And I got this job through Craigslist just this May.  The only minus-point is that the workload is not that much.

But the good thing is, in this new project I earn in just two to three days what I’ve been earning in 6 days in the project I’ve been doing for the past 18 months.  Also, the new project does not have a lot of specifications and keywords, and it has prospects of increased workload.

Fellow Pinoy freelance writers have been asking others to accept only writing jobs for not less than $5 per article of 500 words, in order to improve Pinoy writing rates in general.  But it has not been easy finding these clients that really send the payments.

A lot of freelance writing jobs on Craigslist are bargain-priced.  Imagine getting paid for one dollar (that’s only 46 pesos!) for a 400-word original, researched article?  And others even require the articles to be ready for spinning or with some other attached tasks!

Lastly, I’m thankful that I found a  client that didn’t scam me.  Recently, a fellow freelance writer wrote a lot of articles for a certain website, which suddenly disappeared, and which didn’t pay him.  He got the client through Craigslist.

This January 11, 2011, Ash wrote something on the comments section, and I believe what she shared should be read by fellow starting and not-yet-there freelance writers:

“what an inspiring article. thank you for posting this. i had also recently begun freelance writing (used to work in an office) and i was surprised at the going rate of some.

my first offer was $.50/100 words, downgraded from my asking of $2.50/100 words. dirt cheap, i know, but i was new and didn’t have a thing to my name. plus, it was the holidays–i was unemployed, renting, sending a kindergartener to school and my post-shopping overall finances were running low. like P600 low. in short, i was desperate. lol.

good thing the employer added more subtopics bec he got inspired by what i wrote, so the word count increased by another 1000 words.

after 2 days, somebody interviewed me and, after showing him my written samples, he hired me on the spot for $10/hr. it’s only part time, though. which is just as well bec i very recently got hired for a full time home-based editing job that pays good.

i can research and write 1 article in 2-3 hours at my going rate. i don’t think i will lower it; i’m sure that i’m worth every penny i charge them. i know that some employers will tell you that if you don’t lower your rate, they can always find others who will work for much cheaper.

i don’t blame them, that’s their prerogative. my prerogative is this: if they can’t afford my rate, somebody who can will always find me.

and they just did. tonight, somebody contacted me saying they like my writing and will be letting me know when they have a job for me. i will be waiting. and writing and writing until i can justify upping my rate once more. in the future ”

Thanks a lot, Ash.

UPDATE on my blogpost on freelance writing:

It’s now January 2011, and my working relationship with these clients I talked about in the blogpost has been going great. The primary client turned out to be a fellow Pinoy who has immigrated to the U.S., and when he vacationed here last October, we met and treated me to a great expensive lunch.

He and his foreign-born wife are again coming over here this February, and again I received an invitation for another lunch. Last December, he gave me a bonus.  No one else in my past and present freelancing work has given me a bonus.  My other employer, based in the Alabang corporate world, didn’t give a bonus.  I didn’t mind it much though as bonuses weren’t in the homebased-employment contract that I signed.

Additionally, my work with this U.S. client doubled, as I helped bring traffic to his and his wife’s sites.  Surely, if we give our best effort and we comply with the deadlines (although this client is flexible with the deadlines, but I don’t abuse it), we reap great fruits.

Related Article:

My Personal Make Money Online Version

Fellow New Freelance Writers in the Philippines — Some Tips

UPS Uninterruptible Power Supply for Freelance Writers

March 7, 2009

It is of great help for me it you could answer me on this inquiry. I finished paying my Danvil plan and it will mature in 2019. Actually I paid it in advance so as not to miss payments. But I’m having many sleepless nights because of many doubts about how pre-need companies are doing in the market today. I am having second thoughts about waiting for my plan to mature. Any idea on this? How much money would I get in return if I apply for early reimbursement of my payments? Much as I would like to inquire personally at the Danvil office regarding the matter, I’m here in Japan working hard to make both ends meet for my family. It was hard earned money that I used to pay for my plan. That’s why I am really bothered and annoyed by different news I heard about the pre-need business.

