"When I became a mom, going back to corporate was no longer an option." - Dina

I'm super excited for our JasSuccess tomorrow.

We'll have Dina as our guest.

She's a former telemarketer and lead generation specialist who came across VA Bootcamp's Website 101 Course years ago.

That opened her eyes to the bigger world of online freelancing.

And she's now making Php1 million a month as a freelancer.

No wonder she's one of the Lodis being looked up to these days.

Want to know her secret?

Find out on this replay!

From 1M Hospital Bill to 1M/month Through Freelancing - JasSuccess Interview 05/05/2021

Introduction

A former telemarketer who has struggled enough from being a corporate worker to a millionaire freelancing job. Find out how his rollercoaster life defies all of her struggles and used his knowledge to be a business owner.

Be inspired by Dina Samuel’s ups and downs stories.

Notable Quotes

•   With every crazy thing that has been going on, alam mo 'yon, from the big adjustment na gaya ng sinabi mo kanina. What I feel is mas mabigat sa side ng mga bata. Doon ako mas naaawa because they're supposed to enjoy the outdoors. 

• Iyong "One million hospital bill", this is one of the strongest foundations on why persevere. Why I see freelancing as something that can provide each and every one of us a better shot in life. Freelancing is something that can enable someone who is willing to put into work to make a change in their life and so they can change the course of their family's life as well.

•  Hindi iyon ang naging specific skill ko when I was pursuing freelancing but years after, this was 2016, then 2019 when I was already working with foreign contractors, I closed a $20 000 (almost Php 1 000 000.00) website project and I have this Web Design 101 to thank for. Kasi dito ko nalaman ang basic ng WordPress.

• But I took all my courage and swallowed my ego and my pride and asked Jason, "Jason pwede bang . . .". Parang ‘yong feel parang ang pulubi ko naman that time. Sobrang helpless talaga. But I DON'T CARE. I really don't care. I know that I had to do it because that's the only way. And whether Jason would approve of it or not, well that would depend on him, that's why doon pumapasok iyong feeling of gratitude ko sa kanya.

• So on how I was able to handle that, I think, my answer would be 'yong clarity, ‘yong solid na why I would make this work for me that what's got me into making it happen into handling those daily messy life before of a new mom of a premature child na by the way nang pag uwi namin ng bahay talagang still so very little. Sobrang liit na baby. And kami lang mag-ina, kasi my husband would go at work nighttime but I remember whenever he would sleep na, I would open my laptop and say "Okay, well there's this website and I'm gonna follow all the lessons and search for . . . You make it work. That's the bottom line.

• Whatever it is that I need to do, gagawin ko. Even if it means sleeping one hour per day. Ang isang oras na tulog ko noon, would be already a luxury. Luxury na iyong isang oras ko na tulog na yon. At iyong one hour sleep na iyon, solved na solved na ako nun, sa totoo lang. Walang halong echeborechee.

• Pero ito "May pera sa Basura" because really when you join those groups [Facebook Group], it looks like trash. You'd seen weird shoes and secondhand items na parang "Ha? Ano ba 'to?" But that's where I got my first client, who paid me $3 600.00.

•  God put me into this niche. It wasn't really me because 'yong intention ko before was like looking for local business owners. Walang niche. But I ended up with that person, and luckily, he said yes to me and noong nag start na kami with the fulfillment, he said, "Dina, I wanted you to learn more about this industry. Is it okay if I add you to our Facebook group?" And then boom, I just found myself in 15 000 people, one Facebook group, full of flooring contractors. That's the blue ocean. And what? Five years later, I'm still here.

• Sabi ko ‘yong logo ko na denisign ko lang naman sa Canva [Free] nagpaparada na sa Florida.

•  'Yong rejections parte yan ng buhay. Okay? Tagalugin ko na para gets nating lahat. And I can't stress this enough. Okay? So, rejections? Who you? I mean, okay, cool, you're welcome. And then let it pass. It something that we cannot control. It could be rejection from other people, from our prospects, from our existing clients. Right? No matter what stage, san tayo ipunta ng buhay may rejections na mangyayare. Kahit noong kinder pa tayo e. Or kahit noong elementary, highschool.

• So again, 'yong rejection, it happened, it will still happen, and it's always right there whenever a new day comes I see it that "Okay there'll be rejection" and it could be a different level and different manner. But at the end of the day, it's something that you cannot control. And what you can control is how you can handle that. So how am I handling that? Again by knowing that it is a basic thing occurrence ng buhay. Shake it off and move on to the next.

