Social Media Manager.

Virtual Assistant.

Mom of 3.

(And a Zumba fanatic!)

I'd like you to meet Aidyl.

Like other moms, she wants to spend much time with her family and avoid wasting time going to and from the office.

So she pursued freelancing.

Which gives her a lot of freedom and flexibility.

On September 29, 2021, at 8 pm, she'll share & inspire us with her journey.

What are her challenges?

How did she overcome them?

Does leaving a stable job and pursue freelancing worth it?

Hear her story on this replay!

Former Office Manager and Mom of 3, Shares her journey to Fitness, Freedom, and Freelancing 

Introduction

Maria Aidyl L. Zamora is a former Office Manager and a mom of three. She missed a lot of milestones of her children that forced her to try Freelancing. Considers herself as a not typical freelancer. She is now relishing the freedom of working from home and spending time with her children.

Let's take a look at how committed Aidyl was in pursuing a Freelancing career and how she improved her life with her children.

Notable Quotes

• As a newbie, you should do your studies as being a Freelancer. Check all the free online tutorials if you don’t want to hire a coach. You should be well equipped before going to the battlefield.

• Educating yourself is important when it comes to Freelancing, otherwise you will just be flying blind.

• In Freelancing, it’s like enrolling yourself in college and choosing your course.

• Do not oversell yourself when writing cover letters or even in interviews, whatever the question just stop there and move on to the next.

• The best thing to do to grab the client’s attention is to not tell about yourself. I know clients would have questions but make it like you want to know more about the them.

• Show them that you care about their business. Cause in that way, they will think that you will be a good team player.

• The best way to get or grab the client’s attention is the personal touch because usually, clients reach out to VA’s because they need help.

• You need to be more personal and not be the corporate type approach. We should sound like a real person even in writing. Show them that you are there to help. 

• Like everybody else, I was thinking that life would be easier now doing freelancing. No traffic that causes stress when working in corporate, but then I realized, it’s more challenging being a freelancer.

• I highly recommend LinkedIn for newbies or even those old-timers because it is a professional platform.

• I gained a lot of clients in LinkedIn. I never thought that it was in that platform I will discover how Freelancing is easy.

Aidyl’s Journey to Freelancing

• Before she became an Office Manager, she started as a call center agent in 2007.
• She decided to resign from her previous job because she had missed many of her children's milestones and that forced her to try Freelancing.

• She started Freelancing without much help online because there were no Facebook groups back then.

• She tried it on herself by doing some research and took it as an article writer then, later on, got a full-time.

• She was improving her skills by hiring coaches and learning new ones.

• She began her online job at OnlineJobs.ph as a VA.

• She had her fair share of online scammers asking for money or even working for a month without pay.

• She is now enjoying the freedom of working from home and spending time with her children.

•  She still prefers Freelancing over a corporate setup because she is passionate about the industry, she found her purpose.

Q & A Highlights

Finding out the right platform to find the right client. What is the best thing you can do to grab a client’s attention?

I think, based on my experience. The best thing to grab the client’s attention is not to tell about yourself. I know clients would have questions but make it also like you want to know more about the client. What are the problems, how do you know in what way we can help their business? Show them that you care about their business. Cause in that way, they will think that you will be a good team player. The best way to get or grab the client’s attention is the personal touch because usually, clients reach out to VAs' because they need help. 

What is the difference between your training as a call center agent and becoming a Freelancer? Do you find any differences there?

Yes, because when I was trained as a call center agent, I was more likely introduced to the American culture which is far different from our culture. I gained confidence talking over the phone during training and the whole experience with the call center industry. Also, I was able to polish my English communication skills, so, when I was in Freelancing, my writing skills were polished as well. In Freelancing, you need to be more personal and not be the corporate type approach. We should sound like a real person even in writing. Show them that you are there to help. That’s the thing I learned during Freelancing. The call center industry is like, you got trained, you got hired, you’re working in a specific schedule but in Freelancing, it’s your own business. You can choose your clients, you can choose which country you like to work in, which time zone, so you’re free to choose. You’re not like inside the box. You can choose which niche or skill you would like to polish. In Freelancing, it’s like enrolling yourself in college and you choose your course. Though there are some outrages, internet and power outrages and so storms. The rest of it is self versus self. It takes a lot of self-discipline. 

Were there big adjustments for you when you transition from corporate to Freelancing?

Yes, there is. Like everybody else, I was thinking life would be easier, but then I realized, it’s more challenging being a freelancer because of time management. As a mom, working at home with your kids is quite challenging, they can bother you sometimes during work hours or meetings. But you can discuss this matter with your whole family, tell them that when its time for work, you have to block certain time for it. As much as possible no noise and no disturbance so that you can perform well during work and not be distracted.

What’s the best way to get clients if you are a newbie freelancer?

I highly recommend LinkedIn. Newbies or even those old-timers because it’s a professional platform. You can choose which country you would like to get clients from and niche you like to work on. If you like to work for a lawyer, doctor, CEOs or coaches, it’s there. LinkedIn is the best platform to get clients because you could directly communicate with the clients. My life became easy there compared to OnlineJobs.