How did you get into social media? Where did it all begin? It’s a question I get asked all of the time and it’s a bit of a strange one. My plan when I left full time employment, didn’t go to plan, at all.
I won’t go into too much detail but essentially I agreed a freelance role with a local advertising sales company, two chaps had collaborated, they were experienced business men and the deal seemed great. I was quickly setup with an email address, provided with business cards, some sales & marketing materials and off I went.
My first month went by and I made some sales. It was ok, and part of my long term plan so I could definitely see myself sticking to it and very much using it as a stepping stone to launching my own media agency. It got me out of my full time job and offered that “safety” element I felt I needed.
So… Great!
First month down. I sent over my first invoice, excited that my plan was coming together. I thought ok, I’ll give it up to a week to receive payment, then chase it IF they don’t pay it, but I am sure they will, I’m not really sure how this works, so we will see.
The first week went by and I chased the main guy I was in contact with, he said that they had the invoice and the other chap would pay it… He didn’t.
To cut a long story short I ended up working for this company for 6 weeks, YES, 6 weeks, without ANY payment. HOW? I hear you ask. I thought if I kept working they’ll pay me eventually, I had enough money in the bank to keep me afloat for a bit and I didn’t want to cause too much of a fuss. After all, we had an agreement.
BIG mistake.
We had an agreement, I had an email address, proof I’d worked, how could this have happened? I called, I emailed, I even ended up threatening court action, nothing worked, nearly £5000 out of pocket and neither of these guys cared.
A woman scorned, I NEEDED to get my money or at very least expose these men. After some research, I found I was not the first woman that they had done this too. After more research I found a networking event that the two men regularly attended in London, an event which also sold tickets available to the public. I suggested that I meet them at said event to discuss the matter in person or perhaps speak to one of their fellow business community members to seek advice on how to manage the matter. Within 24 hours I received full payment.
WTF?! This had seriously consumed me, messed with my mental health, I was jobless and scared and it was a hard lesson to learn. BUT one I needed to learn, and I am so glad I learned it so quickly!
I am all about marketing and advertising. I know radio, tv, print, digital advertising and strategy is my thing. So I thought, why not apply all of this to social media?! It’s accessible, it’s free, its applicable to businesses of all sizes and I KNOW THIS STUFF.
I embarked on a journey of social media discovery, how to use social media for business, the right platforms for the right campaign, content creation, follower and community growth tactics and design… It was crazy! I heavily invested in learning the technical stuff, the creative stuff and I got qualified. With that, I launched She’s Sassy Media.
Tip:
Failure;
Don’t be afraid to fail, I learned lessons quickly, it made me stronger, gave me confidence and led me to where I am today. If you don’t fail, you don’t learn and if you don’t learn, you don’t grow. Don’t be afraid to fail, it’s your biggest friend.
Here’s how to do it:
Get an idea
Write down some goals
Is it legit?
Go for it!
Stay sassy!
If you want some help, get in touch here!
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