I apologize for the lame Yoda impersonation during the show intro.  Please bear with me.  I am such a Star Wars geek. 🙂

Now, I am very sure that you, dear Freelancer, are one of the massive followers of either:

1.  The vlog (video blog) WhenInManila.com (1 million readers and counting)*

2. WhenInManila Facebook page (185k fans)*

3. WhenInManila Twitter account (100k followers)*

4. WhenInManila Instagram account (12k followers)*

*Data as of February 2014.

Or all of the above.  That’s why we responded to all of your requests and invited no less than the founder and publisher of WhenInManila.com, Vince Golangco, to the podcast.

It still feels surreal that the likes of Vince Golangco, voted in the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs for 2010 and Best Photo Blog and Microblog in the Philippines at the 2013 Globe Tatt Awards, will take time off from his busy schedule to sit and chat with me on the Freelance Blend Podcast.  Can somebody just pinch me?

From the interview, it seems that the reason why Vince is very supportive of new content creators like myself is because he himself received support from the most influential bloggers and vloggers before him – Anton Diaz (our previous guest), Janette Toral, and also the late Coy Caballes.  As Vince said, “The most successful bloggers are the ones who are always helping.”  So, what are you waiting for, why don’t you reach out to your chosen mentor now.  

Meanwhile, here are the takeaways from this episode:

Key Takeaways

* Vince’s love for writing that led to his job for the school paper, a blog for freshmen students in college, and eventually, for WhenInManila.com.

* How a quarter-life crisis caused Vince to travel to different parts of the world and then ended up in the Philippines to start the blog.

* The reason behind the name of the blog, WhenInManila.

* The reason why he joined the US Navy.

* How the blog grew slowly but surely – one post at a time, one reader at a time.

* The perks of having a widely successful blog.

* The “best ever plumber” analogy to success in the old days and why it does not apply to the digital age.

* How you can contribute to WhenInManila and the advantages and perks that you will get out of it.

* How to build a community one follower at a time.

* What makes a blog post shareable and likeable and why making it viral is, in fact, overrated.

* Why Vince chose a large and crowded niche such as the food and travel niche.

* Who were Vince’s mentors when he was starting and how these mentors helped him.

* How speaking engagements helped spread the word about Vince and the blog.

* How social media improves a blog’s viewership.

* The apps that Vince likes to use.

* How 

1 and a half hours of bliss.  That is what it felt like interviewing Martine de Luna of MakeItBlissful.com (formerly DaintyMom.com) and MartineDeLuna.com.   I must admit that I was a bit nervous and anxious at first.  I believe that is what everyone feels when they first meet their idol or somebody they look up to in their field of interest.

I have been following Martine’s websites, DaintyMom.com, MartineDeLuna.com, and MakeItBlissful.com for almost a year.  You might be wondering why would a dad read mom blogs?   I chanced upon one of her sites while I was researching for mom blogs to help me promote our soon-to-open preschool (my side business) at that time.  And besides, do you know of any good Pinoy dad blogs out there (maybe I should start one, maybe YOU should start one, but that’s another story)?

So, I just emailed her directly, not expecting a response in the next few days or even any response at all.  But, lo and behold, she replied back in a matter of minutes!  I was so excited, I remember forwarding the email  proudly to my wife and partners, “Dainty Mom responded!”  And the rest is history.  We got featured in glamomamas.com (Amanda Griffin’s website where Martine is a contributing writer and editor) and received tons of inquiries because of that single blog post.

Then, fast forward a bit to Nov 2013, when I was contemplating the design of my website, daintymom.com and martinedeluna.com became my inspirations.  I liked the smart layout and the homey feel of it.  I even hired Patricia Alix-Villa of Fancy Girl Design Studio, Martine’s web designer, to help translate the web design I laid out in Photoshop into a WordPress website.  

It was only natural for me to put Martine in my list of dream podcast guests because I had been exposed to her the past few months.  And I was so glad that she said “yes” to us.  So, please fire up your Evernote app or put out your spiral notebook (make sure you have at least 10 pages available).  This episode will be filled with golden nuggets that you should definitely scribble down and internalize (ahmmmm with matching yoga pose).

