Writing for Money

I’ve always loved reading and writing – even as a kid. Yet I never pursued writing as a career because I thought, writers don’t make a lot of money. But the pandemic has forced people to work from home, and many have turned to online resources to make a living. Writing for money seems a gig I can pursue.

I’ve written various blog articles in the past – mostly for content mills. They pay you per word or per article. Rates are measly (often starting at 2c to 3c per word). I did this route before I joined the corporate world and while I enjoyed writing, my body protested.

The hours were long. The pay small. And there were no security or benefits connected to the job.

Fast forward to today. I recently explored freelancing once again. This time armed with experience and wisdom. I’ve learned what it takes – and how to become – a premium freelancer. More so, I’ve discovered writers can earn 6-7 figures (USD) for their work without sacrificing too much of their time.

I decided to investigate further by joining the The Freelance Movement Tribe.

PREMIUM FREELANCING

It’s a different brand of freelancing. You don’t waste time searching and applying for jobs in freelancing boards where they pay measly rates at $5/hr. Instead, you treat freelancing as a business and approach it like any wise businessman would – networking.

Yep, forming real-world connections via networking. It can be through warm connections or cold pitches. The point is to go out there, hustle and forge those human connections with potential clients.

Since it’s a business, you need to know your (1) MARKET and (2) OFFER. Just like any traditional market.

So I went in. Armed with my knowledge of marketing and business, I started building my dream freelancing business.

It’s not easy. It’s a path not for the faint hearted. Most freelancers view themselves as remote workers. They deliver a job and get paid for it. It’s a job – a contract – at the end of the day.

As a freelance business owner, I need to think wider. What does my market needs? What skill sets do I have – or can develop – to address those needs? How do I make my business sustainable and scalable?

It’s tempting to fall back into the employee mindset. Just go out there, apply for a job and deliver the output. The end.

But this is not what I want to do. So forge ahead I must.

WRITING for MONEY

As I said in my intro, I didn’t think writing would be lucrative. And when I say writing I mean blog writing. I know businesses pay a lot for copywriters – including email copywriters. The founder of the Freelance Movement Tribe is a famous email copywriter earning 7-figures USD.

There’s money in writing. But the kind of writing I like (blog content) I’m not so sure of.

That’s why I ventured to SEO as a service. I know content writing and SEO goes hand in hand. Websites need to rank in search engines. To do that they need optimized blog content. Viola! I enter the picture.

But to offer SEO content, I need to learn SEO. And as someone who LOVES learning, I adored and absorbed the new knowledge I gained. I loved all aspects of SEO.

Pretty soon, I could explain it like a pro. Without experience, I knew the ins and outs. But it’s nicer said than done.

After gaining 2 clients to test out my SEO skills and immersing in the niche market I’ve chosen, I’ve decided I needed to go for more clarity and define WHERE I really want to head with my freelancing business.

Offering SEO was great but I learn too quickly that it’s something I can’t sustainably do on my own. SEO Service Providers evolve to build agencies. They hire people to do various aspects like keyword research, content gap analysis, backlinking, content strategy and content creation. Not to mention there’s the technical aspect of SEO to consider.

I promise my clients that I can make their websites rank. I can. In theory. In reality, I need to put in long hours on my own to make it happen since I’d need to handle all SEO aspects just to get their sites ranking.

And for someone starting out, I’ve placed such a high bar and charged too little. I overextended myself. It’s a position you don’t want to be in. Believe me.

GAINING CLARITY

So you must be saying, I should have pursued clarity when I started, right? Well, if you spend too much time gaining clarity for your business, you lose precious time to fail and learn fast. I believe FAILURE is the best teacher.

We need to fail more so that we learn faster. When I began (or reignited) my freelancing journey, I simply did what the coach said and picked a market and choose a skill.

It didn’t matter that I had close to zero knowledge on the skill. Or that I had no affinity for the market. The point was I needed to learn. I can’t spend too much time figuring out what I wanted to do or who I wanted to serve.

After two months, I believe I’ve gained clarity. I was not successful with the 1st market. Neither did I like the 1st skill I chose. BUT I learned a lot.

I learned that my primary passion is WRITING. And I don’t need to compromise offering too many complimentary skills just to say that my WRITING is valuable. On its own, my written articles are worth every dollar a client pays. I’m glad I’ve stumbled upon the Freelance to Fortune blog which provides proof that writers can earn 6-figures USD too.

I learned about SEO – a lot. And how it actually shapes my writing. Even defining my tone, the words I use and how I come up with a content strategy. My SEO knowledge is solid. I’m proud of that. I’ve learned the basics and the foundation as well as some great techniques. I can use all of these with my writing.