Dalawa ang aking plans sa Danvil. Sad to say na noong kinuha ko yon sa SM Southmall, di ko naintindihan masyado ang paliwanag. Kadarating ko lang noon, galing ako sa work ko abroad and I’m only on my vacation. Actually, I can say na forced and pressured lang din ako ng Danvil employee. Para bang para makauwi na lang ako kumuha na lang ako, then bahala na. Parang ganoon ang nangyari sa akin.

But all is history now, natapos ko na bayaran yong isa, 5 years investment period yata and my plan is supposed to mature on Feb 2019 pa. At yong isa ay sa Oct 2011 ko pa matatapos at magma-mature naman on Oct 2021. And that’s a long long time for me to wait. Tama yong iba na nagsasabi na dugo at pawis ang puhunan para lang makabayad. Presently andito ulit ako abroad working to make both ends meet for my family. If sa status kong bayad na last month ang plan ko at mag apply ako ng reimbursement ilang percent po ang makukuha ko? Your answer will be of great help for me lalo na po sa decision making na gagawin ko, and also it will be of great help for me para mabawasan na ang burden ko sa pag-iisip kasi balak ko na po talaga mag-apply for reimbursement.

March 8, 2009

Gusto kong iparamdam hindi lang sa mga katulad kong planholders, but also to the employees and the company of Danvil as a whole, it is very true na magsisi man po tayo or even if we condemn ourselves kung bakit tayo kumuha or sapilitan tayong napakuha ng plan sa Danvil, the sad truth is wala na tayong magagawa. We only have two options left on our sleeves, firstly and POSITIVELY speaking umasa na lang tayo, especially those which own a plan na malapit na ang mga maturity date, na comes our due date makuha natin ng buo lahat ng ating inaasahan. And for those who are willing to gamble to wait dahil nagsisimula or maybe katatapos lang nilang bayaran ang kani-kanilang plans ay umasa pa tayo na through the coming years maging mas stable pa ang kalagayan or status ng Danvil.

Or secondly which is very NEGATIVE ay bumuo na tayo ng desisyon hanggang maaga pa if we’re to wait or we have to make up our minds kung kukunin na natin pabalik ang ating mga naihulog, may it be 20% or 50% of the amount we already paid to Danvil. Ok na sana kung 20% or 50% of the maturity value ang makukuha natin, kaso 20% or 50% lang ng ating mga naihulog. If I may use ang isang salitang pang matanda na lagi nating naririnig,  “talagang parang iginisa nila tayo sa sarili nating mantika.” It is really so sad and devastating knowing in the first place na talagang napakahirap ng buhay ngayon, na tayong mga planholders ay halos magpakamatay sa hirap di lang sa katawan lalo at higit sa isipan para lamang mabayaran at umasa na sa darating na panahon ay mayroon tayong “kayamanang inaasahan.”

For the planholders reading this article, I appeal to all of us to continue praying for us to see a brighter tomorrow, at doon po sa ilan na malapit na ang maturity date nila at makakakuha, please update us para kahit paano we can generate some strength and inspiration.

And to Danvil employees specially to those initiating/implementing some sort of forced/aggressive sales strategy, I am appealing to you guys to please put some HEART into your work. Alam ko at nauunawaan ko na kayo ay nasa ganyang linya ng hanapbuhay,  subalit sana po ilagay natin sa mas maayos at pantay na paraan ng panghihikayat. At ipaunawa po nating ng buong linaw sa ating mga kababayan ang lahat ng detalye lalo na ukol sa haba ng panahong ipaghihintay rather than focus the discussion on how your prospective clients will gain at the very moment you invited them. The money we put in Danvil is hard-earned and of good faith. Huwag po ninyong hayaan na ang makuha ninyong kliyente ay kumuha ng plan sa Danvil dahil napilitan lang. Kawawa naman po sila. Please put yourself on their shoes, then look at the mirror and ask yourself if you really invited them para tulungan sila, as many of you guys will surely reason out or you invited them based on your own agenda… I sincerely hope that this appeal won’t bring any misinterpretations or rather bring some sort of bad reaction on all people involved.

