I went on a rant the other day.  I’d had another email from an award company stating I’d won an award, outright, and to get in contact to claim it.  I didn’t need to respond to know they were going to ask me to pay for the honour.  It got me thinking that this isn’t something we talk about a whole lot and after seeing a few business owners shouting out about awards they’ve won recently that are very obviously not credible, it inspired me to give a debrief on the red flags to look out for when choosing which awards to pay for and when you need to pay.  

Winning a ‘fake’ award can do more harm than you think to your reputation.  People can easily spot them and with a little digging, can work out that you have paid for the status symbol.  At best, this gives people the impression that you are naiive and may have innocently bought your award, and at worst, that you are desperate and even dishonest.  either way, it makes them lose a little bit of respect for you and that will chip away at your reputation.

So please, with award season firmly upon us, I beg you to do your due diligence with each and every award company that emails you to tell you you’ve won an award with them – unless you’ve entered and are expecting/ hoping for an email from them. 

Here are a few red flags to look out for:  

1. You didn't enter: If you receive an email or message claiming you’ve won or been shortlisted for an award you’ve never entered or even heard of, or they won't tell you who nominated you, take a deep breath and do some digging before you get too excited.  If they say you’ve done something which you know you haven’t, for example, they say you’re an outright winner because you have 5 star reviews on your google business page – and you don’t have a google business page at all, It's a pretty good sign it’s not a real or credible award. 

2. You have to pay to win:

   a. You will more often than not have to pay a small fee to enter an award and you'll also likely need to pay to attend (i.e. buy a table or your seats), but not paying for these will not stop you winning the award.  In other words, if they tell you that you have to pay for the win, it’s dodgy.  To note, if you win a real award and want additional trophies, you will have to pay for those.

   b. If they say you have to sponsor the award, pay a registration fee or buy an advertising package in order to win the award, it’s a major red flag. Real awards usually give you the award, an award logo to use in your marketing materials and often, they’ll even give you a press release to announce your win with too. Advertising and sponsorships should always be optional.

 So how do you work out what's a real award?

My advice is:

• Go for the ones that you know are recognised by your industry

• Keep an eye out for the awards your competitors are winning - or when you see people posting pictures of awards they’ve been to on their socials - write them down on a list.  

• Spend a few minutes researching the awards by visiting their website and look at the previous ceremonies pictures, the past winners, the judging process - and if it's done by a panel, you should be able to see who all the judges are. You could also cross check the judges on LinkedIn to make sure they are real if you suspect something isn't right. Also look if there are sponsors and make sure they're real companies too.

• Do a Google search for your industry, and your local area’s, leading awards

If you are entering awards, I wish you all the luck in the world. Real award wins are hugely beneficial to your credibility. Just remember to use the logo's you're given on all your marketing material, including your email signature and website, to make sure people know it!