Freelancing is not only a way to earn extra income and experience, but it also serves as an alternative way to start a business. Some home-based businesses start as freelance work, which eventually gain their own following eventually becoming their own brand. Otherwise, you can stick to what you’re good at because clients will keep coming if they want what you’ve got to offer.
It helps that companies nowadays recognize the need to outsource work, leading to the trend of hiring freelancers. This is why freelancing has become competitive and lucrative as a business or career.
Raking in the Big Bucks
Filipinos are said to be among the most active freelancers worldwide. They take jobs in some of the top industry niches, such as virtual assistants, design and multimedia, and content. Working as General Virtual Assistants is the most popular niche among Filipinos, followed by content writing and strategy, digital marketing, web development, and customer support.
But how much do freelancers actually earn?
While jobs for General Virtual Assistants are aplenty, a survey by Freelancing.ph showed that content editing and strategy is the highest paying job category, at an hourly rate of $6 to $15 per hour. That’s up to $2,400 (or about P120,000, as per the current exchange rates) on average monthly.
Project managers and web developers, next on the list of high-earning jobs. Both earn up to $1,920 (P97,000) on average monthly. The difference is that web developers charge $6 to $12 (around P300-P600) per hour, while project managers charge a minimum of $9 (around P450). General Virtual Assistants, on the other hand, earn $3 to $8 per hour, or a monthly average of $480 to $1,280 (P24,000 to almost P65,000).
Content/article writers are also popular, but they earn the least. They get paid a fixed rate between $9 and $25 per 500-word article (around P450 to P1,200). SEO specialists, while also paid fixed rates, get below $1,000 monthly (around P50,000) per client.
Other freelancing jobs that are becoming popular despite their moderate, varied rates are social media managers, application developers, recruiting managers, transcriptionists.
What’s assuring about freelance jobs is that their rates will probably go higher in the years to come. That’s because there are other factors considered in setting rates, such as the location of the freelancer, expertise, length of experience in a particular field, and even inflation rates and the demand.
Websites for Freelancers
Freelancers who can’t get direct referrals turn to job portals for work. Job portals not only post regular job openings, but they also offer online jobs. Some of these websites have become havens for freelancers. Here are some of the popular websites for freelance work.
Upwork (https://www.upwork.com/)
– Upwork is one of the major sources of online jobs around the world. Among the most sought-after jobs here are web developers, virtual assistants, writers, and consultants.
Freelancer (https://www.freelancer.com/)
– Another popular website, Freelancer caters to businesses and freelancers in the field of website IT and software, mobile applications, and design. It also hosts contests launched by businesses looking for creative ideas through crowdsourcing.
Toptal (https://www.toptal.com/)
– Toptal claims to hire the “top 3% of freelance talent”, or the top software developers, designers, programmers, and finance experts in the world. It also boasts of an international clientele consisting of top brands, enterprise, and startup clients.
MyOutDesk (http://www.myoutdesk.com.ph/) – virtual assistant jobs PH
– MyOutDesk offers part-time and full-time jobs for real estate virtual assistants in the Philippines. Hired applicants are said to earn a guaranteed $500 to $800 a month. They also offer trainings to qualified applicants.
RareJob (https://www.rarejob.com.ph/)
– RareJob, an online English school, offers openings for freelancers who would like to become ESL tutors. Selected tutors teach English to Japanese students via Skype.
Not to be confused with RareJobs (https://rarejob.ph/), which is under the same company but offers office-based jobs related to ESL.
99Designs (https://99designs.com/)
– Calling itself the world’s largest graphic design marketplace, 99Designs connects businesses looking for logos, web and app design, and other design templates. Thousands of Filipino designers to date are part of 99Designs, and the Philippines is one of the website’s top designer communities.
OnlineJobs.ph (https://www.onlinejobs.ph/)
– Another website catering to Filipino freelancers, OnlineJobs.ph opens the market for virtual assistants and employees. Freelancers can earn a minimum of $300 to $350 a month (that’s full-time).
If you’re new to freelancing, you need to take a job that matches your skills and pays good money for them. Knowing the right job for you and the right place to find it will help you go a long way.
