Ey ! 

Yesterday, my phone buzzed with one of those "Your memories from 10 years ago" notifications from Google Photos.

You know, the ones that either make you smile or cringe at your fashion choices from years back?

Luckily, it wasn't the cringe memory.

What popped up was this photo from 2015 - me posing working on my laptop in the middle of a barren field, surrounded by solar panels, with a satellite dish perched nearby (out of frame sya.)

Then I remembered: I had paid $500 (around ₱23,500 based on the exchange rate) for just 4 days of rented VSAT (via PhilcomSat) satellite internet that delivered speeds slower than the LTO processing your license renewal, lol.

Why?

Because when you're stuck documenting a solar farm project in the absolute middle of nowhere—seriously, three hours from the nearest cellular tower—with deadlines looming and clients needing high-res photos and videos for updates, you pay whatever it costs to get connected. 

My immediate thought when I learned of the price? Hell nah. 

Like seriously, bruh. For that money, I could've flown halfway to The Hague (one-way only, kinapos na budget e hehe).

This was back in 2015, 8 years before Starlink was a thing in the country. 

We had to use those clunky VSAT systems where you needed a technician just to point the dish correctly. The setup fee alone was $200, then $300 for the 4-day "premium" service package that promised 3 Mbps but delivered maybe 512 Kbps on a good day. 

What if it rained? What if super cloudy? Forget about it.

But as I sat there watching the progress bar of my uploads crawl (sometimes I swear it was moving backwards), trying to get our project files to the client while I was wondering if I made the right life choices, a lightbulb moment hit me.

(well, technically now ko lang naisip after so many years. haha kasi puro sakit ng katawan lang naalala ko from that time)

This is actually a perfect reminder to freelance in markets where others won’t.

To offer ordinary services in places where clients will happily accept even average work at premium prices is absolutely one way to win big in this freelancing business.

We can complain about ancient satellite internet costing an arm, leg, and possibly half a kidney, ₱300 shitty airport coffee that tastes like dishwater, or that one emergency laptop repair guy who charged me ₱4,500 for a ribbon cable that took 2 minutes to install...

...or we can see it for what it is – low supply in a high-demand environment.

Supply and demand, remember? 

That thing we probably should have paid attention to in high school economics instead of passing notes to our crushes, tapos sabay batuhin ka ng chalk ng chem teacher mo? (Just me? Okay.)

When applied to our freelancing business, these opportunities are absolutely still out there, .

If you stumble upon the right niche, you can still leverage skills that might be considered "just okay" in oversaturated markets, yet earn substantially more because you're providing solutions where few others are looking.

I've experienced this firsthand. With my very very very average video editing and filmmaking skills (honestly, nothing special), I managed to land in the crypto education niche back when it was booming. 

Even if my skills were meh, they valued it because almost no editors were specializing in crypto content at that time.

I once got paid $2800 for a cut to cut edit my client’s 30-minute VSL, just to remove the silences and bad takes (which you can basically outsource kahit bayaran mo pa ng 10k pesos yung editor mo they’d be happy na)

So far nung kasagsagan ng bull market sa crypto, I’ve got paid $16k++ from this one single client alone. E pano pa yung ibang clients?

And all this happened DURING the height of Covid. So while many people were losing their incomes left and right, I was thankfully able to get into this market and continue to make a living pa din.

And those are all really basic editing (that I mostly didn’t even do because they didn't challenge me creatively, kaya I delegated and outsourced) 

The truth is, most pinoy freelancers are stuck competing in the most saturated markets.

They're fighting for Upwork and OLJ video editing gigs, or scraps inside facebook groups that they sadly and obviously get exploited for.

(Not that Upwork is bad ha, it's just harder to compete in there lalo na there are giant agencies inside there now and people with years and hundreds of ratings ahead of you.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8G7WLLHOYc&t=4s

In that actual video which blew up in the pinoy video editing groups I’m part of, one gamer was so proud that he would only pay you 200 hundred pesos to edit highlights of his hours-long video of his gameplay, and dapat maging grateful ka.

I made a video about it back then because I wanted to ride the trend, lol.

Pero the real ugly truth though, and I won’t sugarcoat this.. 

As a video editor, I was upset. Pero as a business owner it made sense lang to take advantage of the choices. 

What did you really expect when you are the 1,247th person offering the exact same generic service? Tapos ang dami mo pang kasabay na high school students who would be more than happy to do it for extra computer shop time and experience.

It's so easy to use price as a decision filter.

Tapos video editing pa ang skill ko? Sheet, everyone and his lola knows how to edit these days. If you know how to use a mouse or your tablet or cellphone, you're technically a video editor na.

Magtataka ka pa ba if you were offered peanuts, ? 

The secret is to find your own "solar farm in the middle of nowhere" market – or "dedicated video editor for crypto education mentors" market where clients are desperate or happy enough to pay premium rates for your services simply because you're one of the few people offering what they need.

Maybe it's technical writing for a specific industry, like luxury bath and kitchen fixtures. Maybe it's specialized data analysis for a niche sector. Maybe it’s a missed-call to text-back service for really busy field contractors. Maybe it’s a bespoke chatbot that gets aesthetic clinics more bookings and consultations to their high-ticket services.

So many opportunities to try.

Your average skills can suddenly become extraordinary when you're the only person in the room who can solve a specific problem.

Where are your clients experiencing "desperate for satellite internet in the middle of nowhere" problems that you could solve?

Let me put it this way: somewhere out there is a client who's as desperate for your specific skills as I was for that overpriced PhilcomSat connection in the solar farm. 

They'll pay premium rates just because you're offering exactly what they need, where no one else is looking.

My question is, uunahin mo pa din pa mag-commiserate sa skill mo or mag-aral until you're ready with your skill? Or mag focus ka sa market?

I'm genuinely curious. Reply and let me know what underserved markets you're thinking about targeting, or if you've already found a blue ocean strategy that's working for you.

I read all responses kahit minsan di ako makareply agad. Promise!

Shoden "Boom Pa-Niche!" San

P.S. The easiest way to find these opportunities? Look at your existing skills through the lens of different industries. The specialized context is often what clients will pay premium rates for.

P.P.S I actually billed the client on the internet, hahaha. Ano sya sira? It was a business communication expense directly related sa project. So syempre karga nila yun. ^_^

🎉

Pst. Don't Keep Me A Secret. refer this newsletter to your freelancer friends. This REALLY REALLY helps me a lot, thanks!