Small Business Trends

Check out the new additions to this list of contests, competitions and awards for small businesses, brought to you every other week as a community service by Small Business Trends and Smallbiztechnology.com.

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.CO Pitch Contest
Enter by June 14, 2010

Pitch your idea for a new business, blog or website and you could win $50,000 and the ideal .CO web address to make it a reality.

Grand Prize is $25,000 in cash, $25,000 in web design/development services and 1 ideal .CO web address.  Runners Up win $500 in cash and 1 ideal .CO web address.

BigCommerce $35,000 E-commerce Makeover Contest
Enter by June 15, 2010

Small business owners can enter the contest by posting a 60-second video to YouTube with the tags “ecommerce contest” and “bigcommerce” – videos should articulate why the contestant should be chosen to win and other relevant information about their business.

The grand prize includes:
* Professional store redesign and migration of the store to BigCommerce
* BigCommerce diamond store, with two-year free subscription
* Two-year MailChimp email marketing subscription
* One-year Fan Appz Pro license for social media marketing
* Google AdWords audit from ROI Revolution
* Online sales and marketing program consulting from Sales Rescue Team
* Significant promotion for the winner’s business and other opportunities.

Four runners-up will receive a two-year BigCommerce gold license and other promotional opportunities

Entrepreneurial Winning Women
Enter by June 30, 2010

The Ernst & Young Entrepreneurial Winning Women program is seeking a select group of women entrepreneurs to join an elite network of the country’s best entrepreneurs and high-growth companies and participate in a customized program designed to:

* Identify potential partners, strategic alliances, customers and suppliers as well as prospective sources of private capital among selected venture capital and private equity firms
* Expand their knowledge with the latest information, research and executive dialogues on business strategies and practices tailored to high-growth companies
* Provide informal, one-to-one guidance and support
* Strengthen their executive leadership and business skills and identify opportunities to grow and scale their companies through meetings with senior advisors and seasoned entrepreneurs who can serve as role models, coaches and mentors
* Increase national and regional visibility for themselves and their companies among corporate executives, investors and the media

National Small Business “Comeback” Contest
Enter by June 30, 2010

It’s no secret that it’s been tough out there for American small business owners lately. But this isn’t the first time we’ve hit a rough patch – as a group, we’ve had it bad before, and we’ve always bounced back stronger than ever!

To help, Cortera’s giving away over $10,000 in total prizes for the best small business story! Enter to win the Grand Prize of $3,500 and a year-long Cortera Power membership.

* Submit an entry about a small business you work for, own, or nominate a small business you love.
* Best video entry wins a side-pot prize of $1000!
* Win $500 and a year-long Cortera Expert membership if you’re selected as a runner up.
* Get a free trial membership with Cortera

The Shopify Build a Business Contest
Runs January 1 – June 30, 2010

This contest is open to legal residents of the United States who are at least 18 years of age and starting a new business. To enter you must open a new store on Shopify.com. The winner will be selected based on their two best selling months between January 1st, 2010 and June 30th, 2010. The store with the two best selling months will win $100,000. Achieve the same for your store category and win $5,000 as a runner up prize.

Supreme Studio Makeover Contest
Enter by June 30, 2010

Targeted towards professionals in creative fields, the Supreme Studio Makeover Contest features a prize for larger studios with 11 or more employees valued up to $17,000 and a prize for studios with 1-10 employees valued up to $8,300. Entry information can be found here.

The products featured in the contest include: Maya 2011, Adobe CS5, HP Designjet large format printers, NEC 24″ widescreen monitors, and Apple Time Capsule storage units. The Maya 2011 and Adobe CS5 software products only recently became available for ordering.

The Cleantech Open Ideas Competition
Opens for Entries July 2010

The Cleantech Open runs the world’s largest clean technology business competition and is looking for the best clean technology ideas from around the world. Just for telling your idea, you could win a prize package of services worth $100,000 to help you start a business to grow your idea! Winners of each individual National Competition, get to represent your country as a Global IDEAS finalist at the annual Cleantech Open Awards Gala on November 16, 2010 in San Francisco.

There, your idea will be presented in a five-minute pitch in front of a crowd of 3,000 investors, entrepreneurs, sponsoring companies, corporations, members of academia, press, and others interested in hearing your ideas and getting involved.

The crowd will vote via text message for the “People’s Choice” and you could win $100,000 in marketing support, legal advising, conferencing services and more to help launch your business!

The competition will open in July 2010. Sign up to receive the newsletter to get updates.

Acqua Essay Contest
Enter by July 2, 2010

Tell us how you would take advantage of new Windows 7 Professional for your small business and get a chance to win a technology makeover.

Tampa Bay Small Business Jumpstart
Enter by July 30, 2010

Have you put off starting your own business because you don’t have the start-up capital or know enough about marketing, accounting and other business skills to turn your passion into your own company?

Then you’re in luck because you have the chance to win a full suite of business services valued at over $20,000 from some of the biggest names in Tampa – all you need is an idea and the drive to be successful!

iNGie Award from Cabinet NG
Enter by August 15, 2010

Cabinet NG will recognize customers who have best used CNG-SAFE software products to improve their bottom line and at the same time operate their businesses in a more environmentally friendly manner. “iNGie” awards will be presented at the 2010 Collaborate Conference in Huntsville (dates and location to be announced soon).

Awards:

* The first 20 companies to apply receive 2 free passes to 2010 Conference in Huntsville (approximately $500 value).
* Winners get a $1,000 credit which can be applied toward annual maintenance or CNG products.
* Winners will also receive an Amazon Kindle.
* Recognition at the 2010 Conference dinner.

Award categories and online applications can be found here.

2010 Leading Moms in Business
Enter by August 31, 2010

The 2010 StartupNation Leading Moms in Business competition will rank the top 200 mom-run businesses across America as determined by popular vote.

Over the next few months, it’ll be your daily votes that will tell us who deserves to be named a winner. The list of the 200 winners will be published in May and will be ranked according to votes accumulated.

To find more small business events, contests and awards, visit our Small Business Events Calendar.

If you are putting on a small business contest, award or competition, and want to get the word out to the community, please submit it through our Small Business Event and Contests Form (We do not charge a fee to be included in this listing — it is completely free to submit your award or contest for our review. )

Please note: The descriptions provided here are for convenience only and are NOT the official rules. ALWAYS read official rules carefully at the site holding the competition, contest or award.

About the Author

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Laura Leites is managing editor of SmallBizTechnology. In addition to writing about technology tools for SMBs, Laura manages the day-to-day operations of Smallbiztechnology.com. She also produces their live and virtual events, including the Taste of Technology Small Business Series.