Alternative income means via the Net
“I don’t have to spend for transportation or for eating out during lunch breaks. I don’t even have to spend for clothes or shoes because I only stay here at home,” says Rechelle Tolinero when asked about the perks of having an online career.
For two years now, Rechelle has been making a living as a freelance Web editor. She was offered the job right after graduation from Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan where she took up Development Communication.
“When I was in my fourth year in college, I used to work for a business process outsourcing company here in our city. When the company closed, the client we were working for offered to hire us as freelancers,” she says.
“I edit an online directory, similar to Yahoo! and Dmoz. It’s a directory of all information found on the Web sorted by specific categories. It makes Internet browsing easier. Part of what I do is making sure only quality sites are entered in the directory,” explains Rechelle, a resident of Cagayan de Oro City. “It’s a paid directory for US residents.”
She gets the job done without having to leave home, an arrangement that works well for the young single mom. “I get to spend time with my one-year-old son while I earn.”
It wasn’t always that way though. When she was new at her online job, Rechelle had to frequent the Internet café despite having a computer at home. “The website I was working on requires a really fast and reliable connection. It would not run with just an ordinary connection, like the dial-up I was using then. My job also requires me to open several websites at a time, which can slow down an ordinary connection,” she recalls.
So when a friend recommended Smart Bro, Rechelle immediately applied for the service. Smart Bro is the high-speed broadband Internet service provided by Smart Broadband Inc. that uses Smart’s nationwide network to connect a computer to the World Wide Web wirelessly, that is, even where there is no phone line.
Reliable ‘business partner’
For almost two years now, Smart Bro has been her reliable “business partner.” “With Smart Bro I can open up to 15 windows at a time without compromising the speed of my connection,” she says.
Investing in Smart Bro proved to be a wise decision for Rechelle who maintains another job as a paid blogger. “I maintain two blogs from a blogging network and I’m required to write one 250-word article or two 125-word articles for each blog every day,” she says. These are the http://www.celebrityfashionwatch.com and the http://www.parishiltonwatch.com, both under 451press.com.
“I chanced upon one of the network’s sites and I clicked on the ‘write for us’ button to try my luck. They replied a week after and I have been writing for them since June 2007,” says Rechelle who was already writing features for her school paper and winning school press conferences back in high school.
“As a paid blogger, having a fast and reliable connection is a must because of the times I have to open different sources from the Internet for my articles. And since there seems to be a clutter in the blogging community already, I have to make sure I beat everyone else to a scoop. Even in bad weather, Smart Bro is able to deliver,” says Rechelle.
At 22, Rechelle has accumulated quite an experience as an online professional. “I also get extra income from doing product reviews and ads. There was a time too when I ventured into online writing or blurbs,” she says.
She got into online product reviews by enrolling her blogs in sites such as Reviewme.com, Sponsoredreviews.com, and Smorty.com. She does mostly clothing brands, apparels, and other products related to fashion.
It was almost a year ago when she did online writing. “My sister was actually the one who had contacts with a client. What we did was write about 200-250 word articles featuring information about various sports personalities,” shares Rechelle.
Aside from being able to work in the comfort of your home, an online job is also financially rewarding, attests Rechelle. “Because of my online job I was able to help my sister get through college. In addition, I was able to help with the expenses in the renovation of our house.” It basically covers almost everything — grocery, electric and telephone bills, and her monthly Smart Bro subscription.
“I get paid through PayPal,” she says. “Everything is done online since my bosses are from the
Perfect for homebodies
According to Rechelle, an online job is perfect for homebodies and those looking for additional income. But she’s quick to add that one must be patient, love research, and most importantly, know how to manage time properly.
“Since the time is yours, managing your time is really the challenge. And because it’s an output-based job, you have to work more if you want to earn more,” she says.
Rechelle also reminds those interested in online jobs to practice caution as they would in the real world, lest they fall prey to scammers who post job ads, ask for sample works and even fees, after which you’ll never hear from them again.
But admittedly, there are a lot of job opportunities to be found on the Internet. People can start a rewarding online career similar to what Rechelle continues to enjoy, given the right attitude, the necessary skills, and an Internet connection that works.
“I don’t think I would be able to maximize profit-making without my Smart Bro,” says Rechelle.
Smart Bro now also offers the country’s first and only prepaid mobile broadband Internet service, which lets you surf the Internet anywhere there’s a PC or a laptop. It makes use of a small, USB-type wireless modem called Smart Bro Plug-It that can be hooked into a desktop PC or laptop to connect the user to Smart’s nationwide wireless broadband network. This is available in postpaid plans, and prepaid with affordable sachet pricing and easy loading.
Just as it democratized mobile communication, Smart is stepping up efforts to make the Internet available to a broader segment of the population in pursuit of its “Internet for All” advocacy.
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