Key Takeaways:

* What convinced Martine to quit her teaching job to become a work-at-home mom.

* How Martine’s experiences working at home after child birth led her to create DaintyMom.com.

* How the blog became the storefront to showcase Martine’s style of writing.

* The lipstick sales pitch that gave Martine the biggest break.

* The value of an audio logo for your brand.

* How to position yourself to grab the attention of your potential clients.

* Why it was hard for Martine to rebrand her already successful Dainty Mom brand into Make It Blissful.

* Learning when to say “No” to maintain the credibility of your brand.

* How some of the most successful books are titled and how to apply the same technique for your brand.

* How to create a job description for yourself and use that to create your own product or service.

* Why it is important to invest in yourself by taking workshops and ...

UPDATE:

(February 16, 2014):  The sound issue has been fixed.  We enjoin everyone to start listening to this very enriching episode.  We apologize again for the inconvenience.  Thanks.

(February 15, 2014):  We sincerely apologize for some technical difficulties being encountered with this podcast episode wherein there is no sound on most parts of the show. We are currently fixing this and we will will resolve this very soon. Thank you. 

Editor.  Proofreader.  Typesetter.  These are some of the occupations that we hear, read about or encounter in our day to day existence yet we are totally clueless as to what these people actually do.  In fact, do you even personally know someone who does editing for a living?

Enter Ms. Al Sabado – a person who bravely escaped her job in a top university to become an independent and successful freelance editor.  She is a God-fearing, smart, articulate and very witty woman.

The image that I have in my mind of who an editor is this — a librarian with thick glasses, saying “shhhh” to those who are noisy and has zero sense of humor.  Well, Al is the total opposite of that.  And I am sure you will love listening to this episode while learning more about the world of editing.

Here are the Takeaways from the show:

* How an appendectomy led to an unexpected moment of discovering a freelance editing career.

* How she finds work as an editor.

* How intermediaries helped her get her first job as a freelancer.

* What are intermediaries and the pros and cons of using them.

* The different style guides in editing.

* The difference between editing, proofreading and typesetting.

* How to prevent scams.

* Why retraining is important to freelancers.

* How she handles money matters as a freelancer.

* Al’s method in selecting clients.

* How Al copes with the fears associated to freelancing.

* Why intelligent authors still go for editing their work.

* Why freelance editing will flourish despite the rise of self-publishing.

* What freelancers should do during the slow months.

Resources and Links

Craigslist

Express Scribe Footpedal for Transcribing and Editing

Freelancer.com

Elance.com

Odesk

Paypal

Moneybookers

Kate Turabian

The Publshing Training Centre

Google Chrome

The Free Dicitionary

Freelancer’s Guide – alsabado.com

Google Sites

WordPress

Blogspot

Quotable quotes:

” No incomplete school work can hinder a person’s passion to pursue a career or career path.”

 

My daily commute to work is not complete without listening to the wackiest, craziest, sexiest and most controversial show on FM radio, Magic 89.9’s “Good Times with Mo” (or has it been renamed to “Morning Show”?).  And I am so glad that the show is back after being suspended for 6 long months.  (On a side note, that is the reason why I got hooked in podcasts because I was craving for Good Times-type of entertainment while the show was on hiatus).

Not only is the popular morning radio show back with new co-hosts (Sam Oh and Mikey Bustos), its resident Showbiz reporter, Makoy a.k.a Showbiz Bro, is also back, rejuvenated and as loud and tactless as ever!  And I thought of guesting him in our podcast because I wanted to take a break from the serious and businessy theme of the past episodes and have a hilarious show with this unpredictable man.

Aside from that, I wanted to find out who the real Showbiz Bro is and how he was able to transform from a regular fan into a celebrity – which I hope will give inspiration to our listeners who are ordinary people like me.  “Machong chismisan na!”

Here are some Takeaways from this episode.  Yes, meron naman kahit papano (joke lang Bro!):

* How Showbiz Bro got hooked on radio shows and Philippine show business.

* How suntan lotion led to Makoy becoming Showbiz Bro. (yes, there is a connection.)