I learned about the SaaS market – and how wide and in need of content writers they are. I like learning about how tech fits our day-to-day lives. And I love telling people about it. I love to share the knowledge I’ve gained in ways that readers would actually understand and be compelled to act on.

Combining my PASSION FOR WRITING and my LOVE FOR EDUCATING, I believe I am cut out to be a B2B SaaS Writer. For what exact niche, I am not yet sure. There’s a lot to choose from.

But as I dive deeper into this market, I love what I’m seeing. And I’m excited. I’m excited to start exploring the new opportunities in store for me.

SO, WHERE DOES THIS BLOG FIT IN?

I’ve written about a lot of different topics in this blog. I’ve strived to be consistent but in reality haven’t been. I’ve divulged personal rants, political views, romantic hang ups, spiritual beliefs along with reviews, scientific explanations and what nots in this blog.

This blog is a hodgepodge of content.

And I love it for that. After all, the title accurately captures what it’s all about.

BUT I am about to end there. From the time I’ve started blogging in 2009, I’ve matured a lot as a person. The desire to keep sharing my personal life to the world has waned. I’ve become a more private person (or simply have too much in my plate to keep ranting).

So I am keeping the name but archiving the content. They’d be available just as they were but be buried deeper in the site to favor the new content I would like to write about.

What new content? I’ve decided I would write about my freelancing journey, the boom in the online / digital business industry, SEO best practices the way I understand them and anything about business, personal finances & productivity.

I’m excited to go in this journey, and I hope, dear reader, you stay with me through the ride.

A New Respect for Celebrities

Yesterday, I had the chance to witness firsthand how human the glorified celebrities of today’s Philippine TV are. During the recently concluded GMA Trade Fair Show, I saw how normal the guest stars are – checking out and playing in the booths, lining up for the buffet dinner, posing for pictures, etc. But what struck me most about them was the pressure they had of entertaining us – the guests.

The event was attended by advertisers of the local GMA network. Yes there were young blood among us (myself included of course) but I must admit that it was mostly a professional, working crowd. And somehow, I felt the apparent dullness of the crowd’s response to the guest stars’ performances. Whereas mall tours would result in cheering and howling throngs of fans, the crowd that night was a polite and reserved bunch. At some point, I felt pity because one of them had to ask the crowd to clap. And I somehow sensed how hard it must be to elicit a response from the crowd.

I guess entertaining a smaller number of people, most of whom may not really know or are familiar with who they are, does produce some anxiety and pressure upon them. I can just imagine how hard it must be to maintain a jolly and entertaining composure in front of a crowd who refused to cooperate in singing the song lyrics or in howling for each suave dance move.

This led me to conclude that in this world, we are all working to make a living. Some become famous for it, some remain in the shadows but certain expectations and pressures remain the same no matter the job description. At times I felt they were larger than life, but now I realize they are indeed the same like all of us except for Facebook fan pages with tens of thousands likes and Twitter profiles with millions of followers.

The Lure of Manila

Often times I am led to wonder how life would be different had I ventured forth in Manila and sought employment there. Many times I still like to think back on the what if’s of my career path. What if I haven’t left Manila? What if I applied for a work in Manila? What if I worked in Manila? Would life be different?

Of course it would! Instead of the relaxed jeepney ride I go through daily, passing through rice fields and inhaling fresh air, I would be subjected to the highly stressful bus/jeepney/MRT ride passing through rows and rows of buildings, through hours of traffic, squeezing through throngs of people and inhaling polluted air. Instead of waking up two hours, sometimes even an hour and a half, before work time and having lots of time to spare for breakfast, preparation and travel, I would be waking up 4 to 3 hours before work time and be rushing through the day, eating while travelling.

Yet there is the promise of a higher compensation and the threat of higher living costs. There is the promise of greater career glory (more internationally known companies and brands) yet the threat of being too far away from the top and thus a slave of lower management.

But the biggest difference for me – a very big defining factor actually, would be the way Manila has been hit by typhoons recently. And the scary outcomes of such.

Continue reading “The Lure of Manila”

why is it so hard?

I thought being a freelance writer will be an easy thing. I though being my own boss will be easy. I thought I’ll have more time to do the things I want. I thought wrong.

Writing, as with any other jobs in the world, also require a sort of discipline to make it work for you. Discipline which I completely lack. When I think about it, it’s a good thing I did not do this job together with my regular employment jobs else I would have sacrificed excellence in one or the other.

How I long to read a book or curl up and think of nothing in particular but I have so many things to write! Or make that re-write as well. It’s really cool in retrospect. I get to do what I want – which is write. Write all day long. But the deadlines, they are the real killers.

