#635 How to Win Business Awards & Build a Bold, Credible Brand with Lauren Clemett

What if self-promotion wasn’t about ego—but about building impact and credibility?

In this bold episode of Talking with the Experts, Rose Davidson sits down with award strategist and personal branding expert Lauren Clemett to explore how business owners can harness the power of awards to skyrocket their visibility, build lasting credibility, and attract more opportunities—without feeling salesy or full of themselves.

Lauren, founder of The Audacious Agency, has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs become award-winning brands. With decades of brand management experience, she shares her proven process to not only win awards—but leverage them strategically.

You’ll learn how to:

• Craft compelling award entries using stories and data that captivate judges
• Break through imposter syndrome and the fear of “self-promotion”
• Turn a trophy win into media attention, authority, and sales
• Build a personal brand that positions you as a respected, sought-after expert

Lauren walks us through the Bold, Brave & Audacious method:
✨ Be Bold – Set recognition goals and highlight results that matter
 💪 Be Brave – Understand that visibility isn’t vanity—it’s strategy
 🔥 Be Audacious – Use every award win (or nomination) to amplify your reach

This episode is your invitation to stop being the best-kept secret and start claiming your seat at the table. Whether you're applying for your first award or want to elevate your brand authority—this is your game plan.

📣 Ready to become a recognised expert and boost your business brand? Press play and prepare to be audacious.

🔗 CONNECT WITH LAUREN

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenclemett/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaurenClemett68

Website: https://theaudaciousagency.com

📌 PROMOTION: https://theaudaciousagency.com/get-a-plan/

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Transcript

Intro | 00:01
Welcome to Talking With The Experts. Here we discuss all things business, by business owners, for business owners. Here is your host, Rose Davidson. 

 Rose | 00:12
Have you ever thought about entering for an award but don't think you have what it takes? Lauren Clemett is going to bust some of those myths about entering awards and put you right in the frame of mind that you need to be in to. Have the confidence to enter yourself and be audacious. Now Lauren heads up the Audacious Agency. It is a premier profile building and award-winning specialist company. With over three decades of experience in brand management and a reputation as a sought-after keynote speaker, Lauren empowers entrepreneurs and business owners to build powerful personal brands. As the brand navigator, Lauren and her team help leaders to boldly stand out from the competition and be sought after. Credible brand champions. Welcome Lauren. Thank you so much for joining me here on Talking With the Experts. 

 Lauren | 01:02
Thank you for having me, Rose. I'm excited to be here. 

 Rose | 01:06
I'm so glad. Now, Entering awards is... Challenging for most of us. We don't think we have what it takes. We don't think that we're good enough. We don't think, you know, that We deserve the recognition after all the hard work we've put in. What do you say to that, to people who have that mindset? 

 Lauren | 01:28
Well, that's the number one question we get asked all the time is, I don't know. Do you think I've done enough? Do you think, you know, and it's such a lovely question because it comes from the heart. It's. It's not wanting to be boastful or egotistical. 
 So there's a really nice humbleness that comes with that. And some of the people that we've met over the years who've done incredible things and they say those same things to us and we're like my God, you've done so much and you don't think it's just unbelievable that you think this way. I call it the itty bitty shitty committee. 
 You know, there's little voices in your head that are on at you that you haven't done enough. It's not perfect. It's not as good as it could be. All those sorts of things that hold you back. And yes, it happens all the time. I once had a fabulous conversation on the phone with a lovely lady, her name's Jenny, and she's given me permission to share her story. And I said, what are you thinking about going for awards for? And she said, I'm in an industry that's quite male dominated and I think I've got the right to stand out. I'd like to be seen a bit more. As a bit more of an influencer and opinion leader, but I don't know if I've done enough. And I said, well, tell me what your story is. And she said, we grew up in poverty and there's me and six other kids. And it was a big family in a small house. And I knew. That it was stressful and there was always financial worries and I had to do something about this. 
 So I decided as a very young girl that I would become an accountant because I loved numbers, I loved maths at school and I thought this would be a way of me working out how to get our family into a better future. And then of course I discovered that I'd have to go to university to study, to become an accountant. And we just, there's no way my family could afford to put one of us, let alone any of us through university. 
 So I then thought, well, okay, plan B, what I'll do is I'll go to McDonald's. And I'll start work at McDonald's after school. I have a part-time job and I'll work there until I've earned enough to put myself through university to become an accountant. She never left McDonald's and she now owns 12 of And she was on the phone telling me she didn't think she'd done enough to be worthy of awards. 