* How Showbiz Bro prepares for each segment and his working relationship with Mo Twister.

* The creative genius of Mo Twister and how he prepares for the segment and the Morning Show.

* Why Showbiz Bro doesn’t show his face on his Twitter profile and how he still attracts thousands of followers inspite of that.

* Why Mo Twister and the show have many haters but still remain immensely popular.

* The perks of being Showbiz Bro (despite not receiving any compensation from the station).

* Is Paul Artadi related to Basti Artadi?

* His shoe size.

* How he takes advantage of social media to grow his brand.

* The effect of the six-month suspension and how he got back from it.

* His future plans for Showbiz Bro.

* His tips on how to create a character like Showbiz Bro that will resonate with followers.

Quotable quotes:

On why people love showbiz:  “Halos lahat ng tao may interes sa showbiz.  Kung ano mang liit ng interes sa showbiz o ano mang laki, meron pa ring insteres siya sa showbiz.”

“I am just enjoying my 15 minutes of fame.”

“Whenever I get the opportunity that a regular person will not be able to do, I try to do it.”

“80% of Showbiz Bro, ako yon.”

“Karen Bordador will be the next Jinri Park.”

“Isa talaga sa mga gusto ko gawin sa buhay ko is to make people laugh.”

“Pag pumutok Twitter mo, ibig sabihin you did a good job.  Pag medyo tahimik yung Twitter mo, siguro try harder tomorrow.”

“Being a freelancer gives you a chance to choose kung saan mo gusto magtrabaho at kanino mo gusto magtrabaho.”

“Don’t expect something big, para kung dumating yung something big na ‘yon, it’s gonna be the best thing that you’ll ever get.”

Resources:

DJ Mo Twister

Pep.ph

Fashion Pulis

Karen Bordador (jejeje)

Jinri Park

Pimp Kicks

 

This is Part 2 of our interview with Anton Diaz, founder of the #1 food and travel blog in the Philippines, ourawesomeplanet.com, and co-founder of weekend market chain, the Mercato Centrale Group.  If you were not able to listen to Part 1 (Freelance Blend Podcast Episode 4), please be sure to click this link.

Meanwhile, here are the Key Takeaways that you will get after listening to this episode:

* Why you should start our own e-store in 2014.

* Why blogging is dead.

* Why you should take a holistic approach when building your platform online.

* The reason why ourawesomeplanet is working.

* Why you don’t need to be a natural writer to blog.

* The importance of mailing lists.

* Why you should focus on viral concepts and ideas when blogging.

* The importance of teaching blogging to kids.

* Anton’s tips to newbie bloggers and entrepreneurs.

* Why 2014 feels exactly like 2005 (when Anton first started blogging).

* The 11 Biggest Business Trends in 2014.

* The value of mastermind groups.

* The opportunities in traffic and the ASEAN landscape.

Anton’s Quotable Quotes:

“In the same way that blogging in 2005, nakita mo na na magsa-succeed ang blogging, this year (2014) an e-store will really become big in the Philippines.”

“Relatively, online (business) is easier than brick and mortar stuff.”

“A blog is used to create viral ideas and topics that can really spread in social media and the home base is the blog.”

“The most important skill is not writing but story telling.”

“2014 is the year that feels like 2005”

Resources and Links Mentioned During the Show:

ourawesomeplanet.com

Mercato Centrale

The 11 Biggest Business Trends in 2014

facebook.com/antondiaz

@antondiaz

instagram/ourawesomeplanet

pinterest/ourawesomeplanet

Mobile Number +63917 568 3627

Did you enjoy this episode?    If you did, please help us improve our ranking in iTunes by rating our show and leaving a comment.

How?  Just go to the iTunes Store and search for “Freelance Blend Podcast”.  Then, select the “Freelance Blend Podcast” image under Podcasts, click Ratings and Reviews and click the number of stars that you think we deserve – 5 stars will really make us smile :)!  You may also click the Write a Review button and type in your questions and comments about the show.

P.S. We hope you don’t mind the sounds of automobiles and motorcycles in the background while we were doing the ...

