We recently connected with Rachel Boutin and have shared our conversation below.

Rachel, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.

The creation of my digital marketing firm stemmed from something so many people experienced back in 2020…being laid off due to Covid. But it didn’t take me long (honestly, only a day or two) before I was feeling eager and excited about what the future might have in store for me.

So, I put out the word to everyone I knew that I was looking to start something new, even though I wasn’t exactly sure at that point what it was! Well, sooner than I could have ever imagined, a local realtor who I’d known for a few years along with a local drug testing company referred to me by a long-time vendor at my prior company, were getting in touch with me about marketing services!

With little knowledge about how to run a business, but with 12+ years of marketing experience under my belt, I shifted into high gear, got two contracts signed within days of each other, and was off to the races. Little did I know at the time, but these two clients would be the catalyst for me to build my own business…Fern Street Strategic Marketing! 

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Fern Street Strategic Marketing is an innovative digital marketing firm based in West Palm Beach, Florida. Our passion for helping small businesses has helped us grow into a premier marketing company, developing digital marketing solutions for businesses across all industries.

We believe in delivering each of our clients an outstanding, unique marketing strategy, across the digital landscape, that includes a multifaceted approach exclusive to their brand and their target market.

We have extensive marketing experience in a variety of industries, including real estate, photography, banking, law, interior design, music, insurance, residential construction, art, finance, non-profits, professional sports and many more. We have seen every one of our clients expand their customer base, increase sales, and build brand awareness with our strategic and creative digital marketing services.

Our approach to working with clients is to consider, before every suggestion or decision, ”What if this were our business?” We always help each of our clients make the best decisions possible for their company. We work hard to create successful client relationships through communication, transparency, and results.

Our mission is always to provide exceptional digital marketing services to our clients that help them stand out from the competition. We build mutually beneficial partnerships with our clients and create successful campaigns that grow their business. 

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Building my reputation in South Florida, and even beyond just here, has always been of utmost importance to me. I have always understood that relationship building is instrumental to the success of my business. I was lucky enough to have some incredible role models and mentors throughout my career that allowed me to see successful and effective reputation and relationship building in action.

I know that every touchpoint, every communication, every interaction all plays a part, no matter how small, in how my business is viewed by my clients, prospects, vendors, and everyone in between. It is absolutely a top priority for me to always respond quickly, be thoughtful and kind, and ensure I am going above and beyond not only for my clients, but for anyone and everyone in my network.

I am beyond grateful for all the wonderful people I have met and friends I have made over the years who are always so quick to mention my name and act as my brand ambassadors whenever possible. My clients have also helped me to build such a strong reputation by always singing my praises to whomever they can, whenever they can. It means the world to me that I have so many people in my corner, as I have worked hard to make this the case. 

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience.

There are no shortcuts to building an audience of social media. It is all about consistency…and great content, of course.

When I launched my marketing firm, I knew just how important this would be since, after all, social media management is one of the main marketing services we offer!

As soon as I had a name for the business, I had social media accounts for the business! Just as we do for all our clients, I created accounts on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google Business (which, while not technically a social media platform, you can actually post to it and generate views this way).

I recruited all my friends and family to follow me and continue to send invites to this day to anyone I know who still has yet to follow me on Facebook and LinkedIn.

I engaged with my audience A LOT and worked hard to put out informative, insightful, and entertaining content. No matter how busy I got or how many new clients I had, building my social media presence was and still is a top priority.

My advice to those who are just starting out with trying to build a social media presence is no different than what I tell my clients: it’s all about consistency.

Make a schedule for yourself that is doable, stick to it, and engage with your audience. Do not buy followers, do not buy likes, just create, create, create. And if you can’t, you don’t know how, or you absolutely cannot add one more thing to your to-do list, we are just a phone call or DM away! 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fernstreetmarketing.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/fernstreetmarketing
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fernstreetmarketing
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fern-street-marketing

Image Credits
Alyssa Wald-Williams, Jess McGillicuddy