How to Work at Home in the Philippines (Even as a newbie!)

Have you always wanted to work at home but you’re afraid of taking that first step?

You’re not alone. Millions of successful freelancers in the Philippines also thought the same thing as you. No one started as an expert not even experienced engineers or accountants. They all had to learn the ropes in online freelancing.

But what separates them from the people who are stuck at the starting line is they moved. Their determination is the fuel that drives them to their goal.

For this article, I wanted to inspire YOU to take action for your dreams. This is perfect for you if…

1. You doubt your skills thinking it’s not enough.

2. You think you are not “techy” enough to work at home.

3. You are afraid of failure.

4. You don’t have the drive and determination to take the risk.

5. You want to be a successful freelancer!

Inspiring Work at Home Success Stories and Tips

In this article, I’m blessed to be able to feature the inspiring success stories of 3 freelancers in the Philippines. In here, they’ll elaborate their journey so you’ll be more inspired to take your own and be able to share your success story too later on. Not only that, I’m also thankful that they shared with us some tips that they used themselves to be a successful freelancer! If you want to become a successful freelancer earning a 6 figure salary monthly and escaping the rat race, read on!

Rachel Cuales (Amazon Virtual Assistant)

At the start of her freelance journey, Rachel worked at home as an English as a Second Language (ESL) tutor on November 2018. She then explored into one of the most popular freelancing platform Upwork and tried Virtual Assistant jobs. In her second day in Upwork, she got a client that offered $300/month salary. Although it was a blessing, she resigned after just a week as the treatment she got was far from what she expected.

She then tried to find another job but this time as a Social Media Manager. After a month of searching and applying, she eventually got 2 clients. Coincidentally, her clients were both Austrialians who offered her $6/hour compensation. Still unsatisfied and still hungry for more, Rachel explored other skills through watching tutorials in YouTube. She eventually got interested in the work of an Amazon Virtual Assistant.

Excited with her newfound interest, she took an online course worth P17,000 which she later regretted buying. She said that the free videos and webinars she took on YouTube was worth more than the course she bought. Even if that was the case, it didn’t stop her from learning how to be a successful Amazon Virtual Assistant. After 3 months of training and getting everything down, she finally got a client on UpWork that allows her to earn more than 6 digits salary per month!

Success Tips From Rachel Cuales

Question: How do you write winning proposals?

Rachel: I try to make every proposal I submit personalized. For example, if it’s stated in the job post that the client needs someone to “fix his Amazon inventory and listing”, I make sure to MENTION it in my proposal. Aside from that, sending my related PORTFOLIO is also very important. My portfolio was done on Wix (free) and it took me a whole day just to make sure it was perfect.

Question: What is your number one secret that you can share to newbie freelancers?

Rachel: At the start of your work at home journey, focus on ONE SKILL only. Then, become a MASTER of that skill so you can charge premium. I started at $5/hour as an Amazon VA but I now charge up to $20/hour because I focused on mastering this skill.

Question: What are your top 3 tips for aspiring freelancers who are having a hard time finding clients?

Rachel:

1. As much as possible, use other freelancing platforms not just the popular ones like UpWork or Onlinejobs.ph.

2. Semi-formal attire when having an online interview (Top is formal) 🙂

3. Research and watch videos on YouTube. But don’t just do it for the sake of watching but be like a sponge who absorbs everything you learn!

Tinah Barretto-Giron (Director of Executive Management)

Like most freelancers, Tinah worked at a BPO company for 5 years. Although she enjoyed her work only because of her friends, she came to a point where she experienced burnout. She had GERD, PCOS, and Acute Laryngitis which forced her to constantly go in the clinic. This made work literally a living hell for Tinah. She hated going to work especially when there was a Typhoon and on holidays.

One day, she met her cousin’s boyfriend and she learned the term “Virtual Assistant“. Tinah’s interest in it increased so she started researching online about it. After months of researching, praying and contemplating, she finally submitted her resignation. She was supposed to rest for 2 months after resigning as that’s what she and her hubby discussed but that’s not what happened. After just a week, she got bored and decided to look for online work and got hired by a client. She started small and even though it was lower compared to her salary in her past company, Tinah took it because she was determined. She had to learn everything but she did it with passion, hard work and determination.

Fast forward to today, she has been with the team for almost 7 years now. She started as an admin assistant, now she’s the Director of Operations in a US Real Estate Team and Director of Executive Management at Cyberbacker. Tinah says that she actually have 2 roles for the same boss at 2 companies! She also said that her salary has already increased 4 TIMES which allows her to earn much more than what she got in the BPO industry. Because of that her hubby is now also working online and they were blessed enough to be able to buy their own house. Aside from that, she was even granted a U.S Visa to meet with her boss personally. Tinah shares that they went with her boss to California, Las Vegas and Utah!

Success Tips from Tinah Barretto-Giron

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Question: How do you write winning proposals?

Tinah: Read the job description and make sure to incorporate the key points in your proposal. Make it as short and clear as possible. Most clients don’t like reading a lengthy proposal/cover letter.

