A Note Before You Dig In
My active social media focus right now is LinkedIn. It's where I've built my audience, generated leads, and gotten measurable results for my own business. I don't currently manage social media for clients, but I know how, I've done it, and honestly? I'm ready to get back into it in the right context — ideally as part of a larger role where I have the time, products, and creative runway to do it well.
A lot of the social content in this portfolio is from 2021–2022. Instagram and TikTok have changed enormously since then, and I want to be upfront about that. If I were creating this content today, I'd be shooting much differently with platform-native editing, formatting and a shot list that hits the marks native users look for, leaning harder into trends and audio, building around hooks in the first two seconds, and thinking about each piece of content as part of a system rather than a one-off post.
The bones of what I was doing then (authentic storytelling, genuine product integration, community building) are fundamentals still hold true. The execution would look very different, though.
What you'll find here is proof of concept, not a highlight reel of my current best work. Use it as a window into what I understand about content, audiences, and brand voice — and ask me what I'd do with it now. I’m happy to build you an example content plan with comps, formats, inspo, etc. to give you a better sense of how I’d build a social strategy for your brand.
LinkedIn is my main channel for marketing MeltzerSeltzer, my freelance coaching business. As a B2B brand targeting freelancers, solopreneurs, and small business owners, LinkedIn is where my buyers actually live and look for advice on their businesses. My audience skews toward senior-level professionals and founders at small companies, many of whom are themselves navigating the freelance-to-business transition. Unlike Instagram, which rewards volume and visual polish, LinkedIn rewards expertise and personality — a combination I can execute consistently and efficiently without burning out.
Efficient by Design
The ROI on my time is the main reason LinkedIn has become my anchor platform. I spend roughly one hour per week on content, and I'm getting four times (honestly, more now) the results I was seeing on Instagram with significantly more effort. Rather than chasing reach through volume, I've built a focused strategy around five high-performing formats — follower roundup posts, tactical how-tos, vulnerable operator stories, money transparency posts, and soft-sell story-first content. These are all reverse-engineered from two-plus years of my own data so I’m mostly only posting what I know will work.
The Numbers
Across 196 posts analyzed between February 2024 and May 2026, my content has generated 694K impressions, reaching over 53K unique members. Engagement more than doubled year over year, growing from 1,223 engagements in Q2 2025 to 2,509 by Q1 2026 — which is the metric I actually optimize for, since engagement drives DMs, discovery calls, and course enrollments. I have nearly 10k followers and grew that in just under two years. LinkedIn is consistently my top lead source for both the LinkedIn Challenge and the Freelance Resource Library.
Instagram: 2017–2024
I started my Instagram account in October 2017 to document my Appalachian Trail thru-hike and drive traffic to my blog. Over the course of my 6 month thru-hike, I raised nearly $12,000 through a donation button on my blog, with roughly 85% of that traffic coming directly from Instagram. At its peak, the account reached around 8,000 followers and became the primary hub for my outdoor lifestyle content: trail journals, vanlife, gear reviews, and the kind of unfiltered personal storytelling that built a deeply engaged and loyal audience.
That audience translated into business results after my hike was over. Over the life of the account, I acquired 45+ coaching clients, many of whom came to me because they wanted the lifestyle I was living and saw freelancing as the path to get there. I also completed affiliate partnerships with La Sportiva (2018–2020), Wanderer's Outpost (2021–2023), and Stio (2022), creating gifted product content in exchange for affiliate commissions on sales. Deliverables typically included 2–5 Stories, 2 Reels, and 1 feed post per package.
I made the deliberate decision to delete the account in October 2024. The core issue was ROI and audience fit: I was spending roughly 14 hours a week on Instagram to generate a handful of coaching sign-ups, while spending one hour a week on LinkedIn to generate 50+. My Instagram audience skewed toward outdoor enthusiasts who loved the lifestyle but weren't the right buyer for high-ticket coaching. LinkedIn put me directly in front of the ex-corporate professionals and established freelancers who were. Deleting the account was a strategic call to avoid confusion.
Most Relevant Instagram Posts:
Note: this content was produced in 2021–2022 — social media has changed significantly since then, and I'd approach both the creative and strategy quite differently today.
- Affiliate Content – Stio
- Affiliate Content - Wander’s Outpost / Darn Tough / PrAna
- Affiliate Content - Wanderer’s Outpost / Carve Designs
TikTok Edits
I don't currently post on my own TikTok — not because I don't understand the platform, but because building a personal brand presence there isn't where my time and energy have made sense as a solo operator. Behind the scenes, I've been editing TikTok content for another creator as she builds her presence, so I'm actively in the ecosystem: cutting for hooks, pacing for retention, tracking what's landing well right now.
What I'm ready for is a brand. Given the right products, time, and creative latitude, I know exactly what I'd build and CapCut is my editing tool of choice for staying native to the platform's aesthetic. If you're interested in what a TikTok content strategy could look like for your brand, I'm happy to put together a mini strategy and inspiration deck as part of any conversation about working together.
Edits I’ve done for other creators:
View more edits in this drafts folder →
YouTube
YouTube plays a supporting role in my MeltzerSeltzer marketing ecosystem rather than a primary growth channel. I use it as a home for searchable content that can be binged. It hosts tutorials, webinar replays, and video episodes from my podcast that continue to drive inbound traffic long after it's published. It's not where I spend significant time or energy, and my metrics reflect that.
What YouTube does well for me is SEO. Embedding videos into blog posts and course pages (like my free Get Started Freelancing mini-course) adds dwell time and on-page engagement signals that support my site's organic search performance. Videos also give me a second surface for discoverability: someone searching for "how to start freelancing" or "how to get clients on LinkedIn" can find me on YouTube the same way they might find a blog post.
The result is a low-maintenance channel that punches above its weight. I'm not optimizing for subscribers or viral reach. I'm using YouTube as an evergreen content library that works in the background, supporting my SEO, extending the shelf life of webinars and podcast episodes, and occasionally sending a warm lead my way from search.
