Online Freelancers To Pay Tax?

A friend forwarded me this article just last week:

With medical doctors crying foul this week over an “insulting” ad by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), a tax expert has advised online freelancers to know their tax obligations so they won’t get entangled with new government circulars governing e-commerce. 

Aside from physicians, the BIR has also launched an ad campaign against accountants, chefs, and online sellers who do not pay their tax obligations properly. 

Mon Abrea, a former revenue officer and tax examiner at the BIR, recently conducted a seminar for online freelancers on the new tax memorandums of the BIR on Internet-based businesses.  

US-based online freelance platform Elance sponsored the session dubbed, “Tax Academy Experience for Online Professionals” at the Asian Institute of Management in Makati City. The seminar was meant to guide online professionals on how to pay their taxes right and avoid any penalty.  

Abrea lectured on how freelancers can comply with the BIR’s Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 55-2013 that provides the tax obligations of different parties engaged in online business transactions including services.  

He also shared to the attendees “The 31 Most Frequently Asked Tax Questions by Entrepreneurs,” which he wrote in his book on taxes titled “Ctrl+TAX+ Del” that was published in September 2013.  

Abrea is the founding president of the Center for Strategic Reforms of the Philippines (CSR Philippines), a non-profit organization that assists MSMEs or micro, small and medium enterprises.  

During the session, the most queried questions from the participants were: If they indeed need to pay taxes, how can they register as taxpayers? Also, is there a need for a new TIN or Taxpayer Identification Number?  

“It is everyone’s duty to pay taxes,” Abrea said. “As per Memorandum 55-2013 by the BIR, it reminds everyone who engages in online transaction, service, and sales needs to pay taxes.”  

He explained online professionals are no different from other workers in the eyes of the BIR. Thus, freelancers also need to secure barangay clearance and Mayor’s Permit, among others, and then have the business registered at the BIR. He stressed that only one TIN is allowed under the law.  

Among the online business transactions covered by the BIR’s RMC are the Business to Consumer (B2C), Consumer to Consumer (C2C), and Business to Business (B2B). B2C involves online stores selling goods and services to final consumers while B2B encompasses job recruitment, online advertising, credit, sales, market research, technical support, procurement and different types of training.  

Elance Philippines country manager Ronald Cirujano said his company plans to conduct similar events this year to educate more local online professionals.  

Cirujano said the Philippines is rated as the ninth biggest freelancer country in the world. Elance has 800,000 businesses and that three million freelancers use its website in more than 170 countries. 

Elance, together with global job marketplace company oDesk, recently announced a merger, creating an online freelancing behemoth.

The original article written by Tom Noda was first published last 6th of March, 2014 at Newsbytes.ph. 

Are you an oDesk freelancer? Would you be willing to pay your taxes should BIR require you to pay? I don't have any problem paying mine. If it's any help to the government, that's fine, but if it just ends up in the pockets of greedy politicians, I'll probably go ahead and pay but with my teeth all bared.

New Skills, More Work!

A few years ago, I wrote about my joining oDesk with only a handful of skills BUT I found a way to change that. I applied for jobs that required me to do more digging on the Internet, jobs that required me to watch videos, gather information from different websites, and interact with my bosses more often. Because of these projects, I've learned new things! I've improved my grammar and have learned to write better. I've become more efficient and more resourceful as a researcher. I have grown more confident of what I can do and I became a person of value to my employers. You know what else I've gained from having such a desire to learn? I have gotten a LOT more work both from previous and current clients.

That said, I would like to do a new blog series some time soon, one that would tackle the issue of newbies not being able to compete with other oDesk freelancers. Why? Because they don't have work history and having no work history means lesser chances of getting hired!

Keep checking my blog! I'll see to it that you get firsthand tips from who else but the freelancers themselves. I've met some really friendly folks both online and offline who would be more than happy to share their oDesk experiences.

More about this soon! 

Top 5 Qualities of a Good VA

One of the most flexible jobs available online is that of a virtual assistant. A virtual assistant is like an office secretary, only much, much better. Why? Virtual assistants get to work from home in their pajamas. They don't have to drive to work and get stuck in the traffic. They don't have to spend money on gas. Because a virtual assistant's work is online, the people who often gets hired for this type of work are those who are techie and are very good with computers. Working as a virtual assistant also requires good organizational skills. You have to be quick to think on your feet. You have to be efficient. 

