My job in Belgium: How much does a social media coach earn?

What is your job?
I describe myself as a social media coach and consultant. That is to say that I help companies to market themselves well on social media or to improve their social media marketing. That ranges from giving them strategic advice and brainstorming workshops to helping with advertisments or writing blogspots and Facebook updates.

Do you like your job?
Yeah, as a self-employed person you take your job in your own direction. OK, there are jobs that I absolutely hate, like administration, but I love connecting with people, I love the challenges, being creative and helping other companies to grow. Recently, I have also begun teaching an online course about Facebook on TeachMe.be, and the marketing approach I use for this is different from traditional consultancy. That also offers something new and different and so I am constantly learning from it.

What do you think of your income?
I know that the self-employed earn less, but I really think my income is on the low side, mainly because of all the expenses (€6,000 a month gross, €1,500 net). I have been self-employed for a year and have not yet had many permanent contracts. Therefore, I spend a lot of time soliciting for contracts. Also TeachMe.be takes up a lot of my time and the money I get in return is not that much. But a new initiative needs time to grow. As a result my income changes each month, one month a little more the next month a little less.

How many hours a week do you work per week?
That seriously depends on circumstances. During the busy times I work morning, noon and night. Sometimes even the whole night through. But the following week I take things easy and I take more time to relax in between jobs. I don’t really get work at weekends, so Saturday and Sunday are days I use to catch up on extra work as my inbox is fairly quiet. If I count it all up I suppose I work 50-60 hours per week. That seems like a lot but I do that with more pleasure than if I was working for somebody else.

Do you save?
My girlfriend and I would really like to save to buy a house, but that’s not possible right now. As a self-employed couple our income is very varied and regularly we have to pay very high bills. We have to plan well in order to pay our bills and if a customer does not pay his invoice on time then sometimes the edge is very close.

What is your biggest expense?
The business, of course. I am happy to invest in myself and in the growth of TeachMe.be. Every extra euro goes back into the business. This could be spent on books, on seminars that cost a couple of hundred euros, or even on self-training courses that cost thousands of euros.

What can you definitely not spend money on?
I don’t give money away easily. I could spend months thinking about spending €100 on a coffee machine for instance.

What do you gladly spend money on?
Good food. Both at home and in restaurants, every meal is a feast.

What would you do it you won the lottery?
I would buy a quiet farmhouse in the country side and look at how I could make the world a better place to help others. I would also buy a Tesla as our car needs replacing.