Outbound Creative

Jake Jorgerman founded Outbound Creative in July 2015 out of frustration with how most outreach happens. The industry was stuck on blanket cold email campaigns blasted to thousands of people. Jake saw an opportunity: if you're selling consulting services worth $50,000-$200,000+, why not spend a few hundred dollars on highly personalized, targeted outreach that actually gets decision makers' attention?

The company started as a one-man operation helping consulting firms and agencies land their dream clients. In the first year (July-December 2015), Jake generated approximately $25,000 in revenue while winding down a previous consultancy. The model involves a monthly retainer ($2,000-$4,000) plus commission, with Jake and his team handling 10 highly targeted outreach campaigns per client monthly. Their signature move: sending custom packages (like cakes with wax seals and personalized URLs) that lead to personalized video pitches tailored to specific decision makers.

Jake's early customers included consulting and event companies like Lighthouse Conferencing. Rather than chase every lead, he implemented a "sales teardown and strategy blueprint" consulting process ($1,950 per project, 3-week engagement) as a paid discovery mechanism. This let him vet fit before committing clients to retainers and helped him refine his ideal customer profile. By the time of this interview (early 2016), he had worked with about 10 clients total, with 5 on active retainers and another 3 in the pipeline.

The personalized physical mail approach resonated far better than expected. Jake found that combining tangible gifts with personalized video follow-ups created a "wow factor" that pushed people over the edge. However, early revenue was chaotic because Jake hadn't settled his pricing model—he eventually separated consulting/management fees from pass-through costs (mailing, physical goods) billed directly to clients. In Q1 2016, he had to pause sales hiring for two months to build out operations, a lesson in not over-extending before systems were ready. He moved aggressively away from project-based work toward recurring revenue, retaining only the paid discovery consulting.

As of early 2016, Outbound Creative had generated $50,000 in revenue year-to-date and was running $11,500 in monthly recurring revenue from retainers. Jake assembled a small team: one full-time project manager, three ramping sales reps, and various contractors for video editing and design (5 people total). His goal was ambitious—$500,000 in annual revenue for 2016—requiring significant scaling of the sales team and onboarding of new retainer clients. The math was simple: hire experienced salespeople, each handling 3+ leads monthly with a 33% close rate, and the Excel model works. The real work was executing it.