Nicola Balkind

Freelance Writer & Content Specialist

  • Services
  • Work
  • Books
  • Contact

¡Nae Pasaran!

By Nicola Balkind

Over the past 4 weeks, I’ve been assisting with a crowdfunding campaign. It’s been a long road for the investigative documentary film Nae Pasaran – which follows the Scottish factory workers who, 40 years after an act of solidarity, discover their true impact against Chile’s fascist dictatorship. The filmmakers have been seeking the finishing funds on Kickstarter.

I met the director, Felipe Bustos Sierra, at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2013. His short film, also called Nae Pasaran (which you can watch online here), was due to screen a few days later. We watched it together, then I continued to follow it. Over the following 4 years, he raised another round of funding to explore, research and film a potential feature. Now that the film is almost complete, a final budget was needed to finish it in time for the 2018 film festival circuit and general release.

It has been quite a journey, even just to witness it. This time around, I was brought in to assist with the social media campaign alongside the Kickstarter, from planning to execution, along with PR for the film. We’ve seen it featured in the Janice Forsyth Show on BBC Radio Scotland and online at Pajiba and the New Socialist, with more features to come. Today, the Kickstarter campaign hit its target of £50,000 with 24 hours to spare.

Watching and nurturing the online support for this important film has been a real privilege, from the engagement on individual posts to the generous donations we’ve seen come in (and right before Christmas, too!). The community has grown and rallied around this creative pursuit without having seen the final outcome. Next year, the film will be finished, released, and complemented by the showing of the engine that has been returned to Scotland.

If you’re working on a film or other creative project and need support with social media, PR, or any other form of digital marketing in 2018, get in touch.

Filed Under: Client Work Tagged With: crowdfunding, crowdfunding consultant, documentary film, kickstarter, nae pasaran, outreach, pr, scottish film

Working at Yelp

By Nicola Balkind

After moving to California in late 2016, I signed on as a Community Ambassador at Yelp.

In a nutshell, the job involves community management for Fresno and the surrounding areas (like Clovis, Sanger, Selma and Hanford). I’m growing the Yelp Elite Squad, and creating content for newsletters and the local social media channels. Offline, I am partnering with local businesses to throw Official Yelp Events for local Yelpers.

My appointment was announced here. I was also featured in The Business Journal (read the full text here.)

So far I’ve travelled to Denver for training and San Francisco to meet some of my fellow CAs. I’ve also hosted 2 events: a tea lesson at a local tea shop, and a smoothie drop-in at a new organic juicery.

I’m looking forward to meeting more local Yelpers and growing the Yelp community! If you are a local business owner and want to partner with me on an event, you can reach out to me by email.

I am also continuing my work as a freelance writer and copywriter – for more information about my work, go here, and to find out how to hire me, read this page.

Filed Under: Client Work Tagged With: community management, nicola balkind, portfolio, robotnic media, services, work, yelp

Portfolio: Russwood

By Nicola Balkind

Working with Russwood

In the early stages of my freelancing career, I tended to specialise in the arts. I’ve always loved working in the arts because it’s a great blend of business and creativity, arts, and commerce. The people I’ve worked with in the arts have tended to be professional yet relaxed, open to ideas, and easy to work with.

Over the past 8 months, I’ve had the privilege of working with Russwood – Scottish supplier of high-quality, sustainable timber flooring, cladding and decking products. While it was a new industry for me, the people had all the same great qualities, including a passion for their work, and a true sense of the value they provide.

I provided copywriting services for two issues of the Russwood Profile: a newsletter for their clients and partners including architects, designers, and contractors. I also wrote a number of Case Studies for the company’s website.

These newsletter and case study features are paired with gorgeous photography and showcase Russwood products and examples of excellent architectural work that made use of these products at all different levels of scale. In these pieces, you’ll see everything from private homes to local projects to nationally recognised buildings. The copy is designed to tell stories about interesting homes and projects and also giving readers a sense of the versatility of the flooring, cladding, and decking on offer, and to offer light entertainment.