My biggest detractor is distraction itself. Although it is true that I can create articles, rewrites and originals, in a really quick time especially if all the resources are given (which is the usual case) still I take such a long time to even finish one or that is finish a batch. Why? There’s the internet, enough said.

Then again, I should not be distracted lest I have little time to meet my deadlines which is what is happening now. I am behind, as always.

And of course no one wants a repeat of yesterday’s events. That was horrendous. All day long I thought lack of sleep was the cause why my head was spinning constantly. But I rationalized that I have slept at least 6 hours though it was from 4:30AM to 10AM. As it turned out, yesterday, my blood pressure was down to 85/60! No wonder I was so dizzy. Yet I managed to write 7 more articles, submit them, then sleep at 12MN. To wake up refreshed at 10AM and with a BP of 100/70.

I should seriously alter my habits.

That’s it, enough for now. I have more articles to write.

it’s beginning again

whew! For the first time I am using the QuickPress feature because I just need to make a quick post. Again I am swamped with a large load of projects because for some obscure reason another client decided to give me the first batch of files the same time that I work for the really big company who assigns me a large number of articles every weekend.

So here I am beginning another big set of articles. But I am happy even if I am tired and swamped with a number of projects. Why? Because I am a writer.

I get to explore and develop different writing styles. For example right now I am rewriting news article. So I get to brush up on my news writing skills.

Indeed work, though more hectic and more toxic, is a whole lot better now a days. I’m glad I discovered freelancing and gave it a try.

Nobility or Stupidity

Is it noble to sacrifice life for someone else? You’d probably answer yes. Indeed it is. In the past this is defined by literal dying for others like what heroes and martyrs had done. In today’s era this is manifested by those unselfish individuals who places others needs before their own.

Take for example the brother who sacrifices his work earnings – supposedly savings for his future family – in order to send his brother to school. Or perhaps the sister who sacrifices her own education so she can work and finance the education of her siblings. Or is it the relative – cousin to some, aunt or uncle to others, brother or sister to few and child to two, who works abroad to sustain all their needs even luxuries. These are now the faces of nobility in our society today.

Yet is it really nobility or stupidity? Some may say they are stupid if the only remaining time they could have spent at school was a semester or less and they didn’t finished it so they could go to work and finance others. Some may say they are stupid for they can’t begin to look after their own needs when it is clear that they would need to invest in their future as well if they want a future for their kids unlike what they have had. Some may sa they are stupid for slaving away in a foreign land and allowing relatives to depend on the thought that just because they are earning dollars or Euros they are rich and can provide almost anything asked of them. Some may say it is stupidity to think of others when there is one’s obvious personal need to consider.

But I say otherwise. It is bravery on the part of the person who sacrificed. Yes they may appear stupid to some. And they may have thought so of themselves when they realized what they have done and whenever they think of the sad predicament they are in yet for them to continually endure it even if they feel they should leave or they should get out and pursue their own dreams and passions is what I believe makes them noble. It is not so much the act itself or the sacrifice itself but the determination to hold on when all they want to do is let go.

I thought I would join their ranks so I hurried up my education and in the end got delayed all the more. I thought I would have to make certain sacrifices also so I jumped at every employment opportunity I could grab my hands on only to realize in the end that I was never expected to sacrifice anything. Now that I have been told to stop and rest in the midst of the ongoing financial crisis we are in, I am more than ever grateful for the family I belonged to – a family who recognizes my own needs and shortcomings and embraces them even they are constantly reprimanded; a family who applauds my strengths and recognizes my passions and dreams and encourages me to pursue them even though the dreams may sometimes be impractical and idealistic.

I am thankful I am not called to join the ranks of these noble people. Much as I salute and admire their courage I do not envy their position. They are heroes in our society and they deserve due recognition – maybe not in the form of public awards and commendations but perhaps by the simple thank you and appreciation of the persons they loved so much that they were willing to lay aside their own personal lives to see their loved one’s lives get better; their loved one’s dreams achieved.

This is my tribute to this new class of nobility. My way of saying that I admire them and find their sacrifice really endearing. I just hope that in the end they would also realize that they have their own dreams and their loved ones also have wings that need to be tested. And so I hope that they realize that their sacrifices are not forever; that one day they will and must also pursue their own dreams and sacrifice for others no longer.

*For my friends and others out there who put aside their own dreams to help others realize theirs.*

moving on…yet again

I guess I hit rock bottom when I took the cliff dive. A month ago I was so eager to make the jump that I must have jumped without really looking or thinking, that is. Not that I have any regrets for jumping – I relish the adrenaline rush of the thrilling escapade yet I will be a hypocrite if I feign success over what I did.

