Freelance Blend Podcast Marv de Leon: Freelance Champion, Business Coach, Author, and Digital Advocate

It’s tax season once again, and if you’re a freelancer, business owner or even an employee earning from freelance gigs, you may be wondering:







“How do I file my Annual Income Tax Return (ITR) with the BIR?”







I actually have the same question, especially since I became an employee again last year (while at the same time earning on the side from my “rackets”).















And so I asked for help from my friends at Taxumo — the online platform where Pinoy taxpayers can file and pay their taxes easily (most especially during this pandemic).







(Use my code FLBLEND to get your first 3 months for only P300! This is for any Taxumo subscription plan. You save as much as P7,500+. Get this now at Taxumo.com)







I invited Liej Alas, Growth Manager of Taxumo, on the Freelance Blend Podcast to answer our top questions about income taxes as well as to demo to us how we can file our Annual ITRs safely at home through Taxumo.















Or listen to the episode here (CLICK this link) >> Freelance Blend Podcast Ep. 195







Links & Resources







* Sign up at Taxumo.com – use my code FLBLEND to get your first 3 months for only P300! This is for any Taxumo subscription plan. You save as much as P7,500+. Get this now at Taxumo.com.* Apple Podcasts: http://www.freelanceblend.com/itunes* Spotify: http://www.freelanceblend.com/spotify* YouTube: http://www.freelanceblend.com/youtube* Google Podcasts: http://www.freelanceblend.com/googleplay

Want to know the easy-to-follow steps to become a Lazada seller? Learn more from MJ Gaan, top seller and certified trainer at Lazada.com, as she teaches us her 5 steps to become a Lazada seller.







Online shopping is definitely booming this covid-19 season. I, myself, had been spending a lot ordering online because we’ve been locked down in our house since March, voluntarily self-quarantining to avoid catching the virus.















Or listen to the episode here (CLICK this link) >> Freelance Blend Podcast Ep. 194







I’m sure like me, you buy everything online now. From groceries to raw meat, gadgets, household items, home repair, toys, books, etc. Like most Pinoys, my #1 e-marketplace of choice is, Lazada.















Why? Because almost everything that we need to get is there.







Now for enterpreneurial Pinoys like me, we know that if we want to sell something online, Lazada would be the first most logical option.







Who better to teach us the basics of starting a Lazada store is MJ Gaan, one of the top sellers of Lazada.







She was kind and generous enough to accept my invitation to be interviewed on the show and share with us her 5 steps to become a Lazada seller – the same steps she teaches on her paid course.







Who is MJ Gaan?







MJ Gaan is one of the top sellers and certified trainers of Lazada. Her Lazada stores BDI and FranetaMall, have earned millions of pesos through selling various products and digital services.







Her company BDI, Inc. is also the Pioneer Accredited Service Provider of Lazada Philippines — helping thousands of Lazada Sellers set up, manage and grow their online stores.







Awarded by the 37th People’s Choice Award as the Outstanding Young Lady Entrepreneur, MJ is committed to hard work. At 18 years old, she had to work while studying to support herself and her family and is now she is a self-made entrepreneur because of online selling and e-commerce.











The 5 Steps to Become a Lazada Seller







1. Select and Source Your Product







The first step is to know what product to sell and where to source that product.







Are you making it on your own and you want to explore selling it online on Lazada?







Are you an existing business already? Maybe you have your own brick-and-mortar store and because of covid, you’re forced to sell your stuff online.







Then, just breeze through step 1 and go to the next step.







But what if you don’t have a product or don’t know what to sell?







Ms. MJ Gaan suggests to become a reseller first.







What is reselling?







With product resellership or distributorship, you find a company who makes products (called manufacturers) and you resell or distribute the products for them.

In this episode of the Freelance Blend Podcast, I share with you the top productivity apps that I personally use to work from home this 2020 (a.k.a. The Year of the Pandemic).















Or listen to the episode here (CLICK this link) >> Freelance Blend Podcast Ep. 193







From being a freelancer for 5 years then going back to corporate and working from home during this pandemic, I want to share with you the apps that I still use (you can listen to this episode where I share my top 12 desktop tools in 2018) and the new apps that I discovered and love this 2020.







The Top Productivity Apps That I Use to Work From Home in 2020







* Chrome – the best browser out there* Workplace Chat – Slack competitor by Facebook* Franz – combines Messenger, Watsapp, Skype, Telegram and Slack in one app (no need to open each app one by one). Viber is not included, which brings me to…* Viber – the desktop version of one of the top messaging apps* Trello – my favorite project management tool* Zoom.us – the popular video conferencing tool of this pandemic* Google Meet – Google’s Zoom competitor* Evernote Premium – my favorite note-taking and organization app (signup here to get one month free of Evernote Premium)* Copied – automatically keeps a history of your clipboard (every time you Control-C) in one app* Chrome Extensions* LastPass – my password management tool of choice* Evernote Web Clipper – this is how I bookmark...

I was fortunate to have been invited to this webinar called Qlitan by QBO Innovation Hub with the topic “Empowering the Gig Economy”.















Or listen to the episode here (CLICK this link) >> Freelance Blend Podcast Ep. 192







In the first few 9:30 minutes of this episode, you will hear from Marella Ricketts of QBO who will talk about how QBO helps the startup community here in the Philippines. You’ll also get a chance to hear welcome remarks from QBO’s President himself, Butch Meily.