Read Russwood Profile

Download Russwood Profile 18 here.

[Image by Russwood.]

Filed Under: Client Work Tagged With: copywriter, nicola balkind, russwood, russwood profile

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • Next Page »

Follow Me

Sign up for my newsletter

Contact Me

Email: nicola@nicolabalkind.com
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Subscribe to my newsletter

Categories

  • Archive
  • Client Work
  • Microbusiness
  • Notebook
  • Social Media & Content
  • Writing Portfolio

Testimonials

Nicola has worked with Purplefeather on various social media and copywriting campaigns. She is creative, reliable and professional and can be completely trusted with the voice of your brand – rare qualities indeed!
Andrea GardnerPurplefeather
We’ve employed Nicola’s services several times at Yomego and every time she has been absolutely fantastic in both outputs and attitude. Supporting our community management team, Nicola has added invaluable expertise in creating customer focused strategies for our clients and helping to draft truly compelling content plans. I have absolutely no hesitations in recommending Nicola’s services for anyone that places important on ensuring outputs are consistently exemplary.
Sam Macleod
Nicola’s contributions to our projects for Channel 4 were invaluable: her huge knowledge of social media developments and online trends, together with her editorial flair and excellent writing skills made her invaluable in roles that encompassed community management, social media marketing, content strategy and product development. Her dedication, creativity, forward-thinking and attention to detail made her a major factor in the success of these projects. It was a pleasure to work with her, and I hope to work with her again!
Laura GraceMint Digital
Nicola was an important member of the Edinburgh International Film Festival Marketing Department and was key in the communication delivery of the Festival. In such a dynamic and demanding environment, Nicola delivered great content and was dependable throughout, an invaluable asset to the Festival.
Ross PerthEdinburgh International Film Festival
Nicola has been my number one go-to for freelance community management. She is incredibly efficient, she is clear with costs, time estimates and invoicing and completely reliable. She is a breath of fresh air in an industry which is plagued by self-promoting “gurus”: her range of skills and experience is broad and authentic. I really appreciate the way Nicola is uncomplicated to work with: she asks quick, straightforward questions about what’s required then sits down and gets the job done without fuss. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Nicola and would certainly work with her again.
Annie MacfarlaneTOMS Europe
Nicola has been nothing but helpful, insightful, and an amazing force to impact our team. She exudes exceptional talent, and throughout working together I’ve been able to see first-hand her strength in organising and leading a team, attention to detail, and ability communicate with her peers and clients effectively. It has been a real pleasure to work with Nicola, and I can’t wait to continue working alongside and learning from her.
Jessica Yamamoto, Yelp
Nicola is crazy talented, knowledgeable and efficient when it comes to Social Media and Copywriting. I had the pleasure to work with Nicola on several online marketing projects over the course of almost two years. Not only is she a fountain of knowledge regarding latest trends and best practices for both Social Media and online writing – she is also able to put abstract ideas into action. Any team looking to improve their online presence would be lucky to get their hands on Nicola.
Eva MartinSERPS Invaders
Nicola and I worked together across several projects in the Yomgeo community management team. Nicola is great to work with, her attitude towards projects is always amazing and she is incredibly efficient, Her work is always of the highest quality, and I’ve learned a lot from working with her.
Catherine CarriganYomego
Nicola is an experienced creative copywriter, with a great ability to produce quality pieces quickly and at short-notice. She has a great knowledge of social platforms and ability to apply this knowledge. Nicola is an absolute pleasure to work with and brings her creativity and personality to everything she does.
Kaye SymingtonMint Digital & Stickygram
Nicola helped transform EIFF’s web vision at a time of change. She is assured and confident with her tactics in an ever-evolving industry and, more importantly, generates great content with results. Allied to Nicola’s strategic savvy, it’s a winning combination.
Colan MehaffeyEdinburgh International Film Festival

Copyright © 2023 · Modern Studio Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in