Paying for tuition, textbooks and the occasional night out can leave college students looking for ways to make extra cash, but they are not all turning to the food service industry for jobs.
Instead, some become campus reps for various companies. As a campus rep, students market the company’s brand, build connections throughout campus and make sales.
“It’s a great way for companies to get their name out there — that’s the No. 1 use,” said Megan Fish, director of collegiate sales for donni charm, a fashion company known for its scarves and accessories. “They know what will sell at their campus because they are there … You want their name to be interchangeable with the company name.”
Donni charm recently employed Hannah May, a junior studying public relations, as its first and only representative at Ohio University. May joined the team at the beginning of the semester and said she is excited to start, even if she is working alone.
“The coolest part of it is that if it’s successful … then I’ll know it was solely because of my work and because of what I did for donni charm,” May said.
While more companies may only be online, Zachary Hayworth, co-founder of DateMySchool, an online dating service exclusively for students and alumni, said marketing offline has proven most effective.
“Students are used to seeing online ads, videos and banners and unconsciously block them out,” he said in an email. “However, seeing a poster on a bulletin board, getting a door hanger or receiving a flyer in the library really gets their attention.”
One of May’s plans is to reach out to OU reps for Rent the Runway, an online clothing service that allows its customers to rent high-end dresses for a fraction of the price, as a way to jumpstart donni charm’s presence at OU.
Rent the Runway has a larger team on campus including Elicia Gibson, a sophomore studying public relations, who became a rep in July.
“I wanted to do something fun this year but not something that had a strict schedule,” Gibson said. “This gives me more flexibility with my schedule.”
Rent the Runway does not offer monetary compensation but instead offers occasional free products to reps while also providing major discount codes, Gibson said.
DateMySchool reps receive compensation after hitting a certain number of signups. At donni charm, May receives a percentage of the sales she makes when customers input a specific code personalized for her. This system allows the company to track how many orders are made because of May and see what is selling at OU.
“I’m not in it for the money,” May said. “I want to do PR with fashion … It’s a good way for me to get my foot into the fashion industry.”
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