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Volusion

2011 SAWIB WinnerCompany: Volusion, Austin, TX, USA
Company Description: Volusion is the leader in ecommerce solutions for online businesses. For more than a decade, tens of thousands of companies have used Volusion to succeed online, including market leaders such as Kinerase, Chicago Tribune, Crutchfield and Motorola.
Nomination Category: Communications & Marketing Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Social Media Focused

Nomination Title: Volusion Mompreneur Contest Uses Social Media to Share Inspirational Stories

In up to 500 words, tell the judges about the nominated campaign: its genesis, development, planning, commission, and performance to date:

Volusion is an award-winning ecommerce provider that empowers merchants to sell their products online. A growing trend in ecommerce is for moms to open their own online store to help provide for their families while keeping the freedom to be with their children. The Volusion Mompreneur Makeover Contest was born because Volusion desires to recognize these hardworking women. Volusion supports moms who perform the toughest jobs possible: running a business and being a mom.

The goal of the contest was to give mompreneurs a chance to share their stories and reward the four most inspiring entries. Entry questions included:

1) Tell us the story behind your business.

2) What have you learned from your kids that has helped you run your business better?

3) Why are you and your business ready for a makeover?

4) What makes you a SuperMompreneur?

The Grand Prize Winner received an iPad2, $4000 in web design services and a $250 gift card to a spa of their choice. Three runners up were given a $50 Visa gift card and an $1100 social media design package. The contestants were not required to be Volusion customers.

The goal at for the contest was to get 150 entries using social media as the main communication tool. The contest was sent to mommy and business bloggers and each story had a “Like” button built in, allowing each entrant to better share her own story. Twitter was used as a way to spread the word, and Volusion reached out to many mompreneurs via Twitter, direct email from blogs about mommy-owned businesses and through the Volusion blog and newsletter. The stories were then put on a blog so others could read, enjoy and become inspired by these courageous women.

The contest ran from May 6 until June 30 and ended with 171 entries. The mothers who work at Volusion judged the entries and chose the final four winners. Judging was partially based on the number of “Likes” a story had, but mostly on the content of their stories. Several stories received an overwhelming number of“Likes” including one that got 544 and several others that got over 200.

The Volusion Mompreneur Contest was a huge hit. Moms who entered and didn’t win were appreciative of the chance to share their stories, and many wrote in saying they were inspired by all the other women taking a chance at owning their own ecommerce business. One of the winners, Michelle Stolz, wrote, “Writing my story for the contest was sort of therapeutic for me. It helped me take a step back to think about where I was, where I am now, who I am and what I'm doing this for.” Volusion hopes to continue to inspire and help deserving mothers who work hard and take care of their families.

List the URLs (web addresses) of any online news stories, press releases, work samples, videos, photographs, or other supporting materials that you would like the judges to see. IMPORTANT: List each URL on a separate line, begin each URL with http://, and enclose each URL in square brackets. For example, [http://www.yourcompany.com/pressrelease.html]:

http://supermompreneurmakeover.volusion.com/#entry_form
http://supermompreneurmakeover.volusion.com/stories/
http://onlinebusiness.volusion.com/articles/enter-volusions-supermompreneur-makeover-contest
http://onlinebusiness.volusion.com/articles/announcing-the-winners-of-volusion%E2%80%99s-mompreneur-makeover-contest
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/8/prweb8708714.htm

Provide a brief biography of the person or persons who lead the team that created and carried out the nominated communications campaign (up to 100 words):

Molly Sylestine is an expectant mother and Marketing Associate at Volusion. She was the project manager and had the privilege of reading the stories and communicating with the mompreneurs who entered the contest. Olga Kazakova is the Marketing Manager at Volusion and one of the brain children behind the idea of a mompreneur campaign. Corin Lipinski is the Designer extraordinaire who created the art for the site and other graphics for the campaign. Finally, Ross Gebhart is the Designer/Coder extraordinaire who coded the site and helped Molly troubleshoot when needed.