No Competition - Social Media Strategist Suz Bird
About this episode…
Social Media Strategist Suz Bird
From South Africa, to Scotland and now to your ears. This is the story of Suz Bird.
Being made redundant, going through a separation, moving house, parenting… it might not have seemed like perfect timing. But volunteering her vast marketing experience to a charity suddenly led to the possibility of freelance work. Something flexible for her new life.
A year later after referrals kept bringing her work she looked around and realised - “oh, so this is the business you always wanted to start, but you never knew you were going to..’
Now we get to find out how she got serious about her business, her prices and her marketing whilst remaining fun and happy . Realising that when no one can offer exactly what you offer, you have no direct competition, so embrace it.
Read the highlights in the next tab.
TREAT YOUR BUSINESS LIKE A CLIENT
Suz was struggling to find time to work ‘on’ her business. Client work though would get done… So now she treats her business like a client.
“It's always that trade-off between the time I put into the business, the time I give clients and then the time I give my family... And my business generally always drops off.
I’ve tried to be way better with that. It has its own column inTrello now. And I don't refer to it as 'my business' or 'downtime', I refer to it as 'a client'. So it goes on the client to-do list and it goes on the client Trello board. It actually has monthly tasks and deliverables, which helps me stay more accountable to that.”
A ‘CHARACTER’ SHOWING UP
Suz works as a business name ‘Bird & Emmy’ and find that helps with her ‘introvert-extrovert’ side. Where she knows she needs to show up and be visible for her business but is also uncomfortable with their being so much focus on her.
“It kind of helped me to almost have these two different characters.
I try to differentiate and go right, if you're showing up as Suz from Bird & Emmy, that's work - like you go to a networking event, you put on your work clothes and you show up to work. And then when you're at home and you're just Suz or you're mum or you're in your shorts and flip-flops, that's different - that doesn't need to be online - you don't need to show up then.”
HOW INSTAGRAM WINS SUZ WORK
Part of why Suz decided to focus so much marketing time on her Instagram is because she realised it helped clients/potential clients to get to know her and actually want to work with her.
“I decided to start using Instagram more for my business because I thought, you know what, if you work with me, you need to know what I sound like. You know, there's an interesting Scottish-South African mashup going on here. You need to understand my humor.
And that's the best way - you see me on Stories chatting - my office, my girl, my life, - so that by the time you contact me to work with me, that answer is easy. Yes. Because you've been non-stalkery watching me for six months.”
CELEBRATING BUSINESS BIRTHDAYS
Suz made sure she marked her five years freelancing in June 2021…
“I try to celebrate business birthdays because I think quite often, certainly for me, I just do my work, raise my daughter. And I forget that actually there's cool stuff happening and that a business birthday is quite a significant milestone. ”
WORK AROUND YOUR ENERGY
Freelancing gives Suz the flexibility to be there for her daughter. But that means sometimes she’s working at odd times of the day. So she’s figured out when she has the best energy and what needs to be done then…
“I use Trello for my time management and I try and split my tasks and to do this in the morning, do this in the afternoon, make sure this is done by nights. I kind of split my day, according to where my best energy is and what is absolutely time-sensitive or not. It sounds hyper-organised, but it's a work in progress.”
YOU HAVE NO 100% DIRECT COMPETITOR
Suz is a big fan of collaboration and community. She’ll reach out to people and collaborate with those who, in theory, would appear to be her competition - she just doesn’t see it that way.
“I just don't believe there is a single one other person who will deliver exactly what I can deliver. They don't have my history straight away. They don't have the Suz personality (lucky world!).
It's virtually impossible for you to have a 100% direct competitor”
When you think about it that way, it’s a pretty exciting idea!
Listen to the episode now to hear Suz’s full story.
“Trust your gut.
Just trust yourself, trust your gut. Nobody knows you, your business, your skills, your anything better than you.
Suz Bird, freelance social media strategist
More from Suz Bird
Transcript of the Being Freelance podcast with Steve Folland and Freelance Social Media Strategist Suz Bird
Steve Folland:
As ever, how about we get started hearing how you got started being freelance?
