Internship in Belgium at Arts & crafts market research company

Short internship description:

Our collaborator is a small company born in Brussels in 2013. Its objective becomes the first marketplace connecting European makers in fine and traditional crafts with an international audience of private consumers, architects, retailers, designers, interior designers, historic houses owners, and other professionals. (the portal showcases a selection of more than 1800 makers from 20 European countries). Bring sustainable and concrete support to European micro-businesses in the areas of Crafts (wood, metal, glass, ceramic, textile, stone crafts, music instruments, and restoration of cultural heritage). Support capacity building and mobility in the sector increased awareness among the public about the value of crafts in culture, economy, and society.

The company is a member of the World Crafts Council Europe and collaborates with many actors all over Europe to develop synergies (ie. with the contemporary design world, the Historic Houses Association). The objective is to merge energies and resources and create a win-win collaboration for makers, customers and Mad’in Europe.

The intern will work with organization manager, Interns are required to multitask and are directly involved in the growth strategy of the organization and in the relationship with craftsmen and partners. He/she will be required to demonstrate personal commitment and possess excellent communication skills.

Internship responsibilities:

This internship is offered to students who are able and wish to be involved in the following actions:

• Develop sales by recruiting new highly qualified paying members for the portal (craftsmen all over Europe, craftsmen association…);
• Contribute to enrich the content of the portal (editorials, interviews of craftsmen, technical information on specific crafts…). Content can be either written internally or by our partners;
• Collect feed-back from craftsmen (surveys);
• Communication / traffic building / social networks administration / e-marketing;
• Research new business opportunities involving existing and new stakeholders;
• Benchmark best practices and tailor the marketing strategy to create added value for the company and for makers;
• Elaborate and explore seed & early stage funding opportunities (Angels, seed VC, VC);

• Answer to European calls (Creative Europe, Erasmus plus…) with other European partners;

• Complete a market research on the basis of which the intern will develop an innovative high growth strategy.

Requirements:

LANGUAGES REQUIREMENTS: Written AND spoken English is mandatory; One other language among these, Italian, French and Spanish, is also required.

IT & AND COMPUTER SKILLS: Office Pack, Mailchimp, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, (CMS is welcome).

Knowledge, skills, and competencies to be acquired by the end of the traineeship (expected Learning Outcomes):

• Interest for the cultural Heritage Business Sector;
• Entrepreneurial mindset;
• Finance and Economics knowledge;
• Skills in communication, marketing & media;
• Perfect writing skills (articles, presentations…);

• Others: autonomy, dynamism, creativity, team spirit, open-minded approach;

• Interest for a “micro business” company development.

Expected Results:
The trainee will define reasonable objectives according to his/her capacities, internship time and company priorities, will fix milestones and focus on their achievements.