The Lady Programmer

Let’s relax this time…

Freelance work is NOT all about earning money, grabbing opportunities at hand and building your name. It is all also finding some time to relax. Successful freelancers know when to spot opportunities and when to get away.

Getting a little time off from work can be more productive than doing work continuously. I could not find one person who does not like to take a little break. But it is important not to over do this simple indulgence.

photo credit: micromoth (SXC)

Relaxation comes in various forms:

• Do some exercise
• Looking outside the window and thinking of … nothing
• Surf around
• Do some household chores
• Meditate
• Play with something, or someone
• Sleep
• Throw some joke

That is not a complete list. You may have more things in mind. Right now I feel less like thinking and more like getting a short break after this post.

I made several career transitions in my life: I started out the workforce as a licensed engineer, then I got employed as a programmer. But now, I do freelance jobs as a programmer and writer.

I did not think I would make several career shifts in my life. Many fellow Filipinos would say that I missed out on promising overseas opportunities that help me get gainfully employed on big companies. Overseas employment often gives a better paychecks and plenty of perks. They have said I should have used my profession as an engineer to work in a high-paying semiconductor industry in Singapore or find an IT job in Japan instead.

photo credit: djeyewater (SXC)

However, I decided to try out full-time freelancing. I am not yet ready to stop where I have just began. Little did they know that I hired my own self to earn my own income. This trick worked well for me because I am about to reach the income level of a gainfully employed individual who choose to stay and work in the Philippines.

I am still open to other similar options though, but getting work abroad is not something that fits on my freelance career list right now.

I believe that getting a freelance job involves a series of steps.

The first step involves creating a profile. Profile means taking stock of your skills and also your portfolio to prove that you can do a job. This does not apply to programming, web design and graphic skills but also to writing jobs as well. Showing your presence and maintaining a good standing puts you well into the first step.

The second step is to actively seek jobs. The internet is vast and it is still growing; it creates a lot of job opportunities and a great deal is usually outsourced. More writers are needed to write more web content, others are needed to create the pages that will hold all the information and still others are working at the backbone of the internet – making sure that the information is delivered promptly by maintaining uptime of the server.There are plenty of jobs around that lies around, waiting to be done.

photo credit: neadeau (SXC)

The third step is to accept interviews. Getting interviewed for a job means something: that you are most likely capable of doing the job above all else.

The fourth step is to accept the job and ultimately, get paid plus a good rating to boot.

And the cycle begins all over again, but this time, you have an experience to make you more credible for the jobs that you like.

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.