Today we’d like to introduce you to Alaine Jacobs.
Hi Alaine, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I come from a family of successful entrepreneurs, and so it was almost inevitable that at least a few of us in my family would strike out on our own- except I had no idea that I was going to be one of those people! I am a former high school teacher who decided to become a stay-at-home mom when my first child was born deaf and received cochlear implants.
He needed several different types of therapies, and so I stayed home so that one person could be in charge of his therapies and practicing his goals. Three kids later (and my second child also receiving cochlear implants), and I still love staying home with my kids! I also started looking for a way to make a little extra income, however, it needed to be a job that I could do while at home with my kids, on my own time (no set hours) and I could charge a higher price for providing an in-demand service.
Digital Marketing checked all of those boxes and I dove into starting my own digital marketing business, providing Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns and email marketing to local businesses. I never had a desire to start my own business, however, being a mom three times over makes you brave and feel like you can take on anything. To my surprise, I love owning my own business and adding value to the community in the way of helping business owners grow their visibility and more effectively market their services or products.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I quickly learned that starting and growing your own business is no easy task! It is so hard to get those first few clients. Especially in today’s world, you have many more marketing venues with social media. I found that growing a social media following and creating and posting content consistently is a full-time job in itself! I struggled to find the best places to market to my audience. I wanted to be everywhere and market to anyone, and it took me a while to learn that I needed to find my audience and market in those locations only.
I also struggled to find the balance between working and being a mom. I still want to do all of the things with my kids- school drop-offs and pick-ups, playing with the kids, spending time together as a family. However, starting a business takes extra time to set up all of the processes. I learned to set “work hours” on the days when two of the kids are at school and the baby is taking a nap. I have gotten really good at the “nap time hustle!” I also am intentional about asking my husband to take care of the kids during some nights or on weekends when I have some extra projects to finish. I am still fine-tuning the schedule and work hours, but from the very beginning of my business, my goal has been to work intentionally and efficiently so I can maximize my work in as little time as possible.
Mindset has also been a struggle. There are times when I have been really confident about my business, and other times when the confidence wanes. I learned that this is a normal part of being a business owner! When I am having a day with a lot of doubts I sit with those thoughts and really feel them. Then I intentionally decide to put those negative thoughts away and remind myself that I offer a valuable service to the community. This is still a work in progress!
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The name of my business, Hearo Digital Marketing, is derived from my two sons who have cochlear implants. In the hearing loss world, parents of kids with hearing aids or cochlear implants often refer to their kids as “hears”… should be “hearos”… you will probably have to go back and make sure it doesn’t autocorrect it … because the kids work so hard to overcome obstacles of hearing loss and speech therapy early in life. When I created the business I knew that I wanted to add a “mission” or “awareness” component.
In addition to digital marketing, I also educate about hearing loss and cochlear implants, because it was not something that I knew about until I had my two sons, as they are the first people born in our families with hearing loss. Additionally, in 2022 my goal is to find an organization that provides cochlear implants and hearing aids to low-income families and donates a portion of my sales to support that organization. I am currently searching for an organization like this to support and partner with! So my clients can feel even better about hiring me, knowing that a portion of what they pay is going to help low-income families be able to afford life-changing hearing devices for their children.
As far as what I do in my business, I help businesses grow their revenue and visibility through using digital paid ads (Facebook and Instagram ads) and I provide email marketing support. My offerings range from simple ads campaigns to promote products and services or grow an email list, to a more extensive sales funnel to reach new and existing audiences. With email marketing, I offer services ranging from writing a single marketing email to creating a full email marketing campaign and automating the process for the client.
My favorite part about my business is that it helps smaller businesses get visibility just like the big companies and without having to rely solely on posting on social media to get their message out. Social media platforms are always changing and you never know who is seeing your content. I love providing the option of digital ads and email marketing to smaller businesses because it can be effective on a budget as you can put your offer or service in front of your ideal client by targeting specific audiences. And your ads campaigns can get more extensive as your business grows and generates more revenue.
I am proud to offer the ultimate “service” business- as my business grows that means other businesses are growing as well, which impacts everyone in the local community. I believe that there is a place for everyone and every type of business and I love watching clients be able to scale their businesses and what it means for them personally and with their families to be able to grow their business.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I definitely see that there will continue to be a place for digital ads as social media platforms continue to evolve and possibly become less reliable to effectively market your product or service on just your social page alone. I already see a big push for email marketing as well as businesses are learning what a powerful sales tool that growing and nurturing an email list is for their business.
Contact Info:
- Email: alainejacobs@hearo-marketing.com
- Website: www.hearo-marketing.com
- Instagram: @hearodigitalmktg
- Facebook: hearodigitalmktg
Image Credits
Megan Ocampo of Megan Nicole Photography
