How to Win Best of Memphis: Nominations, Finals and Voting
You win Best of Memphis voting in two reader rounds: nominations put a business on the Memphis Flyer's final list, then readers' final picks decide each category. Ask every customer to nominate under one exact name, since in 2011 the most-nominated names went through. Before asking anyone to pick, check that edition's rules page for how often a reader may choose and whether rewards are allowed. Nobody, us included, can promise the title.
By Victor Brown · Last updated
Memphis Flyer Best Of voting: readers nominate, then readers decide
The Memphis Flyer runs Best of Memphis on its own website in two reader rounds. Readers first nominate businesses and people in named categories; the names with the most nominations reach the final round, where readers pick the winners the Flyer prints in its Best of issue.
The Flyer's 2026 results page credits the winners to readers' nominations and final votes, and to nothing else. For a business owner that changes the job. You are not pitching a judge or plating a dish for a panel. You are getting your own customers to show up twice, once to nominate and once to pick, while the Flyer keeps the tally.
The categories reach well past restaurants. The 2008 reader form grouped them under Food & Drink, Nightlife, Arts & Entertainment, Media and Goods & Services, then trailed off with 'and more' instead of a total. In 2011 the Flyer even asked for nominations of individual people: restaurant servers, bartenders, local singers and local bands. A bartender with a loyal following can be in the running in a category where the bar itself is not.
August is the usual Memphis month, but 2011 voted in July
In our tracking, the Memphis Flyer's Best Of shows an edition in each of 5 years from 2021 through 2025. Across the organizer's 6 rows in a snapshot dated 2026-10-02, the most common opening month is August (3 of 6 rows) and the most common closing month is also August (3 of 6 rows).
Older editions ran earlier. Online voting for the 2011 edition opened July 13 and closed July 29, a little over two weeks, and the Best of issue reached newsstands on September 28. The two months between the close and the issue are dead air for an entrant. Nothing you do in that stretch moves the count.
Tennessee as a whole leans a month later. According to our tracking, September is the most common start month for recurring programs in the state (25 of 122 with a recorded month) and also the most common close (30 of 122). According to the same tracking, the median Tennessee voting or nomination promotion with both dates on record, 168 of them between 2016 and 2026, stays open 28 days. I'd take the next Memphis dates from the Flyer's own page, not from any of these patterns, and put them in a calendar the day they are announced.
One exact name carries a Memphis business from nomination to final list
Memphis Flyer nominations decide who reaches the final round: in 2011 the Flyer said the names with the most nominations would go on to the final list. A business that customers type in two spellings splits its own nominations, so one exact name, used by every customer, is the first job.
The 2011 call gave no number of finalists per category, so nobody outside the Flyer knows where the cut falls. The 2026 results page prints no nomination dates either. Both gaps point the same way: ask early in the nomination window, and do not assume a modest count is enough.
Pick the name on your sign or the one locals already use, and give staff the same spelling. A nomination ask works when it fits in one message, and that message needs four things:
- the exact business name, spelled the way you want it typed
- the category, worded the way the Flyer words it
- the date the nomination call closes
- the link to the Flyer's own nomination page, never a screenshot of it
Prizes, repeat picks and paid help: what Memphis rules leave open
The Memphis Flyer itself offered readers a prize in 2008: ten people who filled in the Best of Memphis form were to receive a Flyer T-shirt. That drawing was the paper's own. Neither the 2011 nomination call nor the 2026 results page states a limit on repeat picks or a rule on business incentives.
Silence on one page is not permission. A call for nominations is a short notice, and an edition's voting page may carry terms it does not repeat. Until the current rules page answers them, I'd treat these questions as open:
- how often one reader may pick in a category, whether once per edition or once per day
- whether a business may offer customers anything for taking part
- whether the Flyer says anything about advertising or outside promotion of an entry
- what the Flyer does with nominations it considers duplicates
Winning Best of Memphis awards starts at your own counter
Best of Memphis awards are settled by readers twice, so a business with regulars who will act in both rounds holds the structural edge. The server and bartender categories of the Memphis Flyer poll reward the same thing on a smaller scale: people who already know the name and will type it correctly.
