Remote with: Rebecca Hawkes

Hey Rebecca! 

Thanks for being a featured guest on the Remote Worker!

Hi lovely, thanks for the invite!

So, tell us a bit about yourself and your business:

I’m a Confidence & Pricing Coach for Social Media Managers and founder of The Pricing Academy™. I’m originally from Essex in the UK but I love to travel and live in different countries for extended periods of time - the whole reason I started my business in the first place! 

My business helps social media managers earning less than £2k a month price their services with confidence and sign higher paying clients without hustle or overwhelm. Spending time doing the things I love - travel, meeting friends, lounging on the beach with a cocktail - is really important to me so I’m very anti-hustle. 

What’s your business mission? Why do you do what you do?

My mission is to empower social media managers to charge what they deserve, help them increase their confidence and really believe that not only is it possible for them to have a business they love and one that supports the life they want to live but they’re also worthy  of having that business.

When I started out as a social media manager, I really struggled with what to charge and there was no clear information around to support me. I ended up charging peanuts (£75 a month to manage 2 platforms) for my services not just because I didn’t know what to charge but because social media was so easy for me therefore I didn’t think I deserved  to be paid to manage it. 

I ended up with a business that was the complete opposite of what I’d dreamed of. I was working 10-14 hours a day, didn’t have any time for myself and was in a constant state of overwhelm and ‘busy’. I’m really passionate about helping others who may end up where I was because I know what a horrible space that is to be in.

The reason I focus so much on pricing is because I believe it’s the foundations of having a successful social media management business. If you’re confident in your pricing, it’ll be easier for you to sign clients. And when you’re getting paid what you need and deserve, you don’t need to hustle to hit your income goal. You can have a thriving business AND live a life full of fun + adventure. 

How long have you been working remotely? And what inspired you to go remote?

I started my journey into entrepreneurship and remote working as a social media manager back in February 2017 before transitioning into coaching other social media managers in June 2018. 

I’ve loved travelling since my first solo trip abroad at 21. I flew to Bangkok a week before my 22nd birthday and fell in love with Thailand so ended up staying for a year. After that, I moved to Sydney for 4 months, came back to the UK for 4 months then flew back out to Australia where I lived and worked in Melbourne for 6 months, Cairns for 3 months and spent 3 weeks roadtripping/camping along the Cape York Peninsula, to the most northern point of Australia. 

After spending a year in the UK, my partner at the time wanted to become a scuba instructor so we moved to Utila, Honduras. Instead of going back to bar work, I used this as an opportunity to start my own remote business as a social media manager. 

I love the freedom of being able to work my own hours, being able to travel whenever I want to (obviously pre/post pandemic) and being able to do something that fills me with so much joy, knowing I’m actually making a difference to people’s lives. 

What’s your biggest tip for going remote? (Or tips for anyone currently remote working)?

My biggest two tips for going remote includes the complete opposite of what I did! I’d recommend establishing a presence online and building a brand first (which I did do) on at least one social media platform so you can start to attract clients organically. If it’s possible for you, let people you know know about your plans to go remote and ask if they know anyone who would need your services. 

I was really lucky with the company I worked at before going remote. I'd been transparent with them since I’d accepted the role that I had plans to leave the UK again, so I could openly talk about my business plans. I used my lunch breaks to share content, create connections and start building an online presence for myself. 

What I didn’t do was secure any clients before I left the UK. Which wasn’t a huge problem because I had savings and we visited Miami, Houston and travelled around Belize for 10 days before going to Utila, but if I’d had a client or two, the pressure to secure that first bit of consistent income wouldn’t have been there. Not having that pressure would probably have led to me charging more than £75 a month! Having said that, had I not learned those lessons, I wouldn’t be able to help people with their pricing now….

My other tip that would also suit anyone currently working remotely, would be to build a network of people who are in the same position as you and who really ‘get it’. So when you’re having a tough day or even when you want to celebrate something amazing that your ‘normal’ friends or family won’t get, you have somewhere to go. It can be lonely working remotely so make the effort to find a couple of good online friends. 

And finally, where can we find you online?

You can find me at www.rebeccalucyh.com, on socials everywhere @rebeccalucyh (I’m mostly on Instagram), on my podcast The Confidence Show and if you’re a social media manager who doesn’t know what to charge, you can take my free pricing quiz here: www.quiz.rebeccalucyh.com.