This guest post is from TheDigeratiLife.com, a personal finance blog run by a Pinay who lives in Silicon Valley.
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Here’s a little break from online contests here at Mukhangpera.com. How about some ideas on how to make money through other means? We have some other diverse ideas on how to earn online and how to keep more of that money in your pockets. This article will show you some ways to save on your purchases using online coupons, and even how to budget your earnings or winnings.
How to Earn Online:
There are several kinds of online income sources, actually:
It all boils down to your lifestyle. What can you afford to do with your time? What are the things you are willing to invest time, and even money on? What do you prefer doing with your spare time?
Now when you’ve been compensated for your efforts, it’s time to decide whether you should save your earnings in savings accounts, or if you’re going to spend the extra income. When you spend what you’ve earned over and above your salary, make sure you spend it wisely. You can expand your purchasing power when you choose to use online coupons when you buy.
You can try these coupons on for size:
Now when all that is said and done, you would have to come to terms with the fact that you need a budget. Try MSN Money’s 50/30/20 proportion:
When you’ve apportioned your income accordingly, you’ll be able to manage your money, including your online earnings and winnings, more responsibly. Yes, it may be fun to spend all the cash you earned on shopping, or by picking up one more expensive toy, or on booze and friends; but 10 years from now, you may regret that choice. So make wiser decisions today, and see your nest egg grow, using not only your salary, but even your online earnings and winnings as well!
I realized I have never written about SMEs (Small-to-Medium Enterprises) before and I should have since I think they play a big role in the development of our country. According to a comprehensive article by Rhodora M. Leano, SMEs provide 69.9% of our labor force and contribute as much as 32% to our gross domestic product. Acknowledging their value and promoting the growth of SMEs in the Philippines will foster growth to our economy.
What is SME?
In order for me to go further, it is necessary to try to define what SMEs are. There is no standard definition yet and it continues to evolve but an article released by DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) says this about SMEs:
…A small and medium enterprise is any business activity or enterprise, whether engaged in industry, agribusiness, or services, and regardless of whether it is a single proprietorship, partnership, cooperative, or corporation, whose asset size corresponds to the following set amounts:
Micro Less than PhP 1,500,001
Small PhP 1,500,001 to PhP 15,000,000
Medium PhP 15,000,001 to PhP 60,000,000The assets referred to exclude the land where the firm’s office, plant and equipment are situated.
All enterprise with total assets of Php 15 million and below may generically be considered a small business.
In simpler terms, any private business with assets and earnings below P60 million is considered an SME. This includes your neighborhood sari-sari store, your favorite mananahi, the person who provides your longganisa, etc. These small to medium enterprises have so much potential to give our economy a boost but the sad fact is most of our enterprises are under-productive and lack efficiency. They fall victim to red tape and are the first to feel the brunt of inflation.
The SME Challenge
The Philippine government has a number policies and strategies in place to help SMEs. The Magna Carta for Small Enterprises, RA 7882 which recognizes women entrepreneurs and provides financial assistance to them, and the 1998 SME Development Strategy are a few of them. Like all plans though, nothing will happen if they are not (or hardly) being implemented. The challenge for any SME is longevity and the challenge for us is to support their endeavors because we will be the ones who will also benefit from them.
I believe NGOs and the private sector will be the ones who will really strengthen our SMEs. Just last week, I attended PLDT SME Nation‘s “Bossing Ako” campaign launch and I was very pleased to find out that there are a lot of established entrepreneurs who support SMEs. Companies and personalities such as Manny V. Pangilinan, Joey Concepcion, Vicky Belo, Silverworks, Folded & Hung, Reyes Haircutters, Pampanga’s Best, and The Generics Pharmacy are among those who are helping PLDT. The “Bossing Ako” campaign seeks to inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs as well as for existing SMEs to continue their quest for success. PLDT also tapped Rico Blanco and Arnel Pineda who collaborated on an inspiring song called “Para sa mga Bossing.”
