We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nicole Spooner a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nicole , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Orlando has always been known as a destination filled with amusement parks and national chain restaurants up until about 10 years ago when local restauranteurs were opening up all over Central Florida and James Beard nominations were awarded. I have always been passionate about food and family and understood the importance of supporting locally owned businesses. I also understood that without social media, local influencers and a large branding budget that there were hundreds of locally owned businesses people simply did not know existed. It was then, that I decided to create partnerships with local well known personalities that understood the importance of sharing their experiences with the community. My first partnership was with Scott Joseph who was known as the Orlando Sentinel’s Food Blogger. He created a ‘flog’ (Food Log), that hosted hundreds of articles about his dining experiences. Thousands of local foodies to this day still follow Scott, and restaurants claim that they experience an increase in business following his positive reviews. I knew I was onto something and loved the relationships I started creating with local business owners. I wanted to offer them a variety of ways to reach their community so I then partnered with Edible Orlando Magazine who is most known for their quality content covering local Artisans, Chefs and Farmers and gorgeous food photos. Both Scott and Edible had a very specific audience but I wanted to reach all ages, all income levels and all people who just loved food and their community. I began interviewing more publications and local influencers and created several partnerships that would allow me to offer the entire community a variety of ways to learn about restaurants, chefs and local business owners. We now offer, hosted dinner events, Instagram Packages, editorial articles both in print and online, Chef Videos, Cocktail Recipes, Artisan profiles and so much more. Consumers prefer to do business with people and brands that they know and trust and Mpact’s media partners continue to deliver the news they are eager to read.

Nicole , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I grew up in Rhode Island which is where my love for local food and community support began. Living in such a small state, it was easy to find locally owned businesses as there were few national chains and everyone in the industry knew and respected each other. In 1997, after several harsh winter storms, I decided to move to Central Florida. I quickly learned that Orlando was nearly overrun by national chain restaurants and the days of walking into a local bakery where everyone knew your name, were gone. Finding a great local restaurant, a boutique grocery store with a variety of items and Artisan shops were extremely time consuming and without a digital platform to share experiences, convenience became a normality, but I was determined to change that.

I understood in order to be successful, I needed more experience and hands on education which then led to 12-year journey in sales and marketing, business consulting and print publishing. Orlando was growing exponentially, and I knew that my love of the culinary and hospitality industry had to become a fundamental part of my life; so, I started Mpact Orlando Marketing, LLC.

Orlando has become a big city with small town values and a place where personal relationships and exceptional service matter. I understand that consumers prefer to do business with people and brands that they know and trust. I also believe in working with media partners who share my passion and with businesses that understand in order to succeed, they must become ingrained within the community. Mpact has strategically aligned with local well-known personalities such as Scott Joseph , Ricky Ly of Tasty Chomps and Orlando Family Fun as well as Edible Orlando Magazine, The Community Paper and The Local Winter Garden. We help local businesses succeed through a variety of creative campaigns to include dedicated social media posts, editorial support, digital advertising, video creation and more. Our strategy offers a single company as a line of consistent communication to consolidate resources, create effective campaigns and most importantly, measuring campaigns with strategic reporting to show each client their return on investment and level of success.

Orlando now hosts hundreds of local business owners, remarkable restaurants, and several chefs, who have been nominated for a James Beard Award as well as Michelin Star restaurants. Digital media has made it simple to share experiences and Central Florida hosts a massive number of local influencers; all who share my enthusiasm to help local business owners increase their visibility and revenue.

Being a successful business owner starts with loving what you do, being open to change, creating personal relationships that do not always benefit you financially and helping local businesses thrive in an industry that has become unpredictable. This is my passion and I absolutely love every minute of it.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Mpact is a unique agency that builds partnerships with well known and respected media personalities. We are selective in who we represent and our clients appreciate having one point of contact that can reach our local community through a variety of marketing strategies. We are transparent with every client, we not only provide an outlet to reach their potential customers, we show them their success. Every campaign is carefully measured, we track the number of people who read articles, who click on posts, who watch videos, etc. We review each piece with our clients and constantly pivot as the industry changes so often. Restauranteurs are a community of people who shares stories and nearly all of our clients are referrals from other restaurants and chefs. We have had many clients for more than 10 years and we are intentional with creating a mutually beneficial relationship.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Being open and honest about the business, the strategy and messaging. Showing the numbers of people that their campaigns are reaching and pivoting until the messaging is providing them with the return they desire. If our clients are not increasing their local business and earning revenue then we will work harder, analyze the campaigns and implement a successful strategy. Having a variety of media partnerships allows us, and our clients the ability to reach a market that is eager to learn more and who we know want to support them. I check in often with clients, I want to know their stories, I enjoy our conversations and it is not always about business. I think they appreciate those personal relationships and I am happy to offer advice outside of our own media partnerships.

Contact Info:

• Website: mpactorlando.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mpactorlando

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