Charles Solomon is not only taking a full course load at Belmont Abby College and playing on the basketball team, but the 6-foot-6 junior forward also started a marketing company this summer.
Solomon Media Management uses social media to help clients, such as Twisted Sugar, a gourmet cookie shop in Belmont, reach more customers.
“We are a social media agency whose mission is to grow our clients’ digital presence,” said the 20-year-old student-athlete from Monroeville, New Jersey. “We use analytics and data to identify a target audience and then put in place a strong marketing strategy for our clients.
“We try to humanize marketing by creating content that will help our customers interact with a potential customer.”
When the process works successfully, Solomon says, it saves businesses money by allowing them to grow organically rather than having them pay for social media followers.
“We create advertisements and specific material aimed at attracting potential customers,” he said.
The venture did fairly well, with Solomon enlisting fellow Belmont Abbey classmates Anna Alayo, a 19-year-old primary education student, and Brandon Baker, a 20-year-old biology student, for the to help.
Alayo and Baker bring a different level of creativity to the marketing projects they have created for their five clients in the Gaston County and Charlotte areas.
“My team is amazing. They are a big part of growing my business,” Solomon said. “Brandon is a creative person who is always there to take pictures, create graphics and make videos, while Anna is always there to give me constructive criticism and analyze what each brand needs. .”
Solomon Media Management recently teamed up with an established company, The Sumner Group in Gastonia, to help with their Mattamuskeet Goose Club clothing brand.
“I’ve known Mike Sumner (the owner) since the summer. He’s like my family and he asked for my company’s help in reaching his young audience with marketing,” Solomon said.
Solomon attributes his move to a career in marketing to a summer job he held with the Gastonia Honey Hunters, the new professional baseball team that began its first year of play in 2021.
Part of Solomon’s work with the Honey Hunters was to use social media to better engage fans with the new team.
“I applied because it was a job that involved sports, so I thought it would be a good idea to work there and get some experience,” Solomon said, “So by doing that , I fell in love with marketing and was inspired to create my own thing to help local businesses grow.
Growing up, Solomon focused on basketball, however; her mother, Tamika Solomon, always taught her not to focus on one thing.
“She encouraged me to do other things in school so I could learn to balance different things. It’s because of her that I can manage my time and focus on my studies, my sports and now my business, all at the same time,” said Solomon.
Solomon will continue on his way to earning a degree in sports management, although he may now be on a different career path.
“Our majors don’t define us. We are at the university to determine what interests us. I still love the sport and if the opportunity arises to do both I will be the first to participate, until then that is my (marketing) goal and I want to see where it takes me,” says Salomon.
Beatriz Guerrero can be reached at 704-869-1828 or on Twitter @BeatrizGue_