With a deadline of midnight tonight for applications, officials with 43North believe their business competition is spreading the word about Buffalo. "We're seeing them (applications) come in from all around the world, all across North America," said Peter Burakowski, 43North's marketing director.
"That's very exciting for us to see because we're, of course, trying to build a great competition, but more importantly we're trying to build awareness of Buffalo being a great place to start a business," Burakowski said.
Dubbed as the "World's Largest Business Idea Competition," 43North offers a million-dollar prize to the best business idea. Six are awarded $500,000; four will get $250,000.
Two of last year's winners, Burakowski says, are moving ahead of their projected timelines in developing their businesses.
While the prize money creates a buzz, 43North staffers are engaged in "a multi-front marketing campaign." 43North has made several "road show stops" across North America, creating contacts in more than a dozen cities.
"We do a lot on social media. That's Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin and we added Periscope," Burakowski said.
An emerging platform, Periscope allows 43North to broadcast live.
"That's been really effective for us. We're able to talk to entrepreneurs all around the world. Just this week I was talking to folks in Istanbul. Germany. San Francisco. Arizona," Burakowski said.
"Facebook and Twitter are really effective for us. We post organically to both, and also we run advertising and that allows us to hone in on entrepreneurs."
