Did you waste your Php250 for the Webby’s?

The nomination period for the 9th Philippine Blog Awards ended today. I’ve been torn between having to nominate some of our group blogs on just so many levels but on the last minute, I decided to put up the Php250 nomination fee for each entry. No, I wasn’t after the trophy — I already had a couple several years ago.

Here’s why I think the Php250 is still worth it:

• Both blogs I submitted (Travel and Tech blogs) are niche blogs focused on the Philippines and what better alternative way to promote them is thru a body recognizing such notable websites. (Okay, this one’s a stretch.)
• The Webby Awards website has a PR of 7 (very rare in the Philippine cyberspace) and getting a link from them for at least a year is worth it. If you win, you get a lifetime link. Not bad for Php250, huh? On TLA it’s much more expensive than that.
• Traffic referrals may not be a lot but these traffic are targetted. It’s another way to get more RSS subscribers.
• More links from people who are writing about the awards, forum discussions or from bloggers rooting for their favorite nominees. More links is always better.
• If you’re lucky and you win either the People’s Choice or the Best in Category awards, you’ll also get some magazine exposure from Media G8way.

What is sad though is that each year, the awards get less buzz and excitement from webmasters and site owners, much more with the number of participants. They should scrap that nomination fee next time.

I guess the idea is way too Web 1.0? *heh*