Start a blog to make extra money (or even all the money) you will need to live in the Philippines. Or, how do I get a job in the Philippines. Even if you are new here, or even if you are still just investigating whether moving to the Philippines is right for you, I am sure you’ve seen those questions already. Aside from relationship and visa questions, they are probably very near the top of the list for questions people really want answers to.
Well it struck me a few day ago, when a fellow contacted me for help about fining a job here in the Philippines, I had a bit of an non-religious epiphany when I realized the two questions might be more related than I ever had thought. Really, epiphany? If you think I’m “overreaching” with that one, go ahead and substitute “brain fart”, I don’t drink tea with my pinky pointed out. 😉
Let me try to explain why I suddenly felt such a connection might be there.
First, a few words on blogs and making money with blogs. If you aren’t “into that”, fine, this won’t take long and I won’t be trying to “sell” you on anything, you just might gain some understanding here that could help a friend or even a child or other family member.
Since you are reading these word on a “blog” and since you know Bob and others hereabouts have been “blogging” for years. And you also, I assume, know that many of us make a buck or two, you may think you know more about blogs than you really do. Here’s a bit of a “cut to the chase” lowdown.
Four Main Reasons For a Starting a Blog:
1. To Make Enough Money To Quit Your Job (Main Income Source):
This is one of the most common ideas folks seem to have. We’ve all heard success stories about how some guy or gal did the “Johnny Paycheck” thing with their boss and now happily makes a fortune blogging of the beach in Palawan (or Pattaya or Pyongyang). What? there’s no beaches at Pyongyang? OK. never mind, don’t go there to blog on the beach and make a million a month … plenty of other places.
Obviously this reason has nothing to do with getting a job in the Philippines, and it’s the most difficult business model to”make happen”, so that’s not at all what I recommend.
2. To Create A Side Income Stream For Fun Things Like Holidays (or to supplement your pension)
Now this “flavor” of blogging id much more common, much easier to be successful at, and one I often recommend to people. But, again, it’s not a “JOB” and it’s not what really struck me as a sort of “marriage” between a job and blogging.
It’s a perfectly viable technique though (works good for me, actually), but again I could write a whole book on this, and the article you’re reading is about “finding a job”, so let’s stay on track.
3. To Get More Customers For Your Small Business (Lead Generation)
Now here, especially if the main thing you are worried about is money, is where a LOT of you ought to be doing some exploring. Rather than a “job’ a lot of people are dreaming of opening some sort of business.
I think there is no tool that can possibly match blogging for a world-wide reach, the ability to target your message to people most likely to buy and for general return on investment for your advertising “buck”. Let me illustrate with something real-world.
A reader of my PhilFAQS blog wrote and asked me some questions about renewing his US passport. He mentioned he was living essentially “on the beach” in Palawan, and he was eking out a living giving lessons and renting out stand up paddle boards. Interesting. I didn’t even know what a ‘stand up paddle board” was (it’s a surfboard that you stand up on and propel yourself out to where the waves are breaking with a long paddle).
Turns out it’s a sport that is pretty much world-wide, where ever there’s a beach and surf, and it’s noted for being a lot easier to learn than traditional surfing, with many of the same thrill but a lot fewer “spills”.
When I asked my reader where the customer’s for his business came from, he mentioned several ways including signs and billboards, tie-ins with some local hotels, commissions paid to locals who referred customers, etc. But when I asked about a website or blog , there was none. When I asked how someone in the States or even up here on Luzon in the city would find out about him .. no answer. really.
This fellow could easily increase his business dramatically by having a website … but not just any “dead” website, a blog where he put himself out to the world and people came to know him.
There are, looking online, a whole hoop and group of websites about stand up paddle boarding on Palawan, but you know what they lack? Any personal connection. Anything that convinces me the the business is run by someone I can relate to. Anything that indicates actual warm, friendly human beings operate the place, rather that just some semi-automated money collectors.
Tell you what, I’m already going way over my “word budget” here, but trust me, there is not a single business I can think of that could not dramatically increase it’s customer count with a bog that was up to date, entertaining (people love to come to blogs about living in the Philippines and read about our day-to-day life here), and provide value … how to type articles and such.
Trust me of you want to get a business going, the FIRST thing rather than the last thing ought to be starting and keeping up with, a blog about it.
4. To Become More Well Known, A Recognized Expert (Build A Platform) and Show Your Resume’
Last but not least is the real reason I started to write this article. For you patient folks who have stuck it out this far and who are mumbling under their breath, “Darn it Dave, I just want a regular job, where an employer tells me what time to report to work, what my duties are, when I can quit for the day, and what day my sweldo (pay) will come.”
Well don’t worry, I didn’t forget you. I’m going to tell you why, in 2014, and especially for a “stranger in a strange land”, I think a blog out to be one of your first tools to employ, and why, as with building a business, a blog probably offers more “bang for the buck” in your job quest.
