Nicole Cooper Media

02/05/2024

What a great help this too is, especially for small business owners handling their own marketing! Customer personas can be daunting to create, but they make life SOOO much easier when crafting your marketing plans/materials as well, making the most efficient use of your advertising $$$. 🤩

Create professional, customizable buyer personas in minutes with the help of our intuitive free generator and share the templates with your team.

23/05/2023

If you haven't had a chance to participate in any Bike Month events, your time is running out... and this one looks AH-MAZING! How about it??

Join us! May 25, 530pm, Cardinal Bike (Grandin) - Let's get fancy, yall!

17/05/2023

Had a wonderful workday sesh with these amazing, trailblazing entrepreneurs on Monday at (yep, another awesome woman-owned biz 🙌) — it was rainy, chilly and with and by my side, it was absolute 🔥❤️‍🔥🔥!

20/04/2023

I had another SPECTACULAR time meeting up with some small business owners and non-profit volunteers, teaching and talking all things digital marketing and Canva! (Canva has so many clever new features and innovative ways to save small biz operations time, money, energy and frustration when creating ALL kinds of content. Whew!)

Thank you, Vinton Area Chamber of Commerce for sponsoring this event and for continuing to ensure that your members have access to strategic learning programs and one-on-one, in-person resources. As always, it was a joy to come to Vinton and for SO many reasons - can't wait to do it again!

13/04/2023

The work I did as an undergraduate in Communications Studies at Hollins University inspired my curriculum as a k-8 educator, and ultimately spring-boarded my business model of working with small business owners to harness and amplify their voices in the digital marketing world.

Today I am honored to donate to for our . Long may we continue to and 💚💛

10/04/2023

Lots of new Canva features were recently revealed - it's mindblowing, really. 🤯 But in all the best ways!

Try out Canva Pro for free for 30 days using my referral link and let's make beautiful media together!

Pay as you grow with Canva for Teams. Starting at $14.99/month for the first 5 people, you can unlock all the premium features that Canva has to offer.

24/03/2023

Two things...

One, I get asked about paid/sponsored advertising A LOT and it's not a simple thing to address. And it's an incredibly valid area to key in on when it comes to where to spend your marketing money.

Two, sometimes I make my own content to address FAQs like this, and other times I see content that is so good and spot-on that there is no need to try to replicate it. This is one of those.

To that end, I will share a few of my favorite takeaways, as well caution you that if you feel overwhelmed with all of the lingo he's dropping in the first part of the video, skip to about 4:05 mark, that's where I feel like the video hits its stride, especially as applied to small business in our region.

My BIG takeaways:

"Advertising is an accelerator, not an initiator." - yes! Don't rely on advertising to sell a new product, consider using it to boost a product or service that's already performing well.

Just throwing money at ads might work, but it probably won't. Yes, someone can hold up an example or two of when it works, but I can also hold up a lottery winner as an example of why you should invest your money in scratch-off tickets. It's a ridiculous position! It's anecdotal evidence versus data-backed research. So, like Adam says in the video, "that's not marketing, it's gambling."

P.E.S.O. - paid, earned, shared, owned 🙌

I hope this video is helpful to you and if you'd like to see or hear more about this kind of thing, give this post a like, let me know in the comments and/or send me a message. Would love to hear from you!

Get FREE access to “The One-Page Marketing Cheatsheet” here: http://freemarketingcheatsheet.comIf you don’t understand this one simple thing about advertisin...

24/03/2023

What a wonderful presentation at the SML Connects Roadshow today! Thank you, SML Regional Chamber of Commerce, Friends of Booker T. Washington National Monument for the food, the talks and the tour. 💜 And an extra big thank you to Alicia Hodges, Founding Member NEORA for personally inviting me out!

23/03/2023

Literally my face as each gift is opened live during Canva Create!

13/03/2023

FemCity is a treasure to me. I owe so much of what I’ve learned and so many of the business connections I’ve made, especially in the beginning, to this extraordinary group of women entrepreneurs. Thank you, Violette de Ayala, Beth Boyd Bell, FemCity, and FemCity® Roanoke for connecting, supporting and enriching the lives of female business owners!

