Brace yourselves as  Jason Dulay talks about his freelancing journey on #JasSuccess with Anna Soriano.

Watch this interview as Jason shares a lot including:

✅ How WFHR was founded.
✅ His struggles and challenges as a freelancer for 9 years.
✅ His various jobs such as VA, Bookkeeping, SEO, Web Dev, Marketing and other randoms such as Voice Over, Game Tester.

Jason Dulay is an Accountancy graduate but worked in a call center out of college for 6 or 7 years. He decided to quit as call center trainer even though that time, he was earning around 50k a month.

He learned about freelancing in a Cebu online forum, istorya.net, He saw an Ad about online jobs and got curious. No other information can be found on the net so he had to learn everything on his own, from scratch.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Watch this interview as Jason opens up on the story of how he started out his freelancing journey ever
since he was 10 years old. Discover how he grew up with the strong urge to earn on his own, from
selling POGS, Dakki, and gadgets; to learning about freelancing and becoming a successful digital nomad who continuously and sincerely helps out other Filipinos to start their own freelancing career.

Listen as he reveals his experiences, his values, and the lessons he learned from all the steps he had
taken to get to where he is right now. Admire his utmost desire to pursue his beliefs and truly search for
ways to do things he enjoys working on as well as helping out others on their own journeys.

Free VA Course for Newbies
FreeLancing In the Philippines (FLIP) FB Page
Subscribe to Jason Dulay's YouTube Channel

Notable Quotes:

• What you need to develop is discipline, consistency lang talaga.  
• So that's it, it's very simple to say, you just need to develop discipline, but it's hard to do.  It's really hard to do kasi you feel sad, you feel depressed, you feel like giving up, but if you think about it, if ever you did feel sad, just remember, all I need to do is keep going and keep doing, keep following the advice that I've been following.  Keep following the lessons, and so on. And then that's how you get successful.
• It requires patience.  I always say, anything that's worth it is worth struggling for, it's worth fighting for. Risk and return yun, effort and return. The more effort or the more profitable something is, the more fulfilling something is, the harder it will be to achieve it.
• One thing that's very important, if you want to be productive, have yours to do list. May list ka of what you're supposed to get done.
• So it's important to find the right mentor, but if you do, it's worth it.  
• I always make it a point to learn more, to work harder and get things done.  
• What's the best way to do it?  Just start small, do one thing at a time. Don't scale too fast.  Once you start doing, you do one thing and then you do it properly. Then that's when you add another and then do it properly until it keeps growing. Just take it one step at a time, yun lang.
• Advice ko is if you haven't been hired yet, then join the Hustle Challenge, yung nastart ni Holly.  Kasi yung lahat ng nagjoin sa challenge, nahire.
• It'll all depend really on your discipline.  On following those steps in order for you to achieve your own success.  You can really achieve anything that you think. Anything is possible. It's just you yourself that holds you back.

Jason’s Journey to Freelancing

• He started selling as a sideline when he was 10 years old.
• He sold POGS, basketball cards, gadgets, precious stones (jewelry) and even Dakki pillows.
• Before college, he worked at Greenwich Pizza fast food where he learned about fast-paced working style.
• He took up Management Accounting in college.
• He worked at a call center because it was the hype at that time.
• He was in sales, then a tech support, then he was promoted after a year and a half as a trainer.
• He also did Buy and Sell of gadgets during his work at the call center.
• He learned to make sushi and sold them as well.
• He started his first online freelancing profile in Odesk.
• He first studied Web design instead of programming.
• He first got hired in Upwork with an MS Excel task for $5.
• In 2011, his mom migrated in Canada, his girlfriend Holly pursued Qatar, so he also went out of the country – he went to Singapore.
• He got a job in Singapore as sales but only lasted a year due to the stressful work culture.
• He then went to the US and got a job in web design. But still, doing online freelancing.
• That’s where he met other freelancers and learned their different way of approaching clients.
• When he started earning 100k, he thought he can go back to the Philippines.
• When he went back to Cebu, that’s where he began thinking about helping out others with online freelancing since people are quite interested.
• With his desire to help his friends, he thought of creating a course to offer Filipinos about online freelancing.  To help them earn online, earn dollars.
• In May 2016, more and more people got interested and were enrolling in his course.  His course reached not just his friends in Cebu, but outside the country as well.
• He had created WFHR (Work From Home Roadmap), FLIP, and other Facebook groups and now have thousands of students and followers.
• He started coldbrew.ph, an online store, because it seemed interesting to him, and created it for fun.  
• He now owns a condo, invested in mutual funds, travel around the world, but what he really values is the feeling of being able to help out Filipinos start their freelancing career and seeing them succeed as well.
• His dream of traveling Europe came true because of freelancing.
• He is now focusing on launching his own things such as his online store and his traveling video blogs.