Ask where the relationship already lives. A card at the register, a line on the receipt, a sentence from the person who serves the table: each reaches someone who already chose you once. A Facebook post reaches them too, but it lands among many other asks from other Memphis businesses in the same weeks. Your cousin will nominate you once. Your regulars will do it every time they come in, if somebody asks them at the right moment.
Example scenario (illustrative - not a client result): a local restaurant plans from the Flyer's nomination call through the final round. It settles one name, prints it on table cards during the nomination window, searches the final list the day it appears, and then sends one reminder per allowed period with the limit stated in plain words. The plan contains no gift, no drawing and no trading of picks with other businesses.
My own line on rewards is simple. No discounts or freebies tied to a pick, even where nothing forbids them, because a reward is the clearest thing an organizer can point to if it decides a result was not earned fairly. If a question matters to you, ask the Flyer in writing and keep the reply next to your saved copy of the rules.
Outside promotion reaches Memphis readers; the Flyer's tally stays out of reach
Voting Now does not sell Best of Memphis votes or votes in any other reader poll. What we sell is promotion: paid ads, native PR, posts on our own social channels and through partner groups and bloggers, aimed at real Memphis readers who might take part in the Flyer's poll.
That promotion is priced the way advertisers price leads, with a quote agreed before anything runs. It cannot touch the count. The Flyer decides which nominations it accepts, where the final-round cut falls and which names it prints in the Best of issue, and none of that moves because a business paid to advertise its poll entry.
I'd read the rules before spending anything on a poll entry. If the edition's rules say nothing about promotion, ask the Flyer first. If they forbid it, we decline the job, and you either win the free way or sit that category out. Send us the Flyer's link for a free analysis and we'll read the rules with you before anything else happens.
| Stage | Rule to verify | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Best of Memphis nominations | Who may nominate, how many categories one reader may fill, and the dates the call opens and closes. | Ask regulars to nominate under the exact name on your sign, inside those dates. |
| Reaching the final list | How many names per category advance; in 2011 the most-nominated names went through, with no number stated. | Search the final list for your spelling the day it appears and report any error to the Flyer. |
| Final-round reader picks | Whether a reader picks once per edition or once per day in each category, and what sign-in is required. | State the limit once, in the same message as the link, and pace reminders to it. |
| Prizes and customer rewards | Whether a business may reward readers who pick it; the Flyer's own 2008 drawing offered ten T-shirts. | Keep gifts, discounts and drawings out of every ask unless the rules plainly allow them. |
| Ads and outside promotion | Whether the organizer says anything about advertising in the Flyer or promoting an entry elsewhere. | Ask the Flyer in writing if the page is silent, and keep the reply on file. |
| Memphis Flyer Best of 2026 results | When winners are announced and in which issue; in 2011 the Best of issue came out September 28. | Plan thank-you posts for the issue date, since the close of voting announces nothing. |
| When promotion is the wrong call | Any clause that bars outside help for an entry in the Flyer's reader poll. | Skip paid promotion for that poll and rely on the customers you already serve. |
Step by step
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File the Flyer's rules page
Save the Memphis Flyer's rules or voting page for the edition you enter, with the date you saved it. Dates moved between editions, so a 2011 notice tells you nothing binding about the next one.
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Agree one business name with staff
Choose the single spelling customers should type and give it to everyone who talks to guests. The Flyer moves the most-nominated names forward, and two spellings split one business's nominations in two.
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Ask while nominations are open
Ask regulars in person and on receipts while the Memphis Flyer nomination call is open, naming the category in the Flyer's own wording. A nomination sent after the call closes does nothing for the final list.
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Find your name in the final round
Search the final-round list for your business the day it appears. If the name is misspelled or missing, contact the Flyer at once, because nobody else will notice before readers start picking.
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Space reminders by the stated limit
Send reminders at the pace the edition's rules allow, whether that is once per edition or once per day, and state the limit in each message. Stop when the round closes; results arrive with the Best of issue.
Questions and answers
How do Memphis shops win local business awards like Best of Memphis?
Memphis shops win local business awards like Best of Memphis by getting regulars to act in both reader rounds: nominate under one exact name, then pick it again in the final. The Memphis Flyer credits its 2026 winners to readers' nominations and final votes. The count, not a judge's score, is what a shop has to move, inside whatever limit that edition's rules set.