Nope. I was not successful. I fell, dear reader. I did. And the bruises hurt.

I love the job I have right now. There is nothing compared to the joy of figuring out the words being dictated – medical words that are really hard to understand coming from a non-native English speaker. The joy that rushes through my veins whenever I understand that the doctor was saying Coreg when all I can hear was courage is uncomparable.

Yet for all my praises for this job, equally are my disgrunts on how the company works. I know there are no perfect companies out there but this company exceeds the limit. For one there is the constant dispute over our very minimal salary. I learned today that PGS stands for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Scholars. We are called PGS trainees at work. I learned that PGS were given something like 10k, half of which goes to the company and half to the trainee or training costs I figure. This would include our allowance. What I do not understand then is how come, with such a fair amount of budget, are we entitled to get only a hefty 50php allowance per day? And to think we are already learning account specifics. Shouldn’t it be that when one trangresses to learning about account specifics they earn higher, possibly not a trainee’s allowance but an employee’s wage? Sad to say that it not my case.

And yesterday, when my mom learned that we were the ones who would still have to laminate our IDs and pay for our ID cords, she was astounded – urging me not to report to work any longer and to quit from the training. She goes further to state that by what she observes of my current health status, the allowance won’t even cover for my medical bills.

Furthermore, she states that I do not need to really work – a daughter’s dream, I must say. How many kids now a days can hear their parents tell them that they must not work yet? That the parents would still be willing to shoulder their kids’ expenses? In reality, my mom just wanted me to stop tiring myself out in a work that promises no higher compensation for the amount of work I put in.

She further urged that I could always do freelancing especially now that I can see the potential I have in that field. Working at home does seem like a very appealing idea especially when your alarm rings at 5 am on a very rainy morning.

Yet I procastinate. I must give my intent to leave now – if they will let me go, I really do not think so – not after the performance I’ve set in in the past weeks (Trainee of the Week for 2 weeks.. hmm..). But I want to leave. I do want to rest for a while. Not be employed but rather stay at home doing odd jobs or freelance jobs. Not answering to any boss. Working at my own convenient time. Of course there are downsides to it but that is yet to be explored. 😀

I may get in trouble for this. I hope not though. In the end, I realized that although mental satisfaction can be provided by a job, compensation or salary is still an important consideration for work satisfaction. And if one or the other is not met, work quality suffers in the end.

imbibing the medical jargon

All is not gloom and doom at work. There are admittedly glorious moments which makes me believe that I have made the right choice of leaving my otherwise brain draining work for a more challenging one.

In fact, because of the many medical jargons I encounter daily, and the medical knowledge that comes with learning what all those jargons mean, I feel I can improve on my other blog, Practical Biology, by posting quite a lot of articles about how biological issues, particularly medical related ones can be easily understood by the common individual and how it can be applied to daily living.

I do not propose to know extensively about the topics, but I do know enough knowledge to convey it. And the best way to ensure that knowledge does not atrophy in your brain is to use it. Perhaps I can even include in my blog some helpful tips for the amateur medical transcriptionist like myself.

How many times have I felt frustrated searching for medical terms I heard sounded like this and that but actually were spelled this and that? And wouldn’t I be immensely greatful if I find out that this term is associated with this term so that the next time I encounter the words, or their sound-alikes, I would know what they mean? I don’t know if you can relate really but just to give you an example, today, I found out that a usual dictation for the results of a rectal exam is normal sphincter tone. Now I do not yet know what that means but the way I found out was by searching in Google for “rectal exam synchter tone”. I kept hearing something like synchter tone when in fact it was sphincter tone. Of course, a necessary skill in medical transcriptionist which is more important than listening skills are proof-reading skills which would involve a lot of common sense. If the word doesn’t exist – you can’t find it anywhere, not in the dictionary, whether medical or not, or Google – then most probably it doesn’t especially if the sentence doesn’t make sense.

Also, in the 2 to 3 weeks that I have been transcribing files, which we call dead files because they have been transcribed before, I have learned a lot about a wide range of diseases and the cures for them, even the drugs most commonly prescribed for their treatment. Example, a history of hypertension or some cardiovascular disease usually has Coumadin or Lasix as part of the prescribed medications. Also, do you know that there is such a procedure as urinary diversion? When a patient undergoes a radical cystectomy (removal of urinary bladder because perhaps it is infested with cancerous tumors), then of course, the urine produced by the kidneys would need some place where they can be stored until micturition (urination). Unless of course the patient sits in the toilet all day long or has some sort of external pouch to catch his frequent outflow of urine — eww! What a discomforting prospect! And so there is the process of urinary diversion which can be done in several ways. I won’t elaborate. This must already be too much epistaxis (nosebleed) for some.

