The English proficiency of Filipinos has again earned us another bankable opportunity. First, Philippine call center businesses expanded because foreigners prefer us over other nationalities. Now, online freelance writing is presenting itself as an alternative to the regular daytime jobs of Filipinos. It has also grabbed the attention of people who wanted to earn some extra income.
The good thing about it is that there is no catch. Unlike call centers that pay well because they need to compensate for the graveyard shifts, online freelance writing lets you work on your own terms, provided that you submit quality work on time. Usually, you can choose between part-time and full-time. Either way, clients state their expected output daily or weekly before they give you your first assignment. They also provide certain guidelines pertaining to word count and keyword appearance. You can write any time of the day. If you fall asleep while doing it, nobody cares. You’ll get paid as long as your articles pass their standards.
At first, finding a client can be hard because competition has grown. Online freelance writing posts found on freelance websites require you to undergo bidding and credibility tests before getting feedback. If you look hard enough on the popular search engines, you may find a worthy client. Some of them are directly from American companies while some are from their Philippine counterparts. Once in a while, you may also see posts from individual Filipino project managers who work for American clients. In deciding where to apply, the only two main considerations are the rate for each article and the topic coverage.
The average rate per article used to be higher. Now that more Filipinos are joining the online freelance writing bandwagon, rates have gone down. Filipinos are preferred because we speak and write in English well. More importantly, we are much more willing to work for a lower rate. 500-word articles can charge for as low as $.25. That’s not the average rate, though. If you are already writing for quite some time, you can find clients that pay more. You can also find one who is willing to give an increase.
Many Filipinos prefer online freelance writing because it does not need training, technical expertise, or any degree because topics can be as casual as ordering pizza. As long as you can write a decent article, you can become an online freelance writer. You just have to watch out for those rare moments where topics include medical and technical terms. With proper research, you’ll surely survive it.
Generally, it is understandable why a lot of Filipinos are beginning to consider online freelance writing as a source of income. While there is no job that doesn’t include stress, this type of work breaks away from the nature of the regular jobs in the Philippines. It opens up another universe where, somehow, you can consider yourself as your own boss, having your own schedule to follow and producing good articles using your own flow of thoughts (with a little help from Google, of course).
Writer: Hannah V.