I’m Gisela, and here is a little story of how I became a social media manager. And no, this isn’t to sell you a course. I’ll go over my original motivations, steps I took, and how my career started unfolding even before I graduated college.
To do this, I have to go back a few years, maybe a bit more than a few years. I was always an anxious kid but when I turned fifteen and started to work a part-time job, I knew my anxiety would be a problem that would follow me around for the rest of my life. I knew I would go to college, graduate, and…work. However, I discovered that having panic attacks in front of my bosses wasn’t ideal and that sent me down a spiral. If you have chronic social anxiety you know what I’m talking about. Nothing is easy. Having conversations, being seen, being on the spot was a nightmare. And that made me question what I was truly going to do to support myself and my family if I couldn’t even hold a normal job.
Cue 2020. Wearing masks hid my sweaty, blushing face when I had to speak to people as I was delivering pizzas for a certain pizza chain. I was making good money for a twenty year old but I knew I had to do something else. As I scrolled on Tik Tok for the third hour in a row, I found a girl who was selling courses on how to be a social media manager. She painted this amazing job from home where you could make tons of money from working in your living room, but, of course, I had to buy her (at the time) four hundred dollar course to learn how. (It’s quintupled in price since then).
One thing about me, I am a resourceful person. We have the internet! So I made it a goal to either learn how to become a social media manager myself or die trying. My anxiety was so bad I felt I didn’t have any other choice. As I drove for hours delivering pizzas and collecting tips in the middle of the night, I listened to podcasts and youtube videos that taught people social media strategy, how to start a business, how to sell your services, and what things work for different platforms. I consumed everything that was free and at my fingertips. When I wasn’t working, I would join IG Lives of other social media managers, who were also selling courses, but were there to nurture leads and give everyone just enough to get them interested. Slowly, I started getting the answers I needed to start my business.
I started this process in late June of 2020, by October I had got my LLC and started marketing my services on Instagram and Instagram only. To be honest, it was very slow and I had no hope but things happened naturally. As I cultivated genuine relationships with my “peers’, someone passed along a lead that didn’t exactly fit with their services. Of course, I jumped on it. Very nervously, I got through my first discovery call and I was very honest. I told her that she would be my first client and she was open to giving me a chance.
I used my wins on her account to continue marketing my services and place myself as an expert on social media. I never gave up, and stuck with this side hustle for two years before I was able to quit all the other jobs. It probably would’ve gone much faster if I had just bought the first course I came by, but I was broke and stubborn.
If you have dreams to work from anywhere you have internet, I suggest using all the free resources you have at hand, including this blog. Here, I will give you tips on starting your career as a social media manager, on how to start a business, how to price your services and so on. If you have any questions, leave them down below and I’ll get to them as fast I can.
Welcome to Lovebloom Socials, I’m so glad you’re here!
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