You remember Ana? Ana is one heck of a virtual assistant. You should check out her oDesk profile. She has consistently received 5 stars from her previous clients. If you have been following my blog, you'll know what I mean. Click this link to read about Ana's VA experiences. 

What makes a good Virtual Assistant? 

A good virtual assistant communicates effectively. I cannot stress enough how important it is for a virtual assistant to have an excellent command of the English language. This means YOU can converse with native English speakers with ease and confidence.

Being an excellent communicator does not only mean having a high level of English proficiency, it also means being reliable and efficient. You have the initiative to email your boss and update him about the progress of your work. You reply back the minute you read his emails. You don't make him wait. You understand that people's time are valuable. This brings us to the second most important quality that I think virtual assistants should possess.

A good virtual assistant knows how to value time. With some people, being on time is as natural as breathing. Meeting deadlines is a mantra they follow to a tee. With some, it is an everyday struggle. Getting tasks done on time is a hit-and-miss thing. If you belong to the first group then you won't have any problem. You'll do great as a VA. But if you are with the latter, I'm discouraging you from applying as one until you've learned how to value time. Get yourself organized for starters. Find out what keeps you from completing tasks. Find out why you put off things when you can do them straight away. Procrastination should never be in your vocabulary.

A good virtual assistant asks questions. If you're not sure about something, ASK. Don't make assumptions. There is no such thing as a stupid question. The only thing that is outright stupid is asking your boss questions that are not in any way related to work.

A good virtual assistant takes down notes. You either do it with the traditional pen-and-paper or with the many apps and freewares available online. I do my note-taking with the use of Evernote Web Clipper. I also use Awesome Screenshots and Google Docs. Taking down notes keeps me organized. It keeps me focused especially when there are many tasks needing done.

A good virtual assistant is proactive. Being proactive means you think ahead. You anticipate problems. You think of solutions in advance. You get to the bottom of things before it becomes a problem. You troubleshoot. You don't just sit around and wait for something that needs fixing to get fixed. You think of ways and you make things easy for everyone. You are a problem-solver.

Do you have these qualities?

(Updated 5/10/2014)

Getting Paid via LFT

If you've been considering oDesk for a while now and wanting to give it a try, one of the many things that you probably want to know more about is how you will get paid once you get hired. It's EASY. If you have an existing bank account, you can get paid via LFT.

Local Fund Transfer (LFT) is a recent addition to the many different pay methods available to oDesk freelancers and is one of the easiest to set up.

You can get paid via PayPal, too, if you like or you can apply for Payoneer and get paid that way. Because I feel a little lazy right now and I just love, love, love using Awesome Screenshot, I took a shot of the available payment methods from oDesk's website, wrote a short summary at the bottom and inserted links pointing you to websites where the pay method is explained more clearly.

Here goes:

Skrill used to be Moneybookers. I've set up an account there once but their verification takes too long to complete, I'm not even sure it's worth it.

Direct Deposit is FREE to US banks. No charges whatsoever so if you have a US account in any of the 50 states, by all means, use it.

Wire Transfer, I think, is not something you want to be using either. $30 is too expensive a fee, you agree? You cannot afford to be throwing that kind of money everytime you make a withdrawal.

The last one that I will try to explain in the simplest, clearest way possible is payment via Local Fund Transfer using Unionbank's EON card. I have not tried any other banks for LFT but I am sure if you do a search, Google would be able to point you to other blogs detailing their experience with their bank of choice.

The good thing about Unionbank's EON card is the fact that it is both a bank account and a debit card. That's what makes receiving and withdrawing money easy. Plus it only charges Php350.00 for its annual fee with no maintaining balance.

Follow these 6 EASY STEPS if you're happy to try EON and use it for LFT:

1 Go to the nearest Unionbank branch. Bring two valid IDs. Fill out whatever form the bank peeps give you and then go to the next available counter to pay for the Php350 fee.

2 Return to the bank in 7 banking days and get your card.

3 Open your oDesk account, click 'Settings' on the upper right and then select 'Get Paid' on the left sidebar.

4 Click the green 'Set Up Payments' button and choose Local Fund Transfer as your payment method.

5 Next, enter Unionbank's BRSTN code which is 010419995. It is important that you enter this accurately. Double check the number before hitting 'Next'.

6 The last step is this form. Fill it out carefully. Like it says on the website: Entering the incorrect or mismatched account name and number can result in withdrawal delays and fees.

