This is the third and last part of the podcast series, “Walang Ganyan Sa Pinas”, where I recount my experiences during my 5-week vacation in the United States of America.  For this series-ender, I talk about the 10 things that I love about the States and will surely miss when I leave within the next few days.

And here they are, the 10 Things I Love About The States:

1. Mexican Food – Most Especially the Wet Burrito from Cocineros Mexican Grill

2. Philadelphia Cream Cheese with Honey Pecan

3. Streaming TV – Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV

4. Lactose Free Milk

5. Trader Joe’s

6. Best Buy

7. 99 Cent Store

8. Toys R Us

9. Stubhub

10. American Friendliness

 

Special Mention:

In-N-Out Burger – Yummy!

 

Do you have your own “10 Things I Like About The States” list?  Please share with us your list on the Comment Box below.

Want to listen to more episodes?  Please Subscribe to the Podcast.

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FBP 018: Walang Ganyan sa Pinas – Takeaways From My U.S. Trip (Part 2)

FBP 017: Walang Ganyan sa Pinas – Takeaways From My U.S. Trip (Part 1)

 

In Part 2 of the “Walang Ganyan Sa Pinas” podcast series, I continue to talk about life in the United States compared to my homeland, the Philippines, as my 5-week vacation in the “Land of Apple Pies, Burgers, and Cheesesteaks” comes to a close.

I recorded this episode while I was still in Point Loma, San Diego (not Pomona, Los Angeles as I erroneously said in the podcast).  I am now in Daly City, San Francisco – the Pinoy capital of America – and I can describe the weather for today as arctic (15 degrees Celsius but it feels really like 10 degrees lower).

The sun is out but the cold wind coming from the Bay feels like a bucket of crushed ice being dropped on your shirtless body.   It is that cold.  I never thought I would say this but I think I miss the heat in Manila.

Meanwhile, listed below are my takeaways from this trip:

 

– Self-storage

 

– Group Daycare

 

– Self-service Gasoline Stations

 

– Military Housing Facilities

 

– Homeless

– Gatecodes and Automatic Garages

– Independent Living

– Extra-curricular Activities

 

Meanwhile, I mentioned in Episode 17  that I will be watching my first baseball game.  The game was between the San Diego Padres versus the San Francisco Giants.   Well, I had a marvelous time, even if I knew little about baseball.  And I, together with my companions, was featured on the stadium’s enormous video screen.  It was my 15 seconds of fame and I loved every second of it.

To cap it off, the Padres won by 1 run over the Giants.  What a great game indeed.  (I think I’m switching sports.)

Lastly, I would like to congratulate Jennifer Ruiz, who won a free starter training program worth Php4,500 from Online Jobs University, which we announced in Episode 11.  Jennifer, I wish that you put the training to good use and hopefully kickstart your career in freelancing.  Who knows, maybe you will become our next guest in the podcast.

Which of the above takeaways did you find interesting and want to see in our country?  Join the discussion by commenting in the box below.

Want to listen to more episodes?  Please Subscribe to the Podcast.

Freelance Blend P

November 1996.  The last time I have been to the Land of Milk and Honey – good ole United States of America.  It was my graduation gift from my parents after grinding for almost 4 years in college.  A well-deserved vacation.

Fast forward to April 2014.  Marriage, two kids and two jobs later and I have returned.  

A whole lot has changed since my almost two decades of being away from the States.  And I have decided to blog and podcast my observations about the everyday things that I believe are peculiar to this country that are not yet available in our country.  Or, it could already be available in the Philippines but not popularly known or heavily used as it is in the US.

I have entitled the episode, “Walang Ganyan Sa Pinas” as a parody of the early 2000 lube commercial where the balikbayan grandmother kept saying, “walang ganyan sa States”, ranting about the tough life in Manila compared to America.   Please note however that I did not create this episode to complain or rant about life in the Philippines.  It is more of me chronicling my observations of American life and expressing my own wishlist for my country.

Restroom Technology

Lesson #1: When asking an American where the comfort room is, you must NOT say “comfort room” or “CR”.  You must say “restroom” or “bathroom”.  It happened to me in Disneyland and I just got the puzzled look.

