Back in the company where I previously worked, I attended a seminar where the speaker, unknown to me at that time, began the talk by asking: “Do you want a life free from worries? Do you want to wake up everyday not having to think about paying the bills, your kids’ tuition fees and other daily expenses? Do you want to have a comfortable life for your family, enjoy vacations, buy the things that you need without worrying about where to get the money?”

Then he went on to tell his story.

He started, like most of us, as a regular employee. But early in his career, he already knew that he doesn’t want to work all his life but still want to continue earning. So he turned his gears on becoming an entrepreneur. He went to work during the day, but spent his nights building his business.

He even enumerated the ways he employed to source money for capital, including withdrawing cash advances from credit cards, to get things moving for him and his ideas. It took him 2 years to pay his credit card debts, but he said he didn’t regret the decision because that gave him something to start with. Later on, needing a bigger funding for his budding company, he drew a business plan, which according to him is a very lousy document by today’s business standards, and presented it to a rich couple who eventually lend him the money he needed to fund his business.

It was an uphill battle, but unrelenting determination, sheer hard work and unwavering faith in himself carried him for so many years until he was satisfied with how the company turned out. Then when an opportunity came along, in the form of a larger company offering to buy his company for $100 million, he knew his efforts finally paid off.

With that huge sum of money sitting comfortably in his bank account, he and his family was set for life. But so strong is the entrepreneur blood that runs through his veins that he decided to start again, venturing on a new company and hoping it will duplicate or surpass the success that he had with the previous one.

Just recently, I got a copy of the book “Go Negosyo” which lists the Top 50 successful and breakthrough entrepreneurs in the Philippines. And I recognized that it was Joey Gurango, the same Joey Gurango featured on page 132 of the book, who was speaking in front of us that day and imploring us to dare to dream and move to make that dream come true.

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Sometime in 2000, my friend asked me, while we were discussing jobs and job applications, if I know anything about PayPal. He said that it’s some sort of internet bank account. He added that some people were earning from the internet through surveys and ad-clicking and PayPal is what they used to receive their payments. I found the idea too good to be true. Why would anyone pay people to do surveys and click ads? I told him I’d research about that.

If I had found out about online money-making opportunities that early, I would have been earning money from home through the internet for 11 years now. Yes, 11 years and perhaps, a lot of money.

Only, I didn’t because I didn’t research about it like I promised my friend. I didn’t believe that it is possible to start with. Money, in my opinion, should be hard-earned and I thought he was just making an excuse not to pursue our job applications.

Of course, I know better now.

It is often safe to be critical of the things being presented to us . But sometimes it also shields us from disguised opportunities. Times are changing rapidly, and a lot of opportunities are being created constantly, off-shooting from things we never thought viable, until today. One can never truly predict if an idea will hit big or if an offer is a real deal, unless we try.

It pays to try.

Try them out with an open but critical mind. Don’t let yourself be blinded by skepticism but be careful not to get burned by being too accepting. And if it doesn’t turn out the way you want it, be ready to move forward. Move to the next task quickly and don’t lose the spirit. The next opportunity might be the next big thing.

While checking for the top keyword referrer (keywords that people used to find this site via the search engines), I noticed I’m getting a number of visits from people searching for “how to find my odesk url“. I’m not sure if what they meant by “odesk url” is the URL of their oDesk profile, but I think this is a good topic to discuss.

I know of four ways to get to your oDesk profile and “find your oDesk URL”.

The easiest is via your homepage account. You will see a Contractor Profile link at the top right screen, just under the Search text field. This link will direct you to your profile page.

Second, on lefthand sidebar of your User Profile page, there’s a My Contractor Profile link. When you click on that link and scroll a little down to the My Public Profile section, you will see another link that says: View My Profile as Others See It. Get to your User Profile page via the link in your homepage account (the User Profile link is just beside the Contractor Profile link) or via the username link at the topmost right corner of the screen.

