February 18th marks the anniversary of me leaving a well-paid contract role in the corporate world and going all-in on a freelancing career.
Little did I know how brilliant my timing was, starting a full-time, home-based job. Within a month the rest of the country had copied me as we went into lockdown thanks to the coronavirus pandemic!
So I thought I’d look back on my first year and review how it’s gone, and answer the question which has been on my mind the whole time; is it a sustainable move or would I need to pivot back into corporate life again to be able to afford to pay the mortgage.
This posts contains affiliate links to the tools I’ve used which may earn me a small commission if a purchase is made.
26 Clients
The most important thing for me are my clients, and I’ve managed to invoice 26 different businesses in the past 12 months. I have built strong relationships with people in a wide range of industries. From the world of high spec electronics to a weight loss coach, from an online t-shirt store to a comedy writer – and so many more!
I think the lesson here is that there are many businesses that either weren’t impacted by the pandemic, or who used their downtime wisely and invested in their websites and marketing. Some of my clients have never been busier, and I’ve loved supporting them throughout this period as we all readjust.
14 Websites
In this past calendar year I’ve built an astonishing 14 websites. They include two online shops, and I’ve learned so much in that time. All the websites have been built in WordPress using the Flatsome theme.
What I’m especially proud of is how many scooter websites I’ve built, as the scene means so much to me. From the British Scooter Rallies Association to the Mersea Island Scooter Rally, the scooter t-shirts site for Crusader Promotions and Jon Betts’ JB Fabrication shop. Other websites that I’ve built for scooterists include SB Interiors for Steve Brady and the Roar 4 Change weight loss site for his lovely wife Sarah. And there are many more – you can see them all in my portfolio.
Then there’s Summerley Recruitment, the recruitment website I built for my son, Sam, which includes a job board for candidates to search for their next role.
250 social media posts
When I was first asked to write social media posts by a client I must admit that I wasn’t too enthusiastic. I had the great fortune to find an experienced social media manager within my family – Daisy Hickman – who was more than happy to help me out on a freelance basis. But as more and more clients asked me, we both shared the load and I actually started to enjoy it!
I joined the Janet Murray Membership Programme and learned loads about building an online audience, including many of the tools which can help, like graphics tool Canva and scheduling tool Publer.
As a team, Daisy and I have written over 250 posts for a wide range of clients. My own social media isn’t great, simply because I’d rather spend my time on client work. I promised myself that when it got quieter then I’d make more effort, but that quiet period never came! Having said that, however, I’ve gained new business through my own channels so it goes to show that you don’t need to post ten times a day to be successful.
112 Blog posts
I can’t believe how many blogs we’ve written this year for clients. Jo Jackson has helped with a few but I’ve written the majority myself, on a diverse range of subjects!
There are various cancer articles on New Life Outlook, the US medical site I’ve been writing for over the past couple of years. I write about the joys of business process automation for Solvaa, for example ‘Why virtual assistants should learn about automation‘. And one that I wrote for Photronix on ‘Why are printed circuit boards green?‘
And that’s just a few examples from a very busy year.
4 Power hours
My most recent service is the mighty Power Hour. These are a focused 1:1 session by Zoom to either just pick my brain, or learn about automation, write 3 months worth of social media content or any other subject you like! I’ve conducted four of these so far and they’ve been a great success. You can read more about my power hours here.
91 Support tickets
It’s fair to say that my life has been made a whole lot easier due to the fantastic support I get from my web hosting company, Lyrical Host. It really is quite extraordinary and their response is always so quick, even in the evenings and on weekends. They have helped me choose plugins, conducted many migrations for my clients and advised on security issues. It’s like having my own personal tech support team!
Expenses
As well as Daisy I’ve used other contactors when I’ve needed to delegate, either because I’m too busy or they are better at doing things than me. As well as writing for me, Jo Jackson has conducted social media reviews and provided ad-hoc consultancy. I think I’m quite good at knowing when to outsource, and extremely lucky that I have such reliable people to draw on when needed.
I’ve invested in quite a few software tools this year. Although many apps have free versions, sometimes it’s worthwhile paying for the extra features in the paid upgrades.