• Now that I've been blessed with freelancing. I'm here to tell people as well that "Hey, you want a better shot at life? Then this thing, this freelancing has that offers you that opportunity that you don't need to be a slave in the corporate world. If you are not happy with it. Go and just quit because this thing [Freelancing] if you put hard work like focus as if there's no tomorrow, as if this is a do or die situation, this can really be that shot that you've probably been waiting."

Journey to Freelancing

• She gave birth prematurely on May 28, 2015. She was confined in the hospital on May 11, 2015. And that situation led her to have a 1 million hospital bill because her son needs to stay in the hospital for a month for an incubator because of his premature birth.
•   November 27, 2016, she first encountered Jason Dulay's email about freelancing. That time she can't afford the courses, but she never gave up quickly. She keeps on looking for courses that she can afford.
•  She saw a post in FLIP with a caption of "Thanks to freelancing, malapit ko nang matupad ang dream house ko." And said to herself, that man was so lucky in doing freelancing. She had never thought that she could do that too.
• When she started at Upwork, she kept on optimizing her Upwork profile. Change niches and skill set from time to time. 
• In 2016, she closed a deal with a $20 000.00 website project.
• In 2017, she found her first none Upwork client—a local business owner in Florida. And that experience taught her how to be a contractor. 
• Because of that experiences, she managed to learn everything about flooring contractors from Douglas and that Facebook group full of people who are into businesses like contracting.
• She is now a successful flooring contractor and currently coaching at VA Bootcamp to share her experiences and knowledge.

Question and Answer 

So when did you discover that you have this ability to actually earn money and be among those top-level freelancers?

Hindi ko siya winish, hindi ko siya pinangarap. The main goal in 2016 is to earn at the comfort of my home. And ayoko ng bumalik sa pag ko call-center at ayoko ng bumalik sa Makati. It has to be me who needs to take care of my son because of what we've gone through in the hospital ay hindi biro. During those times that he is inside the incubator. Every time I talk about it, I always get emotional. I can imagine there are other moms as well who probably gone through this story. Madami ding mga premature, madaming mga difficult pregnancy but really every one of us has that moment in our lives na talagang would push into making things happen because you have no choice but to make it happen. That was my situation back then. With a different market like I've approach restaurant owners, chiropractors, gym owners. I remember optimizing my Upwork profile back in the day, in the hopes na someone would hire me.

When you were studying in VA Bootcamp, was there any difficulty at the same time kasi you are still in the process of about to make money, hindi mo pa ini-execute ang mga pinag-aralan mo. How are you able to manage yourself despite the fact that you are still under stress at that time?

Kung difficulties lang ang pag uusapan, I couldn’t name them all. I keep on optimizing my profile again and again. I couldn’t count how many times I optimize my profile. This was 2016, so with your question like were there any difficulties? Yes, absolutely yes. And how was I able to handle those? When you’re a mom, walang how e. You just do it. That’s the most honest answer there. Especially pag baby pa ‘yong anak mo. You go as clock ticks. So, on how I was able to handle that, I think, my answer would be 'yong clarity, ‘yong solid na why I would make this work for me, that what's got me into making it happen into handling those daily messy life before of a new mom of a premature child. You make it work. That is the bottom line.

What is your niche? And how did you get to decide on that particular niche?