So, that's it. If you have questions, leave a comment or message me on Facebook.

Bye for now.

Question of the Week: Can I Join oDesk and Work Part Time?

I have an office job, can I join oDesk and do some freelance admin work part time?

I get this question a lot. The answer? Yes, you can. That is what some people are doing. They have an outside job that they love, a job they're just not ready to give up. That's where oDesk comes in. oDesk for them is a means to earn extra money on the side. If you check out oDesk's job feed, you will see that some of the jobs posted are short term projects you can finish in less than a week's time. There are also projects that require only one or two hours which you can do at any time.

Like what sort of tasks for instance? Here are some of the short term projects I've worked on from what I can remember:

1) Write 10-20 tweets and schedule them ahead of time. Make sure they are posted only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Maximum hours allocated for the task is 2 hours.

2) Please let me know you are available for at least 2 hours everyday. I will need you to clean up my inbox and stay organized. I receive around 200-300 emails daily but most of them are spam. Delete the spammy ones and move the important emails to my Personal folder. Can you do that?

3) I will send you an Excel file containing 1000 pre-written quotes for my Twitter account. I need you to read each one and make sure the words are spelled correctly. Correct any grammatical errors and typhos and send the file back to me by end of the week.

4) Are you proficient in Excel? I have an Excel file with a record of names and addresses. I need you to delete the duplicates and remove any blank rows you find. Excellent attention to detail is a must.

5) Can you transcribe this video and send it back to me by Sunday night? You have two days to do the transcription. How much do you charge for one hour of video time?

These are just examples. There are hundreds of other jobs posted everyday. Choosing one that fits your skill set is the easy part. The real challenge is getting an interview and getting yourself hired. Ask yourself. Is this opportunity a good fit for you? What does it take to be an oDesk freelancer? What are the pros and cons?

More Work, Lesser Pay

I noticed that more and more people are hiring contractors at a very low hourly rate. The more demanding ones especially. How do you guys feel about sending 1 million emails A DAY for a measly $100? Sounds fun? Well, I'm not one to encourage cheap labor. Anyone out there feel like working for peanuts, just have a look at the job posts today. So depressing.

Just my two cents, if you have the degree, the skills and the experience, why bid at such a low rate? If you are a newbie and your reason is so that you get hired right away, that is pretty understandable but if you've been working online for months and already have a work history, don't you think it's time you increase your hourly rate? You SHOULD! Try and stick to your rate and see what happens. Chances are, some company will find your profile and hire you at your new rate. Stop working for a few measly cents an hour. That is so NOT right!

Hourly vs Fixed Price Jobs

Which do you prefer? Hourly paid jobs or fixed price ones? I prefer getting paid by the hour over fixed price projects for a whole lot of reason. Getting paid by the hour means payment is guaranteed (oDesk guarantees payment so long as the screen shots are good and you've taken the time to fill out your work memo)...then there's this thing about motivation. When I work and I see screen shots being taken, it motivates me and makes me want to work more. You get the picture?

Now with fixed price jobs, it's different. There is no dispute policy and no payment guarantee. You just have to trust that the employer who hired you to do the project is going to pay you and not walk away with your money. That's where checking for feedback comes in handy. Before you apply for fixed price projects, check out your would-be employer's profile and feedback. How many contractors have been hired? How much has been paid?

Where To Find Great Employers

Believe me, you don't see them everyday. I happen to have had some bad luck just recently and found myself working for one of the not-so-good ones but it's okay, everything's sorted. I learned my lesson from the experience and I know the "New Yorker" also learned his. My advice to new oDesk contractors and other freelancers, don't just apply for any job just because it pays. Here's a short checklist to help you find great employers:

✓ Check how much they have spent on oDesk. Go for companies who can afford to pay oDesk contractors at a good rate.

✓ Companies in good standing are not reluctant to hire contractors that charge 2-10 dollars per hour. It's a much lower rate compared to what people in their country are charging although if they are on a tight budget, they would most likely hire contractors that charge only 2-3 dollars.
✓ Check whether the job they posted contains instructions. Instructions should be clear and concise, not misleading.
✓ Check the feedback they received from their contractors and the feedback they gave to them. You should see it at the bottom of the job post. It should tell you whether the company is great to work for or not.
✓ If they are the sort that demand too much and pay very little, why bother? Who would want to work for peanuts? I sure don't! Move on to the next job post!

