A year has passed since the launch of The Audience Awards beta site, and the company has come a long way. Founder and CEO Paige Williams reflects on the top ten things she’s learned about launching a tech startup in a year.
- Treat everyone with dignity and respect and expect the same in return.
- Say no to anything that distracts you from reaching for your primary goals.
- Exercise and engage in other activities that allow you to take a mental break from your start up.
- Take the time to have lunch with people who are in the same boat as you or have been there recently.
- Learn from the no’s by asking why.
- Always measure and learn from analytics and user surveys. Then go correct the problems immediately.
- Don’t pay for marketing. Figure out how to get the word out without spending a dime.
- The doors that open easily are the ones to pursue.
- Listen to that nagging thought in the back of your head that you want to ignore. It’s right.
- Build a great team and don’t settle for less (see number 1).
The company relaunched their site in June 2014. The iOS app and Android app hit online stores released this week. Weighted voting, audience lists and film festival global screenings are on the way.
Here’s what filmmakers are saying about The Audience Awards:
Michael Kehoe, Audience Award winner
“The Audience Award not only gives a voice to filmmakers, it opens the flood
gates for each artist to experience another’s work. I was able to screen so many
talented film makers on the Audience Award site that I would not have been able
to otherwise.”
John Tuccillo Jr., Audience Award winning filmmaker
“The Audience Awards has been an experience unlike any other film
competition I’ve entered. Not only are you gaining more votes but
you’re also gaining lifetime supporters. I am very honored to have won and
extremely grateful for the support of my friends and family.”
Amanda Harryman, Audience Award winning filmmaker
“What has it felt like to be in first place some of the time in the Audience Award
voting process? It feels surreal! To have people vote for something I helped create?
WOW. But what is more amazing? The comments. ”
Ethan Rocke, Audience Award winner
“The Audience Awards LGBTQ Short Film Competition provided me an
extraordinary opportunity to find a new and larger audience for my film, Four
Letters. The competition pushed me to promote the film as far and wide as I
possibly could, and I learned so much about how vital that kind of tireless
promotion can be for independent filmmakers like myself.”
The Audience Awards is a social networking platform connecting filmmakers, festivals and audiences through competitions where the audience chooses the winners. Join today.
