Yo Work Fun Nation!

Yesterday’s email about me crashing and burning seems to have hit a nerve and had people writing that they don't want to stay in their comfort zones any more. They don't want to be on the sidelines na lang lagi.

This made my day kasi kahit papano may epekto naman pala emails natin. 

“Ganda ng email mo today!! Can relate ako. Thanks for sharing your story. I needed to hear din na it's okay to crash and burn. I need to be kinder to myself.” 

“Grabe Coach, wild pala nangyari nung ganyan sa'yo.”

“Enjoyed your vulnerability, Coach! I know mag crash and burn din ako, and I have to be okay with it. I just want to let you know kasi I've been on the sideline too long.” 

I’m glad nag-resonate sa inyo and somehow kahit papano nagamit pala yung past painful experience ko to help you. I’ve talked to friends about that before over inuman while we were sharing war stories sa #buhayprod, but it was the first time I actually shared that in public. 

Written pati. Whew.

Ewan ko ba, I guess cathartic na din pala for me yung pag-share ko, and a cautionary tale or inspiration para sayo (depending on how you look at things hehe) 

Kasi tama nga naman, staying on the sidelines of our own life and merely being a spectator leads to stagnation and lack of progress. 

I see this a lot sa freelancing now. 

The other day I got a message from someone just starting out with online freelancing, at sabi nya: 

"Coach, parang ang hirap-hirap na maging successful sa freelancing ngayon no? Parang lugi yata kami na mag-start pa lang."

I chuckled a bit. 

Kung nagkakape lang ako nun, baka nabuga ko na. 

Mas mahirap ngayon?! Are you joking my leg?! 

The nerd!  (Syempre di ko sinabi out loud hehe)

Because the truth is, it's never been easier to succeed with online freelancing than right now.

Thinking back - when I first started being a weekend warrior sa freelancing, I did so offline muna, as a wedding videographer. 

Now wala ako filmmaking background, and my parents didn’t have that kind of money to put me through film school. Nag-wowork na ako sa corpo when the filmmaking bug bit me.

And since wala naman mga local workshops or online courses dati on how to be a legit wedding videographer (yes huhu I’m carbon dating myself in that sentence hehe), I had to literally borrow money from my friends in order to fly to Singapore for a 3-day Wedding Videography Workshop. 

I’m the one in green sa baba.

It cost me 85k+ to go to, and a year to pay back sa inutang. 

55k sa workshop (1k USD at the time), 

10k hotel stay for 4 days, 

13k airfare, 

8k+ food, gala, etc 

Even in the workshop, there was hardly any helpful info out there for Pinoy videographers who wanted to have their own freelance video business. 

I mean hindi lang yung pag-shoot ng pretty stuff and storytelling, but also the business side of it. 

Getting leads, tracking down prospects, closing, marketing, negotiation, charging what you’re worth, operating the business, and lots more. 

As in walang nagtuturo nito. 

We had a forum by Jason Magbanua that was called Pinoy Video Maker or PVM which was also an awesome informal community, but walang regular training dun (sa off-season lang kung may maka-isip magpa-workshop) 

This gap in the market was actually one of the big reasons for me to co-found a videography school sa Pinas, kasi wala talaga dati local school na palaging may class. 

Wala pang mga Facebook groups, limited lang back then ang laman ng YouTube, at wala pang mga online videography courses na pwedeng enrollan. 

I actually bought some Kindle books pa nga dati. They’re still in my library. 

Artifact I found sa Kindle Library ko, circa 20** ^_^

Totally had no clue kung sino si Steve Stockman, but he wrote in a funny and engaging way and may natutunan naman ako hehe. 

But today? 

Don’t me ha. Wag ako.

There’s simply no comparison. 

Don’t even get me started on online freelancing resources na meron ngayon. 

TONS of hours of YouTube videos on VA skills, SMM, SEO, content marketing, product listing, inventory management, email marketing, copywriting, web development, and more. 

Thousands of posts sa mga freelancing groups breaking down successful freelancing strategies. 

Entire online freelancing programs you can buy. Awesome communities and memberships you can join. Pati na rin one-on-one coaching opportunities. (wink wink, maybe lol)

With all these resources, literally MAS MADALI na maging successful in 2023. 

And don’t give me any of that palusot na… 

porket feeling mo saturated ang market, 

porket nakakalula ang daming options, 

porket ang daming distractions online, 

porket hindi ka pa nakakapili ng market to serve kasi multi-talented ka. 

Porket. Porket. Porket. 

PorkShet.

It’s actually the opposite of hard. 

The thing is, most new freelancers don’t want to dive headfirst into it. Hindi resources ang kulang. 

Nakaupo lang sila at naghihintay na may magmo-motivate at mag-push sa kanila. 

That’s not an option anymore if you want to be successful. 

Dapat talaga may kusang-loob.

Grab the initiative to study successful freelancers, practice your skills every day, and absorb all the knowledge available. 

Gawin mo lang yan and you'll absolutely get better at freelancing this year.

Kailangan lang is ikaw ang magdrive ng success mo. 

Walang gagawa nito for you. I am not your Guru. (or yaya for that matter)

So please lang ha utang na loob, I swear if I hear another freelancer say na "ay sadyang napakahirap e" na mag-freelance ngayong 2023, papakainin ko sya ng mainit na sili hehehe. 

I don’t know if mas pabebe lang mga tao ngayon, or ayaw makita in public na nagkamali sila. Or takot sila ma-reject. 

Or after a few attempts na negative ang result, give up na. 

What happens is you’re putting yourself on the sidelines, just waiting for someone to help you.

Well, guess what?

You’ll be waiting for a long, long, looooong time. 

Cause no one is gonna come along, motivate you, and push you to get better.

The ball is in your hands right now. 

Don't let yourself get so comfortable that you stop growing. Keep moving that goalpost, keep setting new challenges, and keep raising the bar. 

Discomfort is difficult but so rewarding. 

Stretch yourself. You're much more capable than you know . 

Osha baka maging TedTalk na naman to. 

Happy Thursday,

Shoden “TedTokerist” San

💡Need guidance on your own reinvention? 

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