I help founders & creators build personal brands @ Kokela Studio 💫 | Social Media Community Manager @ HeyOrca 🐳 | Building a community for BIPOC marketers, creative & entrepreneurs @ Mesa🍴

🙃 made a job out of my screen time.
💌 want to collaborate? parterships@weareunserious.com 
💼 want to hire me & my team? hello@weareunserious.com

It's been 3 months since I quit my 6-figure tech job to build my dream career, and here's what has happened in February 👇🏾

This month, routine and work-life balance have completely gone out the window.

I only went to the gym 4 times this month and worked 12-15-hour days for the past couple of weeks.

To be fair, I was working insane hours at my tech job as well. The nice thing about this is that I am putting those hours towards building my own business Unserious​.

This month moved fast. I feel like my brain is still catching up to my current reality. Here are some major changes:

✨ Got approved for my business credit card. This makes me feel so much more legit. 
✨ Hired an Operations agency to help with our systems.
✨ Finally upgraded my computer. Rip my 2019 MacBook Pro.
✨ We went from 2 clients → 6.
✨ We went from a team of 2 → 8 (and I am still hiring and growing).
✨ Instead of thinking about me → I am thinking about the bigger picture. How can I make this sustainable, not for me but for my team as well?
✨ FINALLY figured out the best platform for invoicing as a Canadian business working with US clients (Venn​ has been incredible).
✨ I am seeing business numbers I have never seen before. I keep running the numbers like????
✨ Got an accountant & a lawyer.
✨ My contracts are updated.
✨ Our website is getting a revamp to reflect how we support Founders, Creators and Thought Leaders as their creative team.
✨ We're getting a lot of validation for what we're building.
✨ Fell in love with content creation again (new video coming this Sunday).

So much is happening, so fast. It is the year of the firehorse, I guess that tracks.

But I am so excited for what's next. I can say with full confidence that I am so glad I quit.

Please share some of your wins below! I love reading them.

Qetsiyah Jacobson

an unserious girl on a serious platform | founder @ Unserious 🙃 | Creators & internet culture 💬

I recently made the decision to pivot from a UGC agency → Creative agency for personal brands, and I am so happy to share our new website that finally reflects that.

Feel free to check out our updated website here: https://lnkd.in/efRd4E7S

(PS. We are currently fully booked for any March onboarding, but we'll be opening onboarding in April again)

This might be a different approach from what is usually promoted here, but I am actually slowing down my business growth. 😬

I recently started my own creative agency where we work alongside founders, creators & thought leaders to help them create content from strategy to execution.

And while I am SUPER blessed with the inquiries we're getting and our growth so far, I decided to start a waitlist and limit the number of clients we take on.

Because I'd rather focus on the quality of our work than on hypergrowth for vanity reasons. I want our clients and us to be super proud of the work we deliver, and know we put our best foot forward. 

I've seen and been in too many scenarios where growth was prioritized, and quality of work diminished.

So moving forward, we are only onboarding 2-3 clients a month. I am still taking discovery calls to pre-vet our clients. But I started a waitlist.

What do you think? Should founders prioritize growth above all else?👀

I've been on a content creation journey for almost 15 years. And I never became internet famous. 😬

I've been on YouTube → Tumblr → Vine → Musical.ly → Twitter → Instagram → TikTok → LinkedIn → Threads. 

And now I am back to my first love, YouTube. But in the years that I went from platform to platform, trying to find something that "sticks", I learned that I was trying to build a version of myself that was palatable for platforms. 

Putting algorithms over genuine passion.

I'm not someone who loves putting my life out there, and yet I was vlogging because vlogs were popular. It absolutely drained me. 

I fell out of love with content creation.

So I took a break. For years. 

Then I came across this platform called LinkedIn. Decided to post without the pressure of performance.

It was freeing! 

Because for the first time, content didn't feel like a chore. I was building a community. And I loved it.

Now that I'm back to creating long-form videos on YouTube, I have a whole different mentality. I'm in love with the process and focused on putting content out that I genuinely enjoy.

Talking about internet history & culture. 

My first video is up, my second video is recorded and currently with my video editor Ruth the Crafter​. The third video is already fully scripted and ready to record.

Have you changed your philosophy around content creation?

I'm finally raising my prices. Which is so scary. 😬

But here's how I've been determining pricing for the past couple of years:

I was a freelancer for years and always preferred value-based pricing over hourly.

Value-based pricing focuses on the value your service gives your client. If your service has proven impact on their business you should consider value based pricing.

As I grow into an agency, I still focus on value-based pricing > hourly rate.

But how do you determine "value"? For me it's a mix of skills & proven client results.

Since I work with Creators, Entrepreneurs and Thought Leaders, I know I can provide:

💸 3x revenue increase on average
💸 Their content getting them press mentions in major publications
💸 Increase in brand deals through proper positioning
💸 Above industry average engagement rate (10% vs 2% average)
💸 Guaranteed growth across platforms (thousands of followers monthly after hitting a ceiling)

Their new positioning as industry experts, revenue growth, platform expansion and my proven results is how I determine value.

Now there's an added layer since I have a team working on client accounts.

It's not just me anymore.

Therefore pricing changes.

How do you determine how you charge clients? Do you also focus on value-based pricing?

One dating rule I use when hiring creatives is:

→ Don't fall for potential.

Before you crucify me, hear me out.

The mistake I see people make A LOT when hiring creatives is hiring for skill but failing to hire for aesthetic alignment.

❌ They'll hire a video editor because editing takes a lot of time, and just hope they'll catch up on their visual style.

But because they didn't factor in creative style, they spend tonnes of time in revisions and hand-holding, explaining their visual preferences.

Instead of getting their time back, they simply added extra labour.

Creatives have their own style. They might excel at one aesthetic but not another.

Here's how I approached hiring a video editor for Unserious:

1️⃣ Create a moodboard & brief of what I wanted the editing vibe to be.
↳ It included video examples, graphics, colour palettes, the whole thing.

2️⃣ Have a list of certain skill non-negotiables.
↳ I wanted someone who really understood key framing, used memes in their editing, and loved sound effects.

When reviewing portfolios, I made sure to identify those specific elements.

The result:

🏆 Minimal supervision needed on my end. I barely have to give notes.
🏆 An editor who's super happy they can just have fun and be creative
🏆 Less stress around content creation because I can just sit down, write scripts & record knowing they'll bring my style to life

And remember, hiring someone with potential in a style that doesn't match yours is way more work than hiring someone whose aesthetic already aligns with your vision.

How do you hire creatives? Do you factor in their personal style, or do you focus purely on technical skills?

taplio

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