Why It's OK to Have No Niche and How to Choose One If You Need To - Interview with Mark Belosa

Mark has been a Top-Rated Upwork Freelancer for three years now and he has a Job Success Score of 100%.

He's currently working with a personal development company as a content curator, but prior to that, he has tried many different jobs including customer support, social media management, email management, and other admin jobs.

If you are an active member of FLIP (Freelancers in the Philippines) you have probably seen some of his witty and entertaining posts including Snapchats of his "twin" brother.

Watch the replay of Mark's interview here.

Notable Quotes:

• Na-realize ko na, “It's not enough to have skills. You also have to learn how to conduct yourself in an interview.”
• Ang isang lesson siguro na gusto ko i-impart is yung pag-fo-follow-up. Kasi naalala ko kung hindi ako nag-follow-up dun sa application na yun, hindi ako mapapansin.
• Kailangan kung hindi ka naka-tanggap ng reply sa application mo for about maybe a week or five days siguro, it’s ok na maging assertive and mag-follow-up in a nice way siyempre.
• Para mapansin ka, you have to do some research and know the company and really make yourself familiar with what they do, what they stand for and how they operate. Ganun kase makakatulong yun, kase parang sometimes it's not just about your skills, our technical skills but whether you are a good or culture fit ka ba ganun. Those things are also important.
• Pag na-feel nila na, “uy, itong applicant na ‘to is not just someone who is looking for a job, is someone who is genuinely interested sa ginagawa natin”, I think you will really standout.
• Siguro sa mga may clients na ngaun and you want to level up, you want to grow and mabigyan ng mas mataas na rate or ibang role mag grow sa company siguro, look for opportunities na makaka-contribute ka further sa business ni client and of course part of that is knowing and understanding how they operate what skills are required para maka contribute sa business nila.”
• Know what your client needs and then learn skills na magagamit mo and show them na you can add more value. You can bring more value to the table.
• Buti na lang sa freelancing kasi parang hindi mo kailangang sa desk lang lagi like you can manage your own schedule. You can work anywhere. You can work in any position. So parang napaka-flexible niya.
• Dahil nga, I came from a broken family ang, ngayon lang ako nagkaroon ng chance talaga na makasama ko yung nanay ko sa bahay. Parang I can count with my fingers the number of years na magkasama kami. So parang big deal sa ‘kin na in her latter years parang magkaroon ako ng chance na makasama siya. So thank you sa freelancing talaga kase nagagawa ko yun.
• Kahit sabihin natin na may mga risks sa freelancing, sabihin natin na hindi siya ganun kadali pero it’s really worth it. Kasi ‘pag inisip mo yung ‘why’ mo, ‘pag inisip mo yung reason bakit ka nag-freelancing, masasabi mo na kakayanin mo na ma-overcome yung mga challenges.
• Basta ‘pag pagod ka na, stressed ka na. Nararamdaman mo yung pain or yung inconvenience. Just remember your “why”. Bakit ko nga ba ginagawa ‘to? Just be grateful. Just be thankful for what you have then ‘yun na may energy ka na ulit.
• So gusto kong i-impart is, if you are at this point in your career, wondering what your area of specialization is or parang, parang hindi ka masaya or parang nag wo-worry ka sa future mo because you are a generalist? Then I'm here to share the good news na it's okay and in fact to some extent that there are advantages in being a generalist kase number one mas marami kang career options, mas flexible, tapos you have parang a better way, sabihin natin na a different approach at parang looking at things for example if you are a specialist you have a tendency to just solve a problem in one approach kase yun yung tried and tested na way but if you are a generalist you can bring in your knowledge of different fields and life experiences into the situation and you can provide some out of the box solution sa mga problems ng business owner parang ganun. So meron kang mai- co-contribute sa business na hindi magagawa ng isang specialist lang.

Mark's Journey to Freelancing:

• He’s a undergrad. His first job was in a call center. He worked there for 8 years. He did several roles like tech support, sales, Team Lead and Quality Manager.
• In 2014, he got promoted twice. His company also got into a merger twice and because of those changes the organizational structure changed as well. He was declared redundant and was given two options~ leave the company and be given the severance package or continue with the company but change the role and department. He braved the first option.
• He decided to take a break and relax. He took time to soul search and formulate his mission ~ to inspire hope and help people find purpose in their pain.
• Since he had bills to pay, he decided to apply in another call center. He almost got hired as a Team Leader but upon the HR’s final review of his profile, the offer was retracted due to him not being a degree holder.
• He got so frustrated and disappointed with what happened. He thought there’s no more hope for him to find another company with that position.
• Despite the struggle, he explored different opportunities. Fortunately, his former colleague who’s already working online introduced him to (MOD) My Outdesk. It’s like a Real Estate VA.
• Alas! He failed the interview. Though, a couple of years later he re-applied and got hired.
• Since he’s an English Major and worked in a call center, he tried ESL Tutorial. He got hired and supposed to schedule his first classes.
• To his surprise, he received an invitation from Odesk (former UpWork).
• Though he didn't know what a Snippet Writer is, and he didn’t have any background or idea in SEO, he got hired. When they found out that he had background in team leading, they promoted him as a Team Leader for around 20 remote writers. That was the start of his freelancing journey.
• He worked for Thumbtack, it’s like the Amazon of service providers. His work there gave him a deep appreciation for freelancers. He hoped it would be available in the Philippines to help skilled workers market themselves online.
• His contract ended at Thumbtack and tried to find another job.
• On the side, he also worked as an inbound sales agent for a food supplement company. He did it part-time until eventually was hired full-time.
• He tried looking for other clients at Odesk and found an Author. He managed his WordPress, made images in Canva, scheduled posts thru Buffer and etc. He did that for 6 months.
• He met Work At Home Pinoy and it changed his life. He was hired as a Community Manager.
• After that, Mark enrolled in the VA Bootcamp Masterclass and learned how to find premium clients. This improved his confidence and brought his freelancing career up to the next level.
• Sadly, his work for his premium client as an Appointment Setter only lasted for 7 months. It was a low point in his life since he’s used to working for clients long term, had personal plans and it was also Christmas season and he’s out of job.
• Then, Goalcast came in. He found the Customer Support opening and got hired. He went beyond what was expected of him. He took the initiative.
• He’s been working for Goalcast for more than a year now.
• His nature of work today allows him to impact millions of lives. For instance, the content that the VA Bootcamp is producing is touching a lot of people.
• At the same time, he can take good care of his mother, who is a PWD and aged.
• He lives with the “Ikigai concept” and is happily fulfilling VA Bootcamp's mission and his life’s purpose.

