How "The Supplier Spotlight" Works

Updated May 30, 2012, please read: Clarification of Rules

What would it be worth to your company to advertise on a business portal that had thousands of qualified monthly eyeballs? Where billions in contracts are up for grabs from 18 of the biggest companies in the USA? AND your company would be prominently featured as the only advertised business on the site for an entire month?

Would it be worth an idea?

Your best ones?

We think so.

Announcing a monthly feature we call “The Supplier Spotlight.”  It’s part reality show, wholly interactive, and completely beneficial to everyone that participates.

It’s really pretty simple: Every month all registered small business suppliers with a 100% completed application email me (dangallo@allassogroup.com) the best ideas they use to make their business more profitable or more efficient.  And since we’re using this contest to raise awareness of our participating, registered SBEs and the Supplier-Connection initiative, all SBEs can vote on the best idea. The business that submitted the idea with the most votes wins a one-month opportunity to promote their business on the Supplier Connection portal.

Here’s how it works:

Day 1 - 8 of each month: 

Any small business registered on Supplier-Connection can email me at dangallo@allassogroup.com any ideas that promote innovation, create efficiencies, cut costs, or all of the above.  You can enter as many ideas as you’d like each month.

Day 9 – 11 of each month

I’ll evaluate all submissions and post a poll listing up to 5 of the best submitted that month along with the name of each SBE Supplier.  If your idea has been chosen I’ll send you an email to let you know you made the cut.

Day 12 – 26 of each month

I’ll post the poll by the 12^th of the month and then any SBE can vote for the idea they think is the best.  Since the POLL is limited to one vote per email address and IP Address, it won’t likely turn into a popularity contest… Especially since you’ll only be able to vote once each month.

The votes are tabulated in real-time so you see the results as soon as you vote.  No hanging chads… No mysteriously missing votes from the oppositions precincts… No intimidation at the polls. Just you and your PC, or MAC, or iPad, or SmartPhone.

After you vote you can post a comment debating the merits of the ideas, especially the impact you think they’ll have on your business. So even if your idea didn’t make the cut, chances are real good there’s an idea in the bunch that can improve your business in some material way.

Day 26 – through month’s end

On the 26^th day of the month the polls will close at 8:00PM New York time and the idea with the most votes wins. Within the next 24 hours I’ll contact and post the winner. We’ll then work the rest of the month with the winning company to get their marketing materials posted on the Supplier Connection portal.

Clarification of Rules…

The primary objective of The Supplier Spotlight contest is to foster an envirnoment of community to help SBEs improve their business, promote our registered SBEs to Member Companies and to each other, and improve awareness of the Supplier-Connection initiative. In this spirit we provide the following clarifications:

1. All “end dates” falling on a weekend or Business Holiday will be extended to the next business day. This applies to the 1. date we receive entries, 2. the date entries are posted and 3. the date voting ends.
2. We will extend the entry date if we have not received two entries by the standard “end date” which is the 8th day of each month, or if the 8th falls on a weekend or Business Holiday, the first business day after the 8th of each month.

• We will extend the deadline for entries by one full Business Day until we receive two entries, as this will allow all SBEs the opportunity to choose to send a submission.
• Registered SBEs will be contacted via the Supplier-Connection LinkedIn Discussion Group as well as by email. Supplier-Connection will use its best efforts to contact all registered SBEs but will not be responsible for incorrect email addresses, downed email services, your spam filters, etc.
• You can not offer to pay anyone to vote for your entry (including automated systems such as Amazon’s mTurk). If you do, and we find out, you will be disqualified from the contest.

Danny! Tell them what they’ve won…

For the next month the company with the winning idea will earn the following (it’s your job to supply all marketing materials, graphics, etc., not us!):

• Your company’s graphic/logo prominently displayed (300 pixels) on the Get Connected home page under the Supplier Spotlight banner, on the User Login Home Page, and a link on the Supplier-Connection Home Page.
• A 200 word description of your business to be posted on the Get Connected home page under your graphic.
• WINNING COMPANY’S OPTION: Write an article on the winning idea you submitted, explaining the value it’s brought to your company and we’ll post it on the portal.
• A link to your corporate website, your Facebook page, your Twitter account, your company blog(s).
• A link to online sales presentations with audio
• Link(s) to product videos, commercials, and/or your YouTube channel
• Posted links to white papers you’ve written
• A link for interested parties to schedule an online sales meeting
• An email will be sent by Supplier-Connection to the entire registered Buyer community highlighting the winning company with links to the company and to the Get Connected page on the portal (New!)
• If you can attribute any new customer order to this promotion I’ll follow up by  interviewing your CEO or head of Sales and post it on my Supplier Connection blog.

I’m really looking forward to reading proven ideas coming from real businesses and the ensuing discussions over their merits. This is a great opportunity to share ideas, promote your company and find ways to improve your business—every month.  And isn’t incremental improvement one of our prized goals?

Spread the word around your company. Gather your best ideas and email them to me at dangallo@allassogroup.com.  Don’t hesitate. Don’t delay. You can’t advertise on the Supplier Connection portal for any amount of money.  Nope.

The only currency we’ll accept is your best ideas.

May the best SBE idea win!

Dan Gallo,
Social Media Director & Small Business Advocate, Supplier-Connection
Managing Director, The Allasso Group

Contest is available only to businesses that qualify as a U.S.-based Small Business, that have registered on www.supplier-connection.net, and have completed their Supplier Application. Go to www.supplier-connection.net for more details on the program.

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