Question: What is your number one secret that you can share to newbie freelancers?

Tinah: Above all else, trust and honor God in all you do. Second, never give up 🙂

Question: What are your top 3 tips for aspiring freelancers who are having a hard time finding clients?

Tinah:

1. Be humble, learn from your failures and keep on improving.

2. Do not limit yourself and say you can’t do it. Most of the time we look for the easy jobs, but the ones that truly molds us are the challenging tasks and responsibilities. Do not be afraid in taking the challenge to push yourself and reach your highest potential. Decide that you can, focus on your process to success and you’ll get there.

3. Always be grateful. Work hard with God’s guidance and intergrity!

Michelle Baltazar

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Michelle started her work at home journey as an academic writer in a website called “Essaysharks”. She did well there and was even recognized as one of the “Newcomers of the month”. After a month, she got accepted at another job with an Australian client as well as another client. She focused on her work and they praised her so much so that one of her clients even offered to pay for her health insurance as well as a pay raise.

But she planned to take the Engineering board exam so she needed to focus on reviewing extensively. But the problem was the review center was costly. So she decided to work at home while reviewing for her board exams! Thankfully, she is now a fully fledged licensed Agriculture and Biosystems Engineer and a successful freelancer!

Jerico Saquing (Content Writer & Founder of Peso Hacks)

To conclude this amazing list of inspiring stories, I thought I might share my own story. I started my work at home journey 6 months after I graduated from college. But before that, I applied to many banks around our city but only one responded. I then went to Baguio City for the interview with my girlfriend. To cut the story short – I didn’t get the job.

Looking back, I’m now grateful that I didn’t get that job because that allowed me to be determined at finding work. As someone who loves to spend time more online than offline, I eventually found out about the wonderful world of working at home. I created profiles at freelancing platforms such as UpWork, Onlinejobs.ph, and 199jobs.com.

As I was a complete beginner, I just sent proposals to almost every job post I found thinking that would give me more chances of getting hired. I was wrong! The good thing is, someone sent me an invitation for an interview in UpWork and eventually hired me. He gave me a test article which he liked. I started at $15/article and as I started to grew my reputation in UpWork. Now, I’m blessed that I earn an average of P45,000 month from my 3 clients. I am also able to help in the bills at the house and I slowly bought the home office set-up that I have now. Best of all, this inspired me to start my own blog which you’re reading right now! My goal with Peso Hacks is to help my fellow Filipinos achieve financial freedom by teaching you to save and make money online! 🙂

Success Tips from Jerico Saquing

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Question: How do you write winning proposals?

Jerico: As Rachel said, I try to make every proposal personalized. This means that I read the job post more than once to not miss anything. Aside from that, I try to address the client by their first name in my proposal. As much as possible, I try to provide value first instead of looking like I’m looking for a job. For instance, I wrote “Your articles are great! To make it even better, I can optimize it using keywords and make it as short as possible.” Always think of what you can offer instead of what you can get.

Question: What is your number one secret that you can share to newbie freelancers?

Jerico: Be fearless and determined. Even if I knew how to write, I didn’t know anything about online freelancing when I started. “My determination to succeed was far greater than my fear of failure.“

Question: What are your top 3 tips for aspiring freelancers who are having a hard time finding clients?

Jerico:

1. Niche down. If you look at most successful freelancers, they specialize in 1 up to 3 related skills only. This allows them to position themselves as an expert in what they do. For instance, if a client is looking for a virtual assistant who would manage his Amazon store, he has 2 choices from 2 candidates:

• Amazon Virtual Assistant

• Virtual Assistant

Who do you think has a higher chance of getting the job? The one who is an Amazon Virtual Assistant right? Why? If you’re the employer, you’d naturally think that the Amazon VA is more suitable to the job because he/she is experienced in Amazon stores. The second one is what we call a “Jack of all trades” which isn’t necessarily bad, but it’s not great either. Do you see the difference? 🙂

2. Make your cover letter stand out. Always spend more than just a few minutes reading the job post and writing your proposal. Before you even apply for a job, make sure that your skills suit the job perfectly.

3. Be prayerful and always be willing to learn. Often times, your hunger for success is more important than your knowledge and skills. This is how you see ordinary people making 6 figures a month. They didn’t let their fear of the unkown consume them, they just did it!

Final Thoughts

As this inspiring blog post ends, hopefully you’ve found a new source of inspiration and courage to take the first step towards your dreams. That’s the first and most important thing that you can have early on in your work at home journey. Go out there and hone your skills like there’s no tomorrow, apply for jobs and be successful! Go chase your dreams of escaping the rat race, you’ll be glad tomorrow that you took action today!

You might want to read:

• 7 Steps to Start Working at Home in the Philippines
• How to get your UpWork Profile Approved in the Philippines!
• 16 Easy Online Typing Jobs in the Philippines
• 19 High-Paying Online Jobs for Students Philippines