Tag Archives: BetterBNC

BetterBNC’s Outstanding Customer Support

At BetterBNC, our mission is to help all of our users enjoy a successful contest experience. A lot goes into that – intuitive design, great features, and robust capability.  But there’s one particular feature that turns out to be one of the strongest components of the BetterBNC®  contest platform – our tech support.

At BetterBNC, Tech Support is not an add-on; it is not an additional charge; and it is not available for just a couple of hours in the day. Our Tech Support team is available to help contest administrators, contestants and judges if and when they need it and all support for the year is included in the base price.

TroubleTicket_redThe team is eager to help contest users with their experience.  It’s easy to contact them – the platform user simply submits a Trouble Ticket which is automatically forwarded to Tech Support. Tech team members monitor user inquiries seven days a week, early until late. Additionally, questions submitted are reviewed by BetterBNC to determine whether platform changes are needed to address the issue for all users.

Contact us if you have any questions or would like to take a look at the platform and consider it for your contest.

BetterBNC & PayPal Integration

BetterBNC offers a powerful integration between its Revenue Manager module and PayPal Advanced accounts. This integration has a number of benefits for contests including the ability for contestants to make credit card entry payments without ever leaving the organization’s contest webpage and the auto-recording of PayPal payments in the contest admin tables and reports.

When you sign up for PayPal Advanced for BetterBNC, you are also introduced to a dedicated senior account manager at PayPal. Your PayPal account manager knows BetterBNC and understands the types of transactions you will be engaging in so setup and integration is fast and easy. PayPal charges $5/month for its Advanced account and that fee can be suspended during times when your contest is inactive. Contests interested in taking advantage of this integration should let us know a week prior to contest launch for setup.

For contests preferring to receive entry fees from contestants by check or via its own payment cart, Revenue Manager can help track these payment types. If you have any questions, just let us know.

What people say about BetterBNC

One of the great benefits of our comprehensive support program is that our customers are comfortable contacting us and sharing details about their experience.  That open line of communication has allowed us to not only strengthen our relationships with customers but also get a real feel for the user experience and how it can be enhanced in the future.

This week we had great feedback from two of our contests – the first is a high school journalism awards program. Its administrator said, “I am still pleased with how logical this system is to administrate. Thanks.”  And from a newspaper association contest admin, “Wyoming is our swap out state this year, and they wanted me to be sure to pass along how much they love using your site!”

We always appreciate customer feedback so continue to share details about your online contest.  And if you are with an organization shopping for an online platform, contact us to schedule a complimentary demo. We’ll show you, not only the features of the platform, but you’ll see what it’s actually like to navigate for the contest administrator, judges and contestants.

BetterBNC is currently being used by nearly 200 organizations across the country. We have contests of all shapes and sizes so contact us today to see if BetterBNC can improve your contest experience.

Create Your Own Branded Contest Homepage

CBAwebpage400With BetterBNC, contest admins can quickly and easily create a branded homepage which has all of your contest information. There’s no additional charge for the customizable web page and it’s easy to set up.

In your General Contest Info. section simply click on “Allow Customizable Homepage”, “Submit” and “Design Settings.” Then you’re ready to start building. Choose from pre-made easy templates or build your own using the web-builder tool or your own HTML.  Load images, logos, adjust colors, add text and hyperlinks. Once your page is built, simply distribute that URL to your contest participants.

It’s an easy way to have all of your contest information in one place and be sure to use the Marketing Manager feature (also included in the base price) to send reminders and other messages to judges and contestants.

Here are some samples of contests that have created their customized homepage:

>TN AP Broadcasters & Media Editors
>NW Excellence in Journalism Contest
>Golden ARC Awards
>MNA College Better Newspaper Contest

If you have any questions or would like more information, just let us know by completing a trouble ticket.  If you’re interested in switching your contest to BetterBNC, just email us to schedule a complimentary demo – karen@smalltownpapers.com.

BetterBNC never charges you extra for customer support.

BetterBNC is dedicated to the success of our contests.  We want to ensure that your organization provides the best contest experience possible for your contest admin, judges and contestants.  Our commitment to exceptional tech support is a part of that.

With BetterBNC, all training and support is included in your base price – you’re never charged extra at the end of the year for support.  If you have a question, you simply complete a “trouble ticket” which is available here.  The trouble ticket is sent to members of our tech team immediately.  They review the issue and respond directly to you. Completing the trouble ticket is the fastest way to get the assistance you need.

If you are a contestant and have questions about contest rules and submissions, you can contact the sanctioning organization’s contest administrator directly. Their contact information is generally available on the contest’s main webpage.

Want to know more?  Contact us at BetterBNC.  If your organization is interested in BetterBNC, schedule a complimentary demo today.

 

Judges Really do Prefer BetterBNC

We’ve been delighted to have welcomed several new contests in recent weeks and we have a new one signing on to BetterBNC this week.  We’ve seen a very strong trend with these new contests.

Many organizations are encouraged to switch to BetterBNC because either their contest judges recommended it or their members who have judged other contests using BetterBNC have suggested it.  Judges say BetterBNC has one of the easiest and most intuitive judging interfaces around.

