Some Basic Online Work Words that I Will be Discussing

Here are my most favorite topics about online work that I will be discussing time and time again.  If anything, I have started on some posts already.  This is posted for those who intend to learn more about working online.  This post will be expanded time and time again, depending on trends that will commonly crop up when you are an Online Filipino Worker.

SEO - is Search Engine Optimization. What you do on or for your website to be found when searched on Google and the other search engines.  This includes fixing the website to be easily scanned by search spiders, posting great content in the site, posting informative SEO articles in other websites, getting other sites to link to your website, etc. etc.

Web Usability - making your website easy to use for the internet user.  This involves:  putting simple and understandable information,  making choosing options easy, clear info what will happen when a user clicks this or encodes that, having the most important element, such as a button or table, in the right place easily seen by the user, etc.

Web Analytics - collection and analysis of all the data happening in your website.  Use the data to improve your users' experience and your sales or sign-ups.

Web Conversion - When your users convert/ do something in favor of your company's objective, such as buying, signing up as member, subscribing to your newsletter, etc.

Conversion Rate Optimization - All the efforts you do to increase the percentage of sales/ conversions vis-a-vis the number of visitors in your website.  To optimize conversions, you usually tweak your website's usability, copywriting, testing, analytics, etc.

Web Copywriting - Writing persuasive text in your web page that will make readers convert/ do something in favor of your website's objectives.

A/B Testing/  Multivariate Testing - Presenting to users different versions of 1 webpage to see which version leads to more conversions/ sale/ sign-ups/ etc. Testing which web page version is the most effective.

There are other virtual online work such as programming, admin tasks, customer service and the like, but I will focus more on the ones above as these are the main tasks I do.


Other words I will usually use:

If I say traffic, most likely I am not referring to the heavy volume of cars on the road, but the number of people that pass through the website.  These are the same people I refer to when I say, audience, users, readers, etc.

Copy is not nicking your classmates answers in the test, but the written text of a web page, advertisement, etc.


A little request from OFW Din: If you liked this post, please click the cute buttons below the title. It will let Google and the others know you sent me some love.

How Did I Start with Online Work?

I found out about online working about 2003 or 2004.  I knew it was happening in the US, but I doubted if there would be something similar in the Philippines.  I read all about the different online gigs,  but none looked stable enough to do on a regular basis.  I also had no idea about the secret-identity-ed Filipinos doing this for a living.

Funny enough, I would have the tip from an offline source.  I was reading an article from News Break, a reputable investigative journalism magazine.  I read about the story of a telecommuting writer.   The subject  mentioned he had 2 regular writing projects and that it was pretty challenging.  He also mentioned his monthly income: twice mine.

Being a writer and a graphic designer, I knew I had what it takes to work from home.  Somehow, things happened that finally prodded me to jump into an uncertain world. I resigned from my work, and I actively looked for a regular online job.

It was to be a pretty tough year ahead.  I scoured all websites I can get my cursor on.  It was a big learning experience. I learned that real time ways of doing some things do not apply online.  I felt the pressure of bagging jobs immediately because funds were running low.

I finally got my first regular gig 10 months after I resigned.  It was all worth the wait because the client was very kind yet smart, and the industry involved was something quite close to my heart.

Now I'm hooked.  I have no plans whatsoever of going back to the regular onsite 9-6 grind.  If anything, I'm happier now than ever.


A little request from OFW Din: If you liked this post, please click the cute buttons below the title. It will let Google and the others know you sent me some love.

Online Filipino Workers: Do you still Use the Computer to Relax?

Online Filipino Workers are in front of the computer 25 hours a day.  So the question is, do you still use the computer to relax?

Me, I make it a point to not stay by the computer during week-ends.  That is my only time away from it.  However, when I want to relax and spend some me-time during weekdays, I while away my amusement also in front of the computer.

Which sites does a typical online worker go to?
Well, my favorite site of all is Plurk. It has been formatted in a way that you grow friendships in Plurk.
There is Facebook, but I only play 1 cute Playfish game in it.  I do not really participate.
Then there is StumbleUpon.  You get the cutest pieces to pop out on your monitor fromStumbleUpon, that randomly shuffles pages you might like and presents it to you whenever you feel like it.
The others are random things I usually want to find out about, such as recipes, Hollywood news, etc.

