We’re now well into 2010, the Loudoun economy is spluttering back to business, and opportunities abound for new businesses and entrepreneurs around Loudoun to hitch onto the recovery bandwagon. Our “Made in Loudoun” award program is now seeking preliminary nominations for this coveted and valuable recognition…

The “Made in Loudoun” award is an initiative started by KME Internet Marketing to recognize “professional civic volunteers” and their efforts to promote the Loudoun County economy and its business investment opportunities using the Internet and New Media. This basically means “giving back” to the business community, leveraging your own professional online assets for the greater good of Loudoun.

Examples of ways to do this:

• Use Internet Marketing techniques to highlight Loudoun in your press releases
• Link to Loudoun business government websites from your own
• Use Loudoun business-oriented “badges”
• Participate actively in Loudoun economic development forums and social media
• Highlight the fact you’re located in Loudoun, along with the reasons why, on your website or blog
• Promote your Loudoun-centricity in any online dialoge or social media forum, or media article

There are many other creative ways to help promote and “sell” the County among your own professional and community networks (contact us for help!). Even if you’re a regional/national business with partial interests in Loudoun, there are many ways to positively describe and highlight your relationship to Loudoun in balance with your support of other jurisdictions.

The winners are chosen (at the end of the year) through a combination of indicators and feedback; these include social media metrics, online marketing KPIs, feedback/testimonials, and (new this year, to be announced) guest judges. There are some preferences and restrictions regarding nominees; for example, local “traditional” media organizations aren’t included and there’s an obvious preference for businesses actually located in (or very near) Loudoun County itself.

The winners receive oodles of free Internet Marketing and Social Media exposure themselves, with benefits that are getting better each year.

Nominate yourself or others! Note that we’re already curating a list of contenders, based on reporting metrics to date…there’s still time to participate!