Going Freelance, My Favorite Social Accounts, and More!
All of your burning social media questions, answered.
Today’s newsletter interview was delayed last minute due to the most social media reason ever: the brand’s social announcement that was being highlighted got pushed. Classic! But fear not, I asked my Instagram audience to submit all their burning social media questions for me to answer below.
Also, while I have you, I just want to say we hit a very exciting Link in Bio milestone: 15,000 subscribers! I am so grateful! Thank you to everyone who subscribes, forwards, and shares this newsletter. There’s some very exciting news coming soon 👀.
Okay, let’s get to the questions!
😡 Any tips for separating yourself from the post performance = self worth? It’s vicious!
I still get upset when I think I’ve had a super clever idea and then the audience just does not engage. But at the end of the day, if I am building a holistic social media strategy that I love and believe in, then those one-off misses don’t get to me as much. They are just learnings for the future! It’s more when I’ve posted something just to please the algorithm or chase some viral high that I end up equating it to my self worth. Because not only did something tank, but I posted something that I didn’t even believe in in the first place.
Build a strong strategy, test new things, make mistakes, learn from them, and keep it moving. And when all else fails…blame the algorithm.
😨 How do you manage the fear of going freelance?
I get this question a lot and I’ve avoided talking about it because my experience wasn’t normal and I’m not sure how much there is to learn from it. So before I give any advice it feels important to note: I was leaving a job where I had grown a personal social media following for my work, I was living at home at the time I actually left my job, and I had already received some emails asking for me to freelance for various brands. All of those things greatly reduced the amount of fear I had to go freelance and it’d be unfair to pretend like they didn’t. That being said, I have learned a few things along the way and feel comfortable sharing some more general advice:
Try and line up 1-2 clients before you leave your job. Even if these aren’t dream clients, knowing you’ll have income as soon as you leave your job is extremely helpful. Quietly ask around your network and apply to social freelance job postings.
Save up some money! The amount I’d make in a month varied so much when I first went freelance—knowing I had some money saved up really helped me feel okay with those fluctuations.
Once you’ve left your job, announce to your network that you’re going freelance. No matter the size of your social audience, it’s so helpful to let people know what you’re up to. I was surprised at how many brands needed social help!
Charge more than you think you should. I asked other freelancers what they charged for both projects and hourly which helped me find a good rate for myself. If freelancers don’t share their rates with you that’s very lame.
Build a network of other freelancers. I have been at bandwidth basically since I started consulting and am almost always referring people for projects. Connecting with other social freelancers and letting them know you’re open to being referred is huge.
Brag! You are your own marketer. Let people know all the cool shit you’ve been working on.
Finally, find a good accountant.
🎥 What is your favorite video content editing app?
I edit all of my Reels and TikToks in InShot. I will say that TikTok just updated their video editing user experience and it’s so much better. I think eventually both TikTok and IG will invest in and build out their video editing capabilities, but until then InShot all the way.
💰 How to ask for a raise in social???
Use this survey! I think coming prepared with a target number, based on data, is always very helpful.
I also found that when I was a one person social team, my title was “social media manager” but I was really performing the duties of a “social media director”. Asking my manager how to elevate to that role and putting it on them to verbalize the exact steps I needed to take was key. Mainly because they couldn’t really verbalize it! When you’re a one person social team you’re basically doing it all—and there’s not much someone can say you need to do more of. That conversation then made it easier for me to make a case during reviews.
🌟 Who are some of your favorite brands to follow on social?
Here’s a list of the first handful that come to mind:
🎞️ For Reels, should I use the TikTok logo version or upload straight video?
Definitely upload the original video. I am fairly certain IG dings you if you upload a video with a TikTok watermark. If you edited it in TikTok and there’s no version of it without the watermark, you can use a sketchy (but useful) site like this to remove the watermark.
📱 Do you have any advice for those of us doing social media for nonprofits?
I’ve got a whole newsletter dedicated to that! Read it here.
🐥 How to get into the field with no formal experience?
Choose an industry that you’re already passionate about (for me it was food) and apply to entry level social media jobs within that specific field. When I am hiring for a social role, I care a lot less about if you know a specific scheduling tool or can write a perfect caption, and care more about if you love the industry you’re in and the community you’re going to be speaking to.
Looking for a job in social media? Want to list the social job you’re hiring for?
Check out the Link in Bio job board here!
This was really insightful, thank you! I'd love to know more about how you made the case for the job title change from manager to director. I can imagine many people are in a similar situation in small-scale companies.
Highly recommend looking at @heyrooted ‘s social content! They’re so funny and very on brand