You have joined the blogging world out of sheer passion of sharing your ideas on an online platform. As you begin, it is a way to share your knowledge and expertise with others, entertain them or basically just show your creative side to the world. Then you continue taking this small project seriously and begin to realize it is bigger than what you thought it would be.
An opportunity shows up for an award nomination like the BAKE Awards, an award that recognizes content creators in the blogging scene in Kenya. Apart from this there are also SOMA Awards which have a blog category and the African Blogger Awards as well. Maybe it’s part of your goals to actually one-day win in one or all of them or someone mentioned them to you and you thought to yourself ‘why not’. So, you work towards this goal but you have no idea what the criteria is that gets submitted blogs on the top of the list to getting nominated and finally win an award. You look at all those who have been nominated and won over the years and want to know how they actually made it.
Receiving an accolade is an amazing way to be recognized and relish that all of your hard work and persistence has not gone to waste. Worry no more because here are tips to consider in order to see your dreams and goals become reality.
“Luck is where opportunity meets preparedness.” – Seneca
Be Consistent
Being consistent is one of the top most keys required to win an award and an overall successful blogger. You cannot write or publish a post once a month and expect many people to actually recognize you. Being consistent means publishing content as often as possible. In situation where people are required to vote for whom they prefer, being consistent will ensure you have a higher chance of winning since your content is always up more often which readers are attracted to. Consider this, when publishing once a month you have less readers since it’s not a daily activity so less interests. When you post more than once a week, the number of readers will automatically grow.
Without a goal you can’t score. –Casey Neistat
Good Blog Design
Having a blog with a good design that is user friendly will get you on top of the list. A website should be pleasing to look at and have an authentic design. A well designed blog attracts people to your blog. It ensures people can easily access content on your blog with ease for everyone regardless of their technological challenges. When all the components function properly, people tend to want to stay more and explore your website and probably share it with others.
On the judges’ part, a well accessible website is one way for a blog to be on the nomination list and get you a chance to possibly win the award. Read more about blog design here.
You might not get it right everyday but it’s so important to give it a go.
Creativity and Authenticity
Someone out there has the same ideas and concepts as you. There is also someone who can do a better job than you can. Once you realize that everyone has potential, the only difference is whether you choose to act on your potential. How you execute your uniqueness will set you on top of the threshold to an award winning blog. Once you quit wanting to look like and write like other bloggers is when you discover your authenticity. Work to be to truly you and discover your own creative gene. Choose to live out the truest highest version you hold for yourself.
‘There is no one alive who is you-er than you!’- Dr. Seuss
Be Eligible
You may have all the well-crafted ideas in your head but can you be able to ensure it is well understood to the masses? Is it written with intelligence on the topic or blog niche? Can you be able to execute concepts easily to a wider range of people. Having clarity and well edited content which can be easily consumed by people without them thinking ‘this is PHD content only for the elite few’ is one way of being nominated for an award, especially an award such as the BAKE Awards. Remember, you must appeal to a wider group of people and be engaging.
Submit on Time
You may have a great blog but if you have doubt about it and don’t submit it on time how else are you going be recognized. Don’t procrastinate, do not doubt yourself, have faith and submit your blog. The BAKE Awards that occurs at the beginning of every year as seen through this timeline. Always stay updated by following the BAKE Awards social media channels on Twitter and Facebook so that you don’t miss out on the next submission phase.
Go after the things that you want. The time is now.