But I must admit I am enjoying myself. I enjoy encountering these terms again and using them in sentences and even in daily expressions. I guess I live for the knowledge of it all. Isn’t it evident by my blog title, Cerebral Insights?

Because of this being a medical transcriptionist becomes really exciting and rewarding. I get to learn a lot about new things and even if now, I don’t exactly know where to apply them, I’m sure I’ll be able to use the knowledge in the future.

utopia in the corporate world

Thirty more minutes to go until work is officially over for the day. As always, I find ways to blog while at work. Yipee! I still cannot comprehend entirely how I became a blogger by nature – by passion – when years ago I detest personal bloggers and their apparent livid disclosure of themselves. Now, I am on the forefront of personal blogging – shamelessly mixing personal experiences with social concerns and as such expressing my views.

If days ago I had been ranting about how regretful I was of transferring companies way too soon, after hours of listening to medical dictations and learning about urinary diversion, cholecystostomy, erectile dysfunction, deep epigastric veins and corpora cavernosa, among others, I am enjoying the job more and more. Indeed, I am here for the learning, not for the monetary compensation.

Then again, if I was not an activist or a rebel back in college, despite the nature of my surroundings, I find that I am becoming one at work. I seem to be on the brink of not only inciting the company HR or administration, but also my co-workers, to care more about our rights and working conditions. Take for example my utter stupidity at signing a contract stating a bond of 2 years but withholding information about the exact monetary compensation. I believe, albeit too late, that when we sign contracts, the interests of both parties must be clearly stated. Unfortunately, it seems the contract I had signed stated only one party’s intentions clearly and blinded by desperation for a new job, I signed all too eagerly. What happens afterwards, I can only shudder in fright and pray that no anomalies arise.

Then again the corporate environment is really one heck of a maze that still presents a lot of labyrinths left to be explored. I have still a lot to learn about how this world works and how I can use things to my advantage. Also, I discover that indeed I am too idealistic when it comes to what I want to do or what I want to happen in life. A friend asked me what kind of job I wanted and I replied “a job that would give me fulfillment, constant learning and high compensation”.

Now I know I am wishing for the clouds.

Breaking Free — Soon

I need some life outside work. Something that will boost me up or make me see the multi-facets of the life I am living. I need to be able to have a life outside what I do, not to be too engrossed with where I am and to be free of the shackles that work forcibly binds me to. Even though most of my waking time is consumed by my job, I must not be consumed by it. Even if I get to do nothing else most of the time because of the nature of the work that I do, I must still force myself, try my very best to break free of its clutches.

When I was a student I thought that working will allow me the freedom I have dreamed of. When I was a student I thought working will give me the time to do the things I really want to do. Now I see that I was wrong. Being a student already gave me all the freedom that I had or wanted in life. I was just bogged down by projects and exams but apart from that I get to join organizations wherein I got to explore myself and hone my skills and abilities. I was even able to travel to various places because of my activities. When I was a student, my social network expanded to immeasurable proportions and I got to interact with a lot of people from all possible walks of life – from the poorest of the poor, like kids in an illegal settlement in UP to the old rich of Philippine society like Mrs. Judy Araneta. I got to experience life for what it was really like – how to live amongst the poor and how to move alongside the rich. When I was a student, I had a life.

Now I am working. I am earning my own bucks and making my own way in the world. Unfortunately, I am also not living the life I wanted; the life I thought of or imagined. I feel more than ever that I am imprisoned in a life bounded by very strict and stringent walls. And where there is nowhere else I could turn to except to get out the door. I desperately want to take the exit, while I am still able to see it – to go out in the open fields and experience freedom again like I’ve used to. Sadly, I am not at liberty to do that – YET. I have no doubts that once I get the green light to flee, I will flee. I will leave this prison I have gotten myself into – to enter another prison? I sure hope not. I want to leave and forever remain in the freedom the meadow offers. I know I can make it out there.

It is scary to live in the open meadows – unsure what would happen next, uncertain when the next meal would be. As much as imprisonment sounds dull and boorish, it still affords security – security of shelter, of food, of provision. Yet in life, or in my life, there are needs greater than security. Needs greater than basic provisions. If only I could get the green light for these things, there is no doubt that I will pursue the higher needs – needs of self-fulfillment like Maslow said.

But for now, I must content myself with this prison I am in. The meadow is always there on the other side. So long as I can hear the birds chirping, feel the rays of the sun shining through, smell the fragrance of the dew-stained grass, I will remain at ease; at peace that the meadow is still there, waiting for me.