This is our first episode for 2014 and we want to start with fireworks to drive bad luck away as we head on to the Year of the Horse.  So we invited none other than Anton Diaz, founder of the #1 food and travel blog in the Philippines, ourawesomeplanet.com, which receives about 1,000,000 hits a month!  (Golly gee).   His advocacy is to promote the “Food and Travel Secrets in the Philippines” and was even awarded the Inspiring Young Filipino Entrepreneur Award in 2010 by Go Negosyo.  Further, he is an awesome businessman, co-founding the highly popular string of weekend markets in the country, the Mercato Centrale Group.

This is Part 1 of a 2-part series and here are the Key Takeaways that you will get after listening to this episode:

* How and why he quit his high-paying  job at one of the top companies in the world to become a full time blogger.

* How he discovered blogging and capitalized on it before it got big in the Philippines.

* In choosing a niche, why going small is a mistake and why bigger is better.

* Why his initial venture in e-commerce failed and what were his learnings from it.

* How he started his weekend market business with Mercato Centrale.

* How he was able to spot trends in blogging and in business.

* How he applied the skills that he learned at work to blogging and business.

Anton’s Quotable Quotes:

“It was very clear at that time that blogging will be a big hit.”

“Choose projects that are scalable.  Kapag bumababa ang effort mo, dapat ang output mo lumalaki.”

“The key online is to be able to implement fast.”

On failure:  “Most people will remember your successes.”

On trends:  “To succeed, kailangan ma-capitalize yung trend bago siya mag-boom.”

Resources and Links Mentioned During the Show:

Typepad 

anton.blogs.com

ourawesomeplanet.com

Mercato Centrale

Thanks for listening.  If you enjoyed this episode, please do us a favor and help us go up the ranking in iTunes by rating our show and leaving a comment.

How?  Just go to the iTunes Store and search for “Freelance Blend Podcast”.  Then, select the “Freelance Blend Podcast” image under Podcasts, click Ratings and Reviews and click the number of stars that you think we deserve — 5 stars will really make us smile :)!  You may also click the Write a Review button and type in your comments about the show.

Lastly, please listen to the 2nd part of the interview where Anton will share more of his insights and tips.

FBP 005: How to Capitalize on the Biggest Trends in Business by Top Food and Travel Blogger – Anton Diaz (Part 2)

Thank you!

P.S. We hope you don’t mind the sounds of automobiles and motorcycles in the background while we were doing the interview.  In fact, for me, it makes the interview more real and even showcases the sounds of awesome Manila, which I am sure OFWs out there miss a lot.  Enjoy.

Freelance Blend Podcast:  The Podcast for the Philippine Freelancer Community

TO SUBSCRIBE:  Simply search for “Freelance Blend Podcast” i...

I met Marge Aberasturi during the Freelance Camp in October of 2013 and found her story quite intriguing.  Although she shared with us her experiences as a virtual assistant during the said camp, I felt that she had more anecdotes to share, especially her experiences as a home school teacher, as a partner in an online business and as a Happy WAHM (Work-At-Home Mom).  And so, I  reached out to her and invited her to the show to hear more about her interesting life.

In this episode, you will learn:

* How Marge was forced into becoming a freelancer because of a difficult family situation.

* Leaving a successful corporate career (and a promotion) to become a freelancer: why Marge does not miss it and why it was a blessing in disguise.

* How Marge got hired by clients even if she had zero knowledge of the job requirements.

* Why retainer is the best payment arrangement for Marge.

* How to get paid for virtual work even before you start working.

* How to use Craigslist exclusively to get an online job.

* How to avoid being scammed online.

* How having a presence in cyberspace can get you more clients.

* The secrets to being a Happy WAHM (Work-At-Home Mom).

* How she home schooled her 3 children while working as a virtual assistant.

* How to assess if you are fit to become a freelancer – The 3 Circles That Intersect

Quotable Quotes: 

“If there is no demand for your skills, you create the demand.”

 

“Go out there and promote your skills.  There is somebody out there who will have a need for what you have.”

 

“The beauty of homeschooling is that you get to explore and nurture the passion of your kids.”