Here are the comfort room, este, American restroom paraphernalia that I found interesting:

Turbo Hand Dryer

Automatic Tissue Dispenser

Waxie

Transportation

The following are what I found interesting about this complex but convenient transport system in the States, including the items and peculiarities that Americans do to get themselves from point A to point B:

Seatbelt Rule

Van Pooling

When I was briefing Ms. Janette Toral — founder of DigitalFilipino.com and considered “The Mother of the E-Commerce Law in the Philippines” — prior to the interview about the program flow of the Freelance Blend Podcast, she said something like, “I already listened to the previous episodes so I already know how the show works.”, I literally almost fell off my chair.  I wanted to shout from the top of my lungs: “The Digital Filipino listens to my show!” But of course, I didn’t.  Did I want to scare her and ruin the highlight of my brief podcasting career? But in my excitement, I think I failed to give her the proper introduction by not citing the milestones of her illustrious career.   And so, here are the mentionables that I failed to mention during the show:

1997 > Co-Founded and became President of the Philippine Internet Commerce Society; Lobbied for the passage of the E-Commerce Law and Y2K Law.

 

2002 and 2004 > International Schools Cyberfair Ambassador Award given by Global Schoolnet USA

 

2008 > E-Services E-Champion Awards 2008 – Policy and Legal Category by the Department of Trade and Industry, CITEM, Board of Investments; Co-founder and Board Member of the Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines

 

2009 > Digital Elder Award from Globe – 2009 Philippine Blog Awards

 

2010 > Champion of Philippine Internet and E-Commerce Hall of Fame Award from the Asian Institute of E-Commerce

 

2011 > Featured as 1 of the 6 Women Innovators at the APEC Women and Economy Summit 2011 in San Francisco, USA

Being one of the biggest influencers not only in our country but also in the global internet landscape, I am very sure that Janette will be receiving more awards and acclaim from distinguished groups for many years to come as she continues to touch peoples’ lives.  And as a newbie in this space, I look forward to joining her prestigious program and becoming a proud Digital Filipino myself.  Let’s get Digital! 

Key Takeaways

* The different methodologies in assessing the top websites for the Digital Filipino web and blog awards.

* How she first started using the internet in the Philippines in 1995.

* Her first speaking engagement about the internet and her writing gigs for PC World Philippines and The Web.

* Her first website and domain name.

* The advantages of being a writer-columnist in becoming a resource speaker.

* The role of the private sector in the development of e-commerce in the Philippines.

* Janette’s role in the formation of the Philippine Internet Commerce Society in 1997 that led to the creation of the Y2K Law and E-Commerce Law.

* Her book on e-commerce that paved the way for the creation of DigitalFilipino.com in 1999.

* How she taught herself different software programs through books in the early...

Dandy Victa and I met during one of Freelance Blend Manila’s meetup events sometime in January of this year at the Cucina Andare, the weekend market outside Glorietta Center in Makati City.

I remember us ordering the same German sausage (it was so good) from this food stall and that’s when we first chatted.  He told me he was able to listen to the Fitz Villafuerte podcast interview and I really felt so glad at that time because he was the first person (besides my wife, of course) to tell me that he or she actually listened to the show.  I had just released the very first episode at that time and didn’t even know if anybody will ever listen to the podcast.  Having someone come up to me to say that was really very surreal (even up to now).

And so, I learned more about Dandy that night and the next Freelance Blend Manila meetups to come.  In a recent event sponsored by Elance Philippines, I met Dandy again and talked more about his work at the National Council on Disability Affairs, his soon-to-be released book, his passion for helping Persons With Disabilities (PWDs), and his dream of using freelancing to eradicate poverty in the Philippines.   Here are the takeaways from the show.

Key Takeways

* His work for the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA).

* Why he is passionate about Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

* What is a bureaucrat and technocrat and what it entails to become one.

* The complexity of transacting with the Philippine government for entrepreneurs.

* How entrepreneurs can leverage the Philippine laws and use it to their advantage.

* The bi-lateral agreement between the Philippines and Australia and how he used it to his advantage.

* How people can apply for a scholarship to study in Australia for free (with allowance).

* The benefits of receiving Australian education.

* The requirements to apply for Australian education.

* His Re-Entry Action Plan: “Work At Home Entrepreneurship for Persons With Disabilities” and how he will implement it.

* How he applied the education that he got from Australia  here in the Philippines.

