The Lady Programmer

UPDATED: February 17, 2009

I’ve found out a quicker way to verify Paypal account without using a Unionbank EON card. If you happen to own a Payoneer card then you might want to verify your account using this card because the entire process only took me less than five minutes to complete. The Paypal expanded use (EXPUSE) number, which is used to change the status of Paypal accounts from “unverified” to “verified”, is reflected immediately in my online account at Payoneer’s website.

Using a Unionbank EON card to verify Paypal has a lot of disadvantages. A person had to wait for a few days up to more than a week before calling up the bank’s customer service for the EXPUSE number. Calling up the bank’s customer service is often difficult: a Unionbank customer often needs to call up several times to get through a customer service representative. The only option that the customer could find out the EXPUSE number is to make several attempts to reach the customer service to follow up the request.

Remember, you can opt to maintain an unverified Paypal account to receive payments. However, if you need to withdraw the funds to a Philippine bank account then Paypal verification is always needed.

Before doing the procedure, you need $1.95 or more in your Payoneer account for the verification process. That amount will be refunded back to your Paypal account. If you need to know how to load funds into your Payoneer account, then read this post on ways on how to load funds into a Payoneer card.

I’ve outlined the step-by-step procedure that I had followed:

1. Login to Paypal. Create a Paypal account if you do not have one yet.
2. Make sure My Account tab is active; if not, click on that tab.
3. Under the heading My Account Overview, click the link that says Unverified just beside the Status.
4. This will enable you to enter a card and verify it. Take your Payoneer card and enter all the card details that are asked on the screen. Guide instructions are provided on the screen.
5. Login to your Payoneer account and get the Paypal EXPUSE (expanded use) number that is shown in your list of transactions (View Transactions). It is a four-digit number within your transaction history that looks like PP *nnnn Expuse where nnnn is the four-digit number assigned by Paypal. (click the image below for a closer look)
   
6. Return to Paypal by logging in again. Enter the given four-digit number in the transaction statement to your Paypal account by logging in again to your account, under Link and Confirm Card. If this is successful then your status should change to Verified. (click the image below for a closer look)
   

If you still do not have a Paypal account, simply click on the banner below for a FREE account!

I realized that someday I will not be able to design nice pages, learn new web design techniques and even write informative posts in blogs that will benefit the readers. It is important that the freelancer should also look into options that enable him or her to earn money without working for it actively.

Personally, I have not discovered how to earn passively until I decided what makes others rich. I asked these questions myself: Is it hardwork? Does it always have to do with inheritance? Is it purely luck?

I learned that there are investment vehicles that the rich people put their hard earned cash in. They earn it through their active income or businesses and their excess funds is spent on buying additional assets: but these assets basically generate passive income.

What are some investment vehicles that are available in the Philippines?

1. Stocks: This is by far the riskiest investment. I have not been able to try investing in these investment vehicles. I am greatly interested in learning how to put my money and interpret the technicalities that I always see on stock tickers and newspapers. If you happen to own some then you might find yourself lucky if this gives a very high yield.
2. Bonds: The least risky investment because it is least affected by market fluctuations. It gives a guaranteed given rate of return.
3. Mutual funds and unit investment trust funds: These investments are a combination of stocks and bonds. Mutual funds are offered mostly by insurance companies while unit investment trust funds or UITFs are offered by banks. There are some mutual funds that are invested mostly in least risky investments while a portion of it is invested in stocks. There are also some funds that are made to be invested more on stocks and a part on bonds. Mutual funds always aim at diversifying funds so that the losses of one fund is covered by the gains of the other fund.

photo credit: OmirOnia (SXC)

I have been able to start myself investing in UITF in a very large bank. I still plan to add more funds to my freelance career, so that I can be able to earn a lot of cash passively.

New freelancers are often tempted to use a generic cover letter to apply to numerous jobs that they see around – DON’T!