Q&A Highlights

Who was your first student?

Friends ko yung first students ko.  At that time, actually free pa 'yung mga first students ko.  Mga kilala ko lang. And then yung first paid, was friend ko rin, kilala ko.  Mga May 2016, may nakapasok na hindi ko kilala. Dahil sa ads. Una, friends of friends lang, kila-kilala lang.  Ngayon nandito na sila Anna, we were able to grow, we were able to reach a lot of people.

What is your personal advice to newbies who are still struggling to get a freelancer job?

I guess the number 1 personal advice that I can give you is this:  if you've watched the videos, if you enrolled in the courses, and follow and studied, then you should know what to do. This is the same thing that I did, that Anna did, the successful freelancers did. These are the steps, you already know the steps you need to do.  What you need to develop is the discipline, consistency lang talaga. Because that's what most people don't have, most people kasi they're not patient. Pag nahirapan, ay ayoko na. But it's really consistency and discipline that you have to call to take talaga. Ako one of my strengths is, hindi ako masyado na-demotivate, or hindi ako masyadong na-affect sa mga stuff.  Kasi I know what to do, and I just keep doing it. So that's it, it's simple to say, you just need to develop discipline, but it's hard to do. It's really hard to do kasi you feel sad, depressed, feel like giving up, but if you think about it, if ever you feel sad, just remember, all I need to do is keep going and keep doing. Keep following the advice that I've been following.  Keep following the lessons, and so on. And then that's how you get successful.

What's your biggest project or achievement: bahay, sasakyan, financial investment?

Well nakabili na ako ng condo, so I guess that falls under bahay. Pero kung financial investment, may mga investments na rin ako, yung for the future. Pero what I value the most are my learnings while doing freelancing, while running WFHR, seeing other people succeed because of me.   It's very unbelievable, na this person is now earning 100k dahil sa akin. That's what I value more than the investments or bahay.

What do you suggest for me to get, the starter course or the complete course?

Well, sagot ko diyan, if you're interested in the skills in the complete course, get the complete course.  Maraming values siya, yung English course, yung Bookkeeping course, writing, basic SEO. So if you find value in those, then might as well just go for the complete.

Can you share with us your typical day and can you give us productivity tools?

At the beginning of the day, nag-check ng messages, emails.  Yung one critical thing, as much as possible, I don't check social media or messages or emails during the day at all.  Beginning of the day lang, tapos minsan at the end of the day. Kasi nakakadistract ng activities. So beginning of the day and then I get on, may to do list naman ako, I already know what I'm supposed to do, supposed to complete it.  One thing that's very important, if you want to be productive, have your "to do list". May list ka of what you're supposed to get done. Kasi what a lot of people think is that "I can just relax", pero once you have internal pressure of having a to do list, in having a list of things to get done, “ok, I should get this, get this” and I always get things done as fast as possible.  Pabilisan ng trabaho. Minsan may mga mistakes, pero for me mistakes are ok. So I get one thing after another done as quickly as possible. 'Yun ang productivity tips ko. Try not to send on social media, or messages, and then just have that list, and run through it as fast as possible.  

What was your biggest challenge sa freelancing?

The biggest challenge, one thing sa akin, my philosophy is, I don't really see things so much, mga problems or challenges. When I'm faced with a challenge, I just do things to overcome them, ganun lang.  Of course naman, I've had difficulties, with getting some jobs done, getting jobs completed. I always make it a point to learn more, to work harder and get things done.

How many hours do you spend every day for work?

It depends.  It really depends on how much I need to get done.  On average, I'd say, may mga days na 6 hours, may mga days na 10 hours  I spend on work. When on vacation, it can be between 2 to 4 hours. It really depends.  'Yun naman ang maganda, yung flexibility, nacocontrol mo.

On the emails sent for prospect students, ikaw po ba talaga yung nageemail?

Hindi naman, may system naman.  Ako nagsulat ng emails, most of the emails.  The ones you receive, that we're talking about, ako nagsulat.  We have some other people writing some emails also. Then yung sending naman is being done by a system. And we have 50,000 people sa email list, so mahirap na.

Do I need to resign to be a full-time freelancer?