 Rose | 03:32
Them. Wow. 

 Lauren | 03:40
So look, even the most successful of us can think we haven't done enough. I think we often fall into that trap, Rose, of comparisonitis. 
 You know, we compare ourselves too often to other people and on their journeys and what it looks like that they've got, which we all know what things look like and what they're like in real life, two completely different things. So that comes up a lot that I'm not sure if I've done enough compared to the rest of the people I'm going to be up against and competing against but I think there's a very big myth that people seem to think with awards that you have to have had some massive success some huge you know 300 increase in profit or 500 bigger than you were last year some massive revenue you know they don't realize that 90 of awards out there don't even ask you for your financials 90%. Yes, there are industry awards where you have to probably talk about, like if you're a mortgage broker, it would be your book size or a loan administrator, it'd be, you know, how much money you've got under management, or if you're a gym, it might be how many members you have and how many PTs you've got on your team and so on. But it's not always that. There are awards out there for innovation for startup for thought leadership for community for charitable works for being inventive coming up with something brand new or technology or a new approach to something so there's so many different awards out there, and I think the minute people understand that their mind is just blown with the opportunity and the potential that there is out there. 

 Rose | 05:22
I recently won an award for talking with the experts. I was awarded a podcast of the year for 2025. And when I was like totally stoked that, I entered on a whim, thinking, well, I don't have the numbers behind me. I don't have a lot of followers, but I have a few regular listeners. And I entered. And I became a finalist and I thought, wow, that was probably as far as I was going to go. Next thing I know, I've actually won the gold award. And I think, my goodness, you know, how did this happen? And you're right. It's the feeling of, you know, have I done enough? Have I got the numbers behind? But a lot of times I think it's just the way that the application is written. And a well-written application can do a lot to get you into at least the finalist stage. 

 Lauren | 06:19
Yeah, absolutely. You're on the money there, Rose. I think I'm on a Woods judge, so I get to see the back end of things a lot as well. 50% of an award win is based on what you've actually achieved. 
 So the impact you've had, and you know, the results that you have. 50% of it is how you have told the judges, how you have explained that, you know, how you have communicated this was the issue or the problem or the thing that I found that I wanted to change. And this is what I did, or this is how I adapted, or this is how the challenge brought me these opportunities. And this is what I did with it. 
 So yes, really 50% of it is how you put into your entry the metrics that matter, but the storytelling around showing the judges why you care and why it's so important to you and so on. Congratulations on that award as well, because I mean, even Just going through the process of making yourself stop. In the moment and review where you've come from and why you started the podcast or why you started your business or whatever it is that you're thinking of entering for and looking at what you've achieved, that's a big win in itself. And I think a lot of people look at awards and they have that question, I don't know if I've done enough. What they really mean is, I don't know if I've done enough to win. And is it worth entering if I'm not going to win? Because I think that tall poppy syndrome that we have, especially here in Australia and New Zealand, a little bit in Europe as well, nowhere near as much in America. In America, they don't care. They really don't care what other people think of them. We arrived there once for the Stevie Awards for Women in Business. And it's held in New York and it just happened to have been the New York marathon that weekend. And everyone is walking around, we arrived on the Sunday of the marathon day, everyone's walking around with their medallions, their medals from the marathon around on the outside of their jackets, because it's winter, it's cold, but they didn't just wear them for like the day, they were all week, there were people still out in public with this medal around their necks. Now I've been, my husband's run two marathons, I've been with people who've run marathons in Australia, They just, they don't do that. They run the marathon. The medal gets put around their neck. They get a photograph and the medal comes off and gets put in the pocket, you know, and put on a shelf somewhere at home. Whereas in America. No, they want it to be known. I've just finished. I've just done this amazing thing. I've achieved this goal. I've done this thing and I'm going to damn well prove to everybody that I'm worthy of wearing this medal for weeks, let alone hours. 
 So I think the whole tall poppy syndrome Stops us from entering into awards because we might not win. And really, we seem to think the only time we can shout about an award is if we win. 
 So we don't think about, what if I can I leverage this just for being a nominee? Can I leverage this for being a finalist or a non-finalist or a non-winner, as well as the accolades of being the winner? Because we all think that you're a loser if that's the case, you know. 
 Yeah. Whereas what I've seen from looking at the way awards work, and I'm sure you would have been to an Oscar-nominated movie, at some stage in your life. You would have all watched one or streamed or whatever, It didn't matter to you that it didn't win the Oscar. 

