PimpMyBiz Contest - Submission #5

The longest week.

I was able to review our fellow contestants online to see where we stand. A vacuum shop, a home stager, a unique (and clever) dog sitting service and a store that prepares and sells natural raw foods for pets. No common thread. Where did we fit and how did we stand out against these companies was unclear. Again, we did not know the criteria that would be applied to choose the winner. Still liked our chances, though.

I sent both Katfish and Kornicky a thank you email. They were funny and professional and allowed us the chance to spread the Milkface name on their radio station. In the end, it was the best case scenario if we were not selected a winner. They both replied with their thanks and one message say that they will replay all or most of the spots on the weekend show running from 11-2. "All or most" - seemed odd to me. This one line drove me mad for a week. Why not all? Would they only play the 4 non-winners as a consolation to them? Were some spots deemed not air-worthy? Would they only play the short list of the five finalists? Mad I say.

Over the week I try to hear the other profiles. I don't get them all. Sorry to Bone Voyage - the dog sitting service and Dave's Vacs. The other two I did hear. The home stager is a true business start-up. Having started just months earlier she would be a prime opportunity to show how marketing could launch a new company into a successful operation. On the other hand, new businesses don't always last. The prize could be for naught if the real estate market declined as expected in these new economically troubled times.

Analysis paralysis on my part. Try to relax. Nothing more we can do. It's in the hands of others. These words provide cold comfort and I continue to analyze where we are superior and inferior to our competition. I am consumed. Now for me this is an oddity. I rarely worry about things as I have recognized the absolute waste of energy we humans spend on the things that are out of our hands. Bizarre.

On the last day, the Natural Pet Food company is profiled. Existing business with a storefront and a loyal clientele that exactly fit the demographic of the radio station. These people were, in my mind, our real competition. The business was submitted to the contest not by an owner but by a friend. Seems one owner has a terminal disease that has a prognosis that does not look promising. As a human, I sympathize. As a contestant my jaw drops. I have seen too much reality TV where sympathy goes a long way with judges. It nevers earns the win on its own but it does get you closer to the prize than merit alone would. We're sunk.

More to come.

PimpMy Biz Diary - Submission #2

The contest was to be open for about 3 weeks. The morning crew, the Live 88.5 Start Up with Katfish and Kornicky, were to be the guys dealing with the finalists and announcing the winner. But for weeks after our submission I heard no mention of the contest on the morning show (maybe they talked about it from 5:30am-7:00am while I slept). I heard spots for the contest at all other times but in the morning - strange. The radio station website mentioned the contest but details on what the prize was, other than a $50,000 business marketing makeover, was unclear. Equally unclear was how the submissions would be judged.

We now know what the prize entails and that our submission alone would be the basis of selecting the prize winner. We did do a spot on the radio introducing ourselves to the the crew and the listeners but nothing new came out of that session. I'll detail that visit in a later post.

The contest close was coming up and the day before we had still not been mentioned as a contestant (no company had) and I had no real confirmation that our submission was received. I feared that maybe they hadn't got our submission. Oddly, on that night that I sent in our submission I also emailed Britt the details of our submission so she would be aware of it - she never received it. Not in SPAM folder (did the word "pimp" scare the filter?), not in inbox, not anywhere. With that in mind I questioned if LIVE 88.5 even received our submission. This contest was too good an opportunity to miss so I resubmitted using the contest form and also sent a separate email to the contest email address. I slept well that night knowing that they now, for sure, know about Milfkace Nursingwear and why we should be considered for the contest.

More to come...