* The different interpretations and applications of the words “Entrepreneurship” and “Innovation” in Australia and in the Philippines.

* The “Idea First” question.

* The 3 types of Innovation (incremental, disruptive and open).

* The book that he is working on – “Work At Home Entrepreneurship: A Guidebook for Filipino Persons With Disabilities”.

* How he found Freelance Blend and why he joined the group.

* The Philippine government’s support of Dandy’s plan.

* How entrepreneurship can help reduce poverty.

* Why helping PWDs is close to Dandy’s heart.

* 15% of the world’s population has some form of disability, according to the World Health Organization, and what needs to be done to address it.

* PWD-friendly companies in the Philippines.

* The United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of PWDs.

* His discoveries and challenges about PWDs while writing the book.

* A successful work at home person who is blind.

Running.  It’s something that I’ve always really wanted to do, but somehow couldn’t get myself to.  I play basketball once a week and suspension training about twice a week.  Those activities need a bit more preparation but still, I am able to get myself to do it.  With running – one of the easiest sports in the planet to get into – somehow, I can’t.  (I know it’s a mental thing).

And yet my Facebook News Feed is barraged with posts like, “Just finished 10K!” (Heck, I can’t even do 5 meters).  Running has taken over our country by storm in the last half decade or so and is still going strong.  Am I missing something here?

At the forefront of this craze is an enchanting lady by the name of Jaymie Pizarro of the highly acclaimed running blog, The Bull Runner (a.k.a. TBR).  I’ve never met Jaymie before and prior to the interview, I was preparing myself to either get bull-ied or bull-dozed by The Bull Runner.  However, to my surprise, Jaymie was one of the sweetest and more “kalog” guests on the show.  (I wonder how a woman with a monicker like that be so charming.)

It was easy for me to relate to her because: first, we are both graphic designers who love creating logos and branding stuff; second, we are both self-confessed non-experts in our niches (running and freelancing); third, we both started by masterminding with our peers (Jaymie – with fellow running bloggers and me – with fellow podcasters); fourth, we both started prior to the rise of our booming niches (running and podcasting); and fifth, we both love serving and growing our communities.

I do hope to follow Jamie’s path and become a successful blogger, podcaster, motivational speaker, community leader and, yes, a runner like her someday.  That is, if I can keep up with her.

Here are the key takeaways from this interview.

Key Takeaways

* How the challenge of running 30 minutes straight on a treadmill kickstarted her love for running.

* Her first race, Pinay In Action, and how it got her hooked in running.

* The secret on how to improve your runs.

* How she started The Bull Runner blog within just 30 minutes.

* The authenticity and rawness of her first blog posts.

* How she started the blog as a non-expert in running and then growing with the readers.

* Why she liked it more during the pre-Facebook days of blogging.

* How The Bull Runner grew because of her affiliation with fellow new bloggers.

* How The Bull Runner contributed to the running boom in 2008.

* The factors that contributed to The Bull Runner’s explosion in the blogosphere.

* The great thing about freelancing and how she balanced it with running the blog and the magazine.

* How being fast not just applies to her sport but also to her blog and brand.

* How she became a self-taught graphic design.

* Her love for the arts and how she ended up in that field despite being discouraged by her dad to take up Fine Arts in UP.

* The beginnings of the The Bull Runner Magazine and why she had to let it go after 5 years.

* The upcoming relaunch of the blog.

* When she started monetizing on the blog.

* The importance of being authentic and unbiased when writing reviews,...

As promised, here is Part 2 of our talk with Stef Gonzaga, founder of The Freelance Pinoy website.  In this episode, we will dive deeper into the next 2 of the 3 most popular questions asked by freelancers.

* How do I sustain myself with freelancing?

* How do I get paid?

If you remember in Part 1 of the Freelance Blend Podcast (Episode 12), Stef focused on the one of the top freelancer questions, “How do I find clients?”  Stef also discussed creative ways on how to get noticed and stand out from the crowd of freelancers bidding for the same client.  In case you missed that episode (well, you are missing half of your life), please click here:

FBP 012: Freelancing to The Next Level with Stef Gonzaga of The Freelance Pinoy (Part 1)

Meanwhile, here in Part 2, the interview will get very interesting not only for newbie freelancers but also for professional ones as Stef and I examined how you can take your freelancing career to the next level (hence the title)!  As I had mentioned in previous episodes, this is actually the mission of Freelance Blend, to not only inspire Filipinos to pursue freelancing opportunities, but also to eventually turn freelancers into entrepreneurs through branding, blogging, product creation, etc.  And it was truly fascinating to hear it straight from The Freelance Pinoy herself how freelancers could attain that level.

