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

Alright, Meredith thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Getting that first client is always an exciting milestone. Can you talk to us about how you got your first customer who wasn’t a friend, family, or acquaintance?

Approaching the year mark of starting my consulting business, I was feeling pretty defeated because I hadn’t yet landed a big enough client to give me confidence that freelance would become a viable career path. I was considering going back to a full time role and beginning the interview process to do so. I had many productive conversations and submitted several proposals over the course of that year, but none of them had turned into something tangible yet.

I was part of a Slack community for marketers, and a woman with a seemingly unrelated background to what I do posted that she lived in the Boston area (like me) and was hoping to meet some new people. I responded with an offer to grab coffee, not expecting much out of it. We met at a local spot and when I explained to her what I do, she lit up and thought that I might be a perfect fit for the company she was at. As she described the opportunity, I was skeptical – it all sounded too good to be true. She asked me to put together a proposal as a follow up, which I did and then delivered. I didn’t hear back for a couple of weeks, and eventually she reached out to let me know she was transitioning away from the company she was working for, but wanted to introduce me to the Founder anyway. That felt like further proof that the opportunity was too good to be true, but she kept her word and introduced me to him. He and I had an initial call, and from there, he told me that his team would be having internal discussions over the next few weeks to better understand the Creator Space. I finally sensed that the opportunity could be real with the right guidance, so I offered to join an internal meeting and offer perspective free of charge. I had never done that before, and to my surprise – he accepted! His co-founder and I had a productive conversation, and a month later he hired me for a short term project. That went well, and from there the company became my first retainer client. I worked with them for almost 2 years, and it was one of the most rewarding client experiences of my career.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

When I graduated from Boston University with a degree in Film/Television, my goal was to become a TV writer. I moved to Los Angeles and worked as a production assistant for a few years on feature films and Disney Channel & Nickelodeon TV series. I got to a point where working in production felt stagnant, so I decided to change course in a direction that seemed creative, challenging, and offered opportunity for faster growth.

I began working at Studio71 (f.k.a. The Collective; Collective Digital Studio), one of the premier YouTube talent management companies. Over the course of nearly three years, I got to manage talent, facilitate brand deals, develop YouTube and social media strategies for Fortune 500 companies, and much more. During my time at Studio71, I moved to New York City. Drawn more towards the creative/strategy and brand integration side of the business, I left Studio71 to work as Head of Digital Partnerships at Branded Entertainment Network (which has since become BENlabs). In that role, I worked closely with sales and account management teams to ensure success in selling and executing influencer integration programs.

In 2018, I moved back to my home state of Massachusetts, where I was hired as an Associate Content Director at Digitas North America. In that role, I had the pleasure of building relationships with a wide range of vendors, publishers, and content producers. Throughout the year and during countless conversations with brands and partners, I realized just how chaotic the influencer & content marketing industry was, and how overwhelming it must feel for marketers who didn’t have the years of context and trial and error like I had. I launched my own consulting company in 2019.

As a freelance consultant, I’ve worked in a myriad of contexts, from building and overseeing creator partnerships for a mental health start up, casting for household name brands, identifying creator businesses with growth potential on behalf of investors, and sales strategy for SaaS platforms and agency teams.

In 2020, I scaled my business to form a community of freelancers, called We Are Boosters. The purpose of the community is to serve as a hub, creating opportunities for collaboration, mentorship, and lead generation between freelancers. The community is free for freelancers to join and participate in. For businesses looking to hire from within the community, I offer a white glove matching service based on each company’s need, timing, budget, and desired experience. Freelancers offer a wide range of services, but most commonly include strategy, casting, campaign execution, coaching vendor negotiations, content production, and more.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

At a certain point in my consulting journey, I realized that I didn’t have to be the “best” to be successful. In marketing especially, there is so much pressure around staying up to date on all the latest trends, insights, and best practices. For a while, imposter syndrome and not feeling like I knew “enough” kept me from sharing my POV. Then, one day I was listening to a well-respected “marketing expert” on a podcast making bold statements that I knew to be blatantly wrong. From that moment on, I understood the value of being able to set boundaries around what you confidently can speak to and the refreshing skill of admitting when there’s something you don’t know. I adopted that mentality and never felt imposter syndrome again. I believe my reputation within my market can be attributed to this shift in my mindset, because clients and peers know they can trust on me to be transparent and deliver.

Another significant factor that contributes to my reputation is the credibility that I’ve been able to build up over time. Experience is so valuable, so the more time I spend working in the industry and the more clients I get to work with, the more I learn and grow. Finally, the fact that I live in Massachusetts rather than Los Angeles or New York has given me an advantage as a local go-to for New England businesses looking for someone to help them navigate the space.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Referrals. My advice for anyone looking to start a consulting business is to talk to as many people as you can, whether or not they’re related to your industry. You never know who has a friend or a cousin who might need your services. Listen when people express the challenges they’re experiencing, and find opportunities to be helpful. Also, make sure you deeply understand your own value prop, target client, and the services you offer in order to clearly communicate about them.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.weareboosters.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meredith-jacobson/
• Other: https://www.meredith-jacobson.com/