Watch this interview as Glenn Mark Dizon shares his freelancing journey here on #JasSuccess.

Glenn is a Legislative Researcher before he ventured into freelancing. He's been freelancing for more than 8 years and he's an expert in the field of SEO and FB Ads.

In this interview, Glenn will talk about,

✅ His humble beginnings as a Councilor and Family Man
✅ Why he decided to pursue Freelancing
✅ What made him decide to specialize in SEO and FB Ads

and a lot more...

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Notable quotes

• Fortunate lang ako na yung first client ko is napakasupportive na i-SEO yung website nya para matest ko rin SEO (Seach Engine Optimization).
• Ang pinakabasic kasi sa talaga sa SEO, the more website na nagmention ng website mo, those are considered votes patungo sa website mo. As much as possible, mamention ang website mo ng other website. Pag namention sya, para syang vote of confidence na ang mangyayari is magrarank ka over those na nag aaspire din na magrank.
• Actually hindi naman mahirap yung SEO. Dapat mo lang malaman ang basics kasi don naglalaro sa basic. Kasi kung aaralin mo talaga ang whole SEO, there are around 200 ranking factors na dapat mong aaralin. Pero, if you know the basic, kasi naman yung Google, yung kino-consider nya is mga basic lang which part ng link na ibibigay later.
• It's more on relevancy than quantity of websites na nagmemention sa website mo. Napakaimportante siya and maganda na magstart ka sa Virtual Assistant work kasi you will have mga dapat mong kailangan sa business like research and email management kasi magagamit mo itong lahat down the road sa pagka SEO mo.
• Kakalaunch lang naming ng BPO center. Isa din yun sa isa ko gusto ko mangyari, at the end of my term, at least meron na kami BPO center sa lugar namin.
• Don’t worry about the competition. Worry about paano mo aralin talaga at matutunan ang basics.

Councilor Glenn Mark Dizon’s Journey to Freelancing

• Started 8 years ago as a legislative researcher for the municipality and transitioned to becoming an SEO Web Designer.
• One of his researches led him into a forum v7n.com forum, a forum regarding SEOs, where it caught his interest and develop his booming career.
• Learned from his cousin about Web designing for a month every night and review every day.
• He built a travel website after a year of study and got successful on promoting their Island, Bucas Grande in Surigao Del Norte.
• Started travel website on year 2010 and was motivated to improve SEO and polish his Web Design skills.
• Had a freelancing career while working on government full time and eventually became a family man at the same time.
• Launched a BPO center in their municipality that could accommodate 200 seats of Virtual Assistants.

Q and A Highlights:

Did you try different fields before becoming comfortable or deciding to specialize in your current field which is SEO/FB Expert at the time? Have you explored other fields? Or, do you know already to focus here?

  At first palang, gusto ko na SEO kasi maganda siya for business. Like yung inisip ko kung meron ako isang service at mag launch front page sa Google, I will have everything na lahat ng nagresearch sa akin mapupunta. A year after that, nag start na ako sa travel site na ginawa ko. Ang nangyari is na build ko na yung travel website then nag launch front page. So sa akin na lahat business. Lahat na naghanap ng Siargao at Bucas Grande.

 Was this already your plan before na magbuild ng travel website?

Nung 2010 ko sinimulan yung website ko na travel. That time alam ko na talaga na dapat maenhance yung SEO skills ko para magland na siya on front page. Iniisip ko kelangan ko lang i-polish yung web design part kasi hindi ako Web designer.

When you were studying you Web design and SEO, Did you already have plan na you can use it on your own business din not only on your client but sa sarili mo?

 Yes, plano ko na talaga na madevelop ng products and services na mapalagay din siya on front page. Fortunate lang ako na yung first client ko, napaka supportive sa plano niya na itest yung SEO.

Do you experience people na hindi magets and same people na hard to understand and get into niche?

Marami pa din talaga na gusto mag aral ng SEO. Yung nga inaadvise ko sa kanila is first step is, May e-book na part ng SEO na sashare ng isa sa members ng group SEO na na-share before, yun yung first na pinapabasa ko sa kanila para at least may introduction sila na part na maintindihan ang SEO sa ebook. Nilagay ko sa files tab ko then unti-unti din, if may question sila sa group, inaanswer ko sa separate content talaga.