On weekends, I so want to stay away from the computer but still want to interact in Plurk, so I use my mobile.  Yes, it is cheating.

I imagine that I can stay away from the computer during weekends, because I have regular gigs.  But for the Filipino online worker who constantly markets the self, Saturdays and Sundays are not exempt to check those mail boxes for inquiries or questions.


A little request from OFW Din: If you liked this post, please click the cute buttons below the title. It will let Google and the others know you sent me some love.

Why Do Subscribers Need to Enter their Email Address Again?

I'm a little weirded out.

I'm a subscriber of several conversion optimization newsletters.   I read in one of the newsletters I received that there was a nice webinar and I wanted to sign up.  So I clicked the link, and a long form flashes in front of me.  I had to fill up this long form,  when I already gave away this info when I subscribed to them.  Truth to tell, I've filled up this form for them gazillions of times already.

I am mostly patient with things like this.  It's disappointing though, because if you're a very much established conversion optimization company, why are your forms not optimized to convert?

The Binondo Food Massacre : Northern Style Dumplings

One advantage to being an Online Filipino Worker is you can up and go anytime as long as skeds are manageable.

Yesterday, I went out with my 2 besties and we headed out to Binondo, Manila (Manila's Chinatown) for a DIY Binondo food trip.  My friend had prepared a looong list of yum stopovers.  I was quite doubtful whether we'd even have the digestive space to eat from all of those establishments.  I've been detoxing for 2 weeks now and I wasn't too hot at the idea of swallowing an assortment of food.  However, this was our christmas party, new year's party, valentines date and bday party for 1 bestie all rolled into 1: I was antsy to spend the day with the best friends.  The food is a side bonus.

Anyway, with all the relaxed conversation and walking between the eating, all we got to go to were only 4 establishments.  So this'll be the 1st article about it.  I expect more.  I didn't expect to blog about it so I didn't document at all (Boo.) .  Missing names and streets (Boo again.)   to follow.

First we had Northern style dumplings at 2 joints.

We were the 1st customers at Tasty Restaurant near the Binondo Church.  The place was quite nice and neat for a Chinatown restaurant.  We ordered dumplings and a pork dish similar to pata tim.  I also ordered seaweed.  Too sweet for my taste, but yum under regular circumstances.

We passed by Carvajal Street to get to Yuchengco Street.  Carvajal is narrow street, just a tiny opening in the grand scheme of Chinatown things, but it will attract your attention because it is indeed a very busy street.  It should be a must-visit place for all foodies who cook.  The fresh Chinese ingredients were all there in Carvajal.  Fruits, veggies, seafood and assorted Chinese ingredients were there.  I got an eye-full of sea cucumbers and sea weeds.  I wonder what ingredients I'll see next time.  Cooking foodies, before you go to Carvajal, research your recipes with sea cucumber and sea weeds so you're prepared to pick the ingredients you want to take home next time.

I also bought kiwi and strawberries at affordable prices from Carvajal.  And when I got home, it was only then that I observed how big and pretty and firm the strawberries were.  The next morning, I ate only 2 strawberries for breakfast.  It was yum. (Yup, it was that big.)

We'll be returning to Carvajal for Quick Snack's noodles, also at that same street so I'll definitely be back.  We didn't eat at Quick Snack even if it was on our list because we were full.

I really wanted to sample the Northern style food first, and I wanted to savor the food before I got too full.

My friend noted that 1 restaurant mostly had Northern style food so off we trooped to Yuchengco Street.  At the window of the Dong Bei Restaurant, you will be welcomed to the sight of a cook preparing the shallot dumplings and lovingly pressing the dumpling dough.  Looked yummy.  There we tried the dumplings again.  Plus we ordered the shallot and pork pancakes.  Yum.  The dip was delicious.  It's similar to lumpia vinegar-soy dip but not too sour or salty or spicy, or oily.  I can't describe it, only that it tasted just right.  They had other rice dishes but we were not interested since we were full.

By then we were interested with what tea they were serving.  The staff said it was oolong.  I liked the tea because it was aromatic but not strong.  It was the type you can chug the whole day instead of water.  The kind staff then offered they were also selling bags of it.  My bestfriend bought a bag from them for only P100.  The staff were also kind enough to give us instructions.  The P100 bag is well worth it.  They placed it in a big ziplock bag, and gave us an extra container if we wanted to share among ourselves.

