VA Bootcamp Graduate Doubles Upwork Earnings Through Web Design

February 17, 2021
by Jason Dulay 
Jason is the founder and CEO of Work from Home Roadmap and VA Bootcamp. Aside from teaching Filipinos how to succeed working from home, he likes traveling, playing board games, and drinking coffee.
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From Doubter to Believer

"To see is to believe."

Ganito si Ron before he entered the world of freelancing.

So here's what he did.

Nagmasid. Nag-enroll. Nag-hustle.

Then he got hired for a fixed-project.

At nagtuloy-tuloy na.

So ang dating doubter, naging believer na ng freelancing.

Hear his story on this replay.

Find out how he got a house after 1 year of freelancing and how he doubles his earnings through Web Design

Notable Quotes:

  • That was May 31, 2018 nag try ako ng starter course. Habang nasa corporate world ako, nag-aaral ako 1 hour per day. Chill lang ako, sabi ko, saka ko maniniwala pag talagang nagka-client na ko. Sinundan ko lang naman yung mga nasa module tapos ituturo sayo yung skill set, mind setting, yung mga do's and dont's na dapat mong malaman as a freelancer.
  • Nanghihingi ako ng mga advice sa mga coaches, tsaka tamang post din sa Facebook page. May mga nag reresponse naman, mga mababait talaga yung mga students, handa din tumutulong.
  • Talagang gagawin mo lang yung natutunan mo sa course. Makakakuha ka rin talaga, i-exercise mo lang, parang nung college time; nag aaral ka then magwowork ka, i-aapply mo lang.
  • Noong 1 year ko, umabot ako ng $10k sa Upwork; so sabi ko, si Ms. Anna kaya nya bumili ng bahay di ba, feeling ko kaya ko na rin to. Nag inquire ako sa mga developer, sabi ko ok naman pala. Pasok naman pala, yung salary bracket nila pasok naman yung salary ko. Nag inquire ako, inassist naman ako ng agent, ok naman. So, ayon sabi ko, kaya naman pala eh, 1 year lang nakuha ko na. Pwede, kaya pala. 
  • Kumuha ako ng bahay, nakakuha ako ng bahay sa Phirst Park Homes. After a year, sabi ko sige, from Starter nag-upgrade ako into Complete course. Dun ko na nalaman si web design ngayon. Kasama kasi si Web design sa complete course, SEO. Nakuha ko yung 1 year ng $10k, try kong doblehin, sana maging triple. So far, nadoble ko naman sya. Then ayon, masaya. 
  • Ang pinaka key lang po dyan ay nasa complete course lang po. Yun ang pinaka simula talaga. Tuloy-tuloy na sya. Pinartneran ko lang ng Youtube nung una, basta't may attitude ka lang na willing to learn, ang dami mong mararating dito, promise.
  • FYI lang po, yung bahay nakuha ko sya, from VA alone lang po yun. 
  • Nagkakaroon ako ng idea habang nag-aapply ako noon. Kahit na hindi ka napapansin minsan, pag nababasa mo yung mga job post, magkakaron ka din ng idea paunti-unti. 
  • Kung tutuusin, nagsisimula pa lang ako eh. Ang dami ko pang dapat malaman. Gusto ko ring matuto pa kaya nag-enroll ako ng Full Stack Development.
  • Actually, nagte-take nga din po ako ng ibang course eh like FB Ads, kay Sir LJ. Yung mga thing na napapasama don sa mga kailangan ni client na related pala. Kung ano yung dumarating, mas nacucurious ako lalo, yun inaaral ko talaga sya. Pero major ang gusto ko ngayon, ang gusto kong ireach yung Web Design and Development po. 
  • Tips ko lang konte, yun yung mga hanapin nyo kasi yun yung mga time consuming kay client na kailangan nila ng VA talaga. Mga blogging, like mga real estate, Shopify, and E-commerce. 
  • Focus ka lang, iapply mo lang lahat ng natutunan mo sa VA Bootcamp. Malamang sa malamang, ganito rin naman ang mangyayari sa inyo eh, baka nga sobra pa dito eh for sure. Yun lang po talaga, focus lang, then willing to learn. 
  • May course naman talaga na sina-suggest ko pero may mga free course na ngayon, dati hindi ko inabutan yan. Swerte nyo, may mga free courses sa VABootcamp. Maganda dun kayo mag start. 

Ronilo Palama’s Journey to Freelancing

  • He is a graduate of Customs Administration and a working student since 2nd- year college
  • He worked at the top fast-food chains (McDonald’s and Jollibee), before he switched working to an appliance center (SM Appliance) then to a forwarder firm.
  • He saw a post of Sir Jason Dulay and out of curiosity, he observed the Facebook page and decided to enroll in the starter package. 
  • On the first try, his profile was disapproved by Upwork, so he focused on other platforms and consistently revised his cover letters and profile until Upwork approved his account. A week passed and he landed his first client at Guru.
  • Upon earning $10k, he believed that he could make it successfully and, with the inspirational post of Ms. Anna Soriano together with his hard work and perseverance, he got a house. 
  • With his continuous learning, he decided to enroll at the complete package where he discovered his niche now which is Web design. He has multiple clients now and is still aiming to learn more so he pursues Full Stack Development.
  • He is currently working with multiple clients with his Web Design niche and other long term VA tasks. 

