Freelance on the side for extra income –- Find out why you should do it and how you can start

by Malds Menzon

freelanceFreelancing is a great way to earn income on-the-side.

So you can continue with the work you’re doing now, but you can still earn a little extra money from freelancing online to help pay the bills.

Of course pwede ka rin naman kumuha ng second job so why would you pick freelancing online over another job?

Kasi with a second job, yung oras mo di mo hawak.

So kung may day job ka na, chances are yung second job mo sa gabi. And this might work for a while but you can’t do it for ever. Mapapagod ka, mawawalan ka nang oras para sa pamilya mo at mas lalaki pa yung chance na magkasakit ka because of overwork.

Gastos nanaman yun.

With Freelancing online, you get to work whenever you want. Pero just to clarify, you can only work anytime you want kasi freelancers are contractors. Meaning they work on a project per project basis.
[adsense]
So take me for example, I used to be a freelance writer. Pag may project, ibibigay lang sa akin yung details and sasabihan lang ako kung kelan due. Di ko kelangan mag report all the time or kausapin yung client everyday.

Minsan they send me an email to check how things are going, pero other than that nag uusap lang kami before and after the project.

Of course hindi lahat ng projects ganito because meron din naman clients na makulit. Pero my point is that you can choose what to work on and who to work for. So kung masyadong strict ang isang client, then just don’t work for him anymore after the project. Hanap ka ng bagong employer agad.

Pero baka isipin nyo bigla na sobrang dali ng freelancing.

It’s not easy especially when you’re starting. It’s just like any job. You need to work hard and build up a reputation. BUT, once you establish yourself as a hard worker, it becomes easier and easier to find jobs and get hired by clients online.

Pag dating mo sa point na to, mafefeel mo na talaga na ok yung freelancing kasi by this time you can freely change your rates. So ako I started with low rates pero eventually tumaas din sya. And pag matagal ka na, aabot ka sa point na yung old clients mo yung pupunta sayo to offer you work. Hindi mo na kelangna maghanap ng trabaho masyado.

Kasi people who hire freelancers normally have a lot of jobs lined up and if you become one of their trustworthy contractors, they’ll contact you every time they need something done.

So remember, it pays to be hardworking even when the job is easy.

Now that you know you can work as a freelancer online and earn some extra money. The next question is, How do I start?

Yung pinaka mahirap na part ng freelancing is getting started. Bakit?

One, because people don’t know where to look for online jobs.

Ang daming nag sasabi na pwede ka mag trabaho online, pero they never tell you exactly where you’ll find the jobs.

Kung bago ka palang, my suggestion is that you try Odesk.com. Dun ako nag simula and di na ako naghanap ng iba kasi madali kong naintindihan yung system nila.

Plus madaming pinoy sa Odesk so pag kelangan mo ng tulong, pwede ka mag post sa forums nila or pwede ka actually maghanap ng bloggers na nag Odesk like me and ask them directly for help. Medyo matagal tagal na din ako nag susulat online and karamihan or actually halos lahat ata ng nabasa kong pinoy bloggers na freelance writers din ay nag tratrabaho sa Odesk din.

Another place that you can try is http://manila.craigslist.com.ph/. Meron silang “Jobs” category and pili ka lang ng section na feeling mo kaya mong gawin. For example ako dati I would go to “writing/editing” para mag hanap ng writing jobs.

Naka arrange yung jobs by date sa craigslist so it’s better if you apply for the newest jobs para mas malaki yung chance na di pa nakakahanap ng contractor yung client kasi kakapost nya lang nung job.

Warning lang about craigslist. Since wala talagang na implement na system for payment ang craigslist, email-email lang kayo ng client mo. So mas kelangan mo mag ingat dito.

Madami pang ibang sites where you can find online jobs, pero these two should be ok for beginners. Mamaya na yung iba pag medyo may experience ka na. Madali mo lang naman sila mahahanap actually kung i-google mo sila.

Again, WARNING lang. Madaming scammers online so kelangan maging maingat pag nagaaply. Make sure na talagang babayaran ka ng client.

Two ways to do this:

  1. Hingi ka ng upfront payment. Pero normally di pumapayag ang clients nito unless matagal ka nang nag tratrabaho sa kanila.
  2. Sabihin mo you’ll do 10% of the project tapos titigil ka until mag partial payment yung client. Mas malaki yung chance na pumayag ang client dito kasi may nagawa ka nang trabaho and basically babayaran lang naman nya yung equivalent amount ng nagawa mo na.

So mag ingat, but don’t let fear of being scammed stop you from earning money online.

Two, they don’t know what type of job is available for them.

Yung second problem ng mga tao is that di sila sigurado kung anong trabaho yung pwede nilang gawin online.

Yung automatic kasi na inisip ng mga tao when it comes to online work is programming. And hindi naman lahat ng trabaho online puro programming lang. If you go to Odesk, may job categories sila that you can look at. And ang daming jobs ditto na iba-iba.

