Meanwhile, some people think being self-employed means a life where you can wake up when you want, go to bed when you want, go out when you want, in between drinking champagne on a yacht. Well, that ain’t it! While being self-employed, I’ve learned that it involves sacrifices bigger than I could have ever imagined, that income is not guaranteed, that you can lose all you achieved in a second, and that you can end up working round the clock. I may have to have a call with partners in China at 1 a.m., or a call with clients in LA at 9 p.m. – ‘free time’ is not in my vocabulary.
Of course I’m grateful for everything I’ve achieved. I’ve had so many amazing experiences. But I don’t mind saying that there are times when I wish I could just go back to one of my regular jobs. Even though I’m established, I work ten times harder than I used to as an employee (at least, it feels that way!) because there’s a little voice in my head telling me that it won’t last for ever. I’ve got to always be thinking ten steps ahead: if everything crumbles, what would I do? With that in mind, I’ve made sure I have some money saved up and a back-up plan, just in case I ever need to make the switch to something else. If it all disappears, I’ll go into marketing and digital advertising, because it’s what I know about and genuinely enjoy. In fact, that would be my dream career if I wasn’t doing what I’m doing. That’s my plan B and I think everyone should have one. Having a back-up plan doesn’t for a second mean I’m not pushing full steam ahead and committed to the path I’m on, but it gives me peace of mind.
… And about being an influencer
So now we’ve covered ‘girlboss’ myths, let’s move on to those around being a social media influencer – and if you’ve picked up this book it’s probably something you want to know more about. I know there are lots of misconceptions. The thing I hear most often is that we make money for doing nothing. The reality is that we’re just like most self-employed people. We are creating, distributing, working with customers and partners, we’re investing thousands of pounds in our equipment and we’re at risk of losing all of it at the drop of a hat. Like everyone who works for themselves, we have sleepless nights and worry about what’s going to happen next. For those who want job security, who want consistency, who want guaranteed money, who want overnight success, this isn’t the industry. You can be popular today, and – one Twitterstorm later – public enemy number one. You can find yourself working for free for weeks for the ‘exposure’ (which you can’t pay a mortgage with). You can even work for an agreed fee for months and not receive a penny. There is no trade union for bloggers!
HOW I LOST £60K
Cue my own horror story. In the not too distant past, I worked on a number of projects with huge brands via an agency. These were very recognisable brands and, when I was approached to create content for them, I was beyond excited to have been considered for the work. The payment terms were three months, which was a long time to wait to be paid, but I was willing to take the risk bearing in mind their calibre. I delivered video content for the brands and it was shared globally on their social platforms. My face was everywhere, and I was really proud.
But three days before my payment was due, I received a call that the agency involved in the deal had gone bankrupt … and I had lost £60,000 in one fell swoop. At the time, I had a three-month-old baby, a mortgage and a loft conversion that still needed to be paid for. Yep, that happened. In a moment of delirium I actually laughed, and then I cried. I spoke to my solicitors and my accountant. ‘Unfortunately, the agency have to pay all their creditors first, and maybe in five years from now, you might get a pittance after they’ve paid their landlords, their taxes and their employees, who haven’t been paid their salaries.’ I was at the back of the queue. I then reached out to the brands that still had my content on their platforms, and asked if there was anything they could do. I received one uniform response: no.
A number of other influencers were in the same situation, so I wasn’t alone. I’m not holding my breath for that money now. And, of course, stories like this aren’t confined to the social media world. Talking to other people who run their own businesses, I’ve learned that it’s all part of the wild ride. I tell you all this to show you that the life of an influencer is not all filters and flights.
Now the good news
Haven’t put you off yet? Good! Because, despite all the risks, I absolutely love working for myself and running my own business, especially one based around social media. It’s true – being an entrepreneur is not easy and it’s not for everyone. But for those who do want to be their own boss and are willing to put in the work, it’s incredibly rewarding. The career I’ve built means I get to go to wonderful places; I get to try new products and test everything out before it hits the market; and I get to create my own product-based businesses, all because of the relationship I have with my online community. And most importantly, I get to share what I enjoy every single day with people who actually want to hear it. That’s crazy!
Those are the highlights for me. For others it may be the autonomy they enjoy, or the flexibility in terms of organising their life outside of a traditional office. In fact, there’s research showing that, despite not knowing where the next pay cheque is coming from, self-employed people are happier than employees. A recent study from the universities of Sheffield and Exeter involving 5,000 people from around the world found that those who worked for themselves ‘were not only amongst the most engaged but also experienced greater opportunities for innovation, achieving challenging targets and meeting high standards’.1 All that, plus you get to dodge the rush-hour commute #WINNING. Even if you don’t want to go it alone – or not yet, anyway – lots of what I’m going to tell you still applies. Because, really, you’re always working for yourself and your future (whatever your manager thinks).
How I started (stumbled into) being an ‘entrepreneur’
So, as you already know, I got my start in the City. I had a good salary, but meanwhile I continued my hobby of posting YouTube videos on the side. In time, I started making a small amount of money from the adverts played alongside my videos here and there, which was a nice bonus. I remember when I received my first payment from Google AdSense (I’d signed up to their programme that puts advertising on your content) of £60! When I saw it on the computer screen, I was so happy that I could make a little extra cash for drinks and so on, simply by doing something I enjoyed in my free time. I’d only been going for a year or two, making videos on fashion, beauty and makeup, and at this point I still didn’t expect this to be my main business. If anything, I was spending way more on clothing, makeup and camera equipment than I was making, as I enjoyed it so much! I remember one of my early requests, as a present from my hubby, was for a new camera costing around £200, which felt like a lot at the time. Back then, my friends and family were surprised that I was spending so much on something that was, after all, just a hobby. Little did they know that I was investing in my future.
After a while that £60 turned into £600. But I was totally naive, and didn’t know to tell the taxman about it. I was just enjoying the additional income. I found out later that not declaring this extra income would come back to bite me in the butt … but for now I was blissfully unaware. My career continued to move forward, and despite being made redundant from my first job during huge staff cuts, I was able to move on to working as a consultant in the City, then within an international financial institution.
But, even though I was becoming more and more settled in my career, the hobby that I’d been busy with in the evenings and every weekend for the past few years had begun to make me £2,000–£3,000 every month, and I was starting to receive offers for work and collaborations from companies and brands. Almost without meaning to, I’d developed my hobby into a fully fledged side business that was close to matching my City salary!
My first big deal
I remember when I booked my first four-figure deal with a brand. I didn’t have a specific fee or rate,