Suz Bird:
I've always been a marketeer, right back from 21 year old Suz, just landing in Aberdeen. My freelance journey started in 2016 though. I had been working at an agency after my daughter was born and doing part-time and that particular role had been made redundant. Around this time my relationship with my baby's dad - we'd separated, so it was all a bit fun between redundancy and separation. And I volunteered at a local charity during that time, just to keep myself busy in the day and just figure out my next move in life. And I picked up a client from that charity gig and worked for that client for a couple of months. And eventually it was like, 'oh, I think I do this now'. My first year of freelancing was pretty much two clients.
Steve Folland:
It was accidental. You just happened to tell somebody while you were volunteering that you worked in marketing?
Suz Bird:
So basically this volunteer gig - they'd put out on their social media that they were looking for volunteers for this event. So I got in touch and I said I can support you in marketing and social media. And they were like, absolutely. So that's what I did for this event. And part of that remit was getting in touch with sponsors or the people involved in that. That sparked a lot of conversations and meetings. And that was a bit of... 'Oh, could you do this for us actually?' So quickly put together a, 'yeah, this is what I'll charge for it' and started working for that client. And then that kind of led onto another one as well. My name started to getting passed around and it took probably that first year before I kind of looked around and thought, oh, so this is the business you always wanted to start, but you never knew you were going to
Steve Folland:
How many years ago is that?
Suz Bird:
Yeah, so 5th June 2021 was my fith business birthday. We all approach it differently, but work-wise, I'd spent most of my career in either agency or in-house roles. And you kind of always feel, maybe another way. But you have a baby or you get engaged and life kind of goes on and next thing you're in your thirties and you think, 'starting a business is not for me, I've got stuff to do!' And then life has other plans and then you kind of go, oh, well, that kind of worked out okay because I don't think if someone had sat me down and said, 'right, I think you should leave your job, move your kid out and start a business'. I probably would have gone. 'Yeah, no, you're okay. I've got something else to do.'
Steve Folland:
How did you feel about all that at the time?
Suz Bird:
I probably didn't really think a lot at the time, which is maybe just as well. When I look back on that period now, I think, well, it's kind of cute how that worked out for me because I hadn't really taken on board the impact separation would have had on me and my life. You know, I'd kind of focused a lot on my daughter and what she would need to support her and make it okay for her.
Suz Bird:
So the freelance option in hindsight happened beautifully because I did need more time to adjust my daughter and adjust our new life and having limited clients, but a little bit of flexibility that freelance gives - it was actually really useful. You know, it wasn't a case of, 'where's she going to go after school?' I would pick her up and we'd be at home, so it's fine. That obviously meant a whole bunch of late night work and early mornings and stuff, but there's always sacrifice in there. Gotta make decisions.
Steve Folland:
So that first year you had those two clients - how did you go about getting more? How did you continue being freelance?
Suz Bird:
So yeah, that first year I probably didn't stop and think a whole bunch, which works on the one hand from the personal level, but obviously for running a business, you need to actually think about some things sometimes. Finances wise, it's probably also worth pointing out that it wasn't like a complete leisurely ride: I downgraded my car, used some of that cash to fund us, cashed in a load of ISAs [a UK saving fund]. So kind of self invested in the business to sustain that. And from that second client, I guess year one to two, if you like, I picked up another three and most of that was word of mouth. Word of mouth is still probably one of the biggest ways that my business grows.
Suz Bird:
I work quite hard for my clients and we have quite a close relationship. So that referral system works really well for me. I also don't have a whole bunch of time in terms of my capacity for retainer work - maybe 6-7 clients max. So what I'm looking for to keep my business going is relatively small in terms of actual clients. By the time one finishes their contract, there's a waiting list already. Between year three and four that system started to work for me way more.
Steve Folland:
Where you would be able to say, oh, I can't right now, but...
Suz Bird:
I can't right now, but I could potentially this date or this date. And the majority of them are willing to wait or I can do project work or one-to-one sessions. And I guess the cool thing about how I like to run my business is I can be available evenings and weekends, not as standard, but with notice I can make that happen, which means I could potentially fill up my diary - like 'that weekend, that's going to be a bit hard, but cool, we'll take the next one off'. And if a business wants to work with me and that kind of waiting list thing, doesn't work, I refer them on. So I keep a network of freelancers throughout the UK and I would always make referrals.