If nothing else you should work up a modern resume’ and perhaps even a brochure or capability brief, which “sells’ you. And you should have it on line, today, in a simple blog when you introduce yourself (as a person, not a pile of job titles and statistics) and start interacting with the world.
Now I used the word ‘sell” and many of you out there are going to start turning off I think, because one of the chief reasons many people give for not starting their own business is, “I suck a sales” and “I hate sales”.
Well that may be (it’s certainly true of me, too) but EVERYTHING involving money involves sales and most certainly the supposedly simple act of getting hired into an existing job is a sales task, pure and simple. You have to sell yourself as the best possible candidate for the job.
Getting a Job Is Selling Yourself!
You may not have been thinking that way, but it is the truth. The chief ‘sales tools’ available are your resume’, and/or a CV, a cove letter or some personalized tool that shows why you are interested in and qualified fir a particular job, and nay other data you can get in front of a prospective employer to show her or him that you, and not some other candidate, is the one to hire.
That’s salesmanship, my friend, and if you don’t feel you know anything about selling, I suggest you do what I tell hundreds of people every year who ask me about jobs and then counter with, “But I don’t know how to do xxx.”
The answer I give always is, “Then learn, damn it!.” Life is actually about learning. Learning does not end when you graduate from a school or complete some technical course. Ideally learning should keep going all your life, and if you are seeking a job, learning had better be very high on your priority list.
Do You Even HAVE the Basic Tools
Almost invariably the folks who ask me about finding a job don’t even HAVE a resume’. And for the small percentage of those who do, it’s hidden away on paper, waiting for someone to ask for it to be handed over. That won’t do in today’s world, guys and gals.
The very first thing you should be doing about getting a job is preparing your “sales package”. Write up a resume that presents your unique abilities and talents (your USP, or Unique Selling Proposition) and put up a very simple (even free), blog so that people can find your data with one click of their mouse. (there’s a wealth of up to date info on online resume’s from employment experts here)
The next thing you should do is write. Not a lot, something simple is even better than something complex, but you should write … everyday. Don’t have time to write every day? How can that be, you don’t have a job so what else are you doing with your day? I think you should write every day both to increase your chances of people finding you via search and also to make yourself appear alive, eager to learn and bale to think on your feet … the prime things I would look for in a job candidate. I really don’t care what you already know, I want proof that you are a real person and someone interested in learning new things, because if I do hire you I am certainly going to have to teach you how I want things done.
Lastly, AFTER you have your resume online, and you have some day-by-day descriptions of what you are doing to find a job, things you have learned, things you are learning, things that prove there is “intelligent life” at the other end of your URL, then, go on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter and LinkedIn and Pinterest and whatever other social site you like, and send people to your resume.
Ask for their opinion .. people love to share. Ask for help, ask them to read and let you know about potential employer targets, ask them what work they do and how they found it.
In other words, be real and alive. Don’t post something like “Please help me find a job”, ask people to interact with you … you’ll be surprised, I guarantee, how people respond when you think more of yourself than a simple “Job Beggar”.
Proof This Works:
Two days ago I met a young lady who just arrived in the Philippines from the USA and she’s “looking for a job”. She’s very qualified for the type of work she’s looking for (modeling). She’s the right age (young), she’s very attractive, she has a light complexion, she’s half Filipino/half American (the type that a huge percentage of the models you see on TV and at shows are now here in the Philippines, and she has complete family support … her dad is with her in the Philippines.
Know what one of the first pieces of reliable, professional advice she got from a lady who is high up in the fashion industry told her to do right away?
Yep, you guessed it, start a blog or more specifically in “fashion speak”, a FLOG, a website where she can keep her portfolio pictures available online, contact data, resume’ and all that standard type stuff, and a blog section where she should write about her “journey” to stardom, every day. In the words of the fashion adviser, fans want to know even what you had for breakfast, that’s how you build a following”.
Hi Dave – Good article. http://www.problogger.net is a helpful resource for want to be bloggers. This guy teaches cool stuff about blogging.
Hi Brenton,
Yes Darren Rowse is a long-time acquaintance of mine, an excellent source. However (and this goes to others reading), remember to actually read and analyze what he is doing. Darren does not make much money at all from blogging. He makes a lot of money indeed from. among other things, selling product off his digital camera “school and marketplace” web site … and others. You have to remember, as I tried to point out here, a blog is an excellent source of building business, but one very seldom makes money from a blog, “per se”.
Basically you make money by selling something. A blog is a tool, whether you are selling cameras, photography courses, shoes, soap, or even yourself (as in getting a job).
Hi Dave – I agree that much is to be made indirectly and maybe not so much from the blog itself. From memory he did say how he had released a new e book to a database of about 30,000 followers for $20 a book. He sold about 3000 copies and made about $60,000 from the book alone that month. He makes good money overall though.