Third, click the Find Contractors link (under Find Contractors & Jobs tab) and search for your complete profile name or username (the one you use to login to oDesk). You can also use the Search field for this purpose, just choose Contractors on the drop-down menu. Either way, the search will return a list of profiles that matches your query and your profile will most likely be on the top of the list.

Fourth is similar but you will be using a search engine instead. Just type in your username or profile name + “odesk” on Google and other search engines.

But remember that your profile’s visibility, whether in oDesk or in the search engines, will depend on the settings that you defined in your Profile Access. There are three levels of accessibility that you can choose from:

1. Public – Available to everyone (including the search engines)
2. Employers only – Available to oDesk Employers when they are logged in
3. Private – Available only to employers with your permission (i.e. when you apply to job posting)

You can change your Profile Access in your Contractor Profile page, under the My Public Profile section.

Which is the Best Profile Access Option?

This depends on your preference and how you intend to find jobs on oDesk. If you want only oDesk employers to find you, choose Employers only. If you want to be the one to initiate the application instead, go for the Private option. But if you want to be visible to non-oDesk but still potential clients, make your profile page Public.

And to those asking “How to find my odesk url?”, I hope this post answers your question. I also encourage you to continue browsing this blog as you might find something interesting or helpful. Good day to everyone!

The idea of earning money from home through blogging is not something new. I may be a little late in the game, but this is one of my priorities this year. I really want to make my blogs earn decent income and gain some sort of popularity or recognition, whichever comes first. And I know that in order to do that, I have to work on it. Like seriously.

I have resumed blogging, albeit inconsistently, for almost two years now. I think half of it was spent leaving my blog un-updated or changing niches, themes and moving content. Since then I’ve made, well, not much: $30 from 3 paid blogging posts and $48 from Google AdSense (but I won’t be able to cash out until it reaches $100) and a recent offer for a link on my wedding blog in exchange for a tungsten ring (I haven’t received confirmation that the ring was already sent though). These incentives, however measly they seem to be, are enough for me to believe that blogging can be more rewarding. So, like what I said in my previous post, I plan to be a more devoted blogger now and hopefully, the devotion will pay off in the end.

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Life happens. Bloggers go into blog hiatus until they realize, “Hey, I should update that blog!”

So, here I am, updating this blog.

A lot of things has happened since my last blog entry and I thought you’d be interested to know:

1. Husband and I went on an 8-day delayed-honeymoon/first-wedding-anniversary/we-owe-it-to-ourselves-to-have-a-break trip. I did bring my laptop hoping I can sneak in some work while vacationing, but I couldn’t connect to the Wi-Fi access in the place where we stayed.

2. I invested in a Mutual Fund. Part of my efforts to ensure financial stability while working at home, I plan to deposit a portion of our savings to this fund on a regular basis. Short term goal is for the money to earn bigger returns than it would in a regular bank account. Long term goal is to save enough to buy our own house.

3. We’re in the process of getting a health insurance. I’ve spoken to an agent, I’ve filled out the forms and the only thing that’s in the way is the evaluation process that the insurance company will be conducting based on the information that I provided in the application form. If all goes well, then it will be another goal that I’ve accomplished this year.

4. My other job has ended. Well technically, it hasn’t because I will still work for that client on an “as needed” basis. But that means only a few hours in a week. So in a few days, I will be actively looking for a new part-time job (I still have my fulltime job). I think I’m going to give writing a try.

5. I also want to concentrate on blogging. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned here that I’m maintaining 4 personal blogs, which  I plan to monetize eventually. Unfortunately, this blog is the one the gets updated the least often. Let’s just say that I’m more passionate about the niches of the other 3 blogs and I find that they’re easier to update even with just snippets of information and a lot of images. But I’m not abandoning this blog. I’m thinking of a few strategies to up the frequency of new posts. Hopefully, something crops up.

That’s all I can share for now

To those who are already working at home, I’m sure you can relate to this post.

I received a letter from a bank last week, denying my credit card application. I wasn’t disappointed or anything because I’ve got other plastics that I can use. But the letter reminded me of how our short application interview went, which is most likely the reason why I got denied.