 Rose | 09:38
Right? Absolutely. 

 Lauren | 09:42
Often, sometimes the ones that do win the Oscars are really weird and they're not as good as the ones that were nominated anyway. There's all that stuff goes on. But we still buy an award-nominated bottle of wine when we're going out to a dinner party. It might have a bronze award. It doesn't always need the gold award. You can leverage the whole process of entering the awards. It's not just about the winning. And I think that's what holds people back is what if I don't win, you know, and then am I going to look like a fool? And that makes it really hard to get through that mindset as well. 

 Rose | 10:15
Yeah, I didn't enter to win necessarily. I just wanted to enter to get the podcast out there and, you know, another avenue for me to leverage. But, you know, to become a finalist and then a winner, I mean, I was happy just to be a nominee, to be honest. Regardless of whether I nominated myself or not. - Well. 

 Lauren | 10:36
You've got the right mindset around it, Rose, that it's not about, hey, I need to win this for credibility. I just want another way of leveraging the fact that my podcast exists. It's had great track record. It's had great interviews. I've done some great guests on it. It's being listened to, it's a value, and here's a little stamp of approval that I can get, regardless of whether I win, to have another reason to talk about it. Your mindset's different to the majority of people who are sort of, what if I don't repent? What if I look like a fool? 
 You know, all that sort of stuff that goes on. 

 Rose | 11:08
Now, let me talk about strategic selection and crafting. How do we pinpoint the right awards and develop those entries that really impress the judges? 

 Lauren | 11:17
Yeah, good question, Rose, because I think it's funny as well, when people suddenly realise how many awards that are out there, it can become very overwhelming, can't it? In fact, I've I think we've got over 300 listed that we know all about and we have all the questions and we have all the information about. But there's way more than that out there. There's an award out there for trench digging. If you dig trenches, there's an award for that as well. 
 So there's awards for everything. So, yes, it can become very overwhelming. The first step I would suggest is what we just talked about in reality. Why do you want to win the award why do you want what's the leverage what are you going to do with it you know what sort of reputation do you want your podcast to have so you might have gone for a particular category so it was if it was podcast awards and then that's broken down into interview styles business relationships all these different categories you might get Business. 

 Rose | 12:10
One for business. 

 Lauren | 12:12
Yeah, you'd go business and you'd go business impact or business ideas or whatever. And you'd really hone down into finding which awards are going to enable you to leverage it. 
 So yeah. There are awards out there like the Oz Mompreneurs. If you're a mom and you're in business and business is sort of something that you're running on the side of being a mom, then they're awesome to go for. But if you're a woman who's a mom, but you happen to be in big business or you're an international consultant or a podcast host or whatever, You want to really think about what award could I use to leverage my profile? And get that credibility and visibility. 
 So is it entrepreneur of the year? Is it changemaker of the year or thought leadership or giving back or maybe it's around coaching or mentoring or women helping women or... Or inspiring others or leading communities, or it could be around your personal journey. There's a lot of award categories out there that are around like that sort of phoenix rising from the ashes, you know, resilience and so on. 
 So there's lots of those categories as well. And if you've just written a book, all about your life story and how you dealt with a challenging time, where you've got a podcast, where it's all about resilience and so on, then yeah, you'd be looking for those specific awards and categories that you could absolutely maximize based on what they're for. Pointless going for a category that you're not going to be able to talk about, you know, and something that isn't really going to build your profile. It's just nice to have maybe a couple of them. If you want to do that, that's fine. That's awesome. But if you really want to leverage them to build a profile, it's thinking about the long-term effects of what you're doing. 
 And then in terms of the submission, because you said as well, how do you make sure your submission is spot Yeah, it's really basic, really. 

 Rose | 14:00
On as well? 