 For people who have difficulty, do you tell people that SCO is not for you? How do you approach and deal with them?

Karamihan sa kanila, I answer them I was like you when I started 8 years ago. If gusto mo talaga malaman or mag go ka deeper into SEO, I really suggest to visit forums and SEO. Actually hindi naman mahirap ang SEO.

Now, we have iba-ibang field that are watching right now, we have VAs, we have FB add experts, book keepers, mga graphic artist, Would you recommend that they study SEO din?

I would really recommend na i-consider din nila yung SEO, Kasi if you have VA service and if you want to build your own website and build your own brand, napakaimportante ng SEO sa business nila. If you want to rank as a virtual assistant service in a particular city, kahit jan lang, Virtual Assistant din plus SEO service, pag nagrank on first page, everyone na naghahanap ng ganon, google will land to your website. So it's an additional advantage and business for your own website. Actually hindi naman din sya talaga mahirap, basta mabuild mo lang ang foundation, basta kung ano lang kailangan na nandon sa webiste mo, tuloy tuloy lang yan. When I started, Uso yung naglilink building ka across many website, pero ang di lang nila narealize before what's important is mamention ka lang ng website na related to your own website. It's more on relevancy than quantity. Ano talaga sya, maganda magstart ka on VA na work kasi you will have mga dapat mong kailangan sa business na ito like research, like how to manage emails. Kasi magagamit mo sila lahat, yung skills na yun sa pag SEO mo. Yun nga ang problema saken. Nagdiretso ako sa web design, nagdirect sa SEO. So hindi ako magaling sa email management, yun yung isa sa mga problems ko talaga. I suggest ko talaga magstart sa VA then SCO or kung saan gusto nyo pa aralin.

 Why do still stay in government while you are earning a lot in freelancing?

Actually, yung pagkacounsilor ko nung nag run ako nung 2010, yun yung first time, I am currently on my last term. Wala talaga syang plan, like yung party ko wala na sila ibang mailagay sa sa slot nila. So they contacted me. Sinabi ko lang sa mga nakakakilala sa akin, “Ok let's give it a shot.” Yung first time ko talaga, nakakatawa din ang journey ko as counsilor. When I first run as a counsilor, I was the eight, last ako na counsilor. Sa counsilor kasi 8, then Yung pang-nine, wala na sya. Ang difference lang sa votes namin ng 9th sa 8th, 5 votes lang. Nung nanalo ako, sinabi ko sa sarili ko na baka calling din. Maybe I have a purpose in a gov’t. At that time na rin, yung sa munisipyo namin, wala pa laws and ordinances. Ang background ko is legislative research, so alam ko yung process talaga, kung paano yung ordinances. Yun din yung isang advantage. So, during my 2nd term, naging 1st na ako sa counsilor dahil sa nagawa ko sa municipality like gender development code, tourism code. I built many ordinances. So parang naisip ko lang kasi na part din talaga sya ng purpose ko. So tinuloy tuloy ko lang sya and fortunately enough, sa 2nd and ngayong term ko, ako na yung naging first counsilor ng town. Yung isa din na gusto ko mangyayari is, nastart sya nung first term ko, na iniisip ko na din na magkaron ng isang BPO center sa munisipyo namin. It took us how many years to finally build or BPO.

How much ang tamang rate to start SEO?

Pwede ka magstart ng 8$/hour then tuloy tuloy na. Pag nalaman mo na ang off page and on page, mag transition na din siya into higher rate.

Is SEO market a good entry? Have you heard other market that is booming?

Marami pa din  naghahanap ng SEO. Yung maaadvise ko na magandang ipartner ng SEO is yung Facebook adds. Kasi yun SEO will take time. Yung result ng SEO will take 3 months to 1 year. Para sa time na yun, while waiting for result ng SEO to kick in, you can do Facebook ads para din may papasok na leads and business sa client mo and maganda sya ipartner sa service. Kami din na SEO, ang kaya lang na i-manage is hanggang 3 clients lang. So sa dami na naghahanap ng SEO every day, they need SEO to flourish. Hindi ka magwoworry sa competition kasi madami naghahanap ng SEO.