13/03/2023

Hope to see you out at FarmBurguesa or FarmBurguesa on Tue, March 14 .. not only can you get one of the best burgers you’ve ever had AND not only are you supporting small businesses, you are also supporting a local nonprofit: I Heart SE!

09/03/2023

Social SEO stands to be a game changer for marketing your small business in digital spaces in 2023, and keywords are CRUCIAL in order to stay ahead of the competition here.

More than ever, folks are less inclined to scroll through pages of search engine results, choosing instead to mine their social networks for everything from travel tips ✈️ to breaking news 📰.

Take time to optimize your profiles, platform by platform, to make sure keywords about YOUR business are there. This includes keywords in your bio, your name, your handle, your posts, your captions, etc. All the spaces!

If you’d like more content from me about keywords and social SEO trends - drop me a line in the comments 💬 or hit up my inbox 📩 ASAP!

09/03/2023

If you haven't checked out what's going on in Vinton these days, you're truly missing out! Thank you, Vinton Area Chamber of Commerce for all you do - it's ALWAYS a pleasure to be a part of anything you do!

We had an amazing presentation for Vinton Area Chamber of Commerce Lunch & Learn series. Lunch & Learn is where you can learn, network and continue supporting your area businesses. 🖥

💡Thank you to our presenter, Nicole Cooper Media for the relevant and educational content for social media strategies. We also had a delicious gran 'n' go lunch from FarmBurguesa. 😋🍔 Thank you to our attendees for the fantastic questions and engagement.

We look forward to seeing you at our next Lunch & Learn. Mark your calendars for May 10 because we'll be hearing from Tea2Sea LLC VA DCJS License #11-19986.

08/03/2023

Happy International Women's Day! I'm taking today as the perfect opportunity to transition from Modern Buzz Media to Nicole Cooper Media. Today, I own my name. Today I drop a new stake into the digital landscape. And most importantly, today I hold space for all of the women in my life who inspire, inform, mentor, lift, and love. It's truly a joy to celebrate YOU, sisters! 💜

03/03/2023

👀WHERE TO START?? 👀

Scene: Maybe you’re a small business owner looking to get started on social media? Or maybe you already have a social media presence but you’re looking to reboot and rebuild your brand and struggling with where to begin. Oh, yeahhh. We have ALL been there! 😣

My take: Before you start posting: DEFINE 🥊YOUR 🥊GOALS. 🎯And define them CLEARLY. Think about what you hope to achieve on social. Is it increasing brand awareness? Generating leads? Driving sales? Think realistically about it, research it, talk with other small business owners, peek in on your competition to see how they’re using it. *Please don’t copy their style tho. That’s gross.* Track your thoughts on this, write them down somewhere, sit with them for a day or two, literally add an appointment with yourself to your calendar and come back to review them and see if it all still feels right.

Your takeaway: Let your goals guide your social strategy. Goals will increase your likeliness for success and decrease your chances of deciding to just chuck it all and watch the world burn. (Ey, ey. Appreciate the inspo, Bad Bunny.)

27/02/2023

You can't have a good year without good weeks ...and you can't have a good week without good days - so here we are! Let's go!

-Nicole

25/02/2023

Dear fellow entrepreneurs and small business owners,

This is your reminder that every action you take is a vote for the type of entrepreneur/business owner you wish to become. Whether it's responding to emails promptly, creating quality content, or providing excellent customer service, each action builds your business's reputation and shapes your identity.

Remember that success is not a single instance, but a culmination of votes that build over time. Keep making choices that reflect the entrepreneur you want to be and watch your business thrive. 💪🏼📈 You've got this!

23/02/2023

Behind-the-scenes content is evergreen and can live (read: thrive!) on any of your digital spaces, including your website. Check out this article for more info on the whys, hows and insights on BTS (behind-the-scenes) content value!