Overall, this restaurant isn't as snazzy-looking as Tasty, but the price, taste of food and staff service are excellent.

- more next time-

Fastfood Websites: Drop the Fancy Flash!

It's year 2010 and websites are expected to load quickly.  If your websites are not loading quickly, you may be losing customers.


The family has been clamoring for lunch and we are all hungry.

I went over to visit the KFC delivery (Philippines) website and looked forward to eating their yummy chicken for lunch.


At the front page:  Waiting for Flash... waiting for flash... waiting for flash.  I have 4 files downloading so it may be affecting the speed of the flash.   Hmm....

I clicked menu hoping to find the food offers and prices.

Again,  waiting for Flash... waiting for flash... waiting for flash. Getting impatient here...

Waiting for Flash... waiting for flash... waiting for flash.

Hurgh!  All I wanted is the name of the food item and the price!  Not worth it.  Click X.

Website developers,  Usability workers:  Fastfood websites invite the interest of HUNGRY PEOPLE.  They want quicker results more than the usual.  Remove all elements that bog down speed, such as flash items. 

It's a simple matter of putting yourselves in the shoes of the user.

Free Usability Tip:  If you really want to include the pretty flash pages for a fastfood site:

• On your home page, list the most popular food items and the prices and put your phone number in big letters
• At the side, put a navigational menu to links that contain all your pretty pages. 
  

HURGHHH.
Sorry but I'm really hungry.

I've been checking the other fastfood delivery sites just now, may require another post.  HURGG!

On Paid Blog Posts

My 2 cents on sponsored blog posts.

Some people, online workers included, are wary of paid blog posts.  They think that all blog posts are somehow dishonest.

For someone like me who
1) Blogs because I want to write
2) Blogs because I'm enthusiastic about the blog topic, and
3) Has been blogging for years without compensation of any form - just now,

I have no issues with getting paid for posts.

I have my own opinions.  If I blog about a product, I will do so because it's what I really think about the product. 

Plus, if I do write anecdotes about it, those are real stories.


If I have issues about the product to be written about, then I can decline the request.  Simple as that. 

And truth to be told, I do not see the need to have a Full Disclosure Policy about paid posts because EVERYTHING I WILL EVER WRITE ABOUT IS TRUE.  If it's not true, or a tad dishonest, I won't write. If I get paid for liking something and being honest about it, I have no issues about that either.

So I don't really understand why some online workers are whining and whining about paid blogging but doing it anyway. 

Bottomline: If you have the need to whine about doing something.  Just don't do it and zip it.



A little request from OFW Din: If you liked this post, please click the title, then click the cute buttons below the title. It will let Google and the others know you sent me some love.

Online Filipino Workers Have Staff Dev too - Or, Waking Out of Sked for Webinars

Today I woke up at 3:45 am to catch a webinar, to add more to my little but growing knowledge on web marketing.

The webinar (web seminar) is a staple of the online Filipino worker.  There are so many things to read in the web for your own development, usually having an interactive class is a pleasant break.

Webinars are usually hour-long classes held by organizations and usually have the most reputable net people as the teachers.  Topics vary, there will always be one for your niche.  The "class" is quite interactive.  Depending on the software, some webinars have IM and the audience can type in their comments and the speaker sees the feedback.  This way too, the speaker can ask questions and audience can give in their answers.

Some webinars are for free, some require payment.  Organizations like giving webinars as it helps establish their credibility and reputation as an expert in the field.

However, don't sign up for each and every webinar you see.  Do seek out the more established companies or ones with more reliably-excellent speakers.  Some companies who host webinars may want to establish themselves as authority but the content is blah.  This can piss off the sleep-deprived online worker more than usual.  Definitely, sleep is more important than unoriginal lectures.  So choose to sign up for webinars with the idea leaders.

My tiny problem as an online Filipino worker is that webinars are usually held at the other side of the globe, and for some consecutive times now, always had the wrong time conversions.  Like today, I converted the time and was informed the webinar would be at 4am.  No, it started at 5am. These days, because of DST on the other side of the planet, I  have always been late or too early for a webinar.  Please don't ask me which time conversion website I use.  hurggh

But despite the little sacrifice, it's okay because I learn a lot more than I would reading a 400 word article on a topic.