Have you had a bad experience as an oDesk freelancer that you want to share? I welcome guest posts. All you have to do is let me know in an email that you have something to share.

Project Down The Dumps!

I applied for a small Twitter job the other day and received a reply from a New Yorker. He wanted me to get him 1000 Twitter followers that are fitness, exercise, health, and media related, 90% must be living in the US. I replied back, told him that YES, I can get you 1000 Twitter followers. No automation tools are going to be used, it will all be done manually. He seemed quite happy with my reply, the only thing he was not too happy about was my hourly rate. I charged 10 dollars an hour. Is that too expensive? Social Media Marketers charge a whole lot more. What he said in his email made me think. Should I even accept the job? I didn't want to. I usually don't accept projects from people that are reluctant to spend money. He did say that he was with a small company and that they were on a tight budget. I took that into consideration and lowered my hourly rate at 7 dollars, which I utterly regret. I should not have accepted the job offer and should have moved on.

To make the story short, the Twitter project was a total failure. I have two years of Social Media Marketing experience and have successfully worked on similar projects so I know how long the said project was going to take and if it was even doable. I told him I can get the job done in a week's time and that I will be sending him a quick report on Monday next week. Everything went well. I went about with my work, happily checking his Twitter account every now and then to make sure he was getting "real" Twitter followers.

Tuesday evening, I received another email from the New Yorker but this time with feedback and "small" requests. He told me he's okay with health bloggers and stay-at-home moms from the US but would prefer that I target New Yorkers, more specifically, he wanted me to go for more important figures with huge twitter followers and less following. It was already Tuesday evening. I have a deadline to meet. The clock was ticking and he's wanting all these changes??? Red flag went up. Demands are okay. Feedback from employers are okay. I can handle this, I said to myself. I can make this work but something inside me just snapped. NO, THIS IS NOT RIGHT! With the additional changes, I cannot anymore guarantee that I can get the work done at the time frame we agreed on. Heck, I was even getting paid at a much lower rate so why allow this? NO, we should be sticking to what it says in the contract. I emailed him back and told him as politely and as clearly as possible that building a strong follower base on Twitter takes time and that he should have told me beforehand that he wanted New Yorkers but not after deleting all screenshots in my Work Diary. There's no way I was going to let this guy ruin things for me. There are hundreds of oDesk contractors getting scammed and getting tricked into working for almost nothing everyday! I'm not going to let the same thing happen to me. As expected, he ended the contract after a few more email exchanges. I already had a feeling that the whole thing would end horribly. He was very upset. He made scathing remarks and gave me a 1 star feedback which by the way, is not going to appear on my profile. I deleted all the screenshots, remember? He wasn't charged a single cent and besides, all he said in the feedback were lies anyway. Obviously, he was soooo upset when he realized he's not going to get a chance to rip me off he decided to do it using oDesk's feedback system. He's going to be so disappointed the minute he finds out his lies are not going to appear on my profile at all. I hope he learned his lesson because I'm sure as hell learned mine.

Tip of the Day: The Art of Selling Yourself

If you want to get hired and get paid reasonably for your work hours, learn how to master the art of selling yourself. Find out what skills you are most passionate about. Find out what you are most familiar doing and start from there. Make a good impression to your would-be employers by communicating clearly about what you CAN do and what you CANNOT do. People appreciate it when you are honest and transparent so NEVER EVER lie on your resume.

If you have just a couple of skills in your resume, that's not going to get you very far so ask yourself, how do you sell yourself with just a few skills and not much to offer to employers? There are a few things you can do actually. Invest your time in improving those skills or get trained and acquire new ones and then TRY again.

I plan to do those after I give birth. I want to go back to uni and take Computer Science or Graphic Design. Any computer-related course will do. I think that's where I need to improve myself. I want better computer skills and get hired at a much higher rate. Very doable, don't you think?

Question of the Week: I Have Been Applying For Months. Why Do I Keep Getting Rejected?

Here are some of the questions I received from my readers this week. I decided to include them in my post today and share them with all other freelancers out there. If you are an oDesk freelancer and you are reading this, feel free to join in and share your experience by posting a comment. Remember to put your name in the name field and your website or blog if you have one or your comment will be rejected.

Question 1: I'm an oDesk newbie and I have been applying for a job for months but have not received a single interview? I must be doing something wrong.

