Lakeasha Jackson is a mom of 3, wife & CEO. She’s based out of Long Island, NY and works with clients nationwide.
She started her business back in 2012, and that business was formally named Jackson Designz (Now, Lakeasha & Co.) She didn’t leave her full-time job until July 2015 to really pursue the joy of being a CEO. She was so wrapped up around building and branding other people’s businesses and didn’t see that she could be doing the same for herself if she put in the same amount of work ethic she did for that 40-hour paycheck. Like most of her clients, she had to start from the ground up and design was just her league.
However, she noticed after working with multiple clients that her joy wasn’t only in building their website, it was in BRANDING THEIR PURPOSE and from there, you have Lakeasha Jackson; the Digital Marketing Strategist.
Here’s what we covered on the episode:
- How I met Lakeasha at Carolin Soldo’s From Passion to Profits LIVE event in 2016 where we connected and stayed in touch
- The story of how Lakeasha got started as a self-taught designer in 2012 because she and her husband were starting a business and were looking for someone to do the logo and website, but no one could grasp the concept she was going for
- After Lakeasha created their logo and website she realized she wanted to be a designer, so she quit her job and never looked back
- Lakeasha talks about the business her and her husband created called, Let’s Stay Married, to counsel other couples and encourage them to give marriage a second chance
- When Lakeasha was first trying to get clients, she went to networking events and joined Facebook groups, but wasn’t very successful in getting clients even though her prices were so low
- Lakeasha shares the story of how she landed her first big package deal when she went to the event in Miami with her husband
- Lakeasha’s idea for a brand in a box, where she creates everything you need to brand your business including, business cards, logo, flyers, website, and coming soon page and how she was undercharging for that service which now costs around $4,000
- When Lakeasha was first starting out, clients had to pick between the brand in a box or a website and how now there are more digital options for the brand in a box service, like digital business cards, social media flyers, social media image and marketing materials
- Lakeasha talks about the custom planners she creates for clients based on their brand, which come in the brand in a box service
- How Lakeasha only worked with female entrepreneurs in the beginning, but as she’s grown, she has more businesses looking for her than entrepreneurs so now she targets to both entrepreneurs and small businesses
- Lakeasha shares that Instagram has connected her with many of her clients and that Instagram and LinkedIn have opened many doors for her
- How Lakeasha ties her personal life into her branding on social media to keep it as real as possible with her audience and talks about how she balances being a mom, a wife and an entrepreneur through open communication with her audience
- Lakeasha explains that it’s important to include your audience in your life because they want to see that you are a real person too, so she may post that she’s at a football game, but she’ll also most that she’s up at 3 am working on a client project
- Lakeasha shares that her preferred website platforms are WordPress, Shopify, and Squarespace and she shares which one you would use based on the service-based or product-based business you have
- Why Lakeasha prefers WordPress overall because you own your website and content and have more control over your website unlike Shopify and Squarespace, where they belong to that platform
- How Lakeasha sells templates for WordPress, and currently has two out for female coaches but is looking to start another one for a males perspective
- When someone buys the website template package (which starts at $297), Lakeasha does custom updates by going in and putting their content in, putting their photos in, and putting their color scheme in- she will also do the branding as an added service if needed
- Lessons Lakeasha has learned through having her template shop is to be prepared and to stay consistent- she shares that when she posted it to the world she wasn’t expecting it to be wanted and needed right way
- Lakeasha shares that lately she’s been doing a lot of networking because she’s learned there’s nothing bigger and better than word of mouth
- Why design is important to Lakeasha
- Where people go wrong with branding and designing is combining the two – Lakeasha explains that branding is more about who you are, who you want to serve, what your client looks like and wants, whereas design is taking from your branding, putting it together in a digital way and adding design elements
- Lakeasha’s biggest tip for creatives who are trying to balance their personal life with work is to go with the flow, give yourself a timeline but also give yourself the flexibility to be available
- The process behind Lakeasha’s consultation calls is to just have a conversation with the client versus asking them a bunch of complex questions, she shares that she learns way more about them and their business that way, which helps her brand them digitally
- What Lakeasha would tell herself four years ago is to stop being so scared, own your price, own your services, own what you know, and don’t be scared to keep learning
- Connect with Lakeasha on her website, Facebook, or on Instagram
Links mentioned:
Connect with Lakeasha on Facebook
Connect with Lakeasha on Instagram
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