PayPal Pains

PayPal is one of the many ways for Homebased workers to get paid. Their tagline "Safer, easier way to pay," speaking from personal experience, says otherwise- at least for the "easier" part. This is the process for first time PayPal users:

1. Log in to PayPal.com and create an account.
2. Verify your email by clicking on the link inside the email sent by PayPal to the email address you registered with them.
3. Enter your financial information- debit/credit card or bank account number.
4. Wait for the PayPal code to show up on your online bank statement. This is where the first hurdle is because not only do you get charged $2 for the "test charge", you also have to wait anywhere from 3 banking days up to 2 weeks for it to show up. In some forums and blogs, I even read that someone even waited for a month. Another person went to the head office of the bank for the code.
5. After getting the code, log back into your PayPal account, click on the "Verify my account" link and input it in the small box that will appear.
6. Your account is now verified and this is the only time that PayPal will let you withdraw your funds to your bank/ debit card.
7. Second Hurdle: you must now wait for 3-5 banking days for the funds to be transferred to your bank.

I guess this is why PayPal is slowly losing it's popularity among the Homebased crowd. We all expect to get paid and get the funds instantly and not virtually. I highly suggest getting paid via Xoom, Moneygram, and other money transfer facilities that are out there. Unless PayPal does something about this- better processes, tie-ups, or what have you- they will continue to be, for me, the "Safer yet PAINFUL way to get paid."

Home-based Adventure Begins in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

I have been in the call center industry for 10 years. I am burned out and calloused from all of the highs and lows of call center life. My sister in law who also maintains a blog- hoshilandia.com, resigned from her Ortigas-based writing career and went home-based. I have to admit I was surprised at first because during that time I thought home-based jobs were financially unreliable and knowing my sister-in-law is not much of a risk-taker. Months passed and I noticed that she was less stressed and very relaxed. I got curious and asked her what her job was online. She replied and told me that she works for a Canadian Company. The pay was regularly deposited to her bank account. I had to try it out. I went to the more popular websites for home-based freelancers which are freelancer.com and Odesk. I also went through some of the websites that she gave me.These are some of them:

1. Bestjobsph.com
2. Remotestaff.com.au
3. Onlinejobs.ph


There are also home-based English teaching jobs that you can take advantage of. Here are some of them:

1. 51talk.com
2. Rarejob.com.ph


I landed my first freelance job as an English Instructor at 51talk. The support people there are very accommodating and approachable. They will answer all of your questions and give you helpful information on how to go about teaching Chinese people the English language. You will earn around Php50- 60 pesos per 20 minute lesson. The catch there is that you wont get a lot of students asap. I hung around for a week without getting any bookings from students. I gave up because I didn't want to wait for a long time before I could earn decent money (remember, I have 4 kids).

So I looked for another job and this time I got a job as a transcriptionist. I was getting $10 per hour of audio transcribed. The first audio file I got was 18 minutes long. It had two African-American men rapping, I mean, talking with all their slang and cuss words. I found it real hard to transcribe because even though I am used to hearing Americans talk, transcribing is a whole new ball game. You really have to get each and every word that is in the audio file. Needless to say, I finished the file after a day of pausing, rewinding and slowing down the dreaded 18 minute audio file. I got paid $3 for all my painstakingly hard work.

Finally, I looked for a job in Onlinejobs.ph and successfully landed a job as a manuscript editor. It pays $30 for every 20,000 words. I was editing a 26,000 word, roughly-translated manuscript when Jake( President of an American Software company who is now my boss) emailed me and asked if I'm interested in a job as an assistant. I was thrilled because he offered me a relatively higher pay than what the other jobs paid me. So I finished the manuscript and emailed him, expressing my interest in the job. He then interviewed me over Skype and just like that, I landed a job as a Business Development Director at his company. He is very pleasant and easy to talk to. He is also very straight-forward and gives constructive feedback instantly. Overall, I am loving my current career in Business Development and I am looking forward to a great future with this company.