Steve Folland:
You say retainer - what does that look like for you?
Suz Bird:
So I work with businesses in three ways. The biggest way I can work with a business is that retainer model. At the moment I have six retainer clients and the smallest one in time has been with me for nine months and the longest one has been for four years. So initially, most of them are looking for some kind of support with digital marketing, which mostly translates to social media nowadays. But no doubt that'll evolve again. So we would devise the strategy, put a plan in place for execution, and then the retainer clients keep me on to actually deliver that strategy. And the strategy piece is important because I guess that helps differentiate my pricing within the social media industry. I am probably more expensive than your average social media marketer, but that comes with 20 odd years experience in the marketing industry, which is why the strategy keyword is pretty important to anything I do. And also when it comes to working with those retainer clients, strategy drives everything - that drives every business decision, marketing decision, you know, everything. We won't just post, we won't just follow trends.
Steve Folland:
And then how does it work once the strategy is in place?
Suz Bird:
It can work in two ways, even for the retainer clients, either they will pay me to deliver every part of that strategy and plan for them, or they pay me to support a team to deliver it. So the strategy and plan is set by me - every month there's meetings, there's training, I keep an eye on what other people are doing. So those are kind of two ways retainer clients can work. Other ways that businesses can work with me is a project basis where they would come on board for six to eight weeks. We would implement a strategy, implement a plan, and I would support them for a period of time to do that. And then we kind of touch base every three months, six months, etc. And I guess the last way would be the workshops or one-to-one training that I offer now and again, throughout a year, I tend to do those around school holidays. Cause the retainer side is pretty much full time, which means anything else I do I need to kind of commit to my time being stretched and I tend to avoid holiday times for that.
Steve Folland:
So those are the main ways you have revenue streams. So retainer clients, workshops...
Suz Bird:
Yes. I used to do a lot more pre COVID (how standard is that line!). And I did some online during the COVID period, but I guess the kind of way I teach or the way I support businesses, Zoom was taking way too much of my time and energy and kind of coupling that with home school, it was just making for a very disruptive session. So I stopped all online training from last year and won't pick that up again until we can do proper in-person workshops. So the only guest training where people can work with me nowadays is one-to-one sessions where they can buy a chunk of my time and I can support them with either individual questions or support them with that strategy and training to help them deliver. I guess the other useful a bit around that is where the kind of freelancing parent side comes in. Cause I tend not to advertise those one-to-one spaces or that kind of availability unless I actually have it. So it's not something I really talk about in my marketing at all. I will only put them out if I know right, this potentially quite a quiet month at home, if such a thing exists, I have space for one or two, one-to-one clients. So yeah, it's not something I massively push actually.
Steve Folland:
You mentioned your marketing - so what is your marketing?
Suz Bird:
So probably around about year three or four, I thought right, I need to get a little bit slicker with some of the business side of my company and hashed together a quick website for myself. Not the one that's currently there. That one was hashed together by a professional. I put it together and kind of got more strategic for my own business. And thought right, It's a good way for me to experiment with different types of social media trends that I can implement in a client if I play around with those things for myself. So that's kind of how I approached my marketing primarily. I didn't do very regular blogging even though I know I should, but I guess it's always that trade-off between the time I put into the business, the time I give clients and then the time I give my family... and my business generally always drops off.
Suz Bird:
But I have tried to be way better with that and it kind of has its own column inTrello now. And I don't refer to it as 'my business' or 'downtime', I refer to it as 'a client'. So it goes on the client to-do list and it goes on the client Trello board. So it actually has monthly tasks and deliverables, which helps me stay more accountable to that. And then also, much like, I guess I would put a strategy for clients -you know, we can't be everywhere and do it well and although I am on multiple platforms, some of them just because I love them, I only put proper work time into.. number one would be word of mouth referrals - so how I treat clients, how I deliver work and how I foster new relationships, is a massive part of my time for marketing. The second one would be Instagram. So the time I put into my Instagram yields results for my business and then the website is the third stream, if you like of my marketing. So that's how I prioritize where my time goes in the Bird and Emmy marketing.Those three avenues helped me grow the business and therefore they get the most of my marketing time and the likes of LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter get token attention.