I often see freelancers applying to jobs using generic cover letters. They do this because some of them have problems with their writing skills. Other do so because they wanted an easier way to apply to jobs.

photo credit: miamiamia (SXC)

Unfortunately, most buyers are not taking these applicants seriously. What are the reasons for doing so?

1. Buyers are responsive to letters that provides answers to their queries. Customize your cover letter in such a way that it answers to what is asked in the job description.
2. Buyers are attracted to letters that “speak” to them. Compose cover letters that seem to initiate conversational style rather than the detached tone common to generic letters.
3. Buyers tend to read letters with their names on it (if these names had provided). They appreciate when their name is mentioned on the letter because it means that the applicant has spent extra effort in acknowledging the buyer’s name.
4. Buyers like non-generic letters because it shows that the provider has given much thought on the given job opening. Custom cover letters convey the provider’s attention to detail as well as giving a deep thought on what the job entails.

Custom cover letters is a must in applying for a job. The best cover letters are those that speak from the heart.

Have you given much thought on your profile title or tagline?

The profile title or tagline is a very important part for your profile. I used the default tagline “Programmer/Developer” in oDesk for quite a long time before I decided to change my title to a more interesting one. I applied to several jobs using that tagline and got frustrated because I was not able to get any interviews. Not until I changed that very little thing.

photo credit: xymonau (SXC)

What makes a catchy title? These are some tactics that I have seen:

1. Use power words like “reasonable price”, “deadline-oriented” and “quality work”. Use these to apply for jobs that have plenty of competition. “Quality Data Entry Work at a Reasonable Price”
2. Put in some special symbols. It is always an eye-catcher. Some placed several asterisks and special symbols before and after their taglines. Can also work for job with a lot of competition. “***** Experienced Virtual Personal Assistant *****”
3. Use words that point to the provider’s rare specialty. “Expert Embedded Systems Programmer”
4. State your title with the years of experience. “Experienced Java Programmer for 7 years”
5. Just simply be creative or amusing. “Programmer by Day, Superhero at Night”

As I applied to jobs, I experimented with various titles. It was not easy for me to think of a good one that can fit my profile. Just think of the title as a marketing tool to attract buyers to get their attention to click that all-important link to your profile.

UPDATE: Please wait for the official announcement from Payoneer for their virtual bank account service. This service is not yet available in most Payoneer account holders and is still in its pilot program where Payoneer selected a number of account holders to take part of this new service. Payoneer is aware that I am writing about their stuff and they had permitted me to blog about this so that Payoneer users are aware of this upcoming service.

I have encountered some Filipinos especially those who are new to freelance internet jobs who are wary of using the Payoneer card as a method of receiving payments. I find it a great way for me to receive payments and what even amazes me is that they come up with new ways that can benefit us – such as the Paypal to Payoneer withdrawal arrangements.

I was participant in their pilot program which involves tying up the Payoneer card to a virtual bank account. As I was able to do the test transfer successfully, I was greatly satisfied with the service because the transfer was very fast. Paypal to Payoneer transfers only took two working days before it was funded into my account. Best of all, the transfer is entirely free - at least for the pilot program – but the fees involved in the transfer is yet to be determined by Payoneer.

This service will go live within the next few months and will be available for any Payoneer account holder. The new services does not come automatically for existing Payoneer users: registration is still needed to avail of this cool new service. Although the transfer that I had made was with Paypal to Payoneer, anyone who wishes to fund their Payoneer card can simply put down the bank name, bank routing number and account number to withdraw from online funding institutions such as Paypal.

If the transfer from Paypal to Payoneer card remains to be free after the formal launch of virtual bank account service, then I will consider withdrawing my funds from Paypal into this card. The transfer is a lot faster for me: it takes me three or more days for Paypal to Unionbank transfer but with Paypal to Payoneer the transfer only took me two days. The transfer time depends on which institution does the transfer – thus Paypal to Unionbank transfer is longer because the money has to be cleared from one country to another while Paypal and Payoneer are both on US soil, so it follows that the transfer is a lot a faster than the latter.