You're not going to get a single job interview if your oDesk profile is not that impressive. You are an oDesk newbie. You don't have work history. You don't have a single feedback that will serve as reference. What can you do? Impress your would-be employers with your profile. Make sure you proofread everything you write there before making it visible to the public. That's what I have been doing eversince I started. I check my profile now and then and edit whatever I think needs editing.

Question 2: I have completed my oDesk profile and have been applying for jobs but I keep getting rejected. What did I do wrong?

Your cover letter probably sucks. My advice? Learn how to make a good cover letter and improve your chances in getting hired.

Compare this one

Dear Sir/Madam,

My name is Carlito Sanchez. I am a Computer Science graduate and I am 28 years old. I am hardworking, efficient and highly reliable and would make a great addition to your research team. I also have excellent computer and Internet skills and can type 50 wpm.

with THIS

Dear Mr. Schultz,

I'm Jennifer Catalan and I'm from Makati, Philippines. I have been working online since 2004 and have over 5 years experience as an Internet researcher. If you are looking for someone who can get the job done accurately and fast, look no further!

See the difference?

Let me point you to an article that I found over at oDesk. The article should give you some ideas on how to write a good cover letter.

If you have any other questions related to oDesk and would like them posted here with answers, contact me at gentm_chat at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

Question of the Week: I'm Just Getting Started With oDesk, How Do I Get Paid?

There are now 6 withdrawal methods available to oDesk freelancers.

1. Payoneer Debit Card
2. Moneybookers
3. Paypal
4. Direct Deposit
5. Wire Transfer
6. Local Fund Transfer (new)

I'll only discuss the two cheapest and quickest way to get your money and that is by using PayPal and Local Fund Transfer.

Withdrawal Method #1: PayPal

Before setting up an account, you must have a credit card or a debit card or a bank account. Do you have one? If you don't, I suggest you get a Unionbank EON card. I have been using it since 2008 and have had no problems using it to withdraw my money. If you have an existing bank account, that's fine. No need to switch to Unionbank.

The following how-tos are for those with Unionbank EON cards ONLY. I cannot help you if you are using another bank as I'm not familiar with their account set up. I only know how to do Unionbank's as I have set up mine and have helped three others with theirs.

_____

A. Applying for an EON card

First thing you should do is apply for an EON card. You have to go to the bank in person, submit the requirements and your card will be made available to you in two to three weeks time.

B. Enrolling your EON card for online banking

Once you have the card, you have to wait for three days for it to be activated. After three days, apply for online banking. How? Go to their website and look for EON Cyber Account on the upper right of the page. Another screen will pop up. Right next to the login form, it should say: Start banking online with your EON! ENROLL HERE to be able to access your accounts online. Press that one and then enter your card number and then your account number.

Your card number should start with 4404-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX and is made up of 16 numbers.

Your account number, on the other hand, is right below your name. It is made up of 12 numbers.

Never post your account number or your card number or the numbers at the back of your card anywhere online.

Once you've entered your card and account number, you'll be asked for 3 usernames. Think of names that are easy to remember but hard enough for people to guess and that's it. Wait for three more days for your online bank to get activated.

Remember, your EON card is both a debit card and a bank account. You can add both to your PayPal account. Add it as a debit card and get your PayPal account verified. Add it as a bank account and choose withdraw your funds to your bank account the minute you have funds available. Withdrawing your funds to your bank account takes only 2-3 days. Withdrawing your funds to your debit cards takes 3-4 days.

TIP: When using Paypal as a withdrawal method, make sure you withdraw your funds from oDesk at 8:00 Wednesday morning. Login to your PayPal account and withdraw your funds to your bank account right away and you'll get your money Thursday at around 6:00 in the evening.

If you withdraw your money way past 8:00 in the morning, there is no guarantee you'll get your money by Thursday evening.

Withdrawal Method #2: Local Fund Transfer

A. Setting up Local Fund Transfer

Login to your oDesk account and go to the Payments tab at the upper part of the page. Choose Payment Methods and then click the big yellow Set up now button for Local Fund Transfer (LFT) to enter your bank details.

The good thing about the EON card is that it is both a debit card and a bank account. So yes, you can use it for Local Fund Transfer.

B. Bank details

Everything else should be easy. Enter your account number. Enter the account holder's information, street address, city and province, country and phone number. Enter the BRSTN code. It's all there.

Question is: Can I use someone else's EON card? How about my mom's bank details? Or my boyfriend's? I already asked this same question and got a positive reply from oDesk.

