Our student teams, guided by faculty experts, can help you address the business challenges you're facing
We Can Help Your Business Grow
Are you facing a challenge in one of the following areas?
- Employee Hiring and Retention
- Creating an Advisory Board
- Social Media and Marketing
- Website Design
- Online Sales Strategy/E-commerce
- Designing Performance Dashboards
- Geo-mapping Sales Opportunities
- Financial Forecasting and Modeling
If so, we can help you address these and other challenges. Here’s how. Working in virtual teams and guided by a faculty expert, our students collaborate with small business owners in Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Projects typically extend over 6 to 12 weeks and involve periodic check-ins between the student team and the project sponsor.
Funding is available to support these projects. Examples include subscriptions for research reports, software licenses, and digital marketing support.
There is no cost for this service.
If you are interested in learning more, click on “Submit a Request for Assistance”.
Does My Company Qualify For This Service?
- For-profit Company
- Located in Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island
- US Owned and Operated
- Fewer than 500 employees
Why You Should Consider Collaborating With Our Talented Student Teams
An Example of a Digital Marketing Project
The sponsor is a hair-and-nail salon in Maine that has been in business for five years. The business owner plans to add spa services and move into a larger space in order to grow the customer base and revenues. The goal is to create a one-stop-shop salon and spa that will become a destination in the local area for customers with more discretionary income to spend on spa services.
The Challenge
To achieve its plans, the business has to revise its brand to reflect its new service offerings and create a digital presence in the form of a public website and social media.
What the Student Team Did
A team of 5 students, guided by a faculty member with digital marketing experience, worked with the project sponsor over 10 weeks. Since the students were in their final semester of coursework, they brought a wide range of marketing skills to the project.
The students communicated with the business owner for an hour by videoconference every week to share what they learned and ask for feedback. During this period, they did the following:
- Conducted a competitive analysis of other salons and spas in the area
- Examined the strengths and weaknesses of the sponsor’s existing marketing efforts
- Identified brand images and content that reflected the company’s expanded offering
- Made recommendations for the design of a website and an Instagram account.
Outcomes
At the end of the project, the business owner was able to support her expansion plans with the following:
A newly-branded website design that reflected the new service offering
An Instagram account that promoted the new brand and directed users to the website to schedule appointments.
“Our social media engagement increased dramatically as a result of this project, and that speaks to the quality of the student team’s work.”
“I’m very impressed and grateful for the thoughtfulness, depth and creativity the team put into their work and presentation. I now have a blueprint for moving forward.”
“A big shout out to all four students for their exceptional work. Their willingness to take on any challenge with utmost professionalism was commendable. We enjoyed working with them and are looking forward to implementing their inputs.”
“The student team provided us with tremendous research insights, and their recommendations represent real value to the organization.”