Steve Folland:
So much I want to ask. One thing was that you said 'Bird and Emmy'. So this is the name of your business. But have you always been called Bird and Emmy?
Suz Bird:
So I still trade as a sole trader, as a freelancer, just under my own name, but I kind of felt... I'm one of those complete introvert-extrovert types. That got quite comfortable that in order to run my business and exist in today's marketing world, showing up is super important, but also being very uncomfortable with having so much time and attention on me and my face and my name. So I try to differentiate and go right, if you're showing up as Suz from Bird and Emmy, that's work - like you go to a networking event, you put on your work clothes and you show up to work. And then when you're at home and you're just Suz or you're mum or you're like in your shorts and flip-flops, that's different - that doesn't need to be online - you don't need to show up then.
Suz Bird:
So it kind of helped me almost to have those two different characters. And by kind of using Bird and Emmy, it also helped me to find what it is I wanted the business to be so Bird is obviously by name. So the 'And' piece was that a team - all my clients who I work with, we work really closely and we are a solid team. And Emmy is one of my daughter's nicknames. So it was to kind of highlight that, you know, we were a team and that working with me there is going to be this little mini that comes along on occasion and that this is a business I run from home and you know, sometimes there's going to be a kid off sick, or if it's weekend work, she's going to be there. Or if it's evening work, it's not going to happen between dinner time and just kind of highlights that I don't only work with family businesses, but that working with me means there is often a mini around.
Steve Folland:
You also said that you only '"hashed" (your words!) a website after three to four years. So does that mean you didn't have a website?
Suz Bird:
No... The business grew organically, which I absolutely love because that's the theory of marketing that I specialize in and it just very much worked that - I had my clients, somebody else would recommend me, I would get an inquiry, they would become a client and the whole process was very organic and fluid. And it wasn't until, I guess, kind of two, three years then I thought, right Suz, you need to think about the fact that you're aging and this needs to be a sustainable and viable career option for you. And I thought, right, I need to get better at some of my business process and need to get better at how I exist in the marketing world. And I put together a version of a website that served me fine. I wouldn't put web design skill on my CV at all, but it's served me fine.
Steve Folland:
So, were you online though?
Suz Bird:
I was on Instagram. I was on LinkedIn. Twitter was my first love actually, and still is my first love social media platform.
Steve Folland:
Another thing that you you mentioned was that some of your clients have been with you for four years, which is awesome obviously, but how have you found dealing with increasing your prices over a period like that?
Suz Bird:
Honestly the first time I did that, I sat on that decision for months. You know it needs to happen. You know, we all start off completely undercharging and I just kind of found the whole way of life thing just wasn't working. I felt like I was working 20 hours a day, seven days a week and just absolutely done, but yet still not getting the financials right at all. And I did a whole bunch of research into what different freelancers were charging and what different jobs were charging around what I was doing. Kind of get the whole experience thing into it and decided, right, this is what I need to do and kind of put together... I don't do hourly rates, but it was like, this is a day rate.
Suz Bird:
This is a kind of scope of work for X, Y, Z, etc, and did a whole bunch of planning in terms of right, say for example, every single client says 'no way Suz!' What would you do? What does that mean? So I kind of did a little bit of disaster planning. And then I wrote in a really nice letter, how I was, you know, investing in my business and all the things I was doing to support them and what I was bringing to the table and what I was doing with them to make sure I brought them the best and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And that this is the change I was going to make to the finances.
Suz Bird:
At the same time I actually changed how I invoice too. So when I first started, I would invoice the last working day of every month, but, it took me a couple of years to realize that that's just a financial nightmare because you never really getting paid on a monthly basis. So you were constantly looking for that paycheck. So I also changed the way I invoiced - and I now invoice retainer clients in the middle of the month and their payment due date is the last working day of the month. They got a letter about price increase and they got a letter around how the invoicing was going to change. And I also moved all of them to contracts. So yeah, at the start nobody had a contract either.
