Starting and owning a business is a difficult feat and takes a lot of time and dedication. While social media is a great way to get the name of your business out there, there’s still a plethora of other company’s fighting for those same customers. Well now there’s a prime opportunity that has unfolded for these small businesses… and Cleveland’s basketball star, LeBron James, is the one responsible.
Until August 18th, small-business owners are encouraged to create a 23-second video and post it up on Twitter and/or Instagram with the hashtag #PitchLeBronContest. After that, a judging panel will then sort through all of the entries and pick one lucky business to be endorsed by James to his 32 million Twitter and 23 million Facebook followers. That is quite the increase of prospective clientele.
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For startups deciding whether or not to enter this contest, there is a list of criteria to consider that Lebron and his business team will consider:
- Must be a brick-and-mortar location.
- Have a maximum of 250 employees.
- Cannot be a franchise.
- Cannot service customers outside of its immediate area (no online store or mail-order).
The videos will be judged on originality, creativity and must answer this question: “How would my business uniquely benefit from a LeBron James social media endorsement?”. The winner will be announced on August 23rd (there’s an obvious trend going on with the number 23).
This contest was created to help promote CNBC’s new show from LeBron James, “Cleveland Hustles”. The show will “give four aspiring local entrepreneurs the chance to realize their dreams while also helping to revitalize a neighborhood in Cleveland”. The show is scheduled to premiere on Wednesday, August 24 at 10:00 PM ET/PT and is the latest example of athletes intertwining their brands with entrepreneurial ventures.