My Summer Internship - Small Business Technology and Development Center

Internship Paper

Lucas Vorhoff

In my internship with the Small Business Technology and Development Center, I was assigned to work with Spice Bouquet, a company based in Kinston, North Carolina that produces different types of rubs and spices. My main duty in this internship was to improve Spice Bouquet's marketing. The company offers cooking classes and many high-quality spices, all of them made with natural ingredients and high-quality packaging. However, they fail to effectively market these products.

The first and foremost way the products must be marketed is through an interactive, up-to-date website. The current website, which can be found at www.spicebouquet.com, has some good features but needs to be changed significantly. In studying how to redesign Spice Bouquet's website, I looked at the websites of many of their competitors, in particular www.gourmetspiceshop.com and www.myspicesage.com. I learned several things from each. Gourmet Spice Shop's website lists all of their spices on the front page. This is in stark contrast to Spice Bouquet's current website, which basically just tells about the company on the front page, and needs more emphasis on selling the spices. Another aspect of Gourmet Spice Shop's website which I thought Spice Bouquet should emulate is the way the spices are described. They really draw the customer to the product. For example, one product is described as adding a "warm, sweet, licorice-like flavor to sweet and savory dishes alike."

The front page of My Spice Sage's website is much more complex. They offer many different deals, such as free shipping for orders in the United States and a money-back guarantee for unsatisfied customers. These I don't think are necessary for Spice Bouquet because the front page doesn't need to be too complicated. One feature I do like is that they list their best-selling spices and new spices on the front page. They also give a lot of information on each spice, including a picture, name, "Also Known As," "Taste and Aroma," "Substitutes," and "Uses," plus the opportunity to buy it. It also gives several recipes with shopping lists that give shoppers the opportunity to buy all the spices they need for each different recipe. Lots of testimonials are included on this website, including name and hometown.

To make the necessary changes to the website, we hired a web designer who was recommended to us by the SBTDC named Keon. I wrote out a plan of what I wanted the website to look like, and we have met with Keon several times to make sure he is on the same page. One thing we want to add to the website is a blog, so that the company chairman can write about new products or new recipes he has found, and allow people to comment on them or ask questions about them. More pictures and videos should be included on the new website as well. Spice Bouquet also has a new Facebook page, which will be synchronized with the website so that when one is updated, the other will be as well. I also asked Keon to implement a tracking code so that we can track how many people visit the website using Google Analytics.

Of course, once an up-to-date website is in place, the key is to get people to visit it. We wanted people who looked up a certain type of spice or a cooking class in eastern North Carolina on Google to come across Spice Bouquet's website. Therefore, the website will have to be designed strategically with keywords throughout the content. The keywords will need to be used in bold headings near the top of the page and the end of the page, and placed as closely together as possible. Spice Bouquet also recently started paying for an online profile through the Kinston newspaper. The profile includes a lot of keywords and is designed to drive people to the Spice Bouquet website. It is also important that the content be updated regularly. To do this, Spice Bouquet is considering hiring a student part-time to update the website. All cooking class times should be posted, along with pictures and videos of the classes.

The website address should also be featured in Spice Bouquet's marketing material as much as possible. I suggest using it as part of the logo so that it is featured everywhere the logo is. I also think they should put it on the sign outside the building, so that if people who are driving by are interested in buying spices but don't have time to stop in the store, they can still check out the website. The website address should also be at the beginning of all letters which are sent out to customers, as well as the letters which are sent to schools about the fundraiser program.

A currently-used marketing tool that can be improved upon is Spice Bouquet's brochure. The brochure currently features a picture on the front of a plate with a blackened Asian shrimp salad on it. Inside the brochure are several different recipes, and information about some of the products. I suggested that they focus less on the recipes and more on the products themselves. I would put a picture of some of the spices on the front page, and use the entire inside of the brochure for pictures of the products and information about them. They should definitely avoid putting a picture of a plate of food on the front page, because the plate communicates a fine dining experience.

Another major way that we are attempting to improve the marketing of Spice Bouquet is through a fundraiser program. The fundraiser has been used before in area churches, and we are now expanding it into area schools. The way it works is students will sell packages of four spices each, along with recipes that the spices can be used in. The packages sell for $15 each. The school or organization keeps $3 for each pack sold, and another $2 goes toward the incentives, which include T-shirts and gift cards. Spice Bouquet hopes to teach young people lessons in eating healthy. The idea is that the kids will sell the spice packs to their parents and family friends, which plays into