Thank you! Nominees are in for the 2009 “Janice” Award…

Yes, the rally is over. For 13 days, MMW accepted your nominations. Now, the judge’s panel is reviewing them all… watch this site (or subscribe to the feed by email or RSS, from the top of the right sidebar on any page) to catch the update when Ken Grindall will announce the winner over the July 4th weekend.

Update: Congratulations to Anderson Medical Legal Consulting! (Read the press release)

And, if you were one of those who submitted a nominee for the award, or shared this event with your professional and social networks… thanks again.

Here’s the event kick-off post, as I originally published:

Do you know a great organization or small business that deserves some free help from a pro copywriter?

Let the 1st Annual “Give Back, Pay Forward” event begin!

She helped inspire this event and the award that bears her name.

Happy Birthday, Mom! (That’s my mom, Janice.)

Today, I’d love to bring the tons of enthusiasm that’s been fueling me as this event grew from an idea to a plan. I’m sorry to say, I’ve just picked up a nasty head cold over the weekend. So I’m going to write this quick, before I succumb to another nap. But I did promise I would share all the pertinent details today, as we launch the 13-day window for nominations to find a winner for the 2009 Janice Award, so… fuzzy head and all… I’m going to make good on that promise right now:

First, here’s why I decided to load up my job-hunting self with another big project that won’t make any money (not for me, anyway)–

For me, this is not about the money. I believe it’s important to live my life in a way that serves other people. I’m not here to pad my soft, American-dream behind with comfy stuff and a lazy lifestyle. That’s come and gone for me, and the big lesson I learned was this:

If I don’t give something back, I’m not following the admirable examples I’ve been taught.

My parents have been great givers my whole life. And not just to me and their other kids, but to their extended family, friends, church and community. It’s a very noble way to live, and I’m proud to be of that stock. It’s high time I did more to act like it. So, here goes!

I already mentioned that today is my mother’s birthday. My mom, Janice, is a very talented quilter. It’s her big hobby, her favorite thing to do. I’ve got two amazing, one-of-a-kind pieces from her. Janice’s quilts are spread all around our family, in fact. But she has also given some of her work away. She told me a story recently about some quilts that she and friends donated to a service organization that passes them on to families of wounded military veterans. I can’t recall a lot of detail on that operation just now… but I love to imagine soldiers home from Irag or Afghanistan to be with family, and getting that little extra comfort of wrapping up in a big, soft quilt that came from someone they didn’t know, who just wanted to give.

Janice also really enjoys that TV show, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” I do too, I admit. It’s hard for me to watch, though, because it gets so emotional (on purpose, yes, and for good reason). That may be overkill in terms of giving back, but I won’t take time here to pick it apart or weigh in on some controversy.

I just like the idea of doing a whole lot of good for somebody.

Here’s the catch: I’m out of work myself, at the moment. I’m building a foundation here at MyMarketingWriter.com as a freelancer (or a “solo-preneur,” the new term I like). Right now, I can’t be the big philanthropist I’d love to be. Not with money, anyway. But I think our culture may be starting to realize–we can help each other in much more tangible ways.

I’ve been part of hands-on help before. I remember going to South Carolina back in the 80s, to gopher around construction sites where homes were getting rebuilt after a huge hurricane whose name I can no longer recall. I was part of a team that built a Habitat home in Nashville a few years later. Now, I’m not so young and limber as all that…

So, I’m going to give what I’ve got: a great bunch of copywriting skill, and a fair amount of very available time.

Let’s call it “Impressive Makeover: Content Edition.”

Who will YOU nominate?

More specifically, I will donate 20% of my writing time each week to the Janice Award winner, until we’ve completed a marketing content project designed by myself and representatives of that organization. That project may be copy for a webpage or series of pages, or an email campaign, or a new brochure… I can only imagine what we might cook up. The point is, we will do something that the winner can really use to create new visibility for themselves in their market.

You get to take the first step! Help me find a great organization or small business we can give this attention to, and hopefully serve to give their work a solid boost. From you, I need just a few simple details. When you submit your nominee, please give us:

1. the full, complete name of the organization,
2. the full, complete URL link to the organization’s web presence (commerce site, blog, etc) if they have one. If not, you can supply copies of other promotional material; send as PDFs to the email address below…
3. correct contact information–address, email, phone–for someone within the organization who can speak for them, and
4. your story on why you think they should be a nominee for the Janice Award

There are several ways you can pass all that info on to our selection committee…

How you can nominate an organization for the 2009 Janice Award (and a free marketing project):

You can leave a comment on this blog post. I’ve set the system to “moderate,” so you won’t see your comment appear here on this page once you submit. That’s okay, it’s in there. But we are going to hold all the nominees secretly in our hat until we review them all, make the selection and announce the winner. To submit a comment, click the title of the post (to be sure you’re on the article’s dedicated page), then scroll down to the empty box labeled “leave a reply,” write your comment in that box and click the button marked “post comment.” Easy-peasy, and you’re done.

Or, you can send email to janice@mymarketingwriter.com. My mom doesn’t get those emails directly–but she is on the award committee, so she will read them all (ie, you can say hi if you want). This is an address we created just for the event, and for taking your nominations for the award.

You can even send a direct tweet to @storiesthatsell. Don’t know what that means? Well, then never mind. I’m just learning to use twitter myself, so let’s just say… if you DO know what’s up, you already know you can only send 140 characters. So you can’t really give us a complete nomination this way (why you think they should win, etc), but you can submit a link to a website or blog, or something. Without the added story behind your pick, the committee will need to be convinced solely by what we see at the link you give.

But hey, you never know. Plus, you can always “follow” us on twitter from there. Which is cool.

Alright, I think that’s all the info I’ve got for today.

There are some more details I will cover over the next 13 days, while your nominations roll in. Namely, once we’ve determined a recipient for the Janice Award, I’ve got a pretty serious questionnaire sort of conversation to kick things off as we work to figure out what kind of marketing content I can give them that will make a real difference. I may share that survey here, so you can know more about where things are going.

Doesn't look like he's got a cold...

For sure, I will also be blogging my way through the project, too. I love a great story, and I can’t wait to meet the characters in this one–and watch where the adventure takes us. Okay, that’s sappy, I know.

I’m gonna blame it on the head cold. Time for that nap…

Thanks very much for reading,

Ken

P.S. Have you spread the word yet about the “Janice” Award? Sure, not every one of your friends is going to want to know (or even care), but someone might. They may know another great outfit you could nominate. There are a couple ways you can “spread the love,” as it were. First, just below you’ll see several social/viral icons you can use to promote this blog post to friends, networks, and the world. Also, if you use Facebook, please come to this event’s Facebook page and send out invitations to those you think might like to follow along. While youre there, you can “fan” the MMW page too, and get regular updates right on your Facebook wall. Anyway, it’s all there if you choose to jump in! Thanks again…