"As brands and creators struggle with ever-changing algorithms, short-form videos with a behind-the-scenes format consistently score all-time highs for engagement on nearly every platform."

BTS videos are an extremely effective way to create authentic engagements with audiences without the price tag of overproduced videos.

21/02/2023

We are BOMBARDED with messages trying to get our attention all day, every day. (Messages like the one you are reading right now, as a matter of fact!) Did you know that having ambient/minimalist music playing in the background can help you stay focused and more productive while you work?

This article talks more about the science of it all and I'm including links to one I have been enjoying recently called The Vault of Ambience ---ahhhhh, enjoy!

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKCrKo2agNNuPMhywozxIIg

Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4wwYTPBfvnkIUtCz2cqatA?si=Exor26d-R_2XMPtW02dBWg

Apple Music:
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/the-vault-of-ambience/1609402514

Article link: https://www.theprospectordaily.com/2020/01/21/soothing-minimal-music-scientifically-linked-to-higher-levels-of-concentration-and-productivity/

Several studies on the physiological effects of listening to music while studying or doing any kind of activity, indicate that certain kinds of music boost concentration and productivity among several other benefits. A recent study done by Florida National University found that studying while listen...

15/02/2023

This article has many great suggestions (which is why I'm sharing it) but I have to say, I don't really love the writer's opening sentence about Instagram (IG) "prioritizing" Reels... because we don't really know that right now. There was significant user pushback when IG stated they were making Reels a priority. And while IG has responded that they were listening to that feedback, we are not sure to what extent that affected their algorithm strategy.

So, I encourage folks to explore, play, try new things etc, especially with video, but also, remember to keep the focus on creating solid content that will help your customers/clients know you and help them to trust that you understand their pain points, regardless of file format. ;)

-Nicole

If you’re stuck, we’ve put together this list of creators that are creating incredible content with Reels and broken down what we think they do really well that you can replicate. Let’s get into it.

11/02/2023

Want to know how to make a Fortune 500 corp’s millions of marketing dollars help YOUR small business?? Here’s my take!

09/02/2023

Thursday thoughts....

26/01/2023

Read the report for yourself, but here are some of the juicy bits and tastiest takeaways according to Market Brew:

More than half (54%) of “US online adults with a smartphone” surveyed said they’ve used it to research products and services, according to a report from Forrester. An even larger share (59%) said they’ve used their phone to make a purchase.

Here are a couple takeaways for brands from that report, which analyzed the mobile sites of 10 US retailers.

Devil’s in the details: When choosing a retailer to shop online with, potential customers are “highly influenced” by details like free shipping or free return offers.

83% of US online adults said “it’s important to them to see the final price, including shipping and taxes, of their transaction on a retailer’s or brand’s website.”

Online retailers should include that info on the cart page to hopefully prevent people from navigating away in search of details and “potentially abandoning their purchases altogether.”
Keep it simple: One-third (33%) of those who don’t make purchases on their smartphones said it’s because buying via computer is easier. About a quarter (23%) said it’s because their phone screen is too small. To help address these potential issues, retailers should…

Keep the entire mobile-checkout process to single page
Offer autofill and autocomplete for information like names and addresses
Make promo codes easily accessible. The report notes that Office Depot lets shoppers easily apply discounts to products they’re looking at by clicking a button on the product detail page.

This report outlines best practices for the cart, checkout, and payments experience on retailers’ mobile websites.

11/11/2022

“The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.” - Douglas MacArthur

07/11/2022

Monday (and every day) inspo.

24/10/2022

There's some debate as to whether it "helps with the Reels algorithm" to use a trending audio clip, but here's how to find them, if you care to give it a go!

Learn our top five tips for finding trending songs and sounds on Instagram Reels.

21/10/2022

"If you have a clear understanding of the kind of people and connections you're looking for, you'll start to find them in moments you wouldn't expect," he says. "You'll be surprised how often luck and serendipity finds you."

Networking expert Robbie Samuels explains why adapting the attitude of a croissant is more likely to create meaningful job connections — and shares ways to make networking feel more natural.