Suz Bird:
So I lost one client out of that. Which was fine. I mean, you kind of plan to lose at least one. So that I did in the December, so that it would be a kind of clean 'let's start the new year' thing. And I picked up a new client in that January of the following year. So it thankfully touch wood didn't really have a massive gap. But yeah, I only lost one client from that price increase process and kind of since then have gotten a lot better at being just very confident with my pricing. And when I get inquiries to send out my scope of work, send out the budgets... sometimes you win them, sometimes you don't, but I'm a lot more comfortable at going, 'you know that's actually a really good price for what you're getting. So that's okay if I'm not for you, here's a few others that might be able to support you in the same way'. Always tricky though.
Steve Folland:
And do you ever run into things where you're tempted to, or are asked to work for free? I mention it because you started out volunteering your services.
Suz Bird:
I don't do a lot of free work nowadays. Now and again, a project might come up that I want to support in a way that I just think, 'you know what, that's a really cool thing you're trying to bring out into the world. You really are putting yourself out there in a vulnerable way. I can see you're struggling. So, you know, let's go get a coffee and I'll have a chat with you'. So now, and again, I do do that. I try not to mostly because I'm not really good at kind of being in a halfway - if I'm getting involved in something I'm going to go all in, which is a problem for my time and energy and I have to constantly remind myself that I am trying to build a sustainable business that will pay me a pension one day and will support my daughter as she goes through academy and into uni.
Suz Bird:
My time is not infinite. So I do a lot of content marketing resources on either my Instagram or my blog. So there is a lot of free resources available. And the workshops I do are accessible price-wise as well. So free work is not massively part of what I currently do, but now and again, a project will come up that I just think, you know what, I can have a coffee with you. That's okay. Pay it forwards if you like.
Steve Folland:
But you also have those options where you said, well, I can't do that, but here's some free content I've created. You can come to a workshop, learn how to do it yourself...
Suz Bird:
Absolutely. Or I kind of think, oh, that's quite an interesting question. Look, I can't give that to you as my time, but how about I collaborate with somebody that I work with in my network, and I'll do an Instagram Live and answer that for you. And then I think, well, that will serve other people as well. And that kind of ticks a content box for my business too. So I try and do it like that as opposed to just kind of putting aside... because I mean, people don't mean to take your time, but you can schedule an hour with somebody via phone call, that's never going to be an hour. You know, that's always going to be a lot longer. Next thing, you know, you've given up your soul and your first born.
Steve Folland:
You mentioned Instagram Live. I was going to ask you what sort of thing you do on Instagram. Cause you said it was important.
Suz Bird:
Yeah, so Instagram Lives. I probably did the most I've done in that in June of this year when the business turned five. I try to celebrate the business birthdays cause Ithink quite often, certainly for me, you know, I just do my work, raise my daughter. And I forget that actually there's cool stuff happening and that a business birthday is quite a significant milestone. So the business was five and I asked five business women around the UK that I have either worked with or collaborated with or are just good business chums with and asked if they would do a Live where I could ask them a series of questions pertaining to either running a business or social media. It was really cool actually. That collaboration piece is really important to me, that community growth piece and the collaboration piece and how we can support each other is massively important to me and my business. So I try and facilitate that as much as possible in my content or conversations or stories or anything like that.
Steve Folland:
The people that you collaborate with might also be social media people, so in theory, your competition?
Suz Bird:
Yeah, absolutely. And sometimes people will follow me where I can see there's potential similarities. I do try and make a point of reaching out. If they're local, I try and have a coffee. And I do try and break that competition stereotype because the digital marketing landscape is massive in terms of the different roles. And I just don't believe there is a single one other person who will deliver exactly what I can deliver. They don't have my history straight away. They don't have the Suz personality (lucky world!). So it's virtually impossible for you to have a 100% direct competitor. But I think, imagine if in that digital marketing world, we can just collaborate for a client. How cool would that piece of marketing be? I think is very, very cool. Collaboration is very important to me.
Steve Folland:
And does that mean you also sometimes hire other people?
Suz Bird:
Yeah, I will. I will outsource. Absolutely. And it's normally freelancers - 'look, this is what we're trying to build, this is where we need to support, what could you deliver? How could you kind of expand on that?' And then yeah, I will bring in others to deliver if it works best for my clients to do that.
Steve Folland:
You mentioned that you work from home?
