By
Shirley Frazier
Sweet Survival®/GiftBasketBusiness.com
Enter (and Win) a Contest
Do
you know that hundreds of private firms, non-profit organizations, and Internet
sites launch contests each year?
Many of them offer the cash needed to start
your business.
But entering and winning is not as easy as putting your name on a
postcard, mailing it in, and waiting for your name to be selected. You have to
do some work in order to be chosen as a top winner.
The
rules to win usually consist of putting together a business plan to show the
validity of your business idea, or you may be asked to write an article or story
that shows why you, above all the others who enter the contest, are the one to
receive
the start-up funds.
Years ago, I wrote an article that uncovered different places on the Web where
contests were found to give away cash for business startup.
One contest prize
was $3,000 in cash, and guess what? One aspiring designer who read the article
won the money.
I was shocked and surprised when she Emailed me with news that she won.
I
had my doubts that this particular contest was real. After all, they were giving
away $3,000 without strings attached.
Her Email proved that it was all true. She
got the cash.
Unfortunately, I didn’t save the Email, or I would share her words here. The
bottom line is that finding and winning a contest is achievable.
Understand that
there are lots of people who will also enter, so your entry must be top notch in
order to receive the grand prize or small prizes that will also help you to
start your business.
Who’s running these contests? When doing the research for the article, I found
contests run by universities, television stations, food processors, non-profit
groups, and container makers to name a few.
Anyone at anytime can launch a
contest, and they won’t broadcast it. You have to go to their site to find it.
That’s what surprised me most.
I saw contests all over the Web giving out cash
prizes and mentorship support. I’m not sure if I would have believed this if I
didn’t see it for myself.
How
do you find these contests? You must use Internet search engines to find them.
Use phrases such as “2006 contest,” “start a business contest” and other words
that lead you to sources.
If
you find a contest that has ended, bookmark the page and visit it in the future
to see if another contest will appear on that site. Also be sure to note if the
contest is held every year so that you can enter the next year.
©2006 Shirley George Frazier. All
rights reserved.
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Idea No. 2
