Career lessons from freelance content marketing expert: Lily Ugbaja
For this International Women’s Day edition of our Community Feature series, we sat down with Lily Ugbaja, an impressive content strategist, speaker, and mom, to get insights and share lessons from her 7+ years of marketing experience.
Lily has worked with leading brands such as Animalz, WordPress, Hubspot, and Zapier, onetime generating over US $2m in client revenue from a single piece of content.
Keep reading to see how Lily navigates life while working with multiple global clients at a time and how being a mom challenged her to follow her passion.
Lily speaking at DevFest/WTM Conference
Tell us about yourself, how did you get into marketing?
I've always loved writing since as early as primary school. I won many writing awards and even wrote a novel at the time. I had dreams of being a fiction author, but I was always too practical and believed it would be challenging to achieve that dream.
I went on to work as an administrator, and what eventually led me to a career in content marketing was my pregnancy with my first child. When I was eight months pregnant, I started asking myself if I wanted to return to that job after my maternity leave. "Do I really want to put my child in daycare and go back to this job?", "Is this really what I want?" I kept asking myself.
Lily working as an administrator
If you watch my TEDx talk, you see where I say that motherhood resets your brain; once you have a child, you enter a circle where you have to prioritize them in everything you do. I understand that the definition of being there might differ for many mums, but for me, it meant being there and seeing everything going on in my child's life. I decided to find a way to work from home and started doing some research.
During that process, I read lots of blogs that shared detailed information on motherhood, and I always wondered why the writers would invest so much time writing the blogs for free. Not long after, I discovered that the bloggers were actually making money from the advertisements on the page. I decided to try blogging since it's very flexible, and I was already passionate about writing.
I launched a blog and also started guest posting on other sites to promote my blog. Two guest posts later, a MarTech company reached out to offer me a full-time writing position. I negotiated a freelance contract and eventually joined the organization. That’s when I started building a writing portfolio of B2B Saas content.
Six months pregnant Lily delivering a TEDx Talk
What does a day in your life working as a freelance content marketer look like?
I have about three to six clients at any given time. It feels like running my own business or working in several roles simultaneously, so a schedule is crucial.
I usually get to my desk between 8:30 and 9:30 am. Depending on my deadlines, I spend the first 10 minutes responding to emails or inquiries before starting work on a draft. But every day is not the same; there are days when I'm doing research, outlining a piece, or having meetings. I plan my week in synergy with my productivity for specific tasks.
For instance, my kids are home on Mondays, so their noise would affect my meetings. Thursday is a better day because by then, I've already achieved some level of productivity, and it's also not Friday when I just want to check out of work.
You’ve worked with Hubspot, Animalz, Zapier, and other top international brands. How did you position yourself for work with these organizations and how have you maintained your connections so far?
A lot of this has been outside my control, actually. I feel like I've just been in the right place, at the right time, with the right client. For example, I was guest blogging on different sites and had no intention of getting clients from there, and suddenly, I got multiple clients. Early on, my blog was one of my biggest selling points because it equipped me with knowledge on how to run and grow other sites.
Before I joined Animalz, I was intentional about connecting with successful freelancers and even did some sub-contracting work for them. At the time, I primarily used Twitter to market my services.
After Animalz, I had a better strategy which came from the confidence and validation of knowing that I was doing a great job before that. I started teaching about my process and shared results. When you're in people's faces, they remember you when they need something done. Most of the big-name brands I know came from connecting with someone there, even when I wasn't actively looking to write for them. I just saw someone cool that I wanted to connect with and was strategically always showing up in front of them.
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What do you enjoy the most about freelance Content Marketing and what parts of it do you not enjoy?
I love that content marketing constantly evolves, unlike my career as an administrator. There's always something new, and you're always learning, which, ironically, is what is killing me right now; because it's hard to keep up as a mom. But this is my dream; tech is constantly improving, and people are also evolving, keeping me on my toes. I also love freelancing because I can work for multiple clients, and it helps me grow faster.
With more brands, I can see how marketing changes for every product and easily draw experiences from working on one project for another. I've had times when the knowledge I gained from working on one project helped in another.
On the other hand, a freelance career in content marketing requires me to manage so many different things at once, and it can be intense and time-consuming. I can't remember the last time I read a blog or listened to a podcast from other creatives, which I should constantly do as a content marketer.
Lily’s video studio setup
What's a life hack you’ve picked up over the years that people don't talk about enough but has helped you?
It comes down to two things. The first is being human and positioning yourself strategically. No one wants to work with someone who immediately comes off like they want something from you. Approaching people well is one of the most important skills to hone in a freelance career. You must successfully show people you're worthy of the attention you're asking for by treating them how you would like to be treated. For example, if you're in a position to hire a freelancer, you don't want them just bombarding you with pages of the stuff they've written. You'll want them to take their time to get to know you and your goals first and ask strategic questions that help you recognize their skills.
The second bit is making sure that you manage your finances. Lack of finances can be damning for a freelancer, so handling your finances carefully is essential. Currently, I live on around 10 to 30% of my monthly income, so I know that if I don't generate a new client for up to a year, I can take care of myself, which shows in how I relate to people and approach opportunities. This may not be possible for everyone, but this is something to consider as your income grows.
It’s Women’s Month this March, and we know there’s still a gender pay gap in Marketing worldwide, with women earning up to 20% less than their male counterparts.
What are some tips for women looking for new opportunities to ensure they’re not getting the shorter end of the stick?
One of the ways we can close this gap is by having more open conversations with men in the industry to understand their rates and the quality of work they're producing. We constantly undersell ourselves as women, charging rates below global standards. When you have conversations with other people, especially men, you'll quickly realize that you can confidently ask for your worth because they're not necessarily producing better work.
In every industry, including Marketing, it matters how confidently you present yourself. There's always someone out there looking for the knowledge you have right now, and you don't need to know everything in the world. You only need to own what you know and sell it confidently.
Can you share one piece of advice for the budding freelance marketers in our community?
First, learn to deliver value before you start selling. Value, in this case, is not about knowing your worth as an individual but as a professional and your skill level in the market. Many people aren't ready to put in the work to build a solid portfolio before they start earning big. When you're starting out, work with writers or agencies, they always have a lot of work to go around, which helps to build your portfolio to the point where you can start charging top dollars.
What can we expect from you going forward?
People can expect to see me much more across social media. I have many podcasts coming up, and I’ll share more marketing content in my newsletter.
Connect with Lily Ugbaja on LinkedIn, Twitter, and her newsletter, Marketing Cyborg. Go to lilyugbaja.com to learn more about her strategy, and book a free consultation for your business!
We’ll be hosting a Twitter Space with Lily on Friday, 31st of March 2023 to discuss “How to Develop a Solid Content Marketing Strategy for any Brand.”