Just make sure you enter the right info and there should be no prob.

Compared to Paypal, the transfer of money from oDesk to bank via Local Fund Transfer takes around 5-7 days. With Paypal, it takes just two banking days.

With oDesk, You Can!

Name: Ellen Nor Sarabia-Cordero
Location: Mansilingan, Bacolod City
oDesk Member Since: May 30, 2008

What she lacks in height she makes up for in skill and hard work, that's my first impression of Ellen. She's warm and welcoming and very friendly. I have known her for quite some time but never really had the chance to really get to know her. I do know that she has a good heart and has helped a good number of people get started with their oDesk freelancing career.

Here's my interview with Ellen:

What was your previous job before you decided to become a freelancer? Sorry, it's confidential. I signed a contract not to disclose any information about the nature of my work with the company but I think I'm free to say what I think and feel about the whole work set up. I worked graveyard shifts with little to no days off sometimes. You could say it was like working for a call center. Only with better pay. I just wasn't all that happy with the work hours. I didn't like the work environment either.

If I ever get offered the same job again, I'd most likely decline the offer. The only good thing that ever happened while I was still working there was the people I met and made friends with. I still keep in touch with them and yes, they are all oDesk freelancers as well. You might want to interview them later on. They have their own oDesk success stories to tell.

Where did you first hear about oDesk? From a very good friend of mine.

Is she an oDesk freelancer as well? Yes, but she stopped and moved to another country.

What made you decide to become a freelancer? I heard that the work hours were better so I decided to give it a try. I worked part time for a few months and later on switched to full time. I really enjoy working at home. I get paid better. I get to spend more time with my husband, with my family and friends. I can now even find time to travel.

Wow, that's awesome! When did you start working full time? Jan 2009

What kind of jobs do you usually get hired to do? Wow, a lot really and Odesk was able to help me discover my potentials. I do research, data entry, social media, link building and other admin support tasks. With Odesk, you are always given a chance to learn new things and you only get better and better as you go along. I think that is the best part of being a freelancer.

What obstacles have you encountered when you were still starting? I guess I'm one of the few lucky ones that has never really encountered anything too serious. I always get invited for interviews and most of the time, I end up getting hired and at a good hourly rate, too! I have never had any problems with my employers either. Most of the people I had the chance to work with had been very clear with their instructions and were always there when I have questions. I'm so thankful that they never gave me a hard time even when I was still an oDesk newbie. Would you believe it? I'm still under contract with some of them until now. That's three long and successful work years with the same great people. I cannot thank them enough for the trust and opportunity they gave me and of course, the many rewards and bonuses they give me during the holidays.

You must be really good at what you do then. Do you like being an oDesk freelancer? I would like to think that I have improved a lot since I first started. My employers had been very kind and understanding. They trained me and molded me into what I am today. I DO love being an oDesk freelancer. It's a blessing.

Ellen, you've inspired me and lots of other oDesk freelancers. Your oDesk success story is amazing. Thank you for doing this interview with me. No problem. Anytime.

More Do's and Don'ts and Other Odesk Tips

I have been in hiatus for months. Been busy working on some projects but now that I am back, I would like to talk about my experiences applying for jobs in Odesk.

Applying for a job is no easy task. You have to have an excellent cover letter and you have to know the right words to say if you want the company hiring to pick you from among the hundreds competing for the position and at a much lower rate than yours at that!! Can you believe it? People are actually being hired at 80 cents an hour, that's in USD!! I experienced it firsthand. It was a long time ago. February 2010 if I remember it right. I was an oDesk newbie (like you and all others reading my blog) and I was itching to get hired. A job interview came in with an offer wanting me to work this and that and a few other odd jobs for 50 cents an hour. Did I take the offer? I DID but no regrets there. After I finished the project and got an excellent feedback for a job well done, I got more interviews than I could ever imagine. That, of course, was not sheer luck. I learned how to write very good cover letters. I learned new skills. I also picked up a few tricks here and there (if you have been following my blog for some time now then you are probably familiar with how I started earning money online as a freelancer). Here are some of the do's and don'ts I would like to share with you guys.


1. Find out what your skills are. Do you have excellent English? Can you write? Do you have any call center experiences? Write it all down.

2. Edit your oDesk profile. Make sure it's glowing. Name out your skills without overselling yourself and be sure to upload your photo. Boob shots are discouraged. Find a decent one of yourself. Here are some VERY important tips when putting up your oDesk profile. Look up my profile if you don't have any idea what to put there (but please, please, please don't copy mine. Write your own. Be original).