Dear Freelancer, if you are truly serious about becoming a freelancer, this is definitely a Must-Hear episode for you!

Key Takeaways

* How to diversify your income streams as a freelancer.

* The pros and cons of forming your own team.

* Creating your own products and examples of products for different types of freelancers.

* The Freelance Pinoy products in the pipeline.

* Learnings from Ramit Sethi of IWillTeachYouToBeRich.com

* How to price yourself as a freelancer.

* How to negotiate your rate.

* The importance of setting a time limit for your rate.

* When to brand yourself as freelancer.

* The benefit of having a website as a freelancer.

* Her favorite application or software.

* Her recommended books.

* State of freelance hiring in the local scene.

* What freelancers should look forward to from The Freelance Pinoy.

Resources and Links

* Ramit Sethi – IWillTeachYouToBeRich – preview course of “Earn $1000 on the Side”

* Dropbox (file sharing and backup service)

* Alfred (a productivity tool for Mac)

* Google Drive (easy to create documents and share with others)

* Microsoft Word / Microsoft Office (would you still need links to this?)

*

The Freelance Pinoy has been one of my inspirations and resources when I was first thinking about creating Freelance Blend back in October of 2013.  At first, I was thinking that The Freelance Pinoy website will be a competitor of Freelance Blend in the Philippine freelance niche, but I quickly thought to myself that, in fact, The Freelance Pinoy could actually be complementary to Freelance Blend and we could work hand in hand in serving the Pinoy freelancer.  (It did help that we belong to the same alma matter, DLSU!)

And so I was glad that the lovely founder of The Freelance Pinoy website, Stef Gonzaga, happily obliged to be interviewed by yours truly.  While doing the interview, I realized that both of us have the same mission — to help current and neophyte freelancers maximize their potential and to lead them to take their freelance business to the next level.  During the interview, because we were both so engrossed discussing about our passion – helping freelancers – , we did not realize that we exceeded an hour and a half, my longest episode so far.

That is the reason why I decided to split the interview into two episodes.  This will give you more time to absorb all the information that was shared by Stef for this episode, Part 1, restart your brain, then take in more information from Stef in Part 2 (Episode 13).  (I will not be surprised if you keep pressing the rewind button from time to time.)

Part 2 (Episode 13) comes out next week. 

Here are the important learnings that you will get from Part 1:

Key Takeaways

* How being a “pasaway” at age 16 led Stef Gonzaga to a freelance writing career in college.  (Note: Can anybody translate “pasaway” in English for me please?)

* How she discovered Odesk while still in college.

* Starting a free blog for struggling Odesk newbies.

* How she got featured in Odesk’s newsletter.

* Why she transitioned from a free WordPress blog to an official blog with her own domain.

* Why she never worked at a full time job ever and why she doesn’t regret it.

* Why freelancing is not a walk in the park.

* How she dealt with the pressure to work in a corporate environment from her family and friends and what she did to convince them.

* The cons of freelancing.

* The employee mindset of most people who start a freelancing career and why that mindset should be changed.

* What scares people about freelancing.

* The 3 most popular questions that she gets from freelancers.

1.  How do I find clients?

2.  How do I sustain myself with freelancing?

3.  How do I get paid?

* How to pay taxes as a freelancer.

* How not to get intimidated by competition in freelance marketplaces.

* The importance of being creative in your approach to clients.

* How to position yourself as a benefit when applying for jobs.

* How showing interest in the client (background, website, etc.) sets you apart from others.

Resources and Links

* Jobstreet

*

I posted last time about the successful 2014 Freelancer Career Kick-off event sponsored by Elance Philippines where I mentioned that lady luck was on my side that day because I won a free training course from Online Jobs University that was worth P4,500!

And my luck extended even after the event because it gave me the opportunity to meet and chat with the founder of OnlineJobsUniversity.com, Coach Genesis Reonico.   I discussed with him my plan to donate my prize to the Freelance Blend Tribe (which Genesis is, in fact, also a member of) and asked him to come to the Freelance Blend Podcast to discuss more about his life as a freelancer, his programs and advocacies and at the same time help me select the lucky winner of the raffle (Interested?  Please refer to the mechanics below).

