A great influencer is more than the sum of their parts—despite Jacob’s influence, he prefers to say he’s a photographer. We’d also call him an international entrepreneur. From Seattle to Dubai to Taipei, Jacob has truly been around the globe. Originally from the UK, in the past four years he has worked with top destinations, luxury resorts, and a wide variety of top brands including Amazon, Audible, BMW and Beautiful Destinations. He has also amassed an Instagram following of over 800 thousand (experiencing around 17% growth in 2018), founded his own media company, and offers photo presets and photography workshops.
Jacob is obviously very busy. So, what usually leads him to take on a new project? We caught up with him to find out:
1. It has to fit with his personal brand and feel genuine.
Authenticity is very important for Jacob, and for any great influencer. “I want my followers (if that is who is seeing it) to believe in what I am talking about.”
2. It has to be a good challenge.
Jacob could of course go and take ‘normal’ pictures for a destination, but being challenged is more interesting—“I love being challenged and putting my skills to the test.”
3. It has to be fun!
Fun plays a huge part of any project, especially when creating content for companies and destinations: “I recently got to skydive out off a helicopter for an UBER job!” The happier the influencer, the better the content.
He also fully recognizes the competition that goes into being a first-rate travel photographer—one of his biggest challenges is being different:
“This space is so saturated with photographers…I have always focused on trying to think outside the box and be ahead of the curve.”
We’d say he’s been pretty successful on this front.
This excerpt is part 1 of a 3-part series of interviews with top influencers. For access to the complete interviews and actionable insights designed to elevate your influencer marketing strategy, check out our brand new edition of Boom Insights: Influencer Marketing.