Suz Bird:
I've always worked from home. I like it. I tend to have one day as a home-day and one day as an out-day. And out could be either I walk to a coffee shop and park myself there for a couple of hours or I kind of have quite a few meetings or sometimes I'll park myself on site with a client, just so I have a bit of variety. Right I'm leaving the house now. I enjoy it. Mostly lockdown was not fun - not fun for anybody, but having the home office and a homeschool situation didn't really work for either of us. As my daughter so eloquently, put it "mum, I just don't want to be around you all day every day".
Suz Bird:
But, yeah, the home office - it definitely works because my working hours are not conventional. They're not Monday to Friday nine to five. I do very early morning starts if I know I have a busy day and strong deadlines or I often work late at night which means when my little one comes home from school, she gets time with me. We do homework, dinner, hang out. And then I kind of go back to work around eight o'clock at night. So having that home office means I've got somewhere to go which facilitates that kind of sporadic working environment, which kind of works for us.
Steve Folland:
That's great but...sometimes it can be hard to do that, to get back into it late at night.
Suz Bird:
It's difficult, but I use Trello for my time management and I try and split my tasks and to do this in the morning, do this in the afternoon, make sure this is done by nights. I kind of split my day, according to where my best energy is and what is absolutely time-sensitive or not. So it sounds hyper-organised, but it's a work in progress.
Steve Folland:
Yeah. So there's certain tasks which come at eight at night. Which makes me feel honored that we were speaking at one in the afternoon.
Suz Bird:
Yeah! This is optimized Suz time Steve. This is it - fed, watered, coffee? This is it. But also I guess the nature of social media means for a lot of clients' accounts, their optimal posting or engagement time is evening because social media is, you know, that second screen thing for the majority of an audience. You know, evening and weekends is prime time to be around in messages or stories, etc. So the nature of digital is not always Monday to Friday, either.
Steve Folland:
If you could tell your younger self one thing about being freelance, what would that be?
Suz Bird:
It would be to just trust yourself, trust your gut. Nobody knows you, your business, your skills, your anything better than you. And it sounds an obvious one, but it's actually a really, really hard one to do. When you have a difficult question or a dilemma or something, when you're looking around for the adult or the smarter business person than you, there is nobody that'll have that answer better than you do. And I think that's a big one. I haven't always nailed it, but I just sit down with a piece of paper, draw pitches, drew scribbles, and come to a decision and stick to it. That's what I would tell my younger self. You don't need to be buying processes or systems or someone else's content plan. Just trust your gut.
Steve Folland:
Although if you want Susie's content plan, you can now get it at...
Suz Bird:
(Laughs) No...
Steve Folland:
One more thing on Instagram. You're always visible and that's part of the trick almost, isn't it?
Suz Bird:
I think that's a good thing. I decided to start using Instagram more for my business because I thought, you know what, if you work with me, you need to know what I sound like. You know, there's an interesting Scottish South African mashup going on here. You need to understand my humor and that's the best way - you see me on Stories chatting - my office, my girl, my life, that that's the best way, so that by the time you contact me to work with me, that answer is easy. Yes. Because you've been, non-stalkery watching me for six months.
Steve Folland:
True. I know you said you treat like your business like a client, but how do you find time for that showing up? Do you devote time every single day?
Suz Bird:
No, it's not every single day. I just don't think that's plausible. And there is also sometimes days where I just don't have a lot to give and I have to prioritize client work or feeding my daughter. But I do try and show up certainly on the grid at least once a week and on stories three to four times a week and I just make it habit. So everywhere I go, I just take photos. You know, if I've gone for coffee, take a photo, if I take a walk, I take a photo and then I'll just sometimes sit at night and just construct a story about my day. Like, you know, we did this and then we did that. Before this interview, I took photos of my notes and I took a selfie with my headphones because 'podcasts life'. And I'll go downstairs, make a coffee after this and I'll just create some stories and job done. So I just try and build it as a habit. It helps to think of it like that because if I just put in time every single day and sat down and thought 'my God, I need to story'. It would be boring as hell. You'd be like rright Suz, Jesus, leave your house!
Steve Folland:
Suz thank you so much. And all the best being freelance!
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