Examples of pro versions I’ve bought include Dubsado (a CRM, which is worth the money just for their diary booking system), Zapier (I love automating manual tasks!) and Keysearch for keyword research. Quite often these apps save me time, which makes them a great investment. I’d rather not do manual tasks if I can avoid it!
I’ve also invested in training. I am constantly learning whether it’s listening to podcasts, participating in webinars, online challenges or just reading. But sometimes I pay for training to get a more 1:1 experience. I’ll admit that some of them have turned out to be duds, but the others more than make up for it. The Janet Murray membership has led to me being able to offer more services to my clients and is the main reason I enjoy social media content writing. I got a great Black Friday deal for Suzanne Dibble’s legal academy, which gives me a wealth of templates, contracts and other stuff which I need to protect my business (she’s got a sale on in early March too).
I love a Black Friday deal and that’s when I buy things like stock images, so that I have plenty of credits for the year ahead. I use Freepik and DepositPhotos mainly, which have a wide selection at a great price.
In the past couple of months I’ve also invested in a new home office – but I’ll write more about that in my next blog post!
A truly online business
What the pandemic has proved is that I can work perfectly well without face-to-face contact. This means that it doesn’t matter where my clients are, whether they are based in the UK or anywhere in the world, as I can support them remotely. The only restriction is when I need to take photos, but I’ve still managed to do some local shoots at a social distance.
I’ve learned to embrace Zoom too. This time last year I hated video calls with a passion! Now I love them, and have met some great people – there’s nothing like seeing a new face when you’re stuck inside with just your family for company. It’s so much nicer than just a phone call, just seeing someone smiling and interacting with you. I never wear makeup, am suffering from a DIY lockdown haircut currently, but none of that matters as much as connecting with another team.
It bodes well for my long term dream, to be a digital nomad and work from another country for a while.
Who knows, once we are allowed to travel again it could actually happen!
Lessons I’ve learned
My first year has been super busy. I deliberately slowed down for Christmas just to have a break over the holidays, but otherwise I’m usually flat out. I admit that I often work in the evenings, and at weekends, but that’s so I can be flexible with my weekdays. With homeschooling responsibilities (13 year old boys aren’t willing learners, in my experience!) as well as other distractions such as medical appointments, exercise and seeing my Mum.
I certainly wouldn’t have had the joy of so many early morning paddle-boarding sessions last summer if I’d been working a normal 9-5 job.
But that’s why I made this giant leap into the unknown – to have a flexible lifestyle, and you can’t skive off in the day without needing to catch up sometime.
What has kept me going though is my motivation; I really love what I do and could honestly work 24/7 if I could – I don’t get bored. I reckon I could build a website in one sitting if I didn’t have to sleep! I’m quite a driven person anyway, so it’s nice to channel that drive into my own business rather than someone else’s.
What has surprised me
The most surprising thing to me has been the wide range of services I’ve provided. I went into this new phase of my life expecting to be building websites full-time, but that has only taken up a third of my time, roughly.
The other two-thirds has been doing things like:
- Writing social media posts
- Writing blog posts
- Designing graphics for websites, social media, logos etc
- Conducting competitor research
- Providing website audits
- Email marketing
- Analysing website data and providing stats for clients
- Designing e-books and PDF downloads
- Taking photos for websites and social media
…and many other things which I’ve forgotten!
Is it sustainable?
My big worry was whether I’d be able to earn enough as a freelancer to pay the bills, and luckily the answer to that question (so far) is YES.
I do work much longer hours for less pay but I really enjoy what I do and can earn enough. It’s not going to make me rich but quality of life is extremely important to me and the thought that I can do this anywhere in the world is what spurs me on. I may not be working from the beach in Santa Monica next year, or even the year after, but I’d like to think that it’s a possibility when I’m not needed as a Mum so much. It’s a nice dream, and could become a reality one day!
What’s really important to me is to support my clients, build meaningful, long term relationships and be easy to work with. My mission is to take the hassle out of anything digital for them, whether it’s their online presence, an email newsletter or taking nice team photos. I want to be their go-to person, and if I can’t do it myself then I’ll hopefully know a man (or woman) who can!
If you’d like to work with me then why not book a discovery call for a chat?