Home-based Internet businesses have been growing in the Philippines because of the easy access and convenience they provide to part-time entrepreneurs. Among these entrepreneurs is Joel Christopher Remandaban of the Internet marketing company masterlistbuilder.com, who believes that the Philippines is in a great position to become a global Internet services hub.
“The Philippines is blessed to have such an educated population base, and this is our advantage over other countries,” he says. “The Web is a great equalizer because it allows you to serve people on the other side of the world while you are sitting in the comfort of your own home. And as knowledge workers become more in demand, we in the Philippines will reap the benefits.”
He says that people need not worry about the global economic crunch because it is also a good opportunity to cash in on the business opportunities offered by the Web.
“Right now, people all over the world are looking for value,” he explains. “So, the race is going to be in reaching the most people at the least amount of time, in presenting a unique product proposition, and in making the sale. There’s no limit to the amount of money you can make on the Web; it’s like creating money out of thin air.”
Remandaban started his online marketing services firm in 1999 in the basement of his home in San Antonio, Texas. It remains a home-based business today although it has grown into a million-dollar enterprise serving clients the world over.
“I get up in the morning and, still in my pajamas and T-shirt, go to work on my computer,” he says. “This lifestyle really suits me because I control my time and manage my teams from home. I believe that others can do this, too, as long as they are dedicated to their craft and keep on persevering.”
To measure the country’s interest in Web-based content, one needs only to look at the popularity of the major Internet social networking sites. Indeed, social networking providers like Friendster and Multiply even use the Philippines as a test-bed for their new service offerings.
Remandaban says the popularity of social networking is a boon to people who want to earn extra money off the Web. Selling merchandise, opening a blog, doing freelance work, and direct selling are just some of the moneymaking ventures one can get into on the Internet.
He explains: “There are many revenue streams on the Internet that are open even to amateur Web entrepreneurs. I started my business in 2000 with no knowledge about the Internet, and until now, I still struggle with some of the Web features available to me. So, if someone like me who is a non-‘geek’ can do it, so can anybody.”
One other example of a home-based enterprise on the Web is that of 28-year-old May Salvador, a single mother of one. She runs a virtual shop on the social networking site Multiply.com and the retail site Auction.ph. She says her income had been significant enough for her to be able to quit her job and just focus on selling merchandise online.
“I sell native fare like bags, delicacies, and accessories,” she says. “At the start, it was just a way to supplement my income from my day job. As time went by, however, more and more orders came, so I had no choice but to make it a full-time occupation. But since I work right in my own home, I have more time to take care of my child and have more time to spend with him,” she says.
Remandaban says that Web-based businesses can basically run themselves—meaning they continue to make money even while the entrepreneur is asleep or working in a regular job.
“Automation and systemizing the online business is a great way of making it generate a steady revenue stream,” he says. “As soon as you discover your niche, you can basically program the business to run itself. At the end of the month, you’ll be surprised how much you’ve made even if you spend barely an hour or two on the Web each day.”
Be a pro blogger
Abe Olandres is a 30-something techie who earns six figures a month without holding a day job. Instead of trolling in an office cubicle all day, he spends his working hours in chic cafés drinking latte and typing on his trusty laptop computer. Olandres is a professional blogger, a new breed of Web-based entrepreneur who writes about his personal experiences and reviews gadgets for a living.
Olandres is hardly alone in this new growth market. A huge number of local bloggers—blog is an abbreviation of “Web log”—are steadily revolutionizing the way people interact all over the world. Indeed, Olandres’ Yugatech.com blog has morphed from an online diary to a top resource portal for local techies—a sort of news service where reviews of the latest gadgets to hit the local market are posted, critiqued, and discussed.
“I started blogging in 2000 with a personal journal,” he recalls. “Back then, I wasn’t making any money from it. It was just a way for me to share my expertise with other people. But in 2004, I shifted to blogging about technology exclusively, and that’s when the advertisers came calling.”
