In collaboration with some friends and financed by a successful expat in Michigan, last year I started an outsourcing company in Ibaan, a small and relatively poor town in Batangas. I called it Remote Reliance.

However, we were not able to get it off the ground. Maybe we started with a wrong premise. We thought, or so I thought, that Ibaan had the skills, and all it lacked were opportunities to utilize them.

Remote Reliance was supposed to provide the opportunities. So we opened our doors to train people. A bunch of young people came in, hoping to find a job. But it wasn’t a job we’re offering yet. We were still discovering what they could do, or if they were fit for this.

We didn’t really have the time to know if they were the kind of people we envisioned, who could work independently from home, given their natural intelligence and education. Because soon enough, these young people were gone, before they could even learn what it took to become an outsourcing professional.

It would have been more interesting to them if we had jobs available, and they could get them after the training. But no, we didn’t have jobs yet. We were just introducing them to something new.

From the encounter, one sure thing I noticed was that they lacked the ability to communicate effectively. Indeed, most online jobs just take you to a website to fill in the blanks. But to keep your client, you must know how to express yourself. To get more high-paying jobs, you must keep learning new things aside from data entry stuff.

Days went on and we learned that the skills available in Ibaan right here right now were so limited and unripe for remote work. There were still a lot of things to do to prepare the population for global outsourcing.

Maybe we could start with easier tasks, like data entry stuff. Basically, they must know how to follow instructions, how to type fast and take care of smaller details.

Moreover, they should be trained on efficiency and commitment–commitment to work and learning, essential stuffs that would make you stay long in the business of outsourcing.

Soon we will reopen in the new office at the so-called Ibaan Innovation Center (an offshoot of Remote Reliance idea). We will sit again to discuss the future of Remote Reliance and we should know better as to where and how to start, and to keep this thing going to benefit certain people with the right skills in Ibaan.

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Web development and web programming skills remain to be the most demanded. So I will be virtually “schooling” again starting June (following the academic school year) to address my weaknesses on certain web-related skills. I want to make sure that I will have the expertise to be able to compete with other providers worldwide in these high-paying online jobs.

If you are particularly interested in languages, demand for translation is on the rise. Localization is increasingly becoming a trend, so you may want to find out which language you can take focus on. Find out the trend and learn the language that you think will be in high demand in the next few years.

As evidenced by many job posts recently, US buyers favor homeshoring or hiring providers in the same time zone. Online work is seen as a means to curb unemployment, as more and more Americans are into it and competing with providers from countries they formerly outsourced to, like India, Philippines and Ukraine.

Contrary to what others may have thought, online work is not as easy as it sounds. There is a lot of preparation involved to be competent and to become an expert in your chosen field. You compete for the right price and skill with other providers worldwide and ought to deliver what the buyer hired you for.

To view complete statistics pertaining to online jobs trend, download the Online Jobs Report courtesy of oDesk.

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In a previous post, I left you with some readings on the top reasons why people work from home. I believe they represent the views of freelancers across America, but what about us here?

With the failure of the NBN-ZTE deal, and the anomalies surrounding it, we also realized that we are not yet a 100% wired or wi-fi country. The truth is, despite our good numbers on the major social networking sites, majority of the population are still in the backwaters regarding the Internet technology. Businesses are mostly brick and mortar and not too many companies utilize virtual solutions.

Local outsourcing (in plain words, allowing a remote staff do the work for you) is a strange thing to speak of. More importantly, becoming self-employed like the freelancer is considered akin to being unemployed. You will have a hard time convincing your family that you do have work, except of course, when the money is in. The banks will have a hard time establishing your sources of income and you may not be approved for a payday loan.

There are certain advantages, of course. While the cost of daily commute, food and bed space eat much of the regular wage earner’s meager salary, those who work from home naturally don’t have to deal with such realities.

In this country, only a few professions are guaranteed to build wealth, employed or self-employed, like doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers and accountants. We may also include those who work in livestock and farming, given that they are already big players, like those wealthy and powerful families in my hometown.

The question, instead of why, is “who can really work from home?” Basically, these are people with computing skills, a computer set, and a reliable Internet connection. I believe we have more female than male freelancers, and most of them are outside the normally employable age limit of 25. I also suppose they are underemployed.

The Internet is a fertile ground for those who want to put to good use their special talents and interests, which they seldom have a chance to do when working in a company. One thing is true about work from home jobs–you can only work them out if you are a good fit.

When you are underpaid, underemployed or both, naturally, you are not satisfied with yourself and what you’re getting. The freelancer is born in you when you take risks and overcome the scariest part of being self employed.

Whatever your reason for becoming self-employed, as a work from home professional or online business owner, you have to find satisfaction from what you’re doing. It is what really counts anywhere in the world.

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I can count with my fingers the people from my place who actually work from home. Probably, the number is the same elsewhere in the Philippines. I can conclude by mere estimate that independent or personal outsourcing is not yet popular here. Working from home is a strange occupation that has yet to prove its worth, at least from the Filipino standpoint.

While outsourcing may have already been popular here through the call centers, working in one of them is still considered a day job for many. Despite the good salary, bonuses and incentives (like the latest cellphone or gadget), it is often transitional, or something basically rewarding to do as they plan and wait for a major career move.

