More and more people have jobs which require them to produce videos and posts for social media channels.
I recently spent the day with Iwan Steffan, a social media content creator for Pub Invest, who own several pubs and bars in Liverpool city centre. I was keen to find out what it's really like to spend your day as a full-time content creator and Iwan was kind enough to give me a glimpse into his world.
I met him at one of the company's venues - Boston Pool Loft in Concert Square. Boston Pool Loft is a games bar, with pool tables, darts and beer pongs among the attractions. Iwan's task, along with his fellow content creator Bethany, is to promote this venue via a series of TikTok videos. After this, there are three more bars to promote too.
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He said: "We are going to be doing TikToks of the venue demonstrating the games, showing drinks, offers and stuff like that and just showcasing the venue really. So we just want to go for, we want to aim towards a certain crowd. So we want to have a certain type of music in mind and a certain type of aesthetic."
Iwan will schedule posts to ensure that TikTok videos promoting each venue are posted every other day. Each different bar he visits brings a new challenge.
He added: "Every venue is for a completely different audience. We’re going to Matthew Street later, and that’s aimed at an older audience, so we wouldn’t put out tongue in cheek stuff there. We’d put more venue shots and the aesthetic. For here, you can have a bit of a fun here. It’s perfect for a boy’s night or a girl’s night. So we’re going to keep the music modern and show all the drinks offers."
Iwan is basically a director, with just an hour or so to record his short films. He and Bethany bounce from one game to the next, capturing action shots of the games and keeping the sequence of the video in mind.
It is decided that the TikTok should be based around a fictional date night, where Bethany and her boyfriend try out each type of game in the venue. It creates a more personal, intriguing video than one merely showing two people play the games.
Iwan added: "You do need to be creative in this job. If you're doing the same videos every day, no one wants to watch it and it's going to show."
Iwan's day started earlier in his company's office above the nearby Level nightclub. It is there where he finds out what bars he is visiting that day and plan content accordingly. He saod: "I will come into the office in the morning, start scheduling the posts on various accounts.
"I’ll also do some researching about the venues and other TikToks. A lot of the time I’m just watching TikToks and getting ideas. We have a group in work where we’ll send TikToks in and play around with different ideas."
It's a far cry from Iwan's previous life. He said: "Previously, I'd always worked in retail hospitality. I was doing reception work and I lost my job there and I started doing TikTok for myself during lockdown and that went really well. It went huge."
Iwan starting posting TikToks of Liverpool's ghost stories, vlogs about his life and, as venues began to re-open, showcasing bars and restaurants.
He added: "So I saw this job and thought, this is something I haven't done, but I know that I'm good at doing it as a content creator. When I did go for the interview, they were aware of like that I did do online stuff myself and they've all been really supportive of that."
It's safe to say Iwan is in a happier place career wise compared to pre-lockdown. He said: "I love the creativity of this job. I've worked in so many different places where I have gone and stood in a shop every day. I've stood in a bar every day. I've done all different things."
Iwan highlights visiting the Tomorrowland music festival in Belgium as one of his favourite experiences. It sums up a job which throws up new challenges daily.
He said: "If it wasn't for this job, like we wouldn't have gone to that was like such an amazing experience. You're doing different stuff every day. One day you’re riding a mechanical bull but then the next day you could be working in a student fair. I'm a creative at heart and I couldn't be doing the same thing every day."
After finishing at the Boston Pool Loft, I head with Iwan and Bethany to the nearby Cheers Big Ears. This bar features cocktails, deep dish pizzas and dart boards. Several film posters have been remade with dart-based puns.
Here a staff member is keen to star in the TikTok videos, actively sharing ideas with the two. Iwan says that content from the venues can vary depending on how much the staff themselves want to get involved.
One major disadvantage about content creating is the trolling Iwan receives. Many of these related to him being gay and his use of botox, both of which he has been very open about online. He added: "It's always about like either like my sexuality and or the way that I look." However, he has developed a thick skin to negative comments. Many people trolling him are those he doesn't know and he is never going to know.
Furthermore, he claims that any engagement helps him make money from his personal TikTok account. He added: "Whether I'm getting good or bad comments, it's money. I love making money, so, so I can take a few comments from people that I don't know."
For him, such downsides are "worth the upsides of being in such a creative job". He says fellow content creators In Liverpool struggle to have this attitude, with some ringing him "in tears".
Nevertheless, he finds the creator scene in Liverpool a supportive and welcoming network. He counts The Scouse Ghetto Gourmet, who reviews Liverpool restaurants, as a friend.
"The one thing I will say is all my friends that are content creators, when we get together, we don't sit there and gossip about people. We don't sit there and say horrible things. We talk about how we're gonna support each other, how we're gonna make more money and how we can help each other."
I part ways with Iwan after the work at Cheers is done. The day is still young for him, with two further venues to visit in Matthew Street and filming of another ghost story in the city centre for his personal account. The process is non-stop, with content creating both his job and his hobby.
He added: "I've got my work to do here, then I've got another audience to feed. I don't really switch off."
However, he wouldn't have it any other way given his struggles in school and previous career. He said: "I don't have any GCSEs. I do get why school's important, but if you wanna do something that much, you will find a way to do it."
For anyone wanting a similar career, Iwan's advice is: "Be prepared. It's not gonna be for everyone, but I love it." You can follow Iwan on TikTok and Instagram.
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