Well, to be a full-time freelancer, oo. Pero you don't need to be a full-time freelancer, that's the thing. The course can be finished in a month or less, even if you just watch it on weekends.  If you actually allocate time to it, let's say mga 2 hours Saturday, 2 hours Sunday, 3 weeks- 4weeks matatapos mo na yan. Or let's say 5 weeks or 6 weeks max. So you can finish it. When I first started freelancing, I didn't do it full time immediately, hindi ako nagresign agad and do full time freelancing.  I did it on the side. So you can also do something like that. You don't need to resign, but you can resign if you have a lot of other priorities, and financially, may security ka, puwede rin magresign. Pero you can just do it as a sideline muna, and then transition eventually to do it full time.

What is your most memorable and unforgettable experience with your clients nung bago ka palang?

I guess my most memorable experience is when I had a client who encouraged me to increase my rate.  Sabi niya, she likes it that I’m being aggressive and “just be more aggressive.” Which is something you won't really expect?  Especially if you haven't dealt with mga Western na culture. They're more open to that and they're more appreciated. I guess yun ang isang unforgettable experience.

We wanted to scale our business.  Me and my mom are planning to gain more clients. She'll be the face and one person will do the task? 

What's the best way to do it?  Just start small, do one thing at a time. Don't scale too fast.  Once you start doing, you do one thing and then you do it properly. Then that's when you add another and then do it properly until it keeps growing. Just take it one step at a time, yun lang.

Meron ba kayong morning or evening ritual habit? May pdf file ba yan?

'Yung pdf file nito sige.  I guess what I can share na pdf file, if you share this and you comment "shared", I’m going to give you a pdf file of the best practices of top performers. May mga best practices, pero wala akong ritual.  Wala akong ritual, not really.

What is your focus or niche in freelancing?

Right now, I'm more focused on launching my own things.  Pero online marketing was my last focus.

Active ka pa rin ba sa church services?

I go regularly.  Active ako online kasi nagtatravel ako. Dati naging part din ako ng ministry pero right now yung ministry ko is yung website.  So dun ako active.

Okay lang po starter muna kunin ko sa bootcamp? Puwede rin po ba ako gumawa ng other account sa Upwork?

Ok lang yung starter.  And then you can upgrade later on if you see the need for it. But you can start sa starter.  Regarding sa suspension mo, may mga tips tayo sa bootcamp na you can take a look at. Once you start, you're going to get those tips. Advice ko, don't really do anything yet until you get to that part sa course na we ask you to create your account, to start applying.  Yun ang ginawa ng iba, parang super excited sila, then they just go ahead. Pero take your time until you reach module 12 or 13 when we ask you to do that.

After enrolling accelarated, how much will be the cost when we upgrade?

6,000 ata.  I think 6,000.

Ok lang ba if i use a tablet?  Anong uunahin ko, bootcamp or laptop muna?

Puwede naman magbootcamp ka if walang laptop pero paano mo ma-practice? If you're going to decide on laptop or bootcamp muna, mahirap kasi manunuod ka sa cellphone or sa tablet, hindi mo ma-practice. Unless may laptop ka that you can practice what we teach you. So I'd recommend you have either a laptop or punta ka sa cafe.  

Naginvest po ba kayo sa PSE?

May mga mutual funds ako sa PSE and sa US din.  

What's your advice to all newbies who are still doing the starter bootcamp at this time?

Advice ko is if you haven't been hired yet, then join the hustle challenge, 'yung nastart ni Holly.  Kasi 'yung lahat ng nagjoin sa challenge, nahire.

Wil you share us a media file of this seminar?

May recording naman.

Last advice mo?

'Yung advice ko is very simple lang naman. Mahilig ako sa mga simple stuff, I'm not very much into yung mga super complicated. I’m not saying na mali siya, but I know that there are people na nagwowork naman yung mga complicated na mga stuff. But for me, it's really simple.  Whenever you see something na kinaya ng iba, if you look at me, if you look at Anna, if you look at LJ, if you look at John Pagulayan, if you look at Liberty, and you see people who have succeeded or successful, or 1:07:12.5 [inaudible] or is it "Phoenix?" -you can see what they've achieved, you can see how they got where they are.  You can look at me, see how I got where I am, you can watch their interviews. You can create a real set of steps of what you need to do, "you need to do this, you need to do this, you need to do this".  And all you have to do is follow that. Just follow that, even if you feel discouraged, even if you feel demotivated. It'll all depend really on your discipline. On following those steps in order for you to achieve your own success.  You can really achieve anything that you think. Anything is possible. It's just you yourself that holds you back.