh business cards from outside of your normal fishbowl.
8. Resume Boost - Scoring an award is a badge that everyone can add to their list of accomplishments.
9. Thrill of Victory, Agony of Defeat - Victory can be bragged about for a year, defeat gives you a chance to figure out what you might have to change to make your message more palatable.
10. Free chicken dinner - well, maybe that’s not a benefit, rubber fowl gets tired quickly.

Any more points? Best of luck to all the future award winners out there!