How to Win the Dream Big Grow Here Small Business Grant Contest!

Do you want the chance to win a free grant for your Iowa business? Enter the Dream Big Grow Here contest for your shot to win a regional $5,000 small business grant, and the chance to win a $10,000 grand prize! This blog post will give you some tips and tricks to provide you the edge in winning this free money for your company.

As one of the contest administrators, I can tell you that we receive lots of questions regarding the rules and regulations for the Dream Big Grow Here grant contest. This is welcome and expected- you don't want your entry to be denied right out of the gate, because you don't qualify or didn't fully understand the rules pertaining to the contest. You can figure out what the rules are by clicking on the 'How it Works' button on each of the regional contests' homepages. If after reading through the 'How it Works' page you still have questions, feel free to reach out to us directly via e-mail at info@DreamBigGrowHere.com.

Before I launch into some actionable tips, keep this in mind: none of our winners got to where they are just by recruiting friends and family to vote. All of the winners found creative ways to recruit strangers and customers alike, to vote each and every day. This is NOT an easy task. Do not fall into the belief that by simply having an entry posted, people casually visiting the Dream Big, Grow Here site will vote for you. Don't enter this contest until you have thought very seriously about if you are ready to put forth your full effort and able to commit the time and energy required to win.

During the course of running this contest, a few aspects have quickly emerged from those who have successfully won the Dream Big Grow Here entrepreneur grant. I'm going to cover some of the strategies these business owners deployed to win, but I would encourage you to explore all the past Dream Big Grow Here business grant winner entries and ask each of those business owners directly for advice. This is my very first tip- don't recreate the wheel, learn from those who have already successfully won the Dream Big, Grow Here small business grant!

Create an Entry Video via YouTube

The Dream Big, Grow Here website receives thousands of visits when voting becomes live. Yes, thousands! These visitors are looking through all of the grant entries and deciding which businesses to vote for. Here is our second tip: the Dream Big, Grow Here website has been designed to show entrant's YouTube videos as a central component of their entry. Having a video gives you greater visibility in the online world, and also attracts visitors to click on and view your entry. You can check out the MyEntre.Net YouTube channel to view videos posted from contest entrants.

Leverage Social Media Effectively to Market Your Business & Your Entry!

Since the Dream Big Grow Here business grant contest is virtually all conducted online- you've got to leverage online mediums to attract people to visit and vote for your entry. In today's online world, social media is king. With the exception of two, all of the past winners have a Facebook page. A few even have Twitter. One thing they all did- used their social media accounts to recruit votes for their winning entries. Here are four examples to explore:

Veel Hoeden Twitter

Molly Long Photography Twitter

AM Guitar Repair Facebook

Adrenaline X Mobile Laser Tag Facebook

Utilize Websites & Blogs to Market Your Business & Your Entry!

Not only did many of the winners have social media outlets, but they were also web savvy. They posted links to their entry page on specialty industry-related discussion forums (and had friends do the same), created blog articles to advertise their entry, and even added links and content about their entry on their business homepages.

Encourage Loyal Customers & Employees to Vote

Sometimes it's easy to overlook one of your greatest assets- your customers. In the past, winners have created contests for both employees and their customers as a reward for voting for them. Some of them require that voters post comments on their Facebook page or on the Dream Big Grow Here site, others have created hand-outs which they give to customers who visit their store. For instance, photographers have used a giveaway for a free photo shoot, another entrepreneur said he would host a free party. For another great idea, check out this blog article about how to use your employees to build your brand via Twitter.

Use Traditional Media to Advertise Your Business & The Contest!

One final commonality for all the Dream Big Grow Here grant contest winners is the fact that they all were forced to get out of their shell and actively advertise their business via the contest. Ultimately, our objective is to help encourage business owners to use a little guerilla marketing to get word out about all the great small businesses we have here in Iowa. Entrepreneurs have used local radio, tv and print media advertising. I suggest looking through the Dream Big, Grow Here videos to gather additional tips, tricks and advice on how you can be the next $5,000 business grant winner!