It started out with a pitch…
This summer, I have the honor and privilege of staying in Winston-Salem, the Camel City, and interning with Fulton & Roark. I am working as a marketing intern with the men’s grooming and solid colognes company. I am lucky enough to work directly with one of the co-founders and owners, Kevin Keller. I had the chance to meet Kevin at an unforgettable “Pitch Over Pizza” event this past semester, hosted by the Wake Forest Center for Entrepreneurship. We immediately formed a mentor-mentee relationship before I was even aware of the internship opportunity.
After receiving incredible feedback on my pitch and entrepreneurial dream, I became hopeful that our friendship would not have to conclude after a handful of conversations and phone calls. This is the moment that I decided to take my chance to work directly under someone that I viewed as a genius in the field of entrepreneurship. Although Fulton & Roark lies within a field that I would have never envisioned myself working in, my main motivation came from the opportunity to learn and practice a variety of skills in a smaller workplace. I have always loved the passion and energy that start-ups and their employees possess, especially after my more than too brief experience in London with VONCRANK last summer.
In my internship abroad last year, I primarily focused upon social media, content creation, and customer engagement and service, all of which I learned valuable communication skills and technological techniques. My opportunity with Fulton & Roark takes these to the next level. This summer, I have been granted the title of “marketing intern”, but I get to be involved with a plethora of tasks and assignments. Everything from composing blogs, to assisting with financial reports. From focusing on the logistics of the company’s Amazon launch to finding new outlets for marketing promotions and advertisements, Kevin has me doing it all.
My main focus is on the Amazon project, which is just as daunting as it sounds. This great responsibility and massive test make my work exciting and challenging. I am truly enjoying putting the majority of my time and energy into one task and find that I am learning a lot, from multiple online Amazon resources and my colleagues that have dealt with Amazon a little more than I have. There is a lot more that goes into the process than one may think. First, a company has to become Amazon registered and certified as a vendor or seller. From there, they must provide proof of their purchased universal product codes (UPCs), which simply serve as barcode identification numbers.
This is where I enter the picture. I am primarily in charge of making sure that UPCs match the stock keeping unit (SKU) codes along with the Amazon standard identification numbers (ASINs). Next, I draft and confirm that all of the product listings, along with the enhanced brand content (EBC) within it, are all up to date, accurate, and descriptive. Lastly, since Fulton & Roark products will be distributed by a FBA-affiliate (Fulfilled by Amazon), we need to ship them the inventory that needs to be in stock. Once all drafts of listings and products are approved and inventory is received, the listings go live and are available for purchase!
This is only part of the story, as now I have to get the word out to shoppers so they will easily find and engage with our products through keyword searches and eye-catching images, along with sponsored product and brand advertisements. Luckily, Amazon has plenty of resources on “Seller Central”, a dashboard for sellers and vendors on Amazon to manage their inventory, product listings, brand content, advertisements, sales, and so much more! The resources offer plenty of modules and pieces of reading for newcomers like me. I have already learned so much in my first week about pay-per-click advertising and the process of bidding on keywords and little tricks to drive search engine optimization (SEO) for better traffic, engagement, and therefore sales!
Written by #WakeEntreprenuer Zack Schutt, 2020