Great article Dave. I absolutely agree on what you have wonderfully explained. For many people, blogging is not their cup of tea. But for those that are willing and enjoy it, blogging is a great way, if not the best way, to find work or gain a substitute while in working limbo. The world continues to become more and more revolved around the web so everyone better jump on the band wagon before they get left behind. Also, the advice given to the model entrepreneur is exactly on. In my opinion, sooner then later we won’t be walking into a company to hand over our resume anymore. It’s so much easier to go directly to a website where you can plug in the all the credentials and requirements your job opening requires and pick out 3 people you would like to interview. That would be interesting to start a blogging website that focuses on giving people the opportunity to blog their resumes, contact info, pics, etc, in order to to create a place for business owners to find detailed information about potential people to hire. Maybe that already exists but I don’t know. If it does I would love to see it though!
Jordan,
Thanks for contributing, but I must have written very unclearly, because you are a bit “off point” here. My apologies.
There are hundreds of sites where you can post your résumé’. (ever look at Monster.com)?
It’s fine and good to do so, but in reality such a site is like leaving your résumé’ lying around on a seat in the MRT or on some receptionists desk. Maybe someone will pick it up and notice it, but how much chance of that is there, really?
You need to put up something which draws attention to you and your abilities, not just stick your résumé’ into a pile of thousands .. whether that pile is paper, or virtual paper online.
Hi Dave; as you know I have been following your blog as well as others for years now. In fact I was something of a pest asking inane questions of you all prior to my move here. The information I gained made the transition very smooth. I still read many blogs and running a blog must be harder than just sitting at a keyboard and pounding out random thoughts judging by the number of dead blogs out there.
So the silly question of the day is how DO you make money by running a blog? What type of money IS there to be made. You hear lots of folks saying they will supplement their pension, so what type of amount is realistic. I am not asking for full financial discloser here 😉 , but some type of ball park figure. It will probably help some of those who are planning on the BIG MOVE and think “i’ll just start blogging” lolz.
Hi Scott,
Good question. How much money can you make with a blog? I find it difficult question to answer. Let me throw back a similar question.
How long is a piece of string?
Why is that a difficult question? No point of reference, no idea of what I mean by a piece of string. No definition, no dimensions. Etc.
Exactly the reason no one can say what could be made by “starting a blog”. The true answer to your questions, from nothing up to a huge, seven figure amount. It depends on what a person writes about, how much money is “in the niche” where s/he is targeting, and here’s the most important factor .. how hard do they work at selling?
On average … nearly nothing. If you work it, a couple hundred to a couple thousand (dollars) a month, entirely possible.
But no one makes anything unless they work at it. You want a job that pays a couple thousand dollars a month, you’d expect to work 40 hours a week or more, right?
You want a blog which makes a couple thousand dollars a month, expect to work 40 hours a week or more. Look at it this way. In the US, these days, $50,000 a year is an average mid-level salary. And $50,000 from a blog would be way above average. Well if you do the math for a standard, 2080 hour work year, the $50k job is worth $25 an hour.
So if you do what the vast majority of bloggers do, that is put up a blog and work (actually writing, actively publicizing, etc. about 1 or 2 hours a week … well they are likely to make $25 or $50 a week, on average.
There’s really very little difference between online and off line work.
The HUGE advantage of online is, location independence … you can work from anywhere, and time independence, you don’t have to work set hours.
But be sure of one thing, you have to work. And that is the Achilles heal that gets most people. You put in a few hours here and there and at best, you get paid a few bucks here and there. If you grind it out, like working for a business, or running your own business, you can indeed make money. But you will only get pout of it what you put into it.
I realize that didn’t answer your question directly, but perhaps it will clarify your thoughts a little so you can better make your own judgment.
I’ll give you a little hint. We’re reading this on Bob’s blog, correct? Bob has been supporting himself for years no here in the Philippines. How great, he’s living in the Philippines, no boss to nag him. no time clock to punch, no rigid rules to follow, etc. Indeed. But you do know what time Bob is “on the job” every morning … pretty much 7 days a week? Around 0400. A blog if a lot like having a herd of dairy cows. You keep them fed and sit back and watch them chew their cud and make more milk for you to sell, every day of the week. But anyone who has ever lived on a dairy farm knows, starting the day at 0400 (or even earlier) and ending after dark, every day, is the norm.
Wanna buy a cow? 😉
Dave – I would go further and say any online enterprise works the same as a blog. It works if you make it work and doesn’t work if you don’t put in the effort. If anything more work is required for the same success in an offline business. Many believe they can start an online business and it’s happy days just laying back!
That’s the answer I was looking for Dave. I hope all the wearer of rose colored glasses read that and take it to heart. Me? I’m good. I’m a reader not a writer 😉 lolz
Dave is correct, I do get up and start working very early, sometimes even 3am. Rarely after 5am. However, what Dave did not say is that I often finish my workday by 7am or so. Sometimes I work as many as 8 hours in a day, but usually I don’t work that many. And, I make a good living from my various sites. So, good money can be made, and it can be made in a relatively short hour work day. However, it does take years of hard work to build up a site (or sites) that will make you nice money, a lot of years of very hard work. It can be done, though, if you don’t give up.