May God bless us all!  And let our prayers reunite us for more positive things in the future!

Yesterday, when our project manager told us the news, I immediately felt angry. I felt betrayed. I felt ingratitude on the part of the employer. Although the managers admitted it only after some arguments between management and our group, the forced leaves were aimed to cut costs for the month of December.

As all of us Pinoys know, December is full of regular holidays. For hourly-paid employees, the computation is simple. They get 100 percent of their daily rate even if they don’t work on these holidays, as long as they were at work the day before the holidays.

In our firm, which is a U.S. based Indian-managed data conversion service provider, we’re not paid by the hour. We’re paid by the number of short articles that we write. We’re regulars and we get benefits most other employees in Metro Manila get.

Our holiday payments are computed by dividing by seven our total payments for the seven days before the holiday. This year, there are six holidays during the Christmas/New Year week: Dec 25, Dec 26, Dec 29, Dec 30, Dec 31, Jan 1.

Imagine if we produce work worth 1,000 pesos per day as what happens if we do our best?  We would get a total of 6,000 pesos from the holidays!

But that won’t happen now. We’re on forced leave.

The second part of this article is here:

WARNING for some credit card applicants: Apply for a credit card only if:
- you haven’t changed your old but functional Nokia phone
- you’ve only a few pairs of good shoes
- just enough good clothes
- and if your usual routine is home-to-work-then-back-to-home.

In short, you have complete control over your spending.

If you can afford to pay your balance in full every month promptly, whatever the amount, then a credit card for you will be a tool, and not a problem. And yes, you can buy all the phones, clothes and shoes you want.

A few years ago, I had 9 credit cards, and these cards almost killed me physically, mentally, and emotionally. I wrote about this in this post — Free from Credit Cards, At Last! — if you’re interested. I thank the Lord always I was able to get out of that deep, suffocating debt pit.

Now, I only maintain two credit cards: one is a local card with no annual fee, and the other is also a local card with low-interest-rate loan options.

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What does BPI Classic Credit Card offer that most other cards do not?

1. BPI charges only 2.75 % a month on the balance while most other cards charge 3.5 %. Paying earlier than the due date has also an effect with BPI because it considers the Average Daily Balance when it computes your finance charge.

2. For emergencies, you don’t need to use the very expensive Cash Advance remedy, which charges you about P600 (for most cards) for using the ATM and which immediately activates the interest rate clock. BPI has Credit-To-Cash, Balance Transfer and Special Installment Plan ( SIP) in Schools. If you have a BPI or BPI Family account, you can get your cash the next day.

For Credit-To-Cash, you just present your card at a BPI Express Center.

For SIP in Schools, you present your child or kin’s school receipt or account statement.

For Balance Transfer, present your other card’s latest bill. With BPI, balance transfer proceeds are given directly to you and not paid to the other card’s bank. In effect, you can divert the money. But be careful with this. You can end up getting buried in more debts. But if you’re wise, this is a good feature because you can have your cash for only 0.70% monthly on the Special Installment Plan (SIP). (Update June 2011: from 1.00 to 1.25% depending on terms)

3. (Probably no longer offered; no longer on my statements) BPI offers every card holder a free Ayala Life Insurance coverage. The insurance amount is 12 times the average monthly purchases and SIP payments for the previous three months.

4. Annual fee is still P1,250. Most others charge 1,600 for the same card class.

5. BPI also has auto-deposit ATMs. You put your peso bills into the ATM any time any day (no more envelopes, no more writing) and then pay your BPI card bill through your BPI ATM Check-Free feature.

6. Your first supplementary card holder is not charged with an annual fee during the entire life of your card.

7. Then, of course, BPI offers what most other cards offer, such as:

– 0% appliance and other big-item installment purchases
- Internet and phone payments and checking of credit card accounts
- promos from time to time, such as restaurant freebies for referrals/purchases
- frequent-user rewards.