3. Learn how to write a cover letter. Again, don't oversell yourself. Be honest about what you can do and what you cannot do. Never, never exaggerate. If you have been a call center agent only for a couple of months and got terminated for bad performance. Don't tell your would-be employers that you have 5 years of call center experience and that you are an expert in lead generation and cold calls when you actually have not had any luck in that field. You will only be digging your own grave.

4. Don't rely on other people to write your cover letter for you. If you are not very confident with your English, that's okay. Just go ahead and write one then have someone proofread your letter for you instead.

5. Find out when to apply, with whom and at what rate. Finding a good company to work for is like mining for diamonds. There's a good few out there but BEWARE there's also twice, probably thrice as many scammers and ripoffs wanting to take advantage of us poor freelancers.

5. Apply only for jobs that you know you can do. Highlight your skills in your cover letter. Tell the company what you can do for them and not about how much you need the job and how many mouths you have to feed. That is a big NO-NO! You're not going to get the good ones that way. You will only be inviting scammers to scam you of your work.

6. When called for interview, inform your would-be employer about your most comfortable mode of communication. Can you take calls? Do you prefer email? Yahoo chat? Communication between contractor and employer is very important. If you can set up your phone to receive emails so you can be easily contacted then DO IT. Let them know that you can be contacted and have no intention of disappearing while in the middle of a project.

7. Learn to manage your time. Don't apply for jobs and grab all the contracts you can get your hands on and end up not meeting your deadlines.

Well, that's it for now. I got to get back to work but will be back in a day or two with more tips for ya!

Odesk Sign Up

Want to apply for jobs on oDesk? Not sure how or where to sign up? Just follow the steps below.

Step 1 Click this big blue banner. You will be redirected to my profile page.



Step 2 Next look for a yellow button that says Create an Account. You can find it on the upper right of the page and it looks like this.



Step 3 Next you will see this.

Choose Freelance Provider if you signed up to become an oDesk freelancer. Choose Buyer if you are planning to outsource jobs to oDesk freelancers. Choose Provider Company if your plan is to create a group of providers or oDesk freelancers that will work as a team.



Step 4 Next you will be asked to fill up a form and that's it. All that is left for you to do is create your profile and take some tests and you are all set.

Christmas Bonuses

I received a total of $200 in bonuses at work. What a lovely Christmas present! Now I have a bit more money to spend. I didn't finish my Christmas shopping yet. I need to get the groceries done. I need to go buy some gifts. Then there's work! What about WORK? I have a deadline. I'm dead meat if I don't finish my reports. Ugh.

I can't wait for December to roll over. When that happens, I can get back to my "cubicle" and work in peace. If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm the great, great, great granddaughter of Ebenezer Scrooge. Haha. I'm not. Just wishing I have more than enough money to spend during the holidays so I don't have to work. With cash in hand, I can get the shopping done early, send out all the cards and wrap all the gifts, cook, bake, get all festive and be happy with my family.

Need Help With Your Profile?

Note: This post is for those who just registered on Odesk.

If you are not sure what to put in your profile page, I can help! Let's go over your profile page real quick.

First go to your Profile Settings.
Look for My Contract Profile on your left.
Click Edit.

The form below is what you will see next.




1. Profile Access

1. Public
2. Employers only
3. Private

If you want your profile to be made public, choose option 1 from the drop down (highly recommended).

If you want your profile to be visible only to employers, choose Employers only.

If you want to hide your profile, choose Private. Profiles that are made private don't get included in search results.

2. Primary Role

Choose which describes you best as a freelancer.

Consultant
Data Entry Professional
Programmer/Developer
Project Manager
QA Engineer/Tester
System/Database Administrator
Technical Writer
Website/Graphic Designer

3. Title

Think of a three or four-word title that would grab people's attention. Ask yourself, what best describes you and the services you got to offer? Make sure what you put in the title is spelled correctly and in titlecase.

4. Availability. How many hours per week are you available for work?

5. Odesk Ready? You have to take the oDesk Readiness test before you can apply for jobs. I suggest you take the following tests as well:

U.S. English Basic Skills Test
U.S. Word Usage Test
English Vocabulary Test (U.S. and Non-U.S. Version)
Office Skills Test
English Spelling Test (U.S. and Non-U.S. Version)

6. Years of Experience No need to explain this one. Just be honest and fill out this part like you would when applying for an outside job.

