About Jacob Sherman

 Hey, I’m Jacob!

My work sits at the intersection of outreach, email infrastructure, and digital marketing operations. I focus on the systems that make communication work online. Not just writing outreach emails, but making sure those emails actually reach the people they’re meant for.

I started in outreach in 2022. At first it looked like a typical link building role. Building prospect lists, writing pitches, and sending emails to editors and site owners. Most of those emails were ignored, which turned out to be the best possible education. It forced me to understand what makes someone open a message, what makes them trust the sender, and what makes them actually respond.

Over time I realized something important. Outreach doesn’t fail because the pitch is bad. It fails because the system behind the pitch is broken.

Domains aren’t authenticated correctly. Sending patterns look suspicious. Inbox reputations are damaged before the first campaign even launches. A lot of outreach teams focus entirely on copy and prospecting while ignoring the infrastructure that determines whether their message even reaches the inbox.

That realization pushed me deeper into the technical side of email. I started learning how email systems actually work. DNS records, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Inbox reputation, domain warmup, and sender trust. I began building and auditing outreach environments so campaigns could scale without destroying deliverability.

Today I design the infrastructure that outreach campaigns run on. That includes domain strategy, authentication setup, inbox architecture, and the workflows that connect prospecting tools like Clay and Apollo with sending platforms like Instantly. The goal is simple. Build systems that send responsibly, maintain reputation, and reach the inbox consistently.

I’ve worked with SaaS companies, agencies, and startups to repair damaged sending reputations, launch new outreach systems from scratch, and create the operational backbone behind large-scale campaigns.

My philosophy is straightforward.

Every email you send either strengthens or damages the reputation of your domain. Every campaign either builds long term credibility or burns the sender for the next one. The teams that succeed are the ones that treat email infrastructure with the same care they treat their product or brand.

I’m drawn to the operational side of marketing because it rewards patience and clear thinking. When the infrastructure is built correctly, campaigns run smoothly, inbox placement improves, and outreach becomes far more predictable.

That’s the work I enjoy most. Building the systems that make communication actually work.

I enjoy the operational side of marketing. There’s something satisfying about taking scattered pieces and turning them into a system that works reliably. Whether it’s building a cold email infrastructure or tightening up an outreach workflow, I like creating processes that make campaigns easier to run and easier to scale.

A lot of outreach problems are not messaging problems. They’re infrastructure problems. Domains are misconfigured, inbox reputation is weak, or the sending environment was never built to handle outreach in the first place. My work focuses on fixing the systems behind the campaigns so messages actually reach the people they’re meant for.

I also believe outreach works best when it respects the people on the other side of the email. Editors, writers, and site owners are constantly flooded with low quality pitches. The campaigns that succeed are the ones that approach outreach thoughtfully, with relevance and a clear reason to connect.

My work sits between strategy and execution. I’m comfortable digging into DNS records and deliverability audits, but I also enjoy shaping the outreach strategy that leads to real placements and relationships.

I’ve worked across SaaS, healthcare, ecommerce, accessibility technology, and compliance. Every industry has its own quirks, but the fundamentals remain the same. Build a trustworthy sending environment, approach people with something meaningful, and run outreach as a system rather than a one off campaign.

That’s the work I enjoy most. Turning messy processes into something clear, reliable, and effective.

I’ve always believed the right book tends to show up when you need it.

Sometimes it’s about marketing or systems. Other times it’s about creativity, philosophy, or something completely unexpected. The books below are a few that stayed with me long after I finished them.

There’s no real theme here. Just stories I enjoyed and often find myself thinking about again.

If you’re on Goodreads, I’d love to connect there. I’m always looking for new recommendations.

Reading 1984 was a turning point for me. It was the first book that made me realize how powerful storytelling can be when it explores ideas about control, surveillance, and the manipulation of truth.

Orwell built a world where language shapes reality and logic can be twisted to support authority. That idea stuck with me. It changed the way I think about systems, power, and how narratives influence the way people see the world.

It also opened the door for me into dystopian fiction.

The Hobbit was one of the first books that completely pulled me into another world.

What stood out to me was the sense of adventure and discovery. Tolkien managed to create a world that felt alive, from the landscapes to the cultures and languages behind them. Watching an ordinary character get drawn into something far bigger than himself made the story feel both epic and personal.

It sparked my appreciation for fantasy and for the craft behind building a believable world.

A Man Called Ove surprised me.

I expected a light story, but it turned into something much deeper. Backman slowly reveals the layers of Ove’s life, showing how grief, routine, love, and quiet acts of kindness shape a person over time.

What stayed with me most was how ordinary moments carried so much weight. The book is a reminder that people are often more complicated than they first appear, and that empathy usually comes from understanding someone’s story.