If you see an advert for a webinar and are interested to attend:

• Check out the company and the speaker first.
• Double check if content matches your skill level.
• If everything is cleared with you, sign up.  You will have to fill up forms.
• Check your inbox for a confirmation message.
• You will get another message with the meeting link.
  

 On the day itself, you will usually get a reminder email, again with a link.

• Prepare early, check your audio and stuff.
• Prepare your notebook and pen for taking  notes.
  
• Get some coffee and enjoy learning! 

Handy Character Traits to Have When you are an Online Worker

In my few years as an online Filipino worker, I have noticed that some people are naturally matched to working online.  Working at home is something they thrive at, compared to those who do want to but do not thrive as much.

Do you think have what it takes to be an online Filipino worker?  We usually have the same stuff as office people, but some personality traits are more distinct when you are working by yourself, at home, most of the time.  The traits below may seem easy as pie, but usually we'll only know once we've taken on that first online work assignment.

More self-motivated than usual.  Online workers are very independent, more than the usual office worker, maybe.   Since the online worker mostly talks to a monitor, it is easy to slack off and sleep through the day. Regular online workers have a proven track record of automatically doing the tasks needed even without anybody watching them.  People who like supervisors, nannies or mommy to pressure them to do something may not be the best match to online work.


Strong sense of commitment.  Word of honor to deliver is enough to automate the self-motivation.  The online worker dismisses any excuses, real or imagined, to deliver an agreed project.

Comfortable with doing different kinds of tasks. When you are an online worker, whether you are freelance or a resident contractee, on some level you are your own boss, secretary, sales, marketing, operations, admin services in 1.  You are also the janitorial services, so it really helps to be flexible.  Being cheerful in doing "lowly" tasks to boss tasks indicates you can be an online worker in the long haul.

A little more patience, especially for moms with small children working at home.  I salute the work-at-home moms with small children and are still very professional.  Like any office work, we have deadlines.  In the office though, there is the privilege of focusing on only the tasks at hand.  At home, there is the ever-lovable but still breaks the peace, "Mommy, look at me! Mommy may I have juice?  Mommy, hold my hand."  Some online worker moms still make sure their babies/ toddlers have baby sitters so that they can work and deliver.  It's still much better to be physically present at home and keep an eye out for baby and yaya while working, than not be there at all.

Cheerful with almost no "real time human contact" through out the day. This may seem easy to do, but I have found that this where most people are challenged.  Yes, online workers have their online bosses and online friends.  They may suddenly laugh out loud in real time from all the amusing conversation they do online. However, it is still online, conversations that pop out on a  monitor. Some people who are super efficient in the real-time office will suddenly feel "lost" with no human contact throughout the day.  Me, being naturally self-absorbed, thought this was easy to breeze through.  But then, I have been surprised at people who did not match up to online work because of this "lonely" part of the work.

These are the main ones that I can think of.  By now, you may be able to identify if online work is for you, or if the real-time brick and mortar office with people is better.

Wow! Quick Paypal Withdrawal in the Philippines

Of course, 1 of the most crucial aspects of online work is how to get paid.  Your clients may be anywhere in the world, so you must make sure payments to you are quick and pain-free.

I most prefer Xoom for my payments so I don't know much about Paypal.

All I know about Paypal is that 2 years ago, I had a headache having my account verified.  When I did try to withdraw funds it took me, I think, 4 or 5 days for the money to appear in my account.  My contractor, a very considerate person, knew this was not the best way to go, so we agreed to have payments sent through Xoom.  (More on Xoom in a later article, I suppose.)

Yesterday, I chose the "withdraw to bank" option, landing the funds through China Bank  This morning, I took a peek (even if I didn't really believe the funds would be there) and the status for bank transfer was pending.  But this noon, the transaction was already completed.

I'm guessing credit goes to the bank for this relatively quick affair.

China Bank, you are so lovable for online Filipino workers. As they click in Facebook, "Like eht!"


A little request from OFW Din: If you liked this post, please click the title, then click the cute buttons below the title.   It will let Google and the others know you sent me some love.