Article & Journal Resources

By SIMONA COVEL

From magazine-sponsored awards to industry competitions, contests seem to exist for nearly every kind of small business.

Winning an award can lead to media coverage and raise a company's profile. But the field can be crowded, and entry forms often are complicated. The Wall Street Journal talked with Elin Nozewski, account supervisor at Airfoil Public Relations Inc. in Southfield, Mich., about how it helps clients put together contest applications that help win over judges. This year it helped its client, ePrize LLC, win 17 of the 55 contests it applied to. (Read the article.) Here are Ms. Nozewski's tips for improving your company's chances of winning.

1. Read the rules. It sounds obvious, but often companies don't follow every guideline, says Ms. Nozewski. If a contest requires that a company be no more than five years old, and your company was founded six years ago, don't enter. Judges in most cases will throw out applications that don't adhere to the rules.

Similarly, make sure you find the best category for your company. Maybe your entry fits better under interactive marketing, for example, than it does under promotions. Study the guidelines to find the right match.

2. Embrace your failures. Companies are often "hesitant to reveal their troubles," Ms. Nozewski says. That can be a mistake. Judges like to see an application that shows how a company has improved or turned around its fortunes. An entry that clearly reveals a company that has overcome adversity is "more attractive than just talking about how successful" a company is, she adds.

3. Say it with numbers. Whenever possible, include figures to back up claims. For instance, don't say only that you reduced costs, specify by how much and in what areas. Similarly, if an ad campaign or promotion increased Web-site traffic, say by how much and in what timeframe. Express a decline or increase as a percentage whenever applicable, Ms. Nozewski advises -- that's one of most judges' favorite metrics.

4. Channel your inner storyteller. Marketers or business executives who aren't used to these kinds of writing exercises sometimes run into trouble crafting their applications. Ms. Nozewski says that submissions should tell a story, taking the judges through the steps of a company's or executive's journey. If you're talking about a chief executive's strategy shift, for example, say that he or she walked in one day and announced a new initiative. Then walk the judges through what happened next – weaving in the failures and successes along the way.

When you're finished, ask several people to proofread. Judges often will toss away sloppy applications.

5. Fear not the judges. Often, the panel will welcome your questions and may be able to offer tips for your entry. They may push you in the right direction, noting the strategies that winners have used in the past. You even can ask which categories draw the most and least applicants. "The extra work will give you a higher chance of winning," says Ms. Nozewski.

6. Manage expectations. Congratulations – you've won! Now what? First, don't expect to land on the front pages of national publications. Unless the award is run by a national media outlet, the local media are your best opportunity, because "they're interested in the success of local companies," says Ms. Nozewski.

Airfoil tells its clients that they usually can expect their local papers to mention an award in their business section. But don't expect a big feature story, unless you have something unusual to say, such as you're the first company in the state to win the honor. Ms. Nozewski advises writing a two-paragraph press release saying your company won an award or ranked on a list, and sending it to the local press.

News about your win shouldn't stop there. Make sure your marketing and sales departments know, too, and have materials about the honor to hand out. Consider adapting the story you crafted for the application for PowerPoint slides to use in sales presentations. Add a mention about your new laurel to your Web site, and if an executive won an award, note it in his or her online bio.

Write to Simona Covel at simona.covel@wsj.com