Let me put it straight that I am not doing any convincing here, as in my earlier post, like you must leave your present job here or abroad, stay with the children and work online as an independent outsourcing provider. In fact, I am going to say that not all people can engage in this kind of job.

The first determinant if you are a good fit is your personality, followed by your skill set. Your present lifestyle (and income) may hinder you from working from home, and one way or another, it also says something about your attitude towards work. Remember that good attitude is foremost in the buyer’s criteria.

It takes a lot of patience from applying to a job post to actually working your hours. Whether offline or online, getting considered for a job takes time, and once you get started on a project, you must keep an open and alert mind, as your relationship with your remote client naturally would be verbal and impersonal, mechanical even, because of distance and your connection being virtual, not physical. Unlike your boss in the ‘real’ office, who gives you the feeling of Big Brother watching.

Nevertheless, outsourcing doesn’t demand too much from providers. There is always something for everybody, from form-filling to programming. Naturally, certain skills are paid higher. If you want to belong to the elite pack of high-income earners, then define your skill set and obtain upgrades to reach a high paying level. How do you do this? By studying (again) and getting certified (take some tests).

I leave you at this point to think and consider your options. Below are some readings on this topic. You will know what I think of them in my next post. Meanwhile, if you go to this link and scroll down, you will find a table of “rate distributions by job categories,” courtesy of oDesk.com. I know this information to be vital to your work-from-home success. In fact, when I looked at it, I thought I would need a major skill upgrade.

Readings:

• Escape the Cubicle Farm: Top 10 Reasons to Work From Home
• Ten Great Reasons to Work from Home
• 10 Reasons to Work from Home Online
• The Top 10 Reasons to Work from Home
• Ten Reasons Why People Work From Home

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Last time I was pitching for working from home as the next best alternative to working abroad. For most people, especially in my country, working from home, or even the word “freelancing,” really sounds strange. It’s like you’re standing in front of a mysterious cave, thinking of what horrors await you inside.

If you have been salaried for at least 10 years, you have 243 plus reasons to be scared, that is, equivalent to the number of paychecks you’ve got on the job. You will start missing your two favorite numbers, 15 and 30… and your favorite month (13th month).

Seriously, that’s the first scary thing to confront once you have really decided to work from home and call yourself a solopreneur, or engage in online business as a webpreneur. But if you have lived on commissions previously, say you’re an insurance or real estate agent, or a self-practicing accountant, then I’m sure you know what I’m talking about, and you can adjust easily to the job.

Currently, a poll is running on oDesk about the same topic and the results are:

• No work stability – 49% (680 votes)

• No health insurance and other benefits – 18% (257 votes)

• No colleagues to work with – 6% (78 votes)

• Not earning enough – 22% (306 votes)

• Other – 6% (81 votes)

These are based on the total votes of 1401 as of this date. Let me discuss each variable based on my experience as a remote service provider, as we are called on oDesk.

No work stability may be viewed as having no fixed employer and income. Being a freelancer means you are always on the lookout for a new outsourcing buyer. Typically, you can be on the job for six months to a year. If you’re really exceptional, the buyer may just hire you permanently, which rarely happens.

Based on experience, I think the best thing to do is to start prospecting for your next buyer at least two months before your current commitment expires. If you have a potential buyer coming in, you can even bargain better with your present buyer (a raise, for example), that is, if the buyer likes your performance and would like to extend business relationship with you.

My mistake in one of my past clients, I counted on the prospect of extension and never sought a new project ahead of time. So when the contract ended, I struggled without a buyer in the following two months or so. I guess, that’s the worst I got so far.

Now, about no health insurance and other benefits, I believe you can easily procure your own benefits, like you get your SSS, Philhealth, life and pension plans. Anyway, in most cases, such compensation packages or benefits are also taken from your salary when you’re employed in a company.

No colleagues to work with? Is that a problem? (Ha-ha… I’m kidding.) That can really be a problem if you find it hard to work solo. Imagine me at 2 AM  in my work station. My wife and kid and everybody in the house are still in a deep sleep. There’s only my favorite online jazz station (keeps me going) and no one to talk with, aside from the once-in-a-while checking for details with your buyer on Skype or YM.

It’s different when you’re working in a team. You can definitely consider your remote team mates as your colleagues. If you depend on one another, such that your functions are inter-connected, it’s also like doing work in the office with your buddies around you (even hear one of them sip his cappuccino with gusto).

On not earning enough, as when you engage in a business, what you earn is the result of the hours (efforts) you put in to your work. It is based on skill set as far as freelancing is concerned. As Ray Kroc puts it, “the more you sweat, the luckier you get.”

What I really like about this field is that your expertise is NOT solely based on education, but on what you can do and what you did. The sample cover letter on oDesk when you apply to a job post clearly specifies the skill set and your experience. You will have to keep learning and getting your skills to the next level, so you can confidently bid on higher rates and compete with other freelancers or outsourcing providers.

I will do my best to provide much needed information that will help you decide if freelancing is something you can do. Do you find this blog helpful? Please share with friends.

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