"Winning a local, regional or national award is a major factor in enhancing your image within the industry." Jim Strite, Facilitator

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Design Award Winners Get Free Publicity

If you do great design/build work, let the whole country know -- not just your local clientele. Submit a winning project for a design award contest, especially one sponsored by a remodeling-industry publication or organization, and chances are good you'll find yourself and your work featured in a national publication. You literally can't buy that kind of press.

Winning design award contests can win you more clients, too. "When prospective clients are weighing the difference between two remodelers that they like equally, an award might be the thing that will help them choose one over the other," says Stacey Freed, a senior editor at Remodeling magazine. Freed points out that winning design awards can also help remodelers forge connections with the right architects. "Architects know the importance of awards and will be more likely to work with remodelers they see as professional equals," she says. "Remodelers who enter and win awards and have professionally shot photographs and a portfolio to share with an architect are more likely to get the opportunity to work with the best architects."

Think you don't have the time or resources to enter design award programs? It's easier than you think. Like anything else, all you need is a system. Here's one to get you started:

• Photograph a project or two you plan to submit. "The very first thing a remodeler needs to do is document the 'before' photos prior to doing work,' says Greg Harth, vice president of construction for Spring House, Pa.-based Harth Builders, whose company regularly wins design award contests. "All of the remodeling award programs require a before photo of the work to contrast to the changes. This is where the dramatic 'wow' is captured."

It goes without saying -- but we'll say it anyway -- that you need professional photography for the "after" photos. Freed suggests asking other remodelers for suggestions for photographers, collecting other remodelers' mailers and looking for photo credits, and contacting your local newspaper's photographers; they often work freelance.

Research the various design award contests that recognize top-notch remodeling projects. Examples include Remodeling magazine's Remodeling Design Awards (http://www.RemodelingDesignAwards.com; the web site will be updated by early 2008) and the National Association of the Remodeling Industry's Contractor of the Year (http://www.nari.org/awards/coty/) Awards. Note entry instructions, deadlines and fees.

Budget your resources. "We budget $900 per project for photos and another $500 per project for submissions. Another $100 per project goes towards printing and copies for a total of $1,500 per project," says Harth. "It usually takes me two uninterrupted days (one weekend) to story board the project and define all of the challenges we faced on the job."

Assemble your entries and send them off!

Enjoy the limelight when you win -- and be sure to spread it around. Mention your award in your newsletter and post it prominently on your company web site. "Smart winners can parlay a trade publication mention into a consumer publication mention by sending the article to a local newspaper, which may do a story on their business," says Freed.

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