Panelists















Atty. Fatima Panontongan – Chief of Staff of Senator Sonny Angara of the Senate of the Philippines







Jeff Sarmiento – Head of Business at Last Mile Inc, a digital logistics innovation company







Marv de Leon – Freelance Blend, a platform that champions the Pinoy freelancer







Joy Garingo – The Company Cebu (Moderator), a startup-friendly co-working space







What We Discussed: The Gig Economy







* What are the panelists’ respective roles in the gig economy* The benefits of the new bill for freelancers — The National Digital Careers Act by Senator Sonny Angara (Senate Bill 1469), which aims to promote the development of digital careers in the country and equip Filipinos with the skills needed to avail of these jobs* What are the vulnerabilities affecting freelancers* Why should freelancers pay taxes* What are the other ways that the bill can be improved to effectively empower the freelancers* The Freelancers Protection Act by Senator Villanueva* The first law that will be mentioning freelancers* How freelancers can protect themselves from non-payment by a client* Do we have a law or bill for non-tech freelancers?* What’s the future of employment once the lockdown ease















Links and Resources







* QBO Innovation Hub: https://www.qbo.com.ph/* Last Mile Inc: https://www.lastmile.ph/* The Company Cebu: https://thecompany.ph/* Apple Podcasts: http://www.freelanceblend.com/itunes* Spotify: http://www.freelanceblend.com/spotify* YouTube: http://www.freelanceblend.

In the previous episode — The 30 Fast-Rising Freelance Gigs in The New Normal (FBP 190) — I talked about the freelance gigs that have emerged during this covid-19 pandemic.















Or listen to the episode here (CLICK this link) >> Freelance Blend Podcast Ep. 191















However, I realized that I wasn’t able to tell you HOW to get those gigs, now that the game has changed. You don’t want to be putting salt on the wounds of those businesses that have gone bankrupt by pitching your freelance service to them.







The 10 tips I share below will help you identify those businesses AND teach you how to connect to those business without being insensitive and annoying to them (I give more context in the podcast so please listen here).







10 Tips on How to Get Freelance Gigs in the New Normal







* Go to your newsfeed and notice the businesses that are popping up doing Facebook ads. You will know if it shows “Sponsored” on top.* Study their website, marketing or ordering and payment process* Send them a message, ask about their product or service first to get them to reply to you* If you can purchase their product, do so, so they become indebted to you. (Extra points)* Based on your research, give them a short tip or two on how to improve their business  * Form a relationship with the person responding to you – even if not the person in charge (make sure you are not a bot ? )* Ask to be connected to the person-in-charge — (BTW, I’m Marv de Leon and I help _____)* Schedule a call or Zoom meeting with that person-in-charge* Track your leads then follow up* Repeat the process







Bonus Tip ?: When you email the person-in-charge, in the Subject Line, include the Order Number or Product Number of the product you just ordered from them and then mention your service. Example, “Re: Order #12345 – About my order and digital marketing help for Acme Company”.







LINKS & RESOURCES







* Apple Podcasts: http://www.freelanceblend.com/itunes* Spotify: http://www.freelanceblend.com/spotify* YouTube: http://www.freelanceblend.com/youtube* Join our FREE webinar: “3 Biggest Secrets to Getting Your First Freelance Side Gig”: http://www.freelanceblend.com/freewebinar* Join our small business support group on Facebook: http://www.samahangroup.org







Do you have other tips on how to get freelance gigs in the new normal that you want to add to my list? Feel free to share your thoughts below??

It’s already been about 4 months since the whole world has been hit by the covid-19 pandemic and it has not only been a health crisis, but an economic crisis as well. Businesses have been closing left and right, resulting in a scarcity of freelancing gigs available in the market. This is what we all now know as the new normal (sorry for using this already overused term).















Or listen to the episode here (CLICK this link) >> Freelance Blend Podcast Ep. 190















But it is not the end of the world. Money did not just disappear because of this stupid virus. It just stopped flowing – in certain areas, industries and channels.







Consumers too are spending way less than before. Our first priority in this pandemic is to meet our needs to survive — food, water, healthcare, facemasks, etc.







Now that we are slowly easing into the General Community Quarantine or GCQ, people — especially to those who are lucky to still have a job during this crisis — are slowly starting to spend on a few luxury items like gadgets, gourmet food delivery, alchohol and beauty-related stuff — just to escape the boredom of staring at the ceilings of their homes or after running out of things to watch on Netflix.







Meanwhile, businesses are the same too. Those who continue to operate and unaffected by the lockdowns have started to adapt by allocating their budgets to operations and activities that are in tune with the new normal — transforming their old school, offline practices into digital or online. This is what you call digital transformation, a term that you will keep hearing more of in the coming months and years.







In my observation, one popular example is the proliferation of webinars and Facebook Live streams that you see from business owners or companies who’ve never done this sort of thing before.







Companies, even the traditional ones, are now jumping on the digital bandwagon. (I’m sure you notice that in your newsfeeds too.)







And…good news, this is where we freelancers come in. 🙂







Digital, virtual, online – whatever you want to call it, is so natural to us freelancers. And that’s why if you’re still struggling to find that freelancing gig, or you’ve lost a client today, maybe you should consider these fast-rising freelance gigs that have sprung in this new normal.







I list them down below and talk in more detail on the podcast.







The 30 Fast-Rising Freelance Gigs in The New Normal







* Virtual Events Speaker or Host* Virtual Events Trainer* Virtual Events Manager* Online Event Promoter (Company meetings, happy hours, etc.)* Virtual Summit Producer* Virtual Concert Producer/Architect * Social Media or Digital Marketing Trainer * Zoom Expert * Digital Transformation Coaches* Ecommerce Transition Consultant * Ecommerce Developers * Shopify Experts * Remote Work Consultants/Recruiters/ Virtual Teams Consultant * Home Office Setu...