Eric Alberto of PLDT
Gabby (?) and Xander Angeles
Rico Blanco singing the SME anthem
I was able to chat briefly with Rico Blanco and I was surprised at how spirited he was as he talked about his own business ventures and other matters. Rico is part-owner of Capones bar and Loudbox. He’s also in the process of putting up another bar and hopes that he can launch a huge Filipino website in the future. I asked why he agreed to PLDT’s offer to be among the spokespersons of the SME Nation and he said that he strongly believes that Filipinos should not just rely on the government to lift them up from poverty, it’s time we take matters into our own hands and by becoming an entrepreneur in any scale, we are helping ourselves as well as our country. He hopes that Filipinos will be somehow inspired and start their own businesses.
PLDT SME Nation seeks to provide cost-effective, high-tech, fast and reliable business solutions to SME. Since it’s a private sector, they can exhaust more resources to provide for the needs of businesses. I don’t know if ordinary Juans and Marias can easily afford their business solutions but what I can say is their services are really comprehensive. They can provide solutions for different kinds of businesses and I think the price can be adjusted according to a business’s demands. I am hoping that more businesses will follow PLDT’s lead and offer more help to our budding SMEs. The sector has a long way to go for it to truly flourish but the step PLDT is doing is a good start.
For more information on SMEs, visit the following:
ASEC
SME Toolkit Philippines
SME Loan Plan
Small Business Guarantee and Finance Corporation
Small Econimic Enterprises Development (SEED)
Awhile back, I blogged about a contest by a certain Sagar Rai. It looked good, legit and the prizes were great so I joined. Since I was subscribed to his to his RSS feed, I found out that I won 5th place when he posted to winners to his contest. I replied to that blog post and asked what I should do. I didn’t wait for a notification email since I was excited with my prizes. He replied that I should email datryan@gmail.com so I did. After days of not getting any replies, I emailed again. I never received a reply so I emailed using another email account but that didn’t work either. Then I learned that the website http://sagarrai.com was shutting down. This Sagar Rai claimed that the website was bought by somebody else and will change ownership. I doubt it’s true. Who in their right mind will buy that website unless that person’s name is Sagar Rai as well?! This Sagar also owns http://premiumwpthemes.in/ and I left a comment there and just as I expected, my comment was never published nor was I ever contacted.
Just who is this Sagar Rai? According to PremiumWPThemes.in‘s About section:
PremiumWPThemes.in is founded by Sagar Rai a 21-years old E&C Engineer student as well as self employed Web Designer, Logo Designer, SEO Marketer, Blogger based in India.
Sagar Rai the scammer should be very well aware of karma. Not getting my prizes is not really a loss for me since I didn’t shell out money. I only lost a few hours doing the contest tasks. However, Sagar Rai’s reputation is now sullied and just from a contest so his blog will have more incoming links.
I am sharing this with you, my readers, so that you will know the risks when joining contests. Keep on joining contests. Don’t let experiences like this stop you. However, be very wary if a contest organizer is asking for money. Only shell out cash if you are 100% sure that the organizer is trustworthy (Natinal Geographic, Amazon, or airlines for example). There aren’t many contest scammers but there are a few rotten apples like this Sagar Rai guy. Just keep on hoping that you will win and that the contest is legitimate.
If you have been duped by Sagar Rai the scammer or anybody else, please share your experience here so we will learn.
With the proliferation of unlimited SMS services in the Philippine market, we have the opportunity to update our Twitter and Plurk statuses for free. Here are two services which will let you do it.
GladyCast allows users to update their Twitter and/or Plurk status via SMS. They initially offered their services to Singapore and Malaysia residents but they just recently added Philippines to their list. Right now, we can only use their Smart gateway but maybe they will have Sun and Globe in the near future.
In order to use GladyCast, you have to register first by connecting your Twitter and/or Plurk to Gladycast. You will then be asked to SMS a message to a Smart number. After that, you may update as much as you want.