 Lauren | 14:05
Read the questions. I mean, read exactly what it is that they want. And I would highlight or underline the key phrases in the question. 
 So if they're asking specifically for Tell us, give us an overview of what your business is all about. So in that, they're not asking you give us your life story. Or tell us why you're in business. They're saying, give us an overview of your business. And that's exactly what they want in a snapshot, probably 50 or 100 words, what is your business all about? And it might be that it was founded out of a challenge or whatever or an innovation and this is what it does and this is who it helps. They just wanna give an idea. 
 Some of them will start with, tell us why you started your business. And that's more of a personal story about your journey as an entrepreneur. 
 Sometimes they'll just cut straight into it. Okay, give us your achievements in the last 12 months. What have you done? 
 So, The real key to making sure that your award entry sings is really nailing the answer to that question and making sure you, even after you've written it a few times, go back and reread the question. Am I answering the question? 
 And then blending. Really engaging storytelling that's personal. It's about you. It's not just created by chat GTP as a boring old vanilla entry. It's your story and weaving in those metrics that matter. 
 So really highlighting what is... The problem that you are out to solve or what was the challenge and how did you do that and really showing the judges, not just telling them what the impact has been either on you or your business or your team or your listeners and what it's done for them. 
 So it's really a nice way. To get quite concise about what you've been doing in business. Isn't that awesome as well, Rose? You would have experienced this when you're writing yours. It forces you to look back at what you've achieved and to really concisely put that into a piece of information that you know a judge would love. 

 Rose | 16:08
And the point being, too, when you're looking back on the achievements that you've done, you often think to yourself, I haven't achieved much. But when you start writing them down, your achievements really are a lot broader or a lot more than what you thought they were in the initial stage. Writing of your application. 
 So yeah, it really does make you sit and appreciate. And be grateful for the little things that have happened along the way. 

 Lauren | 16:40
Yeah, absolutely. It's funny, isn't it? When you go back through your diary and you go, I did that. And that happened. And I remember that. And the thing I learned from it. And yeah, all that stuff that I think women are specifically bad at it, Rose. We're very focused on the now and the tomorrow and the planning for the next phase. We don't stop to reflect on where we come from. And, you know, when you start doing that, like you're saying, you list out all these things you've achieved. It's like, You're in the top 5%. Not everybody does this. How many episodes of your podcast do you have now? 

 Rose | 17:11
635 yeah and I'm in the top 5% of global podcasts and there's over 3 million podcasts so Absolutely. 

 Lauren | 17:20
Yeah so that's extraordinary to be able to do that so yeah good on you it's fantastic. 

 Rose | 17:26
How do we get the confidence to shine, Lauren? What actionable techniques can we use to overcome self-promotion anxieties and embrace that recognition that we've been talking about? 

 Lauren | 17:39
Yeah, that's a really good question, Rose, because I think it is ingrained. That whole tall poppy syndrome is so insidious. It just creeps into every level of business. I think the thing we need to change first is our mindset around what it means to be in business. 
 I mean, in reality, your job. As a business owner is to promote yourself, is to promote you as the leader, to promote your business, your products or your services. No one's ever going to do it as well as you do because you actually care. You started this thing, it's like having a baby, isn't it, when you have a business. You actually care about it growing up and everything that's involved with it. Yes, you can delegate, absolutely delegate tasks, outsource your marketing, all that sort of stuff. It's important to make sure you focus as a business owner, but I think the minute you change your mindset around awards not being, I want to shine a light on me. I want to shine a light on what I've achieved. I want to shine a light on the team, on the innovation that we have, on the impact that it's making or the potential it's got, on the book I wrote or the program I created or the people who've been through my program and the way that it's changed their lives. The minute that it becomes an us, and a we rather than an I, then I think you're starting to take a bit more of a helicopter view of what your business is even here for. And even if you're a solopreneur, if it is just you and you don't have a team, really think about you as an influencer or a key opinion leader and the impact that you have on the wider world. That's the purpose for going into awards. It isn't necessarily about big noting yourself. It's about making sure that people know about what you do. That they are aware of the impact that you can create for them and that you're given the opportunity to at least be heard because when it comes to credibility and visibility there's so much fake stuff out there rose and it's getting with ai my goodness it's just getting worse and worse to figure out who's fake and who's not i mean all these AI influencers showing up to Wimbledon that don't actually exist and having these social media accounts with all these followers and they don't even exist and it's so hard. When you're really... Aligned with what you do, when you're heart-centered and you are doing something because you're so passionate and so purposeful around it, that's bigger than you. That's a legacy you're creating, right? And I think if you can concentrate on that and talk about the fact that what you're doing is worthy of being recognised, of being credible, of being believable, of being visible, and certainly of being something of value out there. And in reality, if you don't do it, somebody else who's not got anywhere near the expertise or experience that you have, just because they're better on TikTok or they're better on Instagram, they'll get out there and they'll win your audience over. 
 So, you know, you can't just – it's not – I think it was – What's his name? Cardone, who said this. He says, it's not the best that wins. It's the best known. Yes you've just got to be the best known if you're really good at what you do and you know you're good at it and you've got competitors out there and you're going how come they're getting all the limelight they're winning all these awards we do way better than they do it's because you're not actively putting yourself forward for those sorts of accolades and yeah the minute you change your mindset around it to do with creating a legacy rather than just being you know egotistical it changes everything. 

