Lori Hil here, coming back at you from the beautiful volcanic crater of Cuenca Ecuador!
What do I do?
When someone asks me what I do for a living, I just look at them all serious and say “I’m a freelance cowgirl.” (Thank you, Tina Fey for that one.)
Ok that’s not very explanatory, so I do a ton of things, but here’s the gist…
I am a content creator, director and curator, blogger, marketer, and social media manager, writer, and… Now you see why I like to shorten my job description!
I have had requests to look over my shoulder at my screen for a day. You don’t want to do that, trust me it’s craziness!
Just know that there are typically 8-14 tabs open, sometimes multiple windows, and lots of scanning and research going on!
But in it all, I get to find great stuff to share with all of you and I love it despite the chaos!
In light of that, I decided to throw an extra post at you this week with what a random Thrusday in my life is like, because some people are curious. If that’s not you, well just keep on browsing, maybe there is a funny video of some cats that would be of interest…
A Random Thursday in the Life of a Social Media Manager, Content Curator, and yes, Freelance Cowgirl:
Starting at 6:30am it all begins…
- Be thankful for the day especially when there is sunshine!
- Marketing
- Check for updates from clients
- Create, edit, and schedule social media posts across platforms for three+ companies.
- Edit health article for client website.
- Fresh orange juice (Throw in a carrot for good measure) and drink, Eat some granola wth almond milk (gotta fuel up!)
- Jog/walk the dog with U2/Run DMC (Vertigo, anyone?), jump around and do some burpees
Walking Yu-mi…
Get ready to head out the door:
- 8:15 leave and wait on bus (and wait, and wait, I mentally organize my day while I wait)
- Waiting on the bus in the cold:
- Waiting on the bus in the heat:
- and…on the bus!
• 9:30 coffee & chat appointment with my fellow expat (aka: how I maintain a bit of sanity while living abroad)
• Wait on bus to return to home office/evaluate life
• Quick lunch with friends
• Check for re-tweetable content via the pages I love to support
• Write and Edit post for client
• Write post for Immensely Social
• Add account to plugin at Immensely Social Online Traffic, update site, review comments/mark spam, Check!
• Reroute our new Digital Paper to Subdomain (Ah, fixed at last, maybe! http://socialnews.immenselysocial.com)
And the Afternoon rocks on…
• Quick walk by the river (Brainstorm and write notes while I walk. Awkward? Yes, but hoping I will “accidentally” bump into a handsome stranger. You never know, right!)
• Watch elderly couple drive a motorcycle up the middle of the sidewalk, feel amused.
• Stop to admire the river, despite the whiff of diesel fumes dancing in my nostrils.
• Observe a DHL driver as he observes me…yes another awkward moment. My day is full of them.
A girl has gotta Eat and Chat:
• 5 pm Dinner appointment at a delightful cafe (friend, not business, SCORE! Hey, I deserve some Hil time)
Return to Home Office
• Receive a fabulous review from an awesome client like this one “lorihil knows what’s up! PERIOD.” Ah, day made!
• Figure out why I logged back into my email account…It’s an obsession, an obsession I tell ya!
• Chat with family (Phone, Skype, etc.)
• Do some reading, Qigong (something new I’m trying), or other “recovery” activities to break from all the “socialness”
• Study, translate some sentences, and attempt at least a feeble grasp of the Spanish language (Feel proud that my horrid “Spanglish” is increasing on the Spanish side)
• A little Udemy education
Discover Udemy’s featured courses!
• Watch an episode of EUREKA and convince myself that I’m working (My research on SARAH, the smart house of Sheriff Jack Carter, actually came in handy for a tech article I wrote once)
Have no idea what I’m talking about? Check this out…
Crash into bed silently reveling in my accomplishments, while remaining humble, of course…
This was a pretty good day. Believe me, I do not always have it together. Sometimes meals get skipped, hair gets pulled out (just kidding, sort of), and unexpected stuff derails my day.
Managing an online business requires flexibility and a lot of “recovery procedures” (meditation, yoga, tai chi, etc) to stay as zen as possible.
Sometimes I have the choice of workouts or sleeping more over eating. But, then there are days when I get to say “Forget this, I’m going out!” too. Being an online entrepreneur is hard work, but totally worth the extra control you get over your schedule!
Hope you gleaned something from my Random Thursday,or at least found it amusing!
Leave your comments, Tweet @lorihil
And, I’ll be back to chat with you soon!
XOXO Hil <3
Diane Overcash says
Wow, what a busy day you had. It sounds like a very interesting lifestyle, though. And you get to live in a beautiful place. I’m impressed with all you have accomplished.
lorihil says
Thank you!