Tweetitow is a progressive service. Users can update their Twitter status AND receive replies. Currently, they are trying to integrate MMS, ping.fm and posterous updates to their services. Tweetitow has gateways for Smart, Globe and Sun so users with unlimited SMS services can take advantage of this. New users will be given 30 free credits for signing upand those credits are consumed when you receive replies on your phone. Sending updates will have no effect on the credits.
To register, text REG username password to your gateway number (globe: 0927-338-9183, smart: 0928-102-0579, sun: 0923-986-0673).
If you know of another service similar to GladyCast and Tweetitow, please let me know.
A good way to save money is by using coupons. I have a rich aunt and she still collects coupons. She’s also aware of sales and discounts and is really good at getting the most out of her money. Although coupons aren’t as common here as America, there are still some in magazines, newspapers, flyers, and even online. I used to ignore them but seeing how my aunt is, I began collecting coupons I find useful. I’ve already used a couple for restaurants and 10% off the total bill is still something so I advice you to keep your eyes open for them. Also, if you have space in your wallet, keep the coupons there since the wallet is always with you.
Here’s a great tip for those who have credit cards. I only found out about this last week but it’s a big help. When you have a good standing with the credit card companies, meaning you always pay on time and pay the minimum due or more, you can request to have your annual fee waived. I don’t know if it works all the time but it won’t hurt to ask and you will get to save a good amount of money if your request gets approved. Just remember to ask nicely.
This advice is for people like me who spend hours online.
I’ve been seeing invitations to join PTC ( Pay-To-Click) Websites and at first I thought it involves going to blogs and clicking the ads displayed on the sidebar(s) or wherever. Out of curiosity, I joined one PTC site and found out that I just need to stay on one site and just click links provided to me which opens a tab with a timer and an ad/website. It doesn’t really involve much except the occasional CAPTCHA to make sure the clicker isn’t a robot. I said to myself, this isn’t bad. I can do this while plurking. I joined more PTC sites and I’m still determining how soon I’ll earn the minimum cash-out.
Some of the PTC sites I frequent:
Tips:
I will post updates on my progress with the mentioned PTC websites.
Getting and keeping money is getting harder for everyone because of the global economic crisis. I know a couple of people who lost their jobs due to cut-backs and they’re having a hard time getting employment again. I need money myself but I blame it on overzealous shopping during a trip abroad. I’m getting stressed just thinking about the credit card bills I’m going to get soon that I’m even selling my beloved DSLR, toys, and other items because I don’t want to suffer from C.C. interests pains if I don’t pay for everything ASAP. Unfortunately, selling said items still won’t pay for everything I bought so I am doing freelance work online.
Freelancing doesn’t necessarily require advanced technical skills but with skills come better pay-out. If you happen to be a simple folk like the bulk of internet users, even simple data entry freelance work can earn you some bucks. The following websites are good sources for getting freelance works:
These are just a few of the available freelance websites on the web. Just do a quick google search and you’ll end up with plenty of results. Good luck with freelancing and may the new year bring us more money! Cheers!
Several months ago, I began using a WordPress plugin called for . It was a bit unnerving at first. At first glance, it looks complicated. But I tried it and found that it was actually easy to use. I’m still finding new ways to fully utilize the plugin but I’m not doing badly as a beginner.
Adsense Manager, as the name might imply, does not only manage Adsense. You can use it for all the other ad networks. As of this date, I’ve used it for the following: Adsense, Adbrite, Bidvertiser, Widgetbucks, Sponsor Review, etc. All you have to do is get the ad code, go to manage>add units, paste the code in the alloted slot, and click “import ad”. It will take you to “edit” where you can rename and customize the advertisement. Once that’s done, a widget with the ad name you’ve written will appear in design>widgets for easy insertion. If you want to use a particular ad outside the sidebar, an insertable code may be used.
I hope this tip is helpful!
I encourage bloggers to enter blog contests. Heck, I even won recently for joining one. However, there are scam contests out there and joining any contest is always a risk. Contest Blogger has . I suggest you guys read it so you’ll be aware of some scam tactics before you get suckered into joining one.
