Freelance stories #4: Morten Lyth

Most people who have tried to start something new or to jump into life as an independent person probably know it: "I'm just waiting for the right moment".

But according to Morten Lyth, who works daily as a freelance social media manager, the right time only comes when you get started.

We spoke to Morten, who over the past year has changed his full-time job as a baker to life as freelancer.

Because how do you find the courage to take the leap? What does his new everyday life look like and what does he do to find his customers? 

Here we take a closer look at Morten's inspiring story, while he shares his tips and tricks and tells more about his experience with Factofly.

From baker to Freelance Social Media Manager

Morten previously worked as a baker in the restaurant industry and took the leap from full-time baker to independent freelance social media manager.

Although it may sound like quite a leap, Morten explains here what made it easier for him to start his own:

"What has made it easier for me, now that I have had to start my own, is to take my drive from my one passion and then transfer it to something new."

As a self-employed person, you need passion and drive to get things going, especially at the beginning when everything has to be built up.

This is something that has helped Morten along the way, where today he mainly helps online coaches with their social media:

"Now I primarily help online coaches to get more time in their everyday lives by taking on the responsibilities within social media. In addition, I play a little bit with social media marketing and social media management."

Morten has no formal training in social media, but with lots of experience, passion and drive, he today makes a living from his new business, Lyth Media. The idea arose one day when Morten came across a unique post on social media.

"What has made it easier for me, now that I have had to start my own, is to take my drive from my one passion and then, as it were, transfer it to something new."

Landed the first client as a side hustle

"I kind of felt like I had hit a milestone in my career in the food world – and then something new had to happen!"

It was here that Morten came across an exciting post on Instagram back in January.

A coach sought help with some tasks with social media, as he wanted to spend more time with his family, and Morten quickly jumped in.

Since then, his duties have escalated, and he now has good experience with various aspects of social media:

"And then it really just grew out of me starting to edit videos for him. Now I am almost responsible for the entire SoMe management and post twice a day for him."

In addition, Morten also records videos, which he edits and texts.

In this way, little by little, he got started with the new life as a freelance social media manager.

But how did he get the courage to leave the full-time job completely to go all-in on the freelance life? A leap that seems scary to most people.

An ambivalent feeling and a financial safety net

Asked what it was like to wave goodbye to his career in order to stand on his own two feet instead, Morten explains that it all felt a bit ambivalent:

"I had made sure I had a big safety net under me financially before I did this. Because there will probably never be a time that is absolutely right. When you have a full-time job and want to start something new, you can't wait for the stars to align."

Morten explains that the time is only right the second you choose to go all-in on the dream, so you can spend all your time on it and suddenly have 200 extra hours a month with full energy to invest.

It was with this philosophy and attitude that Morten took the leap with both feet and continues to work today as an independent freelancer with Factofly by his side.

Financial safety net

Although it felt ambivalent, Morten jumped into freelance life after making sure he had a financial safety net.

And there were also doubts along the way, as Morten was nervous about having to start his own company and all the administrative work that comes with it:

"I was insanely nervous about starting my own company and also asked my former boss about the CVR no. etc. and how it worked. 

I don't think I wanted to jump into that when it was all so new. To start with, it was just supposed to be an extra thing that I ran alongside my full-time job," where he goes on to say that he came across Factofly by chance, which has now helped him with all the administrative matters since April.

"I don't know how it suddenly appeared or what I googled, but luckily Factofly came up. And then I just thought; well it sounds too good to be true!"

A skeptical start and a smooth collaboration with Factofly

"You should not trust anything at all. Everyone is trying to cheat you." That's how it sounds when Morten has to explain how skeptical he was at first when he first came across Factofly. 

But still, the idea of escaping the administrative burden seemed attractive, and Morten chose to investigate the matter further:

"I got a meeting with the director. I think I even talked to him twice before I thought that it might actually be that they weren't here to cheat me," he explains – something that Morten can only smile about today when he thinks back to the time he took the step into life as an independent with Factofly on the sidelines.

"And now it has been running since April, and I am so satisfied! In other words, there has not been a single time when I have had to write about one problem or another. And they have not only helped with invoicing, but with any issue I've had in my business."

For Morten, just like for most others, it was a huge decision to have to remove the safe safety net of having a full-time job where you always feel that you are guaranteed an income. 

Here, Factofly was an extra reassurance and help on the way into the unknown:

"Well, I just have to go in and create my customer, and then I have to create an invoice when my task is finished. Then take the Factofly 6%, and then I don't have to think about it anymore. And I think that the ease of it was what I should have elaborated on, because I simply thought it sounded too easy - but it works!"

Freedom and flexibility or the dream of a big company?

Most freelancers are dreamers and have ambitions for the future, which of course goes hand in hand with passion and drive. 

This also applies to Morten, who often finds himself in the dilemma of having to choose between freedom and flexibility, or the deadline to scale and build a larger company with employees.

"I think it lies where, if I choose freedom, I think I'm going to run it all through Factofly as long as possible," he explains.

However, there are already friends and acquaintances who have curiously inquired about Morten's new business and have expressed that they would also like to get started.

Whether it will be the freedom and flexibility that wins over the ambition for a larger company with employees or vice versa, time will therefore have to tell:

"I can also easily see that it could potentially grow big. There are +3000 coaches in Denmark, so it could easily become a big thing. And I don't think there are that many people who have this niche that I have. And I think it's just cool that I can then specialize in it."

A stable customer flow – Be social on social media

The most important thing, however, is that today Morten has succeeded in building a stable customer flow via his presence on Instagram, and that he can make a living from his new business. 

For Morten, it is important to be where his customers are, and he therefore primarily uses Instagram to establish new collaborations.

Here he finds new customers by being social on Instagram and by interacting with new followers:

"So I hunt almost every day, and I actually do that in the form of using Instagram.

And typically I go in and find a lot of business coaches because I know that business coaches coach other coaches. And then I follow them and go then go to my storyline, where I like to spend an hour watching all the content."

He then interacts with the new followers by commenting and reacting to their content, making them notice him and what he's up to. 

"It's actually one of the easiest ways for me right now that has created some lead generation. It's simply just being social on social media and trying to create a little spark by seeing people's stories and interacting," he tells.

Finally, about the future, he talks about a small mental board, where on one side is written "big company" and on the other "freedom":

"I haven't reached a point yet in the company's first year where I think about whether I should have a lot of employees," he explains why a focus on freedom and flexibility also led him in the direction of Factofly.