According to Olandres, bloggers typically have a number of revenue streams: sponsored content or posts that take up a particular product or company, paid subscriptions to the blog, or paid advertisements. Yugatech has taken the paid advertisement route, wherein companies pay it a certain fee either for a specific period of time, the number of ad clicks, or the number of “impressions” or times the ad was displayed on the site.
He explains that for a blog to succeed and make money, it must have a specific target and fill a particular need for Web surfers. In his case, he has chosen to focus on gadget reviews, eschewing the personality-driven nature of most other blogs. His site gets at least 300,000 pageviews a month, with 500 to 1,000 unique or new page-views per day. He pays a dedicated server of a foreign Web services firm to host his site. (For startups in the blog business, he suggests getting hosting services that cost less than P1,000 a month.) “Some blogs are general blogs that talk about the daily lives of their authors,” he says. “However, I find that unless you are already famous before you start blogging, there’s only a very small chance that you can attract user traffic to visit and read your posts. In my case, I decided to focus on technology because it’s my area of expertise, having worked for the IT industry for almost a decade.”
Another successful blogger, Anton Diaz, says that people who want to earn big from doing Web entries should concentrate on brand-building above all else. He explains: “A blog is such a personal device, and to succeed you need to put your personal stamp on it. This is one of the reasons why a blog takes anywhere from six months to one year to start earning. You first have to build an image, look, and feel for your site.”
Diaz, who runs www.ourawesomeplanet.com, a travel and cuisine site, says most startup blogs falter because they tend to cast wide blankets when they should instead stick to a specific genre or niche.
“With so many blogs out there now, you must really stick to what you know the most,” he says. “Audiences have become smarter over the years, and they will call you about mistakes you make in your posts.”
For people who think that blogging can be nothing more than a sideline, consider the ad income a successful blog can possibly rake in: Google’s AdSense, an online advertising service, pay anywhere from 1 US cent to $2 per ad click, while 1,000 impressions or views can make P200 for the blogger daily, not to mention income from sponsored ads and content that can make several hundreds of dollars to as much as a five-figure income monthly.
Says Olandres: “There are many revenue streams for pro-bloggers, but the majority comes from advertisements. Some bloggers even get offered to write content for foreign websites, which can also be lucrative.” On the other hand, Diaz says that running a pro-blogging site is like running any regular business, which needs overhead costs and a lot of hard work and patience.
He explains: “I quit my corporate job when my blog started making good money. It’s a lifestyle choice more than anything because with blogging, you can become your own boss. It does have its ups and downs, but as more and more people log on to the Internet, the potential for a good blog site becomes limitless.”
ABE OLANDRES
E-mail: abeolandres@gmail.com
Website: www.yugatech.com
ANTON DIAZ
E-mails: antondiaz@gmail.com; anton@diaz.ph
Website: www.ourawesomeplanet.com
Tips on blogging for a living
From Anton Diaz
www.ourawesomeplanet.com
Create a blog site. “Basic blog sites are available on the Internet like Blogger.com, Livejournal, and Wordpress.com. You can pay as low as $10 a year for a domain if you want your own site, and there are also hosting plans for less than $10 a month.”
Make your content unique. “Although it’s easy to copy from other websites, viewers can spot similarities and call you on it. Also, having unique content and a unique style sets you apart from other blogs.”
Be consistent. “You must maintain the quality of your work, because if you slack off, people will notice. Also, be very patient and cool when dealing with posters on your blog; some of them have very strong opinions on subjects you discuss, so staying calm and professional goes a long way.”
From Abe Olandres
www.yugatech.com
The blog must have a theme. “It must be specific, so if you’re into cars, it should be mostly about cars. Avoid unfocused stories because viewers can recognize venting and rambling and can get easily turned off.”
Seek and stick to your niche. “There are many blogs out there, so coming up with specific content should be your focus. You must have a niche, an area of expertise to fill.”
Patience is key. “Blogs can take months, even years, before they start making money because you have to establish your name first. It’s only then that advertisers would start noticing you. So, to stay competitive, you have to be patient and keep on coming up with great content.”
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