Freelancing In The Social Media Age With Angela Lyons

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Angela Lyons, an award-winning freelance graphic designer with a focus on print, including magazines and branding.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• I’ll have been a freelancer for 11 years this April. I started off in a publishing company, then a software company before deciding to go freelance. It can be quite hard to do initially because of the fear that you’re really stepping away from a salaried career and out of your comfort zone. You were going into other companies' offices (before working from home became a thing) trying to work out what’s going on while working for them too.
• When I first started I Googled ‘freelancing’ and nothing came up, so I attached myself to recruitment agencies, and they had a lot of networking events which I went to. I’d go to the offices of companies I was freelancing for and talk to the people there in the break rooms and told them what I was doing there .That’s how my work developed over the years, those people would tell other people what I was doing and that I was good and would help them out with what they needed.
• I didn’t have a social media strategy. I just followed a lot of people, saw what they were doing, I spoke to someone about whether I should join this group to get tips and she said: “No, you’re clever, you can see what’s going on around you, don’t copy people. Just be yourself”. I’ve met the most amazing people through social media, like yourself. But if I do see anything negative there I just block and move on. There’s too much going on in the world for you to have negativity on your phone as well.
• I always want to plan, but then stuff happens and gets in the way. I don’t know if it's luck or being blessed but stuff comes to me, or people put things in my way. People have asked me to do webinars and I haven’t done any yet, mainly because I haven’t had the time but also because I was nervous. But, I could put a webinar together from repurposed bits of work I’ve done in the past. I think social media is going to become monetised soon and your content is going to be paid for so people can see it. LinkedIn is the best place to be at the moment, especially for reaching potential customers because they haven’t introduced any form of monetisation yet. Instagram and Twitter are asking the user to pay. I’d much rather post content only to my website because at least I own that.

BEST MOMENTS
‘I got headhunted by a software company to do graphic design for them and it sounds really terrible but I hated it. The people were lovely, but the work just was not me, it wasn’t creative at all. I got ill, my body broke out in hives. I spoke to my husband about it and I decided to go freelance.’
‘My husband says I like to talk too much and I really do, I even talk to people at the bus stop! They look at me a bit funny, but they tend to talk back.’
‘I never used to use social media until a couple of years ago, I thought it was an awful place, but I’ve started using it recently and have found out it’s not. Now a lot has changed!’
‘I’m a graphic designer, but I hadn’t had a proper website in about five years, terrible, I know! We’re working freelancers and solopreneurs, there’s a lot to do.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
Lyons Creative is owned and managed by Angela Lyons. I am a freelance graphic designer who creates clear and engaging designs. I offer graphic design services from initial design concepts to final produced graphics. Designs include magazines, brochures, branding, logos, social media graphics, event design and marketing materials for startups, corporates, and charities.
Website: https://www.lyonscreative.co.uk/

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