Be your own boss: Freelancing tips from author James Frey

MANILA – The number of online jobs has steadily increased in the country as the common millennial pursues a niche in an ocean of career opportunities.

According to US-based online staffing platform Elance, there are currently 1 million Filipino online freelancers in its roster, pursuing jobs in design, programming, administration and marketing.

From January 2010 to April 2014, Filipino freelancers have earned an estimated P9 billion.

But freelancing is more than just choosing a job you can do leisurely. Author and businessman James Frey said that to make big bucks, you have to treat freelancing like any other job.

“I have a work day like everybody else. Every morning I get up and I go to work just like if I was a teacher, a doctor, or construction worker. Everybody has a job, and you get up everyday and go to your job,” he told ANC’s “On The Money.”

Freelancing has its share of risks because it does not guarantee a steady monthly income. To have the extra money for special occasions and emergencies, Frey said he has followed a simple rule: Don’t buy what you don’t need.

“I’m wearing this shirt, I’ve had this shirt for seven years. I don’t need another black shirt. I wear very simple clothing. You only buy what you need. You don’t need an expensive car. I don’t wear a watch or expensive jewelry, none of that stuff matters, what matters is that you have enough money to take care of yourself and your family,” he said.

Frey is the author of A Million Little Pieces and one of the writers behind Lorien Legacies, a series of young adult science fiction books.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

How Pinoy earned P7.5-M from freelance work in just 1 year

MANILA, Philippines - Imagine earning millions of pesos from freelance work.

A programmer from Cavite earned P7.5 million in 2013, or a whopping average of P20,547 a day, while a writer from Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental earned P2.6 million last year.

How did they did do it?

The programmer and writer are just two of the one million Filipinos who found work on Elance and oDesk.

Elance and oDesk, which merged two months ago, are web-based freelancing platforms where companies can hire freelance workers of all kinds from all over the world.

These web-based freelancing platforms have helped many Filipinos earn good money.

In an interview with ABS-CBNnews.com, Ron Cirujano, country manager of Elance-oDesk, said 1 million Pinoys earned P3.3 billion from online work through Elance-oDesk in 2013.

This brought the total earnings of the Pinoy freelancers through Elance-oDesk to P9 billion, from 2010 to the first four months of 2014.

In the Cavite-based programmer's case, Cirujano said he earned his millions by creating mobile apps and software programs for online clients he got through o-Desk.

On the other hand, the writer from Gingoog earned P2.6 million in 2013 by doing content and creative writing work from clients on Elance.

Filipinos who are finding freelance work on Elance-oDesk are not just from Metro Manila, but also from the provinces.

Cebu is the top performing province, with Filipinos earning P706 million from Elance-oDesk between 2010 and 2014. The top earner in Cebu is a freelance admin worker, earning P2.3 million in 12 months.

In Iligan, earnings through the 2 platforms reached P342 million during the same period, while in Bacolod, earnings reached P221 million and in Davao, earnings hit P174 million.

In Metro Manila (Quezon City, Manila, Makati and Pasig), Filipinos earned P1.3 billion from freelance work on Elance-oDesk, from 2010 to the first four months of 2014.

Rise of online jobs

In recent years, there has been a rise in online outsourcing. Employers can now hire highly-skilled workers from anywhere in the world, increasing efficiency while saving on costs.

On Elance-oDesk alone, there are 8 million online freelancers and 2.5 million clients globally. Work on the two platforms totaled more than $750 million in 2013.

Many top global companies use the two platforms. Cirujano cited Microsoft, Walt Disney, NBC, Panasonic, Johnson & Johnson and Pinterest, as among their clients.

There are five main categories of jobs offered on Elance-oDesk: Admin, Marketing, Writing, Design and Programming.

Admin jobs are typically BPO and call center work, as well as data entry, virtual assisting, medical transcription, and customer service. Marketing jobs usually involve social media and company account management, while writing jobs involve coming out with press releases, blog entries and other content.

