What to buy:

• Stationery bits-and-bobs.

• A framed quote or picture.

What NOT to buy:

So, what do you need to do to get out?

• Your initial term is the period of time you must serve when you first signed the contract. So, for example, if you signed in January 2016 and the initial term was 12 months, then the initial term expires on January 2017.
• Your renewal term is the period of time that you will serve if you decide to renew your contract. This comes after the initial term has finished. It's pretty self explanatory - but the decision to "renew" isn't always obvious, which brings us to our next term.
• The rollover period. Now, this is the one that normally clinches people. A rollover period is simply a period of time that you must give the network notice that you want to leave. It's like giving notice when you leave your job. If you don't let them know within this period of time, then the contract is renewed automatically. You won't necessarily re-sign along a dotted line, but for all intents and purposes, you would have renewed your contract without even knowing. On my contract, for example, this was outlined in the fine print amidst a bank of words, so it was hard to spot. My rollover period was 90 days, so if my contract was due for renewal in January, then I had to contact my network by the end of September (90 days). Makes sense?

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Dear John Smith,

I am contacting you today to inform you that I would like to leave (NETWORK NAME), effective as of December 31st, 2016. 

As per my contract that we agreed upon, I will serve my initial term of 12 months from January 1st 2016, to December 31st 2016. As I am contacting you today within the rollover period of 90 days, there will not be a renewal of my contract for 2017.

The reason I have decided to leave is because I am unhappy with the lack of contact and help from your network. I believe I am able to manage my channel on my own, and so I no longer require the services of (NETWORK NAME).

Kind regards,

Jenny Smith

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That's all it takes. It may feel a little cold and harsh, but it needs to be. You need to be clear and concise with every detail. And you best believe that they will reply, begging to keep you on board. It took me several weeks and countless emails back-and-forth before I got in their head that I wasn't going to stay. No matter what. So, be prepared to go into a bit of a battle - but be strong. You're doing this for a reason.

Now - what happens? Well, best case scenario is that they agree and they let you go. But what if they don't? What if they don't even respond to your email, or they ignore you completely? Believe me, it happens! Luckily, there's an option through YouTube called a 'request to unlink'. It's pretty self-explanatory - it's a request, through YouTube, to unlink your channel from your network. Now this shouldn't be your first point of attack - always contact your network first, as they can reject this request. Yep, your network can reply and just say no. But the beauty of this little button is that it has it's own little 'term', just like your contract. Your network has 30 days to respond to this request, either saying yes or no. If they don't, then YouTube will automatically unlink you. This is actually what happened to me - I did the whole contacting my network, and yada, yada, yada - and then nothing. Nothing seemed to be happening - so I clicked the request to unlink, and my network never responded. That's how I got out. So it's a good little tool to have in your belt.

But wait - what if you've contacted your network and then say no? And what if you've clicked the request to unlink, and they've said no? Now what? Well, this is where it gets a little messy. This is where you'll need to seek legal advice, which sounds pretty scary and pricey right? Well, it can be. There are plenty of options for legal aid, and I'd recommend that you exhaust all of those before forking out for a solicitor or lawyer. From here, it's all case-by-case as to how things turn out. Ray William Johnson's case against Maker Studios is quite popular in the YouTube world for this very reason.

As you can see, Ray went public with his issues with his network. If you have a large following, you may be tempted to do this, so that they've been 'exposed' or a similar effect. I've always been a believer of 'don't hang out your dirty laundry', but if you're wanting to go this path to get a response, just be careful - don't mention individual people, only mention the company as a whole, as this could be grounds for defamation.

Okay - so now you've left your network. Now what?

Well, it's actually a lot more simple that it seems. Once your network has ceased your contract, they may not necessarily tell you. This is why you need to be specific with dates, so that they know, and that you know. When it came to the date of the end of my contract, I didn't hear a peep from my network. I logged onto my YouTube channel, just like any normal day, and I saw that all of my videos were no longer monetised. So what this means, is that my network dropped me and my channel without notifying me - and they are well within their rights to do this, but now my videos weren't earning any money. All that you need to do is go into your video manager, select all of your videos, and click into actions > monetise. That's it. Then, your AdSense account has kicked in again. Your earnings with AdSense will then take into account from that date, and you are free from your network.

Woohoo!

So that's everything. It is a lot to take in, and it can be intimidating for those who are at the starting point. Just know this: you can do it. Take control. No one else can do this for you, so find a set of balls, and get stuck into it.

I've also done a video on this, so if you're someone who prefers watching things, or if you're still a little hazy, check it out.

• I finished my Certificate III in Business Administration. I wish I was more excited about this, because it's another thing I can add to my resume to make me more employable, but the experience of it was so degrading. Now, I want to be careful when I explain this, and I don't want to offend anyone - but I could have finished that certificate in a week. The assignments were so simple and obvious that I was able to finish most of them within an hour or two. It honestly doesn't even feel like a qualification to me now - and again, I don't want to be offensive or degrading to those who have the certificate or who have had to work hard at it. Don't get me wrong, it's great to have it and I'm sure it'll help me get a job (more on that later), but I definitely have this feeling of "Oh, that was it?".
• I left my retail job of 5 years. This one was a biggie for me. I got this job at the end of high school, literally a week or so after I finished my year 12 exams. At the time, I just really needed money, and I didn't even know much about the business or what they sold. I still remember my first shift, feeling completely lost and out of my element. I didn't hate the job, but I certainly wasn't comfortable or enjoying it. I remember barely talking during my shift, and feeling like I was in the way of everyone. As time went by, though, I started making friendships with the people working there. I started talking to people more, and I really came out of my shell and became comfortable with not only the job, but myself. The more I learned from that job, the better I became as a person - as a friend, partner, employee... everything. When I finished my degree last year, though, I felt this strong urge to move on - to take on more responsibility, and make my mark elsewhere. This was an internal struggle that I had for quite some time. "I'm bored of this job, but I love the people and I know what I'm doing". Eventually, as you already know, I left this job, and I cried the whole way through it. I couldn't even fathom a goodbye speech, because I didn't feel like it would ever be enough. While I reached the end of my journey with this job, I am extremely grateful for the things that it has done for me, and a lot of it has to do with the people I worked with. There hasn't been a day since where I think "Screw it, I'll just go back". But I can't. I needed to move on, and I am - sort of.
• I started my first full-time job. I'm not super proud to admit that, at 23 years of age, I've only just gotten a full-time job. However, I always have to remind myself that I focused my life on my degree. I worked hard at it, and I finished, so now it's my turn for a real job. Notice I said job, though - not career. Without going into it too much, for the past three weeks I have been working at a call centre in customer service. It is not something I wanted, but here I am now. A lot of people have said to me "Oh, wow, why are you doing that?", and honestly, it comes down to money. This was the best paying job at the time that I could get, and I figured it was worth a shot. This is my new internal struggle. You see, the reason I took this job was to make some money, and finally look into buying a house with my partner. That's the only reason. I don't believe people should work for money - they should work for something they love, and right now, this isn't me. I'm not comfortable, I'm not happy, and I barely talk (other than when I'm on the phone, of course). But I need to remind myself of that girl who first started her retail job - she was uncomfortable and unhappy too, and in the end it became such an amazing part of my life, so why won't this job too?