Pay to Win Awards and Bought Rankings

Pay to win awards are the subject of this video for business owners and professionals weighing the awards, badges and rankings others show them. Do you have to have awards if you genuinely have ability?

This video first went up on YouTube on April 12, 2025. The written post was added on October 30, 2026.

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Table of Contents

What Is Wrong With Pay to Win Awards?

Pay to win awards can be paid for, with a trophy or a certification to put on a website, while at the root of it the award may not be true. Showcasing your authority and knowledge can stand on truth in a way a bought award may not, in Loren Weisman’s view.

Awards listed by someone trying to win you as a client can be paid for more often than they seem.
Media badges such as “as seen on” may come from back channel sites where the person never appeared.
A bestseller ranking can be bought for seconds through robot downloads of a free copy.
Awards may not be needed when you have the ability, and the clients you want may see truth over the fluff.
Time spent getting your message out can do more than time spent chasing an award.

Pay to Win Awards: The Full Transcription

Moving Away From Pay for Play Awards

Please move away from the pay for play awards. My name is Loren Weisman. I’m a brand communications and optics strategist. And you may have seen these come through, or you may see that somebody that’s trying to get you as a client or get you as a customer has listed all these awards and they almost seem over the top.

Oftentimes they’re paid for. And this scam has been around well before the Internet. And it’s gone on to the point of these new extremes of they’ll send you a trophy, they’ll send you a certification you can put on your website, they’ll state all these things to make it look valid, but at the root of it, it’s a lie.

You have paid to win an award. And don’t get me started on many of the entertainment award shows. Those are pay for play too. But that’s not what we’re talking about here.

Awards, Media Badges and Bought Rankings

The idea is, as we try to showcase our authority and we try to showcase our authenticity, people say, oh, you’ve got to have awards. Do you? Do you have to have awards if you genuinely have ability?

Or is that the type of people that you’re trying to attract? Are you trying to attract people that are going to say, okay, if I see five awards on the bottom, or I see that scam of.

Interviewed on cnn, on NBC, on abc, also seen here. Many of these, and that’s for another video, are on back channels, back sites. Those people never appeared. It was something they could purchase, just as they could purchase the Amazon bestseller ranking, where for a moment, as in seconds, a whole bunch of robots downloaded a free copy and bounced it up for a second.

Which again, is a lie. One off. It’s not Best selling, best giveaway. I have an Amazon best giveaway to robots book.

Standing in Truth

That’s truth. Stand in truth in a time. It doesn’t matter that others are lying. It doesn’t matter that others are trying to pull the wool over their eyes.

And if that’s you, then fine, go that route. But if you genuinely want to set a foundation in business where you can stand on your conviction on the truth, not a truth, the truth on morals, and get out from under this idea that you need to have this and you need to have this award and you’ve got to give off this look.

Would You Tell a Client What You Paid?

Because some of the best clients potentially for you may be the ones that can see truth over all the fluff. And again, with any of these things, would you admit to a client if they came to your website or they came into your office and they saw some kind of little trophy thing, some kind of little plaque, and they looked at the plaque.

Oh, that looks impressive. Would you then interrupt and say, Well, I spent $1,100 to get that and a listing and do this? If you’re not open to saying that, then it really is deception.

And is that where you want to work? Is that the room you want to work in with those that you’re trying to draw to you? Especially if you’re claiming to be authentic and claiming to be honest.

Spending the Time on Your Message

Follow through on who you are. Don’t buy into this thing of, oh, I need this and I need that. Spend the time in getting your message out. If you’re going to do certain type of pr.

If you’re going to do certain type of media, get less worried about the idea of some kind of award, because any award can be bought and many awards can be purchased. These systems of, oh, I mean, big names.

Award Listings and Fake Award Shows

I have one. I mean, I haven’t lived in Beverly hills in over 10 years and I still get updates. Would you like a listing or to win. Be nominated for this award for the Beverly Hills, whatever prestigious listing.

And it’s funny because in the very end, and then it’s like, well, you can pay this and this and this and this. And among those is what you win and what. Oh, and we’ll announce this at this point.

Some of these fake award shows even have dinners. I’ve been a part of them. I this. Back when I was in music, I was a speaker.

Unfortunately, I was a presenter at an award show where everybody in the audience basically paid and everybody became a winner in some category and they made it out to be this whole thing and they had media there and they turned. It was just this sham.

Going for the Authority

Be honest. Be true with yourself. Be true with others. Consider staying away from buying an award or award or going after spending too much time trying to get an award that really doesn’t necessarily represent the truth of who you are as opposed to the award.

Try to go for the authority. Find ways to showcase, share, expand and extend your knowledge authentically over some shiny little thing that says you’re great.

Vetting Paid Awards and Scams in My Talks

Vetting the marketing fools and advertising scams for your business.

Questions and Answers

What are pay to win awards?

Pay to win awards can be awards a business or person pays for, often with a trophy, a plaque or a certification for the website. They may be built to look valid while the award itself may have been bought.

Are the awards listed on business websites often paid for?

Many awards on business websites can be paid for, and this kind of scam may go back well before the Internet. Lists that seem over the top may be worth a closer look, as Loren Weisman sees it.

How can an Amazon bestseller ranking be bought?

An Amazon bestseller ranking can be bought when robots download a free copy all at once and bounce it up for seconds. That ranking may say more about a giveaway than about books sold.

When does displaying a paid award become deception?

Displaying a paid award can become deception when you would not tell a client what you paid for it. A plaque that impresses a visitor may not stand up if the price behind it stays hidden.

Do businesses need awards to show authority?

Awards may not be needed to show authority when you have the ability. Showcasing, sharing and extending your knowledge can show who you are more than a shiny thing that says you are great.

Pay to Win Awards: Standing in Truth Over a Trophy