Agent: Ma’am who would like to sign up from a credit card?

Me: Sure, what are the requirements?

Agent: Not much, just fill out this application form and present a valid ID and an existing credit card from another bank.

Me: *took the application form and fill it out* Ok.

Agent: *after I handed her the form* Ma’am, what is your job?

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That’s not a wish. That’s a statement–no, make that a goal!

Yep, you’ve guessed it right. This is supposed to be a new year post–the kind of post that everybody seems to be making as the new year heralds its presence. And I may be late, but it’s never too late to set a goal.

In my previous post, I counted the things that made year 2010 a good year, not only for me, but for my husband as well. If last year was when we started our journey together as a couple, this year is when we start to build our dreams. This is when the plan becomes actions and our first action is to establish a solid foundation for our dreams. In order to do that, we of course, need funds. And since our online work is our main source of income, we need to continue earning money from home in order to have a steady supply of funds.

I know a lot of you are aware how unstable working at home can become. There are no guarantees, no contracts and no tenures. All it can promise is a handful of possibilities, including even the possibility of  losing a job. This is why the idea of going back to being employed has persisted in my head since last year. Sometimes I get those moments, when I feel scared of the future and of the new things and situations it will bring.

But I always tell myself to snap out of it.

We’re already doing it. We’ve already crossed the threshold between being regularly employed and earning on our own. To turn back would mean, for me, finding something that you love to do but leaving it behind because you’re not brave enough to face the challenges that it entails.

It just human nature, I guess, to be afraid once in a while, to want to feel secure–all part of our ever-pressing need to survive. Although, today’s modern society requires more than just surviving. There’s a lifestyle to live up to. And it takes a strong human spirit to triumph over this apprehensions, to embrace the possibilities, whether good or not, and to believe that all things are possible to those who believe they are.

I WILL continue earning money from home in 2011! I will say that with conviction because I know it will happen. In fact, it is already happening.

A prosperous New Year to all!

After I resigned from my regular work, there had been times when I doubted if I can consistently earn money from home by working online. But it was more than two years ago and so many wonderful things have happened. Now, more than ever, I am confident that we’re on the right track, my husband and I. And as long as we believe in ourselves and in our abilities, we’ll stay afloat and wade in the water comfortably. And hopefully, achieve our financial goals soon.

And because Christmas is just around the corner, I thought this would be the perfect time to count our blessings and be thankful for all the good things that happened to us this year.

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You are working and earning money from home. And you are successfully doing this for a while that you’ve decided to quit from your regular job and concentrate on being an online freelancer. You are more comfortable in this setup. You feel you can work better and are probably earning more. Or spending less. Either or both translate to a bigger income. You relish with the new sense of freedom (from the office, that is) that comes with working online.

Now what?

Working online is not all about earning money from home. If you’ve been doing this for quite some time now, you will realize that you cannot be totally carefree because online work is not exactly the most stable career in the market. Projects and contracts end, abruptly sometimes. One day you have work. The next day, you’ll suddenly receive an email from your client or employer that your services are no longer needed or they are abandoning the project or shutting down.

Things like these are common when you are working online. And it can happen even to the most seasoned of us. So you’ve got to get your act together and start forming a plan to ensure you’ll have enough to get through the low/no income months.

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A few weeks ago, I did something I haven’t done for a long time: I started applying for a new online job. My current client who I work full-time for, has decreased my working hours. She said she is a little cash-strapped and needs to trim down on some expenses. But she doesn’t want to abandon all our projects, so just asked me to work for a few hours everyday until her sources of income become more stable.

I normally don’t want to have more than one full-time job, but I don’t know how long this part-time work setup will last, so I decided to find another job. And the first thing that I did was update my oDesk profile and my cover letter.

Your oDesk profile and cover letter are the two most important things you need to consider when looking for a job in oDesk. Together, they must always highlight your skills to attract the attention of potential employers.

And based on the recent changes that I made, I came up with simple and, I hope, effective ways on how you can beef up your profile and write a compelling cover letter.

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