Nicci Talbot | Firebird Studio

The Shift → Field Guide to the Future of Work and Living. Weekly curated tools for thought and ideas to share ✍️

Work Better. Live Smarter. Be Happier.

Startup YOU: How to design a life you love.

Join a community of indie entrepreneurs: https://niccitalbot.substack.com.

How to build a life

In my 20s, I left a journalism job in Peterborough to freelance in London. I wanted to work on women’s magazines and thought I’d be happy once I got my dream job in the big city. The reality was quite different. Precarious work on low pay was stressful. When I landed shifts on glossy titles, I didn't enjoy working in an all-female environment that felt competitive. I wasn’t very happy but I stuck at it - living the dream, right? I’d be happy once I was sorted with a proper job...

The Project: A book on positive parenting for Nestlé, The Science of Growing Up Happy.

Crafted scientific data into an engaging narrative aimed at first-time parents across global markets. Exploring the key stages of development from 0-5 years.

Very well received by the client and stakeholders. Blood, sweat and tears, but we got there 💪

Nestle website: https://bit.ly/32Ussur.
Download the pdf: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16xBkJCeeRSmIWMclgXBRBGZ5T7zzDjMx/view?usp=sharing

I came up with the name GCVA Connect for a new members' app - Connecting the Global Gift Card Community. I worked with Perspective M&D on the app copy, invite email, welcome email and post.

To keep it fun and motivate users, I suggested a watercooler for non-work banter.

The problem we're trying to fix - keeping the industry connected during lockdown with no physical events. We decided to launch an app as 'everything GCVA in your pocket', to work alongside online events, webinars and learning lunches.

Incentives for use include gamification!

I've written 12 books on health + lifestyle.

Check out my Amazon Author page: https://amzn.to/2M2tQoG

What they are, why you need them, and how they'll help your business.

Google has over 200 factors that determine your site ranking and number one is backlinks.

I did an interview with the Data & Marketing Association (DMA) for a new diversity series and helped them write this guide - packed with tips & resources for female creatives.

It doesn’t matter what kind of business you have – multinational, SME or creative entrepreneur, you still need to be blogging regularly to help drive new (and returning) traffic to your website.

Here's how to go about it...

Covid-19 has radically changed how we work, shop and live our lives – speeding up digital transformation already happening. And as consumer behaviour changes, businesses have had to adapt quickly

Here are some stats to help you plan your strategy.

How we can use Design Thinking to solve journalistic problems.

I've been to a few journalism events this week on the industry's future and what needs to change. I took part in a panel discussion at the Digital Editors' Network on how we can #buildbackwell...

I manage social media accounts for NUJ London Freelance, the largest branch in the union with 4k members.

✍️ A roundup of top stories - most views, most shares, most comments - training opportunities, online communities, resources and events.

I'm working with the training team to develop courses on digital transformation for 2021, e.g. how Design Thinking can help transform journalistic problems, Rev-up Your Writing - earn ££ by writing more in half the time...

Watch this space!

'What a fantastic conference - I felt like I was away for two days with a do not disturb mindset.’
'Honestly don't think the virtual event could have been better! Amazing job team.'

March 3 & 4 2021, will go down in GCVA history, as the date we held our first-ever virtual global gift card conference - our biggest GCVA Connect event yet with 400+ attendees.

Newsletters are booming and niche media is a powerful tool.

New revenue opportunities for writers.

Read more: https://bit.ly/3qa8xBd

I came up with the idea for a Berlin Price Map for sales and rental properties at Black Label.

The Project: Create something fun & visual, an infographic that could be used in press releases to gain more coverage. Worked with the developers to create the content showing average price/rental cost by neighbourhood.

Result: Clients love it! A talking point and visual aid to show market growth. It is updated annually and has been widely used in media coverage.

Live blogging for #GCVAConf21, pre & post-event comms.

Uniting the global gift card community 🙌

Stats:
• Over 300 people on the site at one time from across the globe
• 406 registrations
• 1744 videos watched
• 3865 meetings added to schedules
• 180 1-2-1 meetings
• 1053 posts in live chat

https://www.linkedin.com/company/thegcva/?viewAsMember=true