7. English. This part is self-assessed. If you can speak and write English fluently, give yourself 5 stars. If you are not too confident with your English skills, go for 3-4 stars.

8. Objective. This part is the most important. Don't just copy what you see on other people's profile. Highlight your skills. Talk about what you can do if you ever get hired. Talk about what you are good at. Talk about your work ethics, your work experiences but never ever say things that you aren't.

Hope this help!

Leave comments if you have any questions.

Why Join oDesk?

Let me inspire you with another oDesk success story. This time from Joann Del Castillo of Murcia, Negros Occidental. oDesk Member since April 21, 2008. She should be able to tell you WHY.

This bubbly, super-friendly chick is one of the most hardworking people I've ever known in my whole 6 years as a freelancer. We used to work in the same office but I think she stayed with the company for another year while I jumped ship and started exploring other work opportunities. We lost touch with each other but got reconnected again on Facebook. We chatted for a few hours and there I found out that she's also in oDesk.

Without wasting any time, I grabbed the opportunity and interviewed JoAnn about her experiences as an oDesk freelancer. She shared with me her story - a truly inspiring account of her struggles and frustrations as a freelancer and her journey towards success now that she has learned the tricks of the trade and has gained a really good reputation as an article writer, social media marketer and as a data entry specialist.

What was your previous job before you decided to become a freelancer?
I was a text chat operator for 4 years. The pay was good but there was no security and it was starting to create unnecessary stress in my life.

Where did you first hear about oDesk? From a very good friend of mine.

Is she also a freelancer on oDesk? Yes, she is.

What made you decide to become a freelancer?
I like the idea of being able to work in the comforts of the home. I like the freedom and the flexibility of schedule. And of course, the earning potential. As an oDesk freelancer, I have better control of my finances. I can work as little or as much as a I can. I can decide when to work and when not to work.

Another thing I enjoy about being an oDesk freelancer is the opportunity to get better acquainted with other people from different countries, compete with other freelancers and work on different assignments. There is also the opportunity to acquire and develop new skills.

Very well said! When did you start working full time? August 2009

What jobs do you do best?
Thanks to oDesk, I have discovered what my strengths and weaknesses are. I found out I have a flair in writing. I also improved my typing speed and my computer and Internet skills so I think if there are jobs that I do best, that would be data entry. I also do great in email marketing and in social networking.

What obstacles have you encountered when you were still starting?There's the fact that very few people hire newbies. When I was still starting, I had to send dozens of job applications almost everyday. I did get lucky and got hired eventually but boy, did I go through a lot just to land a job. I hated all those times I opened my inbox and found only email notifications from oDesk letting me know that my application got declined, that I did not meet the qualifications, that I was not one of the shortlisted applications BUT I did not lose hope. I kept on applying and kept on praying for an interview and it just happened.

Your story is truly touching. Is there really MONEY in oDesk? I would not be working it full time if the pay is not good. I am making around Php 40,000 a month, sometimes I even get bonuses from my bosses.

You must be really good at what you do then. Do you like being an oDesk freelancer? I don't just like it. I LOVE it.

This Week is the CLOSEST I have ever been to my GOAL

I want to make 350 dollars a week if I can. That is a huge amount of money but I know I can do it. I just have to make sure I manage my time well and work when it is time to work. No TV, no blogging, no Twitter, no Facebook until I am done. That is one of my work rules. I have made close to $210 dollars last week, which I think is great but this week - I made a total of $340.72! That is more or less 15k if the dollar rate to peso is at 45 pesos. I am posting my Paypal and my Moneybookers history here next week as proof.

Twitter Background For Another Buyer

I wish I have paid more attention to Leo when he was teaching me the basics of Adobe Photoshop. I used to work as a customer representative for a printing and publishing company and have seen our graphic designer worked on different magazine layouts.

That was six years ago. I can't remember a thing he taught me now but I am sure if I have Photoshop installed in my computer, I would have already used it to create different Twitter backgrounds.

Here's one I made for an oDesk buyer. I used Corel Draw and Corel Photo Paint to create this design. I cannot use the logo on her website http://myonlinemeals.com so I had to copy the whole thing and duplicate it on Corel Draw. Looks ok so far.

Here's a close up of the logo:










And here's her new Twitter background! Like it?