Design jobs would entail logo-making and animation, while programming would involve IT work such as web development, mobile apps and games.

"Filipinos often focus on admin jobs, this is due to the familiarity of Filipinos to do call center type of work. We have a good number of IT talents as well - our hardworking nature combined with our service oriented culture makes us very attractive to clients," Cirujano said.

How does Elance-oDesk work? Cirujano said it involves a bidding system. The online worker searches for a job on the site's search section. Once he sees a job he likes, he can submit his proposal for the project. His proposal would include details on how he will undertake the tasks and how much he will charge the client.

"Once he is able to deliver, he will be paid in the platform and he can withdraw it by using his local bank account (local fund transfer)," Cirujano said.

Elance offers free membership, where one can bid up to 40 projects in a month. ODesk, on the other hand, has free membership where one can make 25 bids per week.

The platforms earn by charging the clients - Elance charges 8.75 percent per transaction, while oDesk charges 10 percent per transaction.

"It's the client who pays for it, not the online worker, so technically, the free account is really for free," Cirujano said.

Tips for freelancers

Cirujano also gave some tips on how you can be successful at online work.

1. Create a great profile. Make sure to give a good background information on your skills, experience and capabilities.

2. Upload a good portfolio. This is for your potential client to know the quality of your work and it will also show your creativity (this is really useful if you are a designer).

3. Upload a great photo.

4. When bidding for a project, make sure to create a customized proposal. Your potential client will know if you read the job posting clearly - always review for typo and grammatical errors before submitting.

5. Always deliver on time.

6. Keep an open communication with your client

7. Always ask. This is so you are sure that you and your client are on the same page and are clear on deliverables.

8. Under promise, over deliver! This will ensure that your client will keep coming back to you.

9. If you are a beginner, prove you are actually good. Take skills tests, these are free exams on both elance.com and odesk.com that will reflect the scores on your profile.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

How a Filipina freelancer made P1.5-M in a year

MANILA -- A growing number of Filipinos are choosing to do freelance work, mostly for convenience and being able to work anywhere they want.

Doing freelance work can also be quite lucrative. According to online freelance platform Elance, a Filipina freelancer, who was not identified, made $36,612 (around P1.5 million) in 2012 after completing 35 jobs involving writing and translation. This was the most made by any Filipino freelancer last year.

Elance continues to see growth in the number of freelancers in the Philippines as the firm saw an 89% rise in the volume in the first quarter over a year ago.

In its report entitled The State of the Filipino Freelance Market, Elance said it hired 12,218 new freelancers located in the Philippines in the first quarter, bringing the total number of Filipino freelancers in the firm to 95,490 as of end-March.

"The progress in the Philippines is above the overall growth Elance is experiencing," Kjetil Olsen, vice president for Europe at Elance, said in a separate statement.

"In fact, with the potential for even greater growth as companies continue to embrace online freelance work, the future is indeed bright for Filipino talents and local economy alike," he continued.

Highest paid freelance jobs

According to Elance's report, IT and programming freelancers enjoyed the highest hourly pay at $14.30 last year, followed by engineering and manufacturing at $12.2, and design and multimedia at $12.

The average hourly rate for all categories--which includes administrative support, writing and translation, sales and marketing, finance and management, design and multimedia, IT and programming, and engineering and manufacturing--stood at $8.3 in 2012.

But the report showed the administrative support category had the most number of earning freelancers in 2012, followed by writing and translation.

Why go freelance?

The report showed that what Filipino freelancers love the most about their job is having control over their own schedule and being able to work anywhere. It also showed Filipino freelancers enjoy following their own passion and being their own boss.

It also showed more than a third or 67.7% said they are happy being a freelancer than being a full-time employee, although some 27.7% said their level of happiness is the same whether freelancing or working full-time.

The survey was conducted in September 2012 and covered 120 selected Filipino freelancers.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com