Just Try, Try Again

Today I woke up with the intention to finish writing a blog post that I had started based off of the movie Chronicle; however, I was given some news today that made me very happy.  Some of you may know that there are admin, webmaster and promotion forums out there that will host a contest called Site of The Month or another variation of that.  I have entered my forums in these types of contests since owning my first forum and have often come close to winning, but never quite made it to the winner’s circle.  I was at my wit’s end and about to give up, but I wanted to try one last time just to see what would happen.

I decided to enter Familial Ramblings into a couple of different contests (and by “a couple” I actually mean like four or five) because…I’m going to be honest with you, I’ve sat here for the last five minutes trying to figure out why I joined them and I’ve come up short.  I think I just enjoy competition, which is why I can’t stop myself from entering though I keep saying I’m not going to enter.  So, as I said, I went forward with entering Familial Ramblings in these contests.  How they normally work–for those who may not know–is you submit your site/forum/blog and then members of the forum community vote on which forum they like the best.

As per usual, I was losing most of the contests and I could tell you why I think that is, but that would completely derail this post.  I pouted and grumbled as the voting continued and prepared to lick the wounds of my hurt pride from losing another “Of the Month” contest.  My chances of winning the contests continued to dwindle, but there was one site that I still had a chance on because the voting process is different than any other site.  On a community called phpbbcommunities, instead of having members of the community voting, their staff votes for the winner.  I’ve always liked this system because there’s less of a chance for favoritism or for people to get their friends to vote for them.  It’s a nice change, in my opinion.

This was my second time entering this contest, but the first time I entered my forum because Familial Ramblings had only gotten started.  It was really a last minute decision for me to enter Familial Ramblings because I still didn’t feel as if it was established enough, but a friend of mine convinced me to go for it.  I watched as other people submitted their forums, blogs and websites becoming more and more nervous as the numbers went up.  How could my relatively new blog win against these sites?  The day came that they were no long taking submissions and the voting had begun.

This morning, I woke expecting to see that either no decision had been made, but when I signed onto phpbbcommunities I saw that there was a new post in the SOTM thread.  I held my breath as I scrolled down to the bottom of the thread.  I had to double take when I saw what was written:

Congrats to Familiar Ramblings!
Here is what the judges had to say about your site:

Familiar Ramblings was simple. I could relate to what was being said and felt that this was more than a blog. It really reached out to me and I feel somewhat connected to what the writer was saying. This blog is well done and feels comfy. A great place to just kick back and surf.

I won SOTM on phpbbcommunities!  For the first time I had actually won a SOTM contest and I could NOT be happier.  I never thought I would ever win one of these contests and was close to giving up on them all together.  Thanks to my friend convincing me to enter and my inability to pass up a competition, I actually won.

So, what’s the moral of the story?  Don’t ever give up.  Even when you don’t think that you have a chance at winning something, give it a try anyway because you never know, you may win.  This doesn’t just go for online contests, but also in real life.  If there’s a job you’re debating about applying for a person you’re thinking about asking out, go for it!  Honestly, the worst thing that could happen is that they say “no.”  If that does happen, and you get rejected, just keep trying.  Try asking out another guy or girl you like, try applying for another job, try another contest because in the end, just keep trying because it may very well be worth it.

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Felicia