Links and Resources Mentioned:

Craigslist

www.vasupportpro.com

www.thehappywahm.com

www.tmahomeschool.org

www.facebook.com/tma.homeschool

www.facebook.com/helpforwahms

Contact her at 0925-546-9246 or  092-5-IAMWAHM

If you liked our show, please do us a favor and subscribe to our podcast in iTunes.  Just look for the “subscribe” button and click it.   This way, you get our fresh new episodes automatically downloaded in your smart phone or media player of your choice.  If you are an Android user, you may download the Stitcher app from Google Play and download our podcast here.

Also, please give an honest rating of the show and leave your comments in iTunes.  Doing so will give our show a boost in the iTunes rankings and in turn, more people will be able to listen to the show and learn from our distinguished guests (and from yours truly :)).  Thanks again.

This is Part 2 of our very interesting chat with serial entrepreneur, Fitz Villafuerte.  Here are the takeaways that you will get after listening to the show:

* How to work on multiple tasks without burning out using the Pomodoro Technique – I myself had started practising this technique and will share my experiences in a blog post soon.

* The failures that Fitz encountered while starting as an entrepreneur and how he overcame them.

* How a failure resume help Fitz gain perspective on business.

* How he uses a business plan to validate his entrepreneurial ideas.

* Fitz shares with me his AHA moments – the two instances when he realized that he made the right decision to leave his corporate career.

* The importance of blogging for offline businesses.

Quotable quotes:

“Creativity is something all entrepreneurs and freelancers should nurture.”

 

“Kung tatamarin ka gawin yung business plan, mas tatamarin ka magtayo ng negosyo.”

 

“Lahat ng negosyo maganda, ang tanong ano ang negosyo na magiging masaya ka?”

 

“The universe conspires to make it happen for me.”

Resources and Links Mentioned during the Show:

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason

The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley, Ph.D.

lifehacker.com

codecademy.com

99u.com

blogacademyphilippines.com

fitzvillafuerte.com

@brodfitz

If you liked our show, please do us a favor and subscribe to our podcast in iTunes.  Just look for the “subscribe” button and click it.   This way, you get our fresh new episodes automatically downloaded in your smart phone or media player of your choice.  If you are an Android user, you may download the Stitcher app from Google Play and download our podcast here.   Thank you for listening to the show.

Happy holidays to everyone.  Please take care of yourself and visit us soon.

In our very first episode, we have no less than the award-winning blogger, personal finance expert and serial entrepreneur, Fitz Villafuerte of readytoberich.com.

This is part 1 of a 2 part series.  We had quite a long conversation with Fitz full of stories, tips and tactics, which you will surely love.  That’s why we had to cut the show into two.

In this episode, you will learn:

* How Fitz started as a freelancer and how he marketed himself as a freelancer to get more clients.

* The keys to success in freelancing.  Fitz mentioned about 6 keys to success.

* How Fitz used freelancing as a stepping stone to becoming a serial entrepreneur.

* How Fitz started new businesses every year and how he juggles his online and offline businesses.

Resources and Links Mentioned in the Show:

1. Fitz’s online businesses:

* Bloggershirts.com – Launched in 2012, this is his online vending machine.  Why don’t you order a shirt now?

* 199jobs.com – Fitz’s project for 2013.  199Jobs.com is the Pinoy version of elance.com and freelancer.com.

* Blogacademyphilippines.com – A blogging course launched this Dec 2013.  I myself have joined the course and I will share with you my experience at Blog Academy.

2. Wunderlist – Fitz’s favorite productivity App.

3. Gmail – Who doesn’t have a gmail account?

4. Dropbox – An online hard drive that is the favorite among freelancers.

Thank you for listening to the show.  If you liked our show, please do us a favor and subscribe to our podcast in iTunes.  Just look for the “subscribe” button and click it.   This way, you get our fresh new episodes automatically downloaded in your smart phone or media player of your choice.  If you are an Android user, you may download the Stitcher app from Google Play and download our podcast here.

Also, please give an honest rating of the show and/or leave your comments in iTunes.  Doing so will give our show a boost in the iTunes rankings and in turn, more people will be able to listen to the show and learn from our distinguished guests (and from yours truly :)).

Thanks again.