Working for a corporate can be fun, the drinks after work, the team builds’, it’s great. I wanted to be my own boss by the time I turned 30, so I started freelancing a year ago when I was 29 years old. I wanted a new challenge and this was my biggest challenge yet. Becoming financially independent. I gave myself three months and told myself if I didn’t make it, I would go back to agency life. There will always be companies looking to hire, right?
I cried for the first few days as a freelancer as I wasn’t sure where to start, then I had to remind myself that I do PR for a living and I needed to start PR’ing myself, which is exactly what I did. I started writing op-eds about business which were published in t5he likes of Glamour magazine, Entrepreneur, All4Women, Prestige, and the Media Update to name a few. I then started promoting myself on LinkedIn and social media telling my audience that I was looking for work.
You’ll be amazed at how many people want to see you succeed. Almost immediately, I started an onsite 6-month contract at MultiChoice, I then moved on to a 2-month contract at a PR agency, then a 1-month contract at another agency and now I’m working remotely on my current client base of PR and social media clients.
To be honest, I think more corporates should operate like freelancers. They should offer a salary/payment term for each project completed. You’ll find people will want to work longer hours to make more money and the company won’t have to pay for time out of the office for all those doctor’s appointments, driver’s license meetings, etc.
So what do I do on a daily basis?
While no two days are alike, you can see my general agenda below:
07h00 – Alarm goes off, shower with a citrus-scented body wash, change into some hideous ‘home clothes’ like tights, a baggy jersey, fluffy socks, and slippers.
07h30 – Coffee in my ‘it’s a Sher thing mug’, and breakfast which is usually an egg on toast/cereal.
08h00 – I cleanse my space. I use a room scent from Volpes called baby camomile. It gets rid of any bad vibes from the day before and helps set my intentions for the day ahead. Then I pick my spot for the day, my desk, my couch or my bed. Usually, I work from my couch though, it’s just so comfortable and offers me awesome back support. I start off by ensuring all of my social media clients’ posts have gone live, tweak the strategies where necessary and do the reports needed.
Then I move on to writing strategy, content curation schedules and any PR deliverables I have, which could be planning events, drafting media lists or influencer engagement.
13h00 – I take a break to walk around a bit, check social media and make some lunch.
I carry on with client deliverables until about 19h00.
19h00 – I cook/go to the gym/go out for dinner.
21h00 – I carry on working until I’m done for the day. A usual day ends at 23h00 but has been known to continue until 03h00 the next morning. It just depends on how busy I am. I enjoy working for myself as the harder and longer I work, the more money I make.
Owning my own time is my biggest privilege. I can go to events during the day, pop out for a facial or a blowdry in the afternoon if I need to. As long as I manage my workload and meet all deliverables ahead of the deadline. I get most of my business through referrals. So, if you’ve worked with me in the past and you love what I do, please do share my details. Alternatively, if you’re looking for PR, Social Media or Influencer Engagement, pop me a mail on hello@itsasherthing.co.za