Question & Answer

What is Web Designing?

- Ito yung gagawa ka ng website. Kung familiar ka sa Div, merong mga templates don kung pano ka gumawa ng website tapos icoconnect mo lang sa mga hosting like Bluehost, Mailchimp etc. Then yung mga designs noon, ikaw na gagawa. Depende sa yo kung anong gusto mo o request ni client. Ang pinaka key lang po dyan ay nasa complete course lang po. 

Ano ang mga softwares o programming languages ang dapat aralin ng gustong maging web design freelancer?

- Try mo yung Full Stack Development na kinuha ko, kumpleto na yon. Depende sa inyo, madami talaga. Napakalawak ng web design development. 

Kailangan po ba may background as IT?

- Graduate ako ng Customs Administration, feeling ko naman ang layo, di na kailangan. Basta't gusto mo lang  at willing ka to learn, may mararating ka talaga. First step talaga, sinasuggest ko itong VABootcamp.

How many months for me to be able to learn about web designing?

- Kung tututukan mo lang,  siguro kahit papano minimum na yong isang buwan or baka nga linggo lang, depende sayo. 

What is the level of difficulty when it comes to web design?

- Mag start ka sa mga templates, kay Div. Doon ako nag start, which is ngayon may lifetime membership na ako doon, tapos separate  naman yung hosting. Si Div kasi more on designs, may mga lay-out sila doon, then may mga one click install sya by WordPress, then papartneran mo lang sya ng mga hosting. From there, aaralin mo lang, then konting Youtube lang talaga kung gusto mo ng alalay.

Saan po yung pinaka field na masaya kayo, yung nalalabas nyo ang creativity nyo?

- Ako kasi nag start ako sa WordPress blogging. Then na-curious lang ako, habang nagba-blog ako, syempre tinitingnan ko yung mga functionalities ng iba doon. Yung mga out of the box thing, alamin  mo rin syempre. 

How much po ang rate ng Web Designing? Whole website na or per landing page ang bayaran?

- Meron namang hourly pero pinipili ko po is project type. More on 300 or 500, 1k. Mas maganda yong ganon kasi may time ka. 

What are the challenges being a Web designer?

- Kung tutuusin, nagsisimula pa lang ako eh. Ang dami ko pang gustong malaman, kaya nag enroll ako ng Full Stack Development. 

Magkano na po ba ang pwedeng icharge as Web Design VA?

- As per sa complete package, mas maganda talaga is $25. Pwede kang mag start sa 25, pwede ring mas mababa.

Naranasan nyo din bang panghinaan ng loob sa freelancing journey ninyo, before po kayo makapunta sa status nyo ngayon?

- Oo naman. Pero sa status na nagawa ka, send ka lang ng send ng cover letter. Actually kahit magbato ka ng sampu, may isa lang bumalik sa 'yo swerte ka na. 

Do you offer other services other than web design?

- Basic lang yung SEO ko, the rest talaga VA bukod sa Web design.

Ano po ba ang pagkakaiba ng Web designing at Web developing? Same lang po ba sila sa pagla-lay-out ng website?

- May konting pinagkaiba po. Sa web development more on coding like Laravel, PHP. Web design best sample is yung sa Divi, mga Jargon wrap, layouts then yung mismong custom design. 

Are you a WordPress Designer? Anong WordPress builder po ba ang focus ninyo? Div, Elementor, etc.?

- Div. 

Nung nag uumpisa pa lang po kayo sa freelancing, Web designing na po ba ang first choice nyong niche? Kung hindi, ano-ano po ba ang una nyong specialization?

- Ang una kong niche is more on admin staff like social media management. graphic design, then WordPress nagba-blog na ko. 

Ano ang upgrade mo ngayon sa workstation mo? i7 ba ang iyong laptop?

- Yes. Pero from i3 pataas, ok na yan. As long as 8gb ang RAM mo, safe ka na doon basta branded ang laptop mo. 

How can you say that you are ready for freelance web design?

- Sa akin kasi ginusto ko talaga sya. From VA work ko, nalaman ko yung ganito, naging curious ako, so inalam ko sya. 

What do you do when a client just doesn't like your design?

- Suggest ng iba. Kasi minsan may mga client na may sample design na sila, syempre magbibigay ka din ng mga design mong samples. Kapag gusto nila, Go! Pag hindi, hanap ng iba. 

Ano po bang strategy nyo ng pag gawa ng cover letters ninyo in web designing para mag stand out sa client?

- Isa lang po ang masasabi ko dyan, nasa VA Bootcamp lang po. Andun lahat ng key. 

How many web design samples do you usually provide?

- Depende sa niche na job post. 

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by Jason Dulay 
Jason is the founder and CEO of Work from Home Roadmap and VA Bootcamp. Aside from teaching Filipinos how to succeed working from home, he likes traveling, playing board games, and drinking coffee.

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57 comments on “VA Bootcamp Graduate Doubles Upwork Earnings Through Web Design”

  1. I have searched out for Divi via Google and saw it is from Elegantthemes.com. Comes with a 30-day trial and pricing afterwards.

    Did you use other platform before converging to Divi?

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