While I worked there, yung pinaka common na trabaho ng mga pinoy na napapansin ko ay:

  • Virtual Assistant/Secretary
  • Freelance Writer
  • Programmer
  • Transcriber
  • Graphic designer
  • And SEO specialist

Madami pang ibang trabaho like accountancy work or legal work pero depende nalang sayo yun if you have the expertise para dito.

Three, bago silang freelancers so mas malaki yung chance ng mga beterano na makuha for a job.

For me, ito yung biggest problem ng new freelancers. Sa mga freelance sites kasi tulad ng Odesk.com, meron silang feedback system.

Ok sya kasi pag mataas na yung feedback mo, tumataas yung chances mo of getting a job. Pero pagbago ka, “0” ang feedback mo. So malaki yung chance na di ka kukunin unless talagang sobrang ganda lang ng mga samples mo or ng pag market mo sa skills mo.

Pero there are ways to get hired even if you’re new. So don’t give up just because you’re having a hard time.

One thing you can do is lower your rate. Pag sabihin mo sa employer kasi na bababaan mo yung rate mo for a job, mas malaki yung chance na pagbibigyan ka nya. So trabaho ka muna for a lower rate and then pag makacollect ka na ng mga 3 or 4 good feedbacks. Pwede mo na slowly itaas yung rate mo.

Another trick is to do a job for free. Pero piliin mo yung mga jobs na kaya mong gawin in a couple of hours to one day lang max. Kasi minsan sa freelance writing for example, my clients na kelangan lang ng 2 articles. Pag bago ka, pwede ka mag apply dito tas sabihin mo sa client gagawin mo yung articles for free and in exchange, hingi ka ng perfect feedback.

This method is really effective for collecting feedback. Syempre, sino ayaw ng libre? And kung sinseswerte ka and kung maganda yung trabaho mo, minsan babayaran ka pa din ng client mo tapos bibigyan ka pa ng regular work. It happened to me before. Pero kelangan talagang maganda yung trabaho mo.

And finally, minsan new freelancers over commit and end up not being able to finish the job.

I admit na guilty ako nito minsan. Pag ok na yung reputation mo and yung feedback scores mo mataas, lumalaki yung chance mo of getting hired for jobs. And normally this is a good thing.

Pero pag bago ka, may tendancy kang mag overcommit. Meaning magaaply ka sa 3, 4 or even 5 projects tapos wala ka naman talaga oras para tapusing sila lahat. Ang naiisip mo lang kung magkano kikitain mo.

This is very dangerous because pag sumablay ka sa isa sa mga trabaho na tinanggap mo, mag kakaroon ka ng bad feedback. Yung bad feedback na yon mababasa yun ng future employers mo so kelangan mo mag ingat.

So there.

You now know that you can work online, you can earn money online, it’s not impossible and you don’t need special skills to do it. Kelangan mo lang maging maiingat because there are a lot of scammers.

And my advice is that you take it slow.

Mag simula ka sa isa or dalawang projects a week. Minsan nga matatapos mo yung dalawang projects in one day and matetempt ka maghanap ng madami kasi feeling mo ang dali lang pala. Wag.

Wag kang magmadali kasi baka mapa-overcommit ka.

Kelangan alam mo kung ano kaya mo and kung ano yung hindi. It’s still like normal everyday work, you just do it online. Convenient lang sya kasi hawak mo schedule mo and you can work at home. Pero it still has the same demands as an offline job. So treat your work and your boss online, the way you would treat them offline.

If you get enough experience, who knows, baka magawa mong mag-shift to full time freelancing in the future. But again, sa simula just treat it as a convenient part time job.

There is actually a lot more to talk about with regards to this topic, but its best that you just jump in and give it a try. Pag may experience ka na, I’m sure dadami din questions mo.

Pero at least yung mga tanong mo mas targeted to issues about freelancing that really matter. Kasi you’re doing it already.

If you’ve never freelanced, you tend to ask too many questions that aren’t really important. Pero dahil naprapraning ka lang and you want to know as much info as possible, tanong ka lang ng tanong. And that’s ok sometimes, pero yung nangyayari kasi is you’re just procrastinating.

If you’re already asking so many questions about freelancing then that means that you’re clearly interested. So why not just give it a try and ask your questions later. Diba? Pag bago ka sa trabaho di ka naman magiging expert sa kakatanong lang. Kelangan gawin mo sya and madami kang matututunan on the job na di talaga kayang i-explain unless ginagaw mo na sya.

Anyway, my point is to just give it try. It won’t cost you money to try, just some of your time and effort.

Oh, and pahabol lang. Make sure you apply for a PayPal account. Kasi almost everyone online gets paid through paypal. Although Odesk has a direct deposit option as well. So if you work for Odesk, pwede nila ideposit agad to your local bank account yung earnings mo.

That’s it for this article.

Thanks and feel free to comment and ask questions if you have any.

Happy job hunting

Malds Menzon is a Freelance Writer who likes to do a lot of Internet Marketing experiments. He writes about his experience as a freelancer and as a newbie Internet Marketer on his blog Earn Money Online Philippines.  His dream is to someday earn enough from Passive Income to live comfortably.

One Response

  1. monet April 14, 2013

Leave a Reply