Posted by Claire White ¦ News
We were surprised and delighted to find out we'd been chosen as one of the 6 winners this week and although it was too short notice to attend the big presentation event on the 29th at the ICC in Birmingham (mainly due to flying out on holiday 2 days later!) we got a huge bonus by having our company logo on the front page of Theo's website transmitted on the huge screen in front of the packed audience at the ICC!
A huge thanks to CWA team member, Emily Williams, for all her hard work with our social media and particular the #SBS campaign.
Here we are on the far right, on stage with Theo himself.
Small Business Sunday, shortened to the hashtag #SBS on Twitter, was created by Theo Paphitis in October 2010. Theo is Chairman of Ryman Stationery, Boux Avenue lingerie and Robert Dyas, as well as joint owner of Red Letter Days. Theo is also a mentor and investor to many other businesses.
Each week Theo rewards small businesses that tweet him @TheoPaphitis and describe their business in one tweet including the all-important hashtag #SBS. Only tweets made in the time slot between 5.00 PM and 7.30 PM on Sundays count. Theo then chooses his favourite six who he then re-tweets on Monday evenings at 8.00 PM.
The beauty is that Theo has over 400,000 followers, so a retweet from him can be gold dust for a small business. CWA received over 100 new followers in less than 72 hours after winning the award and we hope to get some useful PR from it too.
So why don't more business owners enter awards? Everybody loves being recognised, and it's pretty crucial in helping you stand out from the rest in your field. It's definitely not rocket science but you do have to put yourself forward in the first place.
It really is well worth the effort. Never underestimate the power of being recognised in your industry or among your peers. And you don't even need to win! Just being shortlisted or nominated puts you up there with the best and you'll usually get to use the award's logo on your website and other marketing materials. Free credibility at it's best.
And if you don't have the time or skills to do it yourself, a quick scan of the internet will show that there are lots of companies out there making a living out of creating award winning entries.
We'll certainly be looking out for more awards to enter now we've got the bug! What business award would you most like to win?
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