 Rose | 21:05
Absolutely. My passion project, Healing Through Love, where we do the pamper days for domestic violence survivors, actually won an award recently. We didn't even nominate for it. We were just put up for it by the organisation. And so we are ambassadors for this particular thing. And for the life of me, my brain's gone absolute to mush. But yeah, and we were surprised by the fact that our pamper days... And when we know they make a difference, but for someone to be recognised on an international level was absolutely amazing. 
 So, yeah. Brilliant. It was, you know, something that, you know, we didn't take lightly that's for sure but yes and sometimes you just need to put yourself out there you're right you know and Don't worry about it. It's that. 

 Lauren | 21:53
Recursive, isn't it? Like you say, you might... Pamper days, local pamper days, you think they're such a small thing on a global scale, but that little drop in the ocean that you are creating, it just creates these ripples that reach out. And there's so many people, I know we've helped people win awards even before they've launched their businesses, just for the concept of what they're doing. And I'm talking with someone at the moment, and she's just got a completely different approach to positioning yourself as a leader and what she's doing with her business. Her whole unique way of looking at, you know, career development and everything else. And it will make such a difference to so many workplaces and so many leaders. And Dall-E needs is those little drops in the ocean that create those ripples. And that's all you need to get seen and noticed. 

 Rose | 22:39
And that leads us into leveraging our mastery, doesn't it? You know, there is a comprehensive framework for maximising every stage of our award journey. 
 So how do we guarantee that visibility and return on effort? 

