VOTING is now open for the 2023 contest. Voting ends for 2023 on midnight 10/01/23.  Votes stay open all year for this ongoing contest, however we promote it on social media near fall of each year.  All voting after 10/01/23 will be applied to 2024 votes.  
Remember, you can vote in any single categories, or as many as you like, you do not have to vote in ALL categories unless you want to.  If you decide to return to vote in other categories later, just sign back in on the VOTE page.  ​We are giving away a prize this year to a lucky winner among those who vote in the most categories, so stay tuned about that prize. ​

INFORMATION

​Why have an annual BEST OF contest for the lake area?  The local community is a fantastic gauge when it comes to what businesses are the best of the best in their opinion.  We believe ALL Smith Lake area businesses are the best, so it's just a fun community survey each year to see what businesses the locals feel have delivered customer service at a highest level in that year.  It's just for fun, so jump in, VOTE and support your favorite local businesses!


DURATION:  The 2023 contest officially begins JULY 1, 2023, with votes ending OCTOBER 1, 2023 for publishing intended by the end of the year.  However, voters can actually vote all year long each year.  We'll promote the contest more fully late each fall and push votes to the next year that come in after a voting deadline.  NOTE:  Voting for 2022 ended at midnight 10/31/2022 and will soon be published. All voting after 10/31/22 was applied to 2023 votes.  Again, voting is open all year for the contest.

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SPECIAL NOTE TO BUSINESSES:  WELCOME!  You do NOT have to be an advertiser with the magazine in order to be entered.  This is an open contest for ANY & ALL businesses who serve the Smith Lake area and are Alabama based businesses or near our North Alabama area.  Enter you business, and we encourage you to reach out to your fans to have them vote for you.  If your business wins the vote fair and square, it WINS!
The community is always gracious, complimentary and congratulatory towards the winners!  


​This is an annual contest, so you will always have another year to win.  All categories are up for grabs, so get your tribe of fans together and have them VOTE.  


We wish you all the best!  

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Should we add a category?  Other revisions to offer?  Call/text or email.

2023 Contest Sponsors:

Brought to you in 2023 by The Lakeside Life Magazine,  GoTees Screen Printing & Embroidery, TowBoatUS-Smith Lake.  

2023 Event Sponsors:

Picture
Trident Marina
Annual event to be sponsored for 2023 by Realtors Melinda Edwards and Brooke Edwards of Lake Homes Realty.
ANNUAL EVENT (to be announced):
We are planning an annual event for this contest, so please follow us and our event sponsors for more details:
This annual contest is a copyright of The Lakeside Life magazine with its sponsors, established July 1, 2020.

PRIZES for 2023

The Top 3 entries with the most votes overall, no matter the category, will receive the following prizes from The Lakeside Life magazine and the sponsors.   
  • 1st Place - Full Page AD for 1 quarter of their choice in 2024 (worth up to $600*), PLUS a feature article (approximately 2 pages in the magazine) for their business (worth up to $1,200*).  If a winner has won in a previous year and the article has already been done, we simply boost their article with updates on the blog to run on social media, and the winner is always provided with the link.
  • 2nd Place - Half Page AD for 1 quarter of their choice in 2024 (worth up to $400*) 
  • 3rd Place - Quarter Page AD for 1 quarter of their choice in 2024 (worth $200*) 

*If winner happens to be a current advertiser, the amount will be deducted at the current commitment value scale for the award quarter or at value based on that scale for the size AD won. 

ALSO...
All Top 3 overall winners will be:
  • mentioned prominently in the printed magazine announcement about the event 
  • Other prizes - winners MUST contact us to facilitate these prizes:
    • receive a certificate and a decal for your store window or vehicle
    • tagged on our social media pages announcing the win
    • featured in a spotlight on our social media pages during the following year
    • shown prominently for 1 year in a free AD on our magazine website on the MarketPlace page, the Business Index, and the "Best of Smith Lake" status page with winning badge placement 
    • shown as a sponsor for 1 year on our Facebook community group page "Smith Lake Community" 
    • receive a feature post on our social media main feed and at @smithlakebiz, and may tag us any time during the year for reposts to our stories - winners MUST "@" tag us on posts they wish to promote in this way.

AND...
1st Place winners in all individual categories:
  • are listed on the website FINAL results with live link(s).  1st Place winners will continue to show with live links for at least a year, and shown in website archives for up to a total of 3 years.  
  • Other prizes - winners MUST contact us to facilitate these prizes:
    • ​Winners can be shown with an added short bio provided by the winners for each of the top winners if desired. 
  • We will also happily push your social media reposts (as long as winners "@" mention us on posts they need reposted), and we'll place your WINNING badge in reposts if requested.

We hope to have more things to add in the future, so check back with us!  GOOD LUCK!  

VOTERS WIN TOO!!!
The voter who votes in all categories (if several voters do this, they'll all be entered into a drawing) will win a $100 cash card, $100 worth of gift certificate(s) from a local business(es) and a free 1 year subscription to the magazine plus a free 1 year subscription for a friend OR they may provide a free quarter page AD to a business of their choosing for 1 quarter.  (total prize worth up to $260)  Other voters who voted in all categories but did not win the $100 cash card will still win a free 1 year subscription to the magazine.
NOTE:  Past Winners - if for any reason you did not receive a certificate and decal for your 2020-2022 wins, or have misplaced or damaged yours, please contact us and we'll get replacements to you ASAP.  And remember, your business name and link stays visible on the RESULTS page for at least 3 years - so make sure we have your link correct!  ​