God put me there. Because it was really bad. When I was starting on Upwork days, every month ata nagpapalit ako ng skill set. Another profile optimizing. I’ve been submitting up applications. The majority of us here would go through that phase and it's okay. Now to answer that question, my niches right now are home contractors and flooring contractors. I think that was 2017. Late in 2017, I zoned in into generating leads for flooring contractors using social media management. See? Social management. I have zero ideas, zero training, zero at all on how to do social media. But I understand why social media is important for local business owners. I started with that thought. I keep listening to Gary Vaynerchuk. And he would always talk about it, "Look if you are a local business owner if you are a business owner, You have to maximize the power of social media." [Gary Vaynerchuk speaking] And just by that understanding that I said, you know what this is something I can imagine a local business owner. It could be a restaurant owner, if you are a restaurant owner syempre 'yong zone of genius mo would be it's either the being a chief or operating a business. But definitely not marketing. Definitely, not the social media thing. Social Media is alien to you. So, if you think about it, restaurant owners need social media marketing. And that's where we can get into the picture. And so, I said okay cool, I just gonna go through local business owners and sell the idea of social media marketing. Like, offer social media marketing. And I remember John Pagulayan, one of my mentors right now, he had this webinar 'yong 7 Phases of a 7 Figure Freelancing. Sabi niya, "Be where your potential clients are hanging out", so in tagalog kung saan tumatambay yong mga potential client dapat don karin tumambay. And I look at it this way, so if I wanted to work with local business owners I need to be where they are right now. But then I said coming from someone who have done lead generation for B2B companies when I was working in Makati, in a corporate world. I wanted to get in touch with local business owners as quickly as I could. So saan kaya sila tumatambay? I keep on thinking. For example, if I'm a restaurant owner in Dasmariñas my first way to market is through word of mouth. Nowadays, we are aware of the Facebook marketplace and groups. And if I'm a restaurant owner it will make sense to me to be part of Facebook groups na nandoon ang mga locals ng Dasmariñas. So, okay it will make sense for me to be part of a local buy and sell groups. And that's where I get my first client, who paid me $3,600.00. I came across this post 'yong mga flooring niya do'n na mga ginawa niya. And so I said "Hey Douglas, I see that you are doing floor coatings, I saw you in this Facebook group and I’m really impressed with the flooring transformation. Look, I can help you generate leads for your floor coated business using social media marketing. I'd love to talk to you about it. If you're interested I'd love to hop on a call." We ended the call with a question "How much is this? How much are we talking?" and I said "Okay cool, you know what, I'll have to review this call. I will come up with a marketing plan for you. Give me 24 to 48hrs and I'm gonna get back to you with a complete marketing plan." After that call, I research a lot. I google it. And that where I found this flooring contractor. Earlier I said God put me into this niche. It wasn't really me because 'yong intention ko before was like looking local business owners. Walang niche. But I ended up with that person and luckily he said yes to me.

Dina, I'm sure that you have faced a lot of rejections and failures as well. Could you give us an example of one of those and how are you able to get through it.

Prior to freelancing, sa sales environment actually rejection is like your breakfast, merienda, lunch, and dinner. And I say that I'm lucky to have face rejections at the early stage of my working career. The rejections that I have encountered when I was doing my own business na, my freelance business, it was like "Okay cool, alright next." Iyong rejections parte yan ng buhay. Its something that we cannot control. It could rejection from other people, from our prospects, from our existing client. No matter what stage, saan tayo ipunta ng buhay, may rejections at may rejections na mangyayari. Rejections to me is basic sa buhay. And on how I'm handling that? First, it's self-awareness that it really gonna come my way. And it will still occur because by the way without rejections we'll not gonna grow, we're not gonna be improving. So, I see rejections in a positive manner. Iyong mga rejections nga dati sa pinagtatrabahhuan ko [in corporate] na hindi ko naman pangarap 'yon, diba pangarap yon ng mga may-ari ng kompanya, kinakaya ko. Ito pa kaya ngayon na negosyo na bini-build ko na para naman ito sa pamilya ko, para to sa sarili ko sa anak ko. Iyong rejections it happened, it will still happen and it's always right there. At the end of the day, its something that you cannot control, and what you can control is how you can handle that.

What is the biggest tip that you can give our audiences today?

         This freelancing, if you're someone who is aware of this freelancing, if you are someone that part of the VA Bootcamp, if you are someone who is probably the first time to encounter these people that are talking about freelancing. This freelancing is here and it brought so many success stories to so many people. Ito 'yong message sayo ngayon, there is that good reason why you are even here. And I want you to imagine millions of people who don't know about this thing. So, you are one of the chosen ones. A lot of people know about freelancing but not a lot of people take action into this. So, this is now a call for you. You use this to your advantage. In 2019, I got my first home, full katas ng freelancing. And I remember when I first got the keys to our house, I remember that group before ni Jason Dulay, I was like "My God, this is suntok sa buwan." That was 2016, in 3 years I was able to get my own home. A home that I can call my own. And in 2020, pandemic time, I got this second house. I am saying this to you not to brag about anything. But if there's something that I'm gonna brag about? It's freelancing. It's the power, the opportunity of this freelancing that you as a listener and watching this right now there's a good reason why you're here. And this freelancing, if you make everyday count you have the power to change the course of your life and the course of your family. Because your family deserves so much better. That's my vision and my mission here. Now that I've been blessed with freelancing, I'm here to tell people as well that "Hey, you want a better shot at life? Then this freelancing offers you that opportunity. That you don't need to be a slave in the corporate world if you are not happy with it. Go and quit, because this thing if you put hard work like focus as if there's no tomorrow. As if this is a do-or-die situation, this can really be that shot that you've probably been waiting."