Did you know that freelancers are not very well respected in society?
Even if they work more hours than the fully employed 9 to 5 going workforce and earn as much as them, they would still not be remembered. You might be one of the people who think so; I know I was back in the day.
If I met a freelance writer, I would most likely not be impressed, but if I met a writer, who was working with a columnist, I would most certainly be impressed.
It could be that the freelancer writes more meaningful and resonating pieces than the other, still, the phrase freelancer makes his abilities dampen a little.
I know this because I have been on both the sides of this spectrum and experienced it all, I was the snob and the victim of snobbishness, but no more.
Today, I will be telling you my story and how, in the end, everything worked out.
The Need For Freelancing
I always wanted to do something that would give me the satisfaction of doing it because of love. I did not want to work in a job that I abhorred. I wanted to wake up every morning and love whatever I was doing.
So, I became a vlogger.
I made videos of things that I saw and loved and shared them with the world to see on YouTube, not that the world saw it, a few thousand maybe, but I was happy with that.
Growth would eventually come when you are doing something you enjoy. However, its possibility of coming diminishes immensely when you hate your work.
Hence, my YouTube channel created.
The Initial Phase
I would tell you from personal experience not to leave everything you have and put your entire focus on YouTube initially. It takes a lot of time to make money out of it.
I had thought that a few months would be enough to start getting the results, and I would be able to leave my job. However, a few months turned into years, and I still had not managed to get a stable income.
It is was sad, distressing, and completely upsetting. I knew I would eventually make it, but I wanted to know when. When my follower count reached 300k, I finally quit my job, and I could not take it anymore. I just wanted to focus on my YouTube channel and nothing else.
The decision was the right one, but not so right financially. I could scour some paid sponsorships some months and the months I could not be hard to go by.
My follower count was increasing no doubt. My likes and comments’ count was at an appreciative level. So, I knew that stability was just around the corner.
The Promising Idea
A YouTube video inspired me to do more than just make videos to make money. YouTube can also be used for other things.
One of these things was to sell merchandise. A significant proportion of YouTubers did that and earned extra cash through the sales. Michelle Choi, an American YouTuber, and her Little Puffy collection inspired me to launch a line of merchandise of my own.
Since it was summer, I wanted to do something summery. Everybody loves wearing jewelry in the summer. So, I contacted a friend of mine who specialized in jewelry and asked for her advice. I had the pieces, the style, and the design in my mind, I just needed a bit of direction in the manufacture of the same. And she gave me that direction.
I found a wholesaler for the chains and a manufacturer to make the customized lock and key pendant.
Both of them were expensive for me to take on without financial assistance. With no full-time job with a stamp of an organization behind it, I was lost for options. Thankfully, I found an online lender, who dealt with people like me, with their unstable income and I got an approval for loans for unemployed. I was so overwhelmingly relieved that I did not care for the label used by the lender for me.
The Fruitful Execution
I could not afford to be wrong this time. I had put all of my measly savings into the merchandise apart from the loan, this had to work or I would end up in a gigantic pit of debt.
Once everything was sorted and ready to go, I finally made the big announcement on my channel and my Instagram and started posting a ton about the jewelry. I made a special video telling my audience everything about the journey.
I told them about the design of the lock and key. The lock symbolized my previous job, which made me feel trapped, and the key was YouTube, which truly liberated me and gave me the chance to do something that I loved and enjoyed.
I even told them about the designing and manufacturing process, and how invested I was in ensuring everything was perfect.
I did all of this with a reason. I wanted my audience to connect with my jewelry on a personal level. Only when they would do that, they would be able to distinguish it from the rest of the pieces available in the market. That video was my sales pitch, and thank God, it was successful.
I got so many orders from all over the UK that I found it difficult to keep up with them. I had to ask my parents to help me out, and they were more than happy to agree.
The Surreal Reality
The feedback I received for my audience had me in tears, the happy ones of course. I could not believe that people were wearing something that I made, and they loved it. I hoped for this to happen, but believe it is a whole other ball game.
It has been a few months since the launch, and people are still placing orders. I have asked my manufacturer to make another batch three times already. Initially, I had thought even one was too many.
It is still hard to digest that I am an entrepreneur, with a regular income and a product in the market that has received raving reviews. And all of this happened because of a loan, if I would have been unable to get the funding then, I would never have witnessed my jewelry coming alive.