Which Memphis habits help a business get Best of Omaha?
Three Memphis habits travel to Best of Omaha: one exact business name, asking early in any nomination window, and checking the final list the day it appears. The Omaha organizer's own rules decide everything else, from how often a reader may pick to whether customer rewards are allowed. Read that rules page before asking anyone, because a Memphis assumption about limits can be wrong in Nebraska.
Does a Memphis Flyer plan carry over to win Best of Boston?
No. The habits carry over, but Best of Boston has its own organizer and its own rules, and those decide who picks the winners and how often a reader may take part. Treat the Memphis Flyer's two reader rounds as one working model, not as the rule everywhere, and read the Boston organizer's pages before planning a single ask.
How do you get nominated for Best of Las Vegas, compared with Memphis?
You get nominated for Best of Las Vegas through whatever nomination step that program's organizer publishes, and the Memphis comparison only tells you what to look for. In Memphis, the Flyer's 2011 call sent the most-nominated names into the final round. Find the Las Vegas equivalent: who may nominate, when the window closes, and how many names in a category reach the next stage.
When were Best of Memphis nominations 2026 taken, and who picked the winners?
The Memphis Flyer's Best of Memphis 2026 results page prints no nomination dates, but it credits the winners to readers' nominations and final votes. In our tracking, the organizer's rows most often open and close in August (3 of 6 rows each), while the 2011 edition voted online from July 13 to July 29. For the next edition, take the dates from the Flyer's own page.
Are other Memphis voting polls run like the Flyer's?
Yes. In our tracking, all 3 recurring public-vote programs filed under the Memphis metro run on their organizers' own websites, the Memphis Flyer's among them, and none on a third-party contest platform. A shared setup says nothing about shared rules. Each organizer sets its own limit on how often a reader may pick, so a habit that is fine in one Memphis poll can cost an entry in another.
Did the Memphis Flyer ever give readers a prize for taking part?
Yes. The Memphis Flyer's 2008 Best of Memphis form promised a Flyer T-shirt to ten readers who filled it in, a drawing run by the paper itself. A prize from the organizer is a different thing from a business rewarding its own customers for a pick, and that second kind of offer is one to clear with the Flyer in writing before anyone makes it.
Sources
- memphisflyer.com. memphisflyer.com/seeking-nominations-for-best-of-memphis.
- memphisflyer.com. memphisflyer.com/best-of-memphis-2026/.
- memphisflyer.com. memphisflyer.com/best-of-memphis-ballot/.
- memphisflyer.com. memphisflyer.com/seeking-nominations-for-best-of-memphis.
- memphisflyer.com. memphisflyer.com/best-of-memphis-ballot/.
Voting Now does not sell picks in the Best of Memphis poll and cannot change which nominations the Memphis Flyer accepts, where its final-round cut falls or which names reach the Best of issue. We never use bots, extra email accounts or people paid to pick in a poll, and we turn down a Memphis entry when that edition's rules forbid paid promotion of a poll entry. We take no work on political or governmental votes. Nobody here can promise a Memphis business a finalist spot or a title.
A contest vote sits under two rulebooks, the platform's and the organizer's. Meta's Spam standard lists offering anything of monetary value in exchange for engagement as a covered behavior, and the Santa Barbara Independent says it will disqualify a business that offers voters incentives of any kind. Voting Now reads both rulebooks before it plans anything, and a clause that forbids outside promotion ends the job.
Contest platforms check votes as routine. Easypromos runs each vote through 11 security controls and does not count one that fails any of them, and Woobox says voting fraud is becoming more common as contests grow popular. Voting Now promotes to real people who choose for themselves, at the contest's own pace, and none of this is a method for getting past a check.
Under 16 CFR 465.8, buying fake indicators of social media influence for a commercial purpose can violate the FTC's rule, which is one reason Voting Now promotes to real people and does not bring in bought counts. The FTC's Endorsement Guides also require a paid creator to disclose the connection clearly. Whether outside promotion is lawful for a given contest is a question for a lawyer, and Voting Now takes no political or governmental votes.
No quote promises a win, a ranking or a vote count, because the organizer counts the votes and applies its own rules. The Santa Barbara Independent, for one, says it will disqualify a business that offers voters incentives of any kind. Nothing runs before the client approves a written quote.