This is how I started out and turned my passion into a profitable business
The road to running my own company at 28 was an unexpected one. I always thought I’d be working a corporate job for most of my life and maybe finally running my own business when I retire. But things didn’t quite work out the way I planned! It’s challenging and often exhausting, but I honestly can’t imagine my life any other way - and it was all because of blogging.
I started blogging in 2005, my first year in college, when blogging here in the Philippines wasn’t such a huge thing yet. It opened so many doors for me, giving me opportunities to learn skills I otherwise wouldn’t have picked up in the classroom. I got freelance writing jobs from US clients because of my blog - did you know I even wrote for a tech blog and a music blog back then? I also wrote articles which were search engine-optimized, for clients who needed more traffic on their websites.
That’s around the time I started being a loyal PayPal user. Since many of my clients were based overseas, it was easier to get paid through PayPal! The payment portal is secure, fast, and easy to use. My clients were also more confident about hiring me since they can always dispute the payment should a total stranger fail to deliver the promised work (and vice versa). I can almost hear a sigh of relief thousands of miles away whenever I tell them I have a PayPal account!
This is why I’m so honored and excited to be chosen as one of the first PayPal influencers in Southeast Asia. I still can’t believe it, considering how the brand was part of my journey all those years ago when I started out as a blogger and freelance writer in college. I feel like everything is coming back full circle now that I’m an entrepreneur and my business accepts PayPal payments, too! I’m also lucky to work with amazing and talented freelance writers who are part of the Project Vanity Team.
Truly, it is the unconventional yet smart choices I made early on in my career that led me to become a modestly successful entrepreneur. If you'd like to learn more about how I was able to turn my passion into a profitable business and my top tips for those who want to scale up their freelance income, don’t miss my talk at the PayPal Summit!
Together with Yugatech’s Abe Olandres, Manila Workshop’s Ginger Arboleda, and financial planner Fitz Villafuerte, I will be giving a talk on how to take your freelance career to the next level. Turning my passion to profit is so far the biggest adventure of my life and I can’t wait to share my story and advice with you! The event is free and will be happening at The Manila Peninsula in Makati, on August 24, 1PM onwards.
All you need to do is to sign up in this link to reserve your slot. I’m looking forward to seeing you there!
This story is brought to you by PayPal.
