How long has U.S. Business News been in circulation for?
U.S. Business News has been running for almost four years and in this time has expanded into a go-to source for the news with which it is synonymous for. With a readership of over 175,000 people, the magazine has cemented itself as one of the leading outlets for the dealmakers, game changers and decision makers in the US business market. U.S. Business News is one of the many publications by AI Global Media, a UK based publisher which has published over 200 worldwide publications to its name since 2010.
Where did the nomination come from?
In the interest of maintaining high response rates, we do not ask nominees to reveal their personal identity. As mentioned in the methodology, a large portion of the nominations are driven directly by us. We also encourage votes via our website and send targeted campaigns to relevant industry contacts, encouraging self and third party nominations. The main ethos of our awards system is that your ability to succeed is not linked to the number of votes received, with the most pertinent belief being that all awards will be received purely on merit. As a means of identifying spam votes and countering cyber-threats, we are constantly monitoring the site for unusual behaviour.
What happens if I agree to be on the shortlist?
As we look to keep maximum focus on relevant candidates, we ask all nominees to accept their position on the shortlist. This also gives people complete control in their decision on whether they would like to move forward with the award. There is no cost for you to be added onto the shortlist or for any of our winners. Nominees who accept will then proceed to our rigorous internal vetting procedure. They are given an opportunity to present their own data which gets considered alongside the information collated by our research team. It can take up to 8 weeks for research to be completed.
Who makes the final decision?
We employ an entirely impartial panel of 5 individuals to conduct all of the research to our high standards. At the helm of the panel we have a veteran academic leader with international academic and training experience. They are well versed in research, fact-checking and mediation. We believe this method is the most efficient in determining which individuals and companies are most deserving in winning an award and has brought us much success and commendation throughout its use. Our continued use of this panel plays a key part in enforcing U.S. Business News’s stance that winners are not determined by popularity of votes, but by their contributions to the sector.
Is there a winner’s ceremony/award dinner and if so, when does it take place?
We do not focus our efforts on a celebratory event. Despite being an enjoyable occasion, it doesn’t support our group’s philosophy of cost-effective marketing. As well as the lack of cost efficiency, U.S. Business News is an establishment which runs awards worldwide and we believe it would be logistically difficult for some of our winners to attend an awards ceremony. We follow the belief that any of the optional costs involved with the award would be more beneficial in a year’s worth of online marketing for a winner, rather than spending it all on a ceremonial evening. All of our press announcements are made digitally, online and across our network to enforce our position as digital publishers. We aim to arm you with the tools (both digital and physical) to generate real-world value.
What happens if I am deemed successful?
There is a short press embargo in place where we ask you not to make the news public, giving us the chance to prepare the different means of coverage we offer for companies. This means that during this period the program manager will liaise with you to agree on the most appropriate coverage for you. Our main feature takes the form of a digital celebratory magazine, but we also offer physical trophies, wall mounted and digital certificates, web-based advertisements and generic press releases which are bespoke to you or your company. This variety of options are aimed to make the awards tailor made to each individual firm, not matter which one you decide to go for.
Are there any costs involved?
As previously mentioned there are no compulsory costs in accepting a nomination or winning an award with U.S. Business News. We do offer a variety of paid additional benefits for our winners, but these are completely optional and merely supplementary to your award rather than essential. To demonstrate our commitment to no mandatory fees, all our winners are offered a free of charge promotional package. Our company policy will always remain: regardless of budget, our clients should always be able to garner the full value of the award and our seal of approval. We offer a variety of promotional opportunities to our winners. as we have an extensive network and we know, more than anyone, the wider business benefits from promoting industry awards.