That time I was trolled on Tattle Life

And how it made me reassess my business. Also, how I felt being referred to as an 'influencer'.

A few years ago, I was having a coffee in my local coffee shop and this man walked in. He’d recently moved to my road and we got chatting.

You’re an influencer, aren’t you? he said and I nearly choked on my coffee.

No, I’m definitely not, I responded loudly.

I’m a writer, I continued quietly.

Back then, just a few years ago, I felt awkward calling myself a writer.

Even though I’d had two non-fiction books published, had been commissioned to write for all the national papers and had sold lots of copies of my poetry book.

But I definitely wasn’t an influencer.

I had a growing Instagram account but I didn’t earn any money from it directly (through sponsored posts or collaborations).

And I just didn’t identify as an influencer. I felt like influencers were people who influenced their followers to buy stuff and that wasn’t what I did.

But then, in the pandemic, the ‘influencer’ label caught up with me again.

By now, I was running a growing online course business with my husband and I had found my first customers through Instagram, as that was my online community.

The first course was on how to do your own PR: grow your profile; pitch for press. And to prove it worked, I got a load of press for my own business.

Sometimes, I’d interview others in the online course world and sometimes, those people were actual influencers.

Soon, I was being associated with other women who were selling online business courses through Instagram.

But I didn’t personally know, or work with, any of these women. I was a journalist, running a business (kind of by accident) and writing articles about it.

So when I was alerted to being mentioned on the hideous trolling website ‘Tattle Life’, alongside some of the women I was associated with, I was shocked.

The whole thing is so rotten - women pitted against each other; hurling abuse; bringing each other down - and I wanted nothing to do with it.

But you don’t get to choose.

Thankfully, there wasn’t all that much to say about me, because I wasn’t an influencer. Those Tattle trolls really hate women who make money through sponsored content.

(Envy, I suspect).

And someone stepped in saying something hilarious along the lines of: Annie’s not that bad, she’s a brown sandal-wearing hippie.

Someone else tried to cuss my poetry by suggesting I was copying Rupi Kaur, which felt like an uncomfortable dig.

But I’ve been writing poetry a long time, influenced by some of the same people I imagine Rupi Kaur has been influenced by, so I swiftly moved on.

Seeing my name on that website made me feel dirty, though.

I felt like it put a question mark on the legitimacy of my business courses, even though they’d helped hundreds of women to find success with their own businesses.

I wondered where the equivalent website was, bringing down male entrepreneurs.

It actually put me off being involved in the online course world.

In my heart, I was a journalist, author and poet. But I also loved running a business, growing a community and I got a proper thrill from the selling.

However, those comments, and the general murkiness of online courses being sold via shit corporate-looking webinars wasn’t something I wanted to be associated with.

And so it was probably around then that I started to reassess.

I trained as a coach and took on some one-to-one clients (which I loved).

I wrote another non-fiction book (Raise your SQ).

Also, more poetry.

And articles, as a journalist.

I did launch one more course - Revive - to help women who had been feeling lost during the pandemic and needed to revive themselves.

I loved running that course, and I loved that women had mega revelations after working through the video workshops.

But then I stopped.

No new ideas for courses came in. And if they did, I’d start designing them and then find my inspiration fading away.

My confidence had been dashed.

By the trolling, the questioning and the pandemic in general.

And I could never quite find a way back in.

Partly, that was down to websites like Tattle Life. And partly, it was down to society finding it really hard when a woman is successful in business.

I couldn’t be bothered to fight for my place amongst the men.

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Well, until now…

I’m sliding back into running courses. I love the freedom of it. The flexibility. And the potential power of learning this way.

I’ve taken online courses that have changed my life; people have taken my online courses and said their lives have been changed.

If I’m honest, I feel a little bit nervous. It’s both trying something new - and returning to something old - at the same time.

But I really want to do it. And I believe in this course, and how much it will help people. So I’m being brave, and putting it out there.

(And occasionally panicking and wanting to withdraw it. But then people are saying they want it, so it’s on and I’m happy and proud and excited.)

The new course is called How to make that dream come true and we will work together on making one of your career dreams come to fruition.

Getting a book deal, starting a new business, earning £100,000, growing a community of 60,000+, being featured in national press, having your art exhibited.

There’s a massive early-bird offer on, making the whole package just £299 (instead of £500). It ends soon, so…

And the first course module drops Monday 15th April. Work on it in your own time and I’ll be there as your pocket coach, whenever you need (in office hours).

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The beauty of working online, as a one-woman-band, is that you can flex and adapt to the needs of your community.

I’m in the business of being part of a supportive community of women, where we help each other to rise and succeed.

Unlike the Tattle approach of trying to make women fall.

Fuck that website.

We’re better than that.

Annie x