Q & A Highlights:

Ano ba yung niche?

Niche is like your specialization. It’s the area where you are very good at or above average yung skills mo.

What was your biggest learning from Road to 100k Masterclass that you applied to get hired in Goalcast?

Siguro yung thinking like a client and providing value. If you are constantly looking for ways to be useful and valuable to the business. They will love you. They would want to retain you kase nga hindi ka parang yung naghihintay lang ng ipapagawa sa ‘yo.

Siguro sa mga may clients na ngayon and you want to level up, you want to grow and mabigyan ng mas mataas na rate or ibang role mag-grow sa company. Siguro, look for opportunities na makaka-contribute ka sa business ni client and of course part of that knowing and understanding how they operate. And what skills are required para maka-contribute ka sa business nila.

What was your starting rate?

I’m not sure if I’m comfortable discussing my rate. Siguro yung starting rate ko was like 4. (point) something to 5. Basta naglalaro lang ‘dun.

What are the major lessons that you’ve learned?

Yung title nung interview is “Why it’s OK to have no niche and how to choose one if you need to?” So meron kasing popular notion na “you have to be a specialist”, “you have to be an expert” in order to succeed and there is a lot of truth in that kasi you can charge higher kapag kaya mong mag-solve ng complex issues and only an expert can. However, because of the changing market and advancement in technology, a lot of jobs are being automated. And maraming specialist roles na parang nade-designate na sa mga computers. So parang nagkakaroon in recent years na parang nagkakaroon ng appreciation sa mga generalists especially sa mga creatives and sa mga problem-solvers.

So, gusto kong i-impart is, if you are at this point in your career, wondering what your area of specialization is or parang, parang hindi ka masaya or parang nag wo-worry ka sa future mo because you are a generalist? Then I'm here to share the good news na it's okay and in fact to some extent there are advantages in being a generalist. Kase number one mas marami kang career options, mas flexible, tapos you have parang a better way, sabihin natin na a different approach at parang looking at things for example if you are a specialist you have a tendency to just solve a problem in one approach kase yun yung tried and tested na way. But if you are a generalist you can bring in your knowledge of different fields and life experiences into the situation and you can provide some out of the box solution sa mga problems ng business owner parang ganun. So meron kang mai- co-contribute sa business na hindi magagawa ng isang specialist lang.

How can you discover your Niche? What can you do para makapag-decide ka kung ano yung area of specialization mo?

Sa akin, last year I decided that I'll focus on writing and I came to that decision because of 4 questions:

1. I ask myself, what am I good at?

Tanungin niyo yung sarili niyo, ano ba yung skills na magaling ako? I'm sure meron yan. Kapalan niyo lang yung mukha niyo. Huwag  kayong mahiya sabihin na you are good at something kase you are. You just have to discover it, siguro find someone who can give you an honest feedback about how you do your job or where you are good at. Or you can take like skills assessment test para objectively ma-gauge niyo san kayo magaling.

2. What are you passionate about or what do you love doing?

Of course, given nay ‘yun. You have a better chance of succeeding kung mahal mo yung ginagawa mo or na e-enjoy mo yung ginagawa mo.

3. What does the world need?

So parang, it will give you like a sense of purpose, kung halimbawang yung trabaho mo is nakaka-contribute siya sa pangangailangan ng ibang tao hindi lang sa sarili mo.

4. What could you be paid for?

Pe-pwedeng you love music, pe-pwedeng you have some, sabihin nating makakakanta ka pero kung halimbawang it's not commercial quality then hindi yun yung niche mo. You should be able to charge for that skill.

So sa akin, in my case, I know magkaka-iba tayo ng story, magkaka-iba tayo ng journey. Sa akin, ang yes-yes-yes ko dito is writing. Parang I love writing. I’m good at writing. The world needs writers and I could be paid for my writing skills. So sana makatulong ‘yun sa inyo.

You’re not directly helping people right now. But in the ways that you can, how are you doing this?

Sure. Since I am part of a company that provides motivational content, inspirational content. If I’m helping this company grow and reach more people, then I am, in that sense, parang part ako nun kasi I’m contributing to the company.

So siguro you can also do that. For example, E-Commerce ka. Just find something like a connection between your values and your purpose in life dun sa ginagawa mo sa business. For example, sa VA Bootcamp, we are providing educational content. So because of that, na-i-improve yung buhay ng mga kababayan natin. So in that sense, nakaka-tulong siya to address the pain of financial lack of freedom. So dun ako nagfo-focus, doon sa mga bagay na nai-connect ko doon sa life mission ko.

Kaya in that sense, kahit hindi ako directly involved diba, parang hindi naman ako yung nag-create ng course diba or kaya hindi naman talaga ako yung nag-create ng videos pero dahil I am part of the team, so masaya ako dahil nakaka-contribute ako para ma-fulfill yung company mission and in the same way, in the same manner, ‘yung life mission ko rin.