From Hesitant to Thriving: How a Marketing Consultant Built Her Business by Creating Community & Joy

Are you struggling to market yourself as a consultant? What if the secret isn't just about selling your services, but about building communities that naturally attract your ideal clients?

In this episode, host AJ Riedel talks to Jessica Powell, owner and brand amplifier at Social Balances, a marketing consultant who specializes in helping early-stage companies that need marketing magic but can't afford a full-time CMO.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

How to overcome the fear of becoming a self-employed consultant and when it's time to make the leap
The power of "leading with the need" in your marketing messaging and why it's crucial for attracting clients
Why hiring experts and outsourcing tasks you don't enjoy is essential for business growth and personal fulfillment
How to build communities that benefit both your clients and your business through strategic networking
The importance of belief and mindset in sustaining a successful consulting practice
Practical marketing strategies for consultants with limited time and resources, including content batching
How to create recurring revenue streams while pursuing bigger, more lucrative contracts

Why You Should Listen to This Episode

Self-employed consultants will discover Jessica's unique approach to "marketing magic" that goes beyond traditional tactics to focus on authentic relationship building and community creation. Her insights on balancing personal brand development with ecosystem building offer a fresh perspective on sustainable business growth. Jessica's three pieces of advice for struggling consultants provide actionable steps that can immediately transform how you approach your business development.

Listen to These Key Moments:

[00:01:44] - Listen for the Echo: When Everyone Says the Same Thing: Jessica explains how multiple people from different industries kept asking why she didn't have her own agency, and how working with a coach helped her realize this was the path to achieve her vision.

[00:03:09] - The Philosophy of Outsourcing for Joy: Learn why Jessica believes in hiring experts for everything from pool maintenance to business coaching, and how this approach allows you to focus on what you do best while maintaining happiness.

[00:05:19] - The Joy Filter: Making Decisions Based on Alignment: Jessica shares her number one value of intentionally creating a life of joy and how she filters business decisions through this lens to ensure long-term success.

[00:08:51] - Marketing Magic Defined: It's Really Just People: Discover what "marketing magic" actually means in practical terms - knowing your audience, crafting the right messaging, and leading with customer needs rather than features.

[00:11:24] - Leading with the Need: Why Humans Are Inherently Selfish: Jessica explains why successful marketing must tap into the fundamental human question "what's in it for me" and how emotions drive all purchasing decisions.

[00:14:10] - Patterns of Successful Entrepreneurs from 1,300 Founder Stories: Learn the key traits Jessica noticed among successful entrepreneurs: surrounding themselves with smarter people, humility, listening more than speaking, embracing failure, and having realistic expectations.

[00:18:24] - Building Back to KC: Creating Community While Building Personal Brand: Jessica shares how she co-created a community for former Kansas City residents while simultaneously developing her own marketing consultancy, showing how to balance ecosystem building with personal branding.

[00:21:24] - The Wednesday Meetup Strategy: How Community Events Generate Leads: A detailed example of how Jessica organized a founder/investor meetup that resulted in 150 new leads for a sponsor, demonstrating the power of strategic community building.

[00:26:08] - Belief as the Foundation: The Most Important Mindset Shift: Jessica reveals why belief is her most crucial mindset shift and how she feeds that belief daily through remembering her goals, having fun, and surrounding herself with affirming people.

[00:29:01] - Batching Content Creation: Marketing Efficiency for Busy Consultants: Practical advice on scheduling content creation in batches using AI tools and social media schedulers to avoid the daily marketing burden.

[00:33:23] - Creating Multiple Revenue Streams: Recurring vs. Project-Based Income: Jessica explains her strategy of maintaining recurring revenue clients for stability while pursuing larger, project-based contracts for growth.

[00:35:23] - Three Pieces of Advice for Consultants: Jessica's final wisdom: find people at the top of the mountain willing to help, choose a different perspective when struggling, and remember that nothing stays the same forever - try something new.