Meanwhile, here are the key takeaways from this episode.

Key Takeaways

* Genesis’ experience as a part time freelancer while working in the BPO industry.

* Why he chose freelancing and leading a Church community over his dream job in IT.

* Genesis’ ups and downs as freelancer.

* What Genesis did as a freelancer and why he only took one client in the beginning.

* How he transitioned from being a web master to an internet marketer.

* How he trained and formed his own web development and online marketing team.

* How he sharpened his blogging skills by enrolling in an online certificate course from DigitalFilipino.com.

* The benefits of enrolling in an online course (even if there are tons of free resources in the web).

* How and why he started his first website, OnlineJobsLifestyle.com.

* What he learned from his blog that led him to create his second website, OnlineJobsUniversity.com.

* The unique selling proposition of Online Jobs University.

* Why he decided to offer the Online Jobs Career Orientation course for free while other training sites are charging for it.

* The 2 skills that he learned as a technical support agent in a BPO company and how he applied it to his online career.

* Freelance Blend’s advocacy.

* The type of mentors freelancers should seek and where to look for them.

* Tips on how to learn freelancing even if you don’t have the money to pay for courses or a coach.

* Genesis’ Partnership with the government, under ICT of the DOST.

* The Next Wave Cities and Virtual Staff Entrepreneur Program of the Philippine government.

* The government’s plan to promote, encourage and support freelancing.

Resources and Links

The Certified Blog and Social Media Enterpreneur Program by DigitalFilipino.com (The course Genesis took that helped him become a better blogger.)

OnlineJobsUniversity.com (Genesis’ Online Training Program)

OnlineJobsLifestyle.com (Genesis’ Blog)

Gmail

10! We have finally reached double digits!  It’s our 10th episode and we promise to give you thousands of episodes more, so please keep tuning in.  And also, give yourself a pat on the back for reaching this far.

This episode is quite unique because it is not our usual interview show.  It is actually a recording of a live event held last February 12, 2014 at the AIM Conference Center in Makati, The 2014 Freelancer Career Kickoff, sponsored by Elance Philippines and Payoneer.  Elance Philippines was kind enough to invite us Freelance Blend members and, of course, we gladly obliged.  Who doesn’t want to learn, network, dine and receive fabulous prizes — all for free.

(In fact, I had a feeling that day that I was going to win the grand prize, an iPad Mini Retina.  Well, I didn’t.  But, I won the 2nd major prize, which is free enrollment for Online Jobs University’s Starter Training Program worth P4,500.00.  Not bad.  But I thought about it and decided that I will raffle it off for the members and listeners of Freelance Blend.  So, please listen to Episode 11, where I will have on the show the founder of Online Jobs University, Genesis Reonico, and we will explain the mechanics of the raffle.  Please watch out for it.)

Meanwhile, the recording that you will hear is the Question and Answer segment of the event where no less than the head honcho of Elance Philippines, it’s Country Manager, Ron Cirujano, explains the key features of Elance.com and answers questions being raised by the audience members at the AIM Conference Center.

Key takeaways

* Elance in 6 Easy Steps.

* How to set-up an account in Elance.

* Is it free to register in Elance? (This one question was asked 3 times during the segment.  Twice by the same guy :))

* How much is the service fee and who shoulders it, the freelancer or the client.

* Why having a verified account in Elance is vital.

* The difference between basic and individual accounts.

* How to get your bank details for payments.

* The minimum bid for hourly jobs.

* How to get paid on instalment basis with Milestones.

* How to prevent cyber attacks and identity theft.

* How Elance conducts ID verification.

* Tips on how to prevent your accounts from being suspended in Elance.

* How to properly fill up your portfolio to get more clients.

* How to know how much to charge for your hourly rate.

* How Connects and Bids work.

* How will freelancers be tracked for hourly jobs.

* Why you should select your best profile picture during registration.

* The importance of BIR Memorandum 55-2013 for freelancers.

Resources and Links

Facebook.com/ElancePhilippines (Facebook Page)

help.elance.com (Support, Resources and Videos about Elance.com)