 Lauren | 22:52
Yeah, great question, because it is a huge effort. You've got to stop what you're doing and put a list together, write your entries, submit it, support documents and so on. The big thing I find is. It probably takes, it could be anywhere from three to six, maybe even 12 months before an award actually gets announced. 
 So there's a long period of waiting to see what happens. And that's probably the worst strategy you could take is just get your submission in and forget about it. And I know that's probably what most people want to do. But what you should be doing is the minute you submit your entry, you should be starting to promote the fact that you're in. 
 So putting out something around the fact that, you know, I've just nominated, I've just submitted our submission. Thank you to the people who nominated us or what you can self nominate. It really doesn't matter. Get out there and talk about the courage it took to do that and what you learned through the process of going back and reviewing where you'd come from and the challenges you've overcome. Recognize your team, recognize your clients, talk about the awards themselves and that process and how you felt going through it and what you learned and so on. 
 So you can talk all about that and the stages in business that everybody knows about. So it's just nice to talk about something that's really relevant for your audience as well. 
 So share your story from the minute you start. Submit and then the next thing it'll be you know they announce finalists absolutely if you didn't become a finalist you still put in there hey look we didn't get through but I'm really proud of what we've achieved and pull out some little bits from that amazing entry that you've just spent all that time and money and investment in creating and use that in newsletters and social media posts and so on so you're sharing a little bit about where you've come from and what you're most proud of achieving and the challenges you've overcome. It's funny isn't it rose sometimes the most engaging posts are the most vulnerable ones the ones where we're sharing we were not perfect and we're not you know doing what most people would call success and that's a cool thing that happens when you go through the awards process is you're starting to talk about you know two years ago we were here and we were really digging deep and we were struggling and or we were doing really well and then this happened and we fell off a cliff and you know increase costs and whatever, you know, sharing your vulnerable story is a really great way of engaging with your audience because you've got to be relatable in business. Yes, you've got to be the expert that people look up to and they will go to and trust, but you need to be human. 
 So sharing a journey, regardless of whether you're a nominee, a finalist, a non-finalist, a winner, a non-winner, doesn't matter. But you've got to be able to share your story. 
 And then definitely people ask me, is it worth attending the awards events? They often have these fabulous gala events. Again, what you've got to think about with awards is they're just part of your marketing. They're part of your whole marketing budget. 
 So you've got to allow for entry fees, you've got to allow for travel and accommodation and a nice dress that you might want to go and buy, which is lovely. You build up quite a nice wardrobe when you go to awards. It is a really cool thing to be able to stand on the red carpet with your team or with your family or your supporters and recognize what it's taken to get there. And just for a moment, recognize the effort that you've put into your business or your podcast or your book, whatever it is. And take that moment to reflect. And we always suggest, regardless of the outcome on the night, you should always record an acceptance speech. 
 So if you don't, if you normally get to stage, you can give an acceptance speech and they're normally recorded and you can repurpose them, which is great. But even if you don't take yourself a little, your headset or these things, your earbuds, right? Because they've got microphones on as well, you know, pop them and get some good sound or a little lapel mic, plug it into your phone and just say, look, we didn't win tonight, but, and then give your speech. How proud you are of what you've achieved, exactly what you would have said on stage if you had won the award, share that and capture that moment because Just the branding by association of even just being at the awards can level up people's opinion of you and of your brand and of your business. 
 So I know the lovely Matt Elderton, I don't know if you know of him. He started up the BX Networking. That's an international networking. And he's got the BX Awards. He told me once he's a Telstra judge and an Australian small business champion judge and we were chatting away. And he said when he ran a Subway franchise, they went to the big gala dinner. Now his team wasn't up for an award, but they'd gone anyway because it's just a nice way to celebrate the team. And he's sitting at the table all dressed up, suits and ties and you know, all the rest of it. And he grabs the centerpiece off the table. It was like this. Really interesting creative light display thing lit up with a battery and he held it and got someone to take a photograph of him and he just put a post on social media with the photograph, you know, so proud of my team, awesome to be here at the awards night, celebrating everyone's success, been wonderful year, bloody blah, and went post. And within about a minute, I had people coming back, congratulations on winning your award and how awesome it is. He was just holding the centerpiece from the table, right? 
 So just to be there, just to be associated with award winners is enough to level up your credibility in people's eyes and for them to think, you're being, you know, you're recognizing your team, which is really cool. So yeah, acceptance speech, go to the galas, network like crazy, make the most of it. 
 And then Do a Stephen Bradbury. I don't know if you remember the Stephen Bradbury rose, yeah? 2002. He won a gold Olympic medal at ice speed skating for not falling over basically. Everybody else fell over and then he sailed through and picked up his medal. He still talks about it today. He's got a book, Last Man Standing. He's got a business. He's got a beer brand, Last Man Standing, a lager. And he stands on stage and talks about resilience to this day. He gets booked to speak. That's over 20 years that he won this gold medal. 
 So what was the learning you got out of the award that you won that you can turn into something you can remember? Repurpose over and over again a message or a learning or a lesson or an aspect of your brand and your business that you can keep sharing absolutely rigid forever. 

 Rose | 29:04
Yeah, no, you know, I've put the little crest on everything I can think of. You know, it's at the bottom of, you know, my podcast show notes and everything, you know, because I'm so proud of myself for winning it. I couldn't go to the awards ceremony because it was up at Yeppoon and it just was out of my budget. But I'm planning on going to Melbourne next year. That's my dream for next year. Next 12 months so I really want to go to that whether I enter again I'm a bit iffy about that But I'm definitely going to try and go to the awards next year, I think. 
 Yeah. Just fr the fact that I want to give back to the awards in some way that, you know, I think they've given to me, so I want to give back. That's just the way I am. 

 Lauren | 29:55
Yeah, and it's an amazing community. The people that I've met at these awards events and every time I go to the Australian Small Business Champion Awards, they've now got... Three or four of them every year. It used to just be one. 
 So it's starting to get a bit expensive to go to them all. But it's always the same people come and say hello and we get together again. And, you know, just talking about what business is like and supporting each other. It's such a great network of people if you are in that awards space, because they seem to be people who genuinely celebrate success. Do you know what I mean? They're not constantly wanting to pull each other down. It's that whole idea of a rise and tide lifts all ships. And that's such an awesome environment to be in. 

 Rose | 30:35
Absolutely. Now, if you want to find out more about Lauren or how she can help you enter into more awards, you can find it on LinkedIn, on Facebook, the audaciousagency.com. You have a quiz, are you award ready out on the audaciousagency.com website and you want to promote, get a plan. What is that all about, Lauren? 

