Become a founding contributor
Bring what you know about commerce. Build work you can put your name to. Help shape ecom.nyc from the beginning.
Apply to contributeYour expertise deserves an audience.
We are building the first contributor group, not asking you to join an established newsroom. Start with one useful piece of work and help set the standard for what comes next.
Put your name to your work.
Agree on a byline or research credit before publication. Your contribution should be visible, whether you write the story or help establish the facts behind it.
Build a contributor presence.
For an ongoing contribution, we can agree on a public contributor profile with your bio, expertise, LinkedIn link and published work. Profiles are created with your permission, not automatically on application.
Develop a real portfolio.
Publish research and stories about real businesses. Link to credited work from your portfolio or job applications, with a clear explanation of what you contributed.
Make the work better together.
Discuss the brief and receive editorial feedback on submitted drafts. As the group grows, there is room to exchange ideas with contributors who bring different local and industry knowledge.
Volunteer participation is unpaid. Publication, attribution and any profile are agreed individually; audience reach, employment and commercial results are not guaranteed.
Birkan Ulusoy
Founder of ecom.nyc ยท Ecommerce Marketing Specialist
Birkan is building ecom.nyc around the people, businesses and practical decisions behind commerce. His work at Atlantic connects ecommerce marketing with the day-to-day questions of product information, search and buying decisions.
He leads the project and its editorial direction. The approach is straightforward: explain what matters, keep claims traceable to sources, distinguish opinion from evidence, and be open about business relationships. Contributions are reviewed before publication.
Birkan works with Atlantic and is affiliated with Supermarket World. Those relationships are disclosed where relevant; contributors are expected to disclose their own, too.
A community contribution, not another job.
ecom.nyc brings together stores, operators, agencies, tools and communities connected to New York commerce. We are inviting curious people to help make that directory more accurate, more useful and more human.
This is an unpaid, voluntary contributor group. It is not an employment offer, internship, certification or promise of paid work. There are no required shifts or minimum output targets. You choose which contributions to propose or accept, and you can pause or leave. Any paid assignment would require a separate agreement.
What you could contribute
Research and fact-checking
Check official websites, confirm public business details, distinguish a store from a headquarters, and flag information that has changed. Keep a source and a review date for factual claims.
Store and company profiles
Explain what a business sells, who it serves and how customers buy. Help readers understand the differences between a specialist supplier, a consumer brand and a service provider without turning a profile into an advertisement.
Stories and interviews
Suggest useful stories about the people doing the work: merchandising, operations, technology, customer experience and local commerce. Interviews require the participant’s agreement and careful handling of quotations.
Category knowledge and editing
Bring expertise in an industry, improve category assignments, explain unfamiliar terminology, or edit a draft for clarity. You do not need to contribute in every area.
Who this is for
Operators, researchers, writers, students and people with useful local or specialist knowledge are welcome to apply. A previous editorial title is not required. You can contribute remotely; a strong NYC connection or a relevant area of expertise is more useful than a particular job title.
How it works
- Introduce yourself. Send the short application with an area of interest and a contribution idea.
- Agree on the scope. If there is a fit, we discuss a small, clearly defined contribution, your preferred credit and any relevant business relationships. Applying does not guarantee acceptance.
- Research and draft. Share your sources, distinguish facts from opinion and mark anything that remains uncertain.
- Review before publication. An editor checks the work, may request changes and agrees on any attribution with you. Contributors do not receive automatic publishing access.
Standards we share
- Use original writing and reliable sources. Do not copy another publisher’s work or submit confidential information.
- Disclose employment, ownership, clients, gifts and other relationships with businesses you cover. Do not represent a related-business recommendation as independent.
- Do not create customer reviews, invent experience or promise rankings in exchange for contributions.
- Disclose material AI assistance. Verify its output; generated text is not a source.
- Respect privacy, seek consent for interviews and flag errors promptly.
Editorial opinions, customer reviews and publisher-selected placements are different things. Read our ranking methodology before contributing to assessments. Final publication and placement decisions remain with the publisher.
Credit and expectations
We agree on a byline or research credit, attribution and permission to publish before using your work. Ongoing contributors can discuss a public profile that brings together their expertise and credited work. You can choose not to have a public profile. Applying alone does not create one, and participation does not guarantee ranking benefits, references or future employment.
You do not need to submit a full article to apply. Please leave out sensitive personal information and anything you are not authorized to share. Questions or a request to withdraw your application can be sent to [email protected].
Tell us what you could bring.
A little context is enough to start. Your application is private and reviewed before any contribution is agreed.