We take that very seriously as we strive to make the contest easy and efficient for everyone involved including the judges who often volunteer their time to thoroughly review entries.  We incorporated an easy drag and drop mechanism to help them organize their favorites and we have features that ensure judges can review entries from their computer or device without having to worry about time consuming and cumbersome downloads.

Last year, we added a Marketing Manager features (which comes with the base price) that allows contest administrators to send reminders and other information to judges right from the contest dashboard.

We appreciate our customers who continue to recommend the platform to their peers involved with journalism, creative and PR contests across the country.  If your organization would like to see the platform, contact us to schedule a complimentary 45 minute demo.  Email karen@smalltownpapers.com today.  We can help you make the switch before your next Call for Entries goes out.

An easy switch to BetterBNC

As 2015 wraps up, many organizations are thinking ahead and planning for their 2016 media contest.  We are currently working with several organizations that are switching to BetterBNC from other platforms and most all have asked if there is anything they can do in advance to make it an easy switch and save some time.

BetterBNC keeps it straightforward but there are a couple of things you can do to speed up the process.

  1. Know the structure of your contest.
    We’ll have you fill out a template that we use to build the contest but know the structure ahead of time.  How many categories? Are there divisions? You’ll want to know the names/titles of each?
  2. Understand how the judging process works.
    Some contests have one judge per entry while others have a panel or multiple judges reviewing entries.  Understanding the judging structure will help determine whether you will need a judging module.
  3. Assemble your team.
    Have the contest administrator on board and anyone who will be working with them.  Once the template is submitted, you are able to schedule a training session at your convenience so you’re ready to go as soon as the contest is turned over to you.

BetterBNC builds the contest for your organization and when it’s turned over to you, you’re able to go in and simply make any changes you need from the original template you submitted.  You can also build your customized and hosted contest homepage which comes at no additional cost.  And remember, with BetterBNC, all training and support for the year is included in your base price.  We’re here to help when you need it.

Check out BetterBNC today.  Schedule a demo and see how your contest can be even better in 2016. Email karen@smalltownpapers.com to get started.

The BetterBNC Difference for Your Contest

Thank you for helping make 2015 the most outstanding year yet at BetterBNC! We’ve welcomed more than a dozen new contests in recent months including 3 Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) chapters, 7 National Council for Marketing & PR (NCMPR) chapters, a new high school press association and the first National Association of Black Journalists chapter. Additionally, we are busy processing renewals for upcoming 2016 contests. It’s an exciting time at BetterBNC.

All of us at BetterBNC wish you a warm and wonderful holiday season. We appreciate your partnering with BetterBNC to create the very best journalism, creative and PR contest experience for everyone involved in your awards program.

The BetterBNC Difference
We’re often asked by organizations looking to move to BetterBNC, what the main difference is between BetterBNC and other contest platforms. Built and designed specifically for journalism, creative and PR awards programs, BetterBNC offers the most features and benefits important to the media trades.  Our comprehensive, on-demand contest administrator training and support program sets us apart from all others. Unlimited support for contest administrators, judges and contestants is included in your base price – there is never a limit on the support you receive with your contract and you never receive a bill at the end of the year for support.

>>Click here to read what our customers say.
>>Click here to read our December newsletter.

BetterBNC is completely independent of any trade association or political organization and has no external agenda.
We are committed to fairness, transparency and security,
and we work only for you.

The easiest way to contact previous contestants.

emailYou’re gearing up for your next journalism, creative or PR contest and you’re drafting your communications announcing the competition.  Time to download the email addresses of last year’s participants so they can receive your Call for Entries and other announcements.  Perhaps you have a new contest admin so this is all taking a bit of time.  You find yourself saying “there must be an easier way.”

BetterBNC now has a Marketing Manager feature that allows your contest admin to easily email previous contest participants right from the admin dashboard.  You can quickly and easily send all of them an announcement about the upcoming contest.

The Marketing Manager feature allows you to create an email template or draft a new email.  You can contact contestants or judges.  It’s an easy way to reach everyone with announcements, reminders and even thank you email.

If you haven’t taken advantage of the Marketing Manager, let us know and we’ll sent you the easy guide or we can walk you through.  Remember, with BetterBNC, all of your training and support for the year is included with your renewal.

Can I use BetterBNC for my contest?

BetterBNC was created specifically for media and PR contests – print journalism, broadcast news, advertising, photography and public relations work.   But increasingly, we’re asked whether we can accomodate new and different types of contests being added by organizations.  We’re hearing more about film awards, video production, business achievement, and online awards programs and we’re excited to be adding these to our BetterBNC contest portfolio!

Contact BetterBNC to see if the platform is a good fit for your contest.  Our tech team will look at the process and way the contest operates to determine if our platform is your best way forward.  What delights us most about these inquiries, is that organizations are growing their awards programs by expanding and adding new contests.

Set up your complimentary BetterBNC demo today by contacting karen@smalltownpapers.com.