 Lauren | 31:00
Absolutely. So yes, so on the website, if you're not, still not sure, and you've been listening to this going, yeah, it would sound good, but I'm still not sure. 
 Yeah, the quiz is really awesome because It asks you a series of quick questions, and then it'll give you a rating of gold, silver or bronze. And either rating you get, it'll give you a downloadable guide to work out, okay, I'm at bronze, how do I get to silver? How do I improve my chances of winning? 
 And then if you're at gold, that chances are you've entered some awards and maybe got through to finalists. It'll give you some tips on how to really leverage that to become more of a winner. 
 So all those different levels, depending on where you're at, will give you those guides on what you need to do to get yourself ready. Ready for awards and how to prepare yourself for winning and so on and how to leverage. 
 So yeah, so the quiz is awesome. It's totally free. You can do it and download and go for your life. But if you get to that point, which most people do, where they start to go, okay, you've convinced me. I think I need to look at awards. How do I find out what awards are out there? The first thing that normally happens is they go Google business awards for small business. And all of a sudden, And choosing the right ones can often be really difficult. And people fall into the trap rows of, I call it, Telstra trauma. 
 So Telstra are amazing awards. We won the Telstra Awards last year for accelerating women in Queensland. It's an amazing process they take you through. They get about... 20,000 to 30,000 people start off with the Telstra Awards because they're free to enter. And it starts off as just ticking boxes. Yes, I've got an ABN. Yes, this is my size, my business, blah. 
 And then there's a massive drop-off because stage two, if you get through, is to write a 1,500-word essay. And people go. No, I'm going to do all this work. 
 So there's a massive drop off. And then at each stage, people drop off because now you've got to record videos and you've got to have all this other stuff required and so on. And so they try the Telstra's once and it's quite traumatic and they go, I didn't get anywhere. I'm going to give up. That's it. 
 So I call it Telstra trauma because that's the one where it happens the most, where people drop off because they discover it's a lot of work. And if they don't win, they go, wasn't worth it. 
 Yeah. Never rest your laurels on one award, right? You just can't hang your hat on one award. You need a strategic approach to it because you're we never suggest going for those awards where you pay to win and I’ve got emails almost daily from people going congratulations you've been named as the female leader of the year in Australasia who's got blonde hair who works in branding do you know what I mean and by the way it's going to cost you two and a half thousand dollars to get your trophy it's just then you can't leverage those they don't have any integrity so you've got to be able to win and you've got to be able to win So we never work with awards that guarantee a win. 
 So what you want to do is you want to be looking at what awards are out there every month that are opening and you'll find them that I could be going for and which specific categories... Would I have the best opportunity for, not just in terms of winning, but in terms of leveraging, and making sure I could then repurpose that and use that to raise my profile. 
 So yeah, with a plan, we map that out with you. So we have an interview with you, we go through exactly what your unique profile position is, gives us a really good idea of which awards to look for. 
 And then we go and we find a year's worth of awards, and we map it all out for you. So this is when they open, to go and enter and so on. We then map out a 12 month marketing plan So how are you going to leverage those awards over the next 12 months as well? 
 And then we include a list of media that are always looking for articles from people that you can start to raise your profile with, and contributor sites, but podcasts that are looking for guests as well. Because as you grow your profile, we call it the snowball effect, you know, as you start to enter awards and get a bit of traction, then people start to notice you and they want you on their podcasts, and they want you to come and speak at their events and so on. 
 So we put that whole plan together. And it's a 12 month plan costs $997. 
 So $1,000, it's not a huge investment, but Once you've got it, you can then either implement it yourselves or we can help you with doing your writing for you and everything else as well. But the plan is a really cool way of just calmly mapping out what the potential is with awards out there so that you know when all the deadlines are. And it's not a mad panic to go, my goodness, I've been nominated quick. I've got 24 hours to get an entry in and then never leveraging it. 

 Rose | 35:36
Absolutely. Lauren, it has been an absolute pleasure. Thank you so much for sharing how we can get, you know. Into awards, how we can leverage them for our businesses. And, you know, the steps that we need to take to stop feeling small and, you know, get out there and be audacious. 

 Lauren | 35:55
Yeah, absolutely. Because you deserve it. Gosh, we work so hard. If you're the world's best kept secret, you need to think about how do you get out there in the spotlight because you deserve to be well known, well paid and wanted. It's just as simple as that. 

 Rose | 36:08
Absolutely. Thanks again, Lauren. 

 Outro | 36:10
You've been listening to Talking With The Experts, hosted by Rose Davidson. Make sure you have a look at our back catalogue over at talkingwiththeexperts.com. And be sure to subscribe to our podcast so you don't miss out on any episode. We look forward to your company next time.