by The Happy WAHM
Exactly nine years ago today, I walked out of the Digitel building in Libis for the last time. I went there to return my service vehicle and take care of my clearance and last pay. My husband went with me as he was bracing for a meltdown. He knew how much I loved my career, and he wasn’t sure how I’d handle letting go of it.
On this scorching hot afternoon, while browsing through my Facebook feed, I got alerted that today is my 9th anniversary as a WAHM entrepreneur. Well, the entrepreneur part came much later. But today, I’m just amazed that I have forgotten about my WAHM anniversary. Like I’ve always been a WAHM and there was no beginning, you know? How time flies when you’re having fun! And fun is exactly what I’m having! The corporate life I have loved so much is just but a distant memory.
I have not blogged for weeks, as I have been busy doing the things I love, and enjoying myself immensely in discovering new possibilities, but in honor of my ninth anniversary, I’m going to share what I’ve so far learned in my journey as a WAHM entrepreneur.
Here’s my list, which can also be taken as my advice to those who want to join me in the journey:
- Take your time. Have an idea? Let it sink in. Sleep on it. Gauge your happiness level about it. If you’re not 100% sure that it’s for you, don’t take it. There will always be another opportunity.
- Be a people person. More than the money, it is the relationships that you build that will bring your business the boost it needs to succeed.
- Work hard, then work smart. Success takes hard work and commitment. But you don’t have to do all the work. Learn the value of delegation.
- Never worry about competition. Stop comparing. Just know who you are, know what you want, know your purpose and do your best to achieve your goals.
- NEVER compete on price. Know how much your time and effort are worth, and charge accordingly. Compete on service and quality, not price.
- Get a mentor. Listen to people who can show you results, not theories; people who have been successful in doing the advice they’re giving. While their paths may not be the same as yours, at least you know that they know what they’re talking about.
- Network. Be the person even your competitors go to for answers and assistance. My favorite word is collaborate.
- Commit mistakes. Don’t be paralyzed with fear. Note that this is different from taking your time. By committing mistakes I’m saying that even when you are making informed decisions, you can still be wrong about it. So it’s okay to be wrong. Just make sure that you learn from that mistake, correct your course, and make adjustments to the earlier decision.
- Write a plan. And I literally mean write, because that’s what I do. I know what business I want, who my target customers are, and how I’ll go about my processes. So I write them down, and I tweak as I go.
- Be money-wise. Buy what you need, not what you want. You don’t have to show off your success by having the latest gadgets in the market, or wearing the most expensive watch. Let your bank balance do the talking.
- Be with people who are your kind of crazy. Seriously. There’s nothing more stressful than working with people who cannot even appreciate your brand of quirkiness.
- HAVE FUN! ‘Nuff said.
So there! These are the things that have worked for me in the last nine years. Maybe they’ll work for you, too!
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.
by The Happy WAHM
Working for a fitness coach for the past five years had me surrounded with information on every aspect of keeping a healthy lifestyle. We have everything from the food pyramid, to supplements, to just about every meal plan from paleo to vegan to vegetarian and even keto meal plans. But what can I say? Every meal plan that I work on contains something that is just not readily available in the Philippine market (or maybe just not where I’m based) or if it is, it is super expensive that it is not within the budget of a struggling WAHM with three kids, with one who is about to go to college. So I let all the information float around, and pick bits and pieces of them and apply what I can. We’ve already taken up juicing as part of our family diet around the second quarter of last year, and I consider it a big a step towards our goal as a family of taking care of our health a little bit better.
Cleansing is something I’ve been familiar with but have not really taken up since most of the ways I’ve encountered have not appealed to me. Some cleanse diets have combinations of food that I don’t even like, so why bother?
Working on the Juice Hut website late last year took me up close and personal to something that I felt I could consider doing, and love, even. So right after we launched, I decided that it would be good idea to go on a cleanse. I thought I’d try out the one-day cleanse first, and see how my body would react.
I followed the preparation written on the site. My mind was ready, so I was hopeful that my body would be ready, too. I’m a heavy rice eater, and I was a bit concerned about not having to eat any solids during the cleanse. So I really appreciate the guide given at the site about the preparation. Cutting out on carbs at least two days prior to the scheduled cleanse prepared my body for the no-solid day. My stomach was pre-conditioned.
Came cleanse day, and the whole family gathered to watch me drink on the very first bottle in the kit, which is the Lemon Detox. Yes, we are that kind of family, where everyone gets excited over everything, including, but not limited to, Mommy’s cleanse. Questions like, how does it taste? Is it good? What comes after that? Does your tummy ache?
And it was good! No tummy ache. With a little bit of spicy taste in it. I liked it. Not love. But I liked it. I can live with that.
The Cold Buster Orange was for breakfast. It’s a mix of orange, pineapple, carrot and cucumber. I’m all for orange and carrot, but apprehensive of the cucumber. I was expecting it to be bitter because of the cucumber. Surprisingly, it tasted good. So I listed it down as a possible favorite. 🙂
For lunch, I had a bottle of Revitalizing Red and a bottle of Fresh Start. The red blend has beets, carrots, apple and cucumber. Again, carrots and apple are familiar, as they are already part of our juicing regimen, but a little bit apprehensive of what taste the beets and cucumber would contribute to the mix. I have eaten beets in potato salads, but never had beet juice, and I’m not a big fan of cucumbers.
I was in for another surprise, as it tasted good. Another one to make it to the list of possible favorites.
The orange blend has apple, carrot and celery. A big thumbs up from hubby, as he says celery is good for my kidney. He’s been wanting to juice it, but our present juicer can’t handle vegetables. Love this one! Definitely a favorite!
Snack was Pure Almond Milk. This is, hands down, going to be a staple. Already thinking of hoarding a supply.
Dinner was apple, celery, lemon, orange, spinach and ginger. That’s a mouthful of blends, and knowing that it has spinach and ginger in it made me dilly-dally on drinking it.
A very small sip.
No, I don’t quite get the taste.
A bigger sip than the first.
Hmmmm… interesting.
“Marge, why don’t you just take it in big gulps to get it over and done with?”
Yeah, why not?
“It has spinach and ginger, Dad!”
“You’ll survive! Drink it!”
And so I did.
Not bad. Not bad at all. It’s not something I’m going to rave about, but it has good things in it, and I can live with it if I ever need to take it as part of a diet or something. Good enough.
I normally end my days at 12 midnight, but on busy days, I extend my working hours up to 2am. On my cleanse day, I was ready for bed as early as 10pm. After drinking the organic tea that came with the kit, I just felt that my body was ready to relax. The tea had a calming effect, and I started to feel sleepy earlier than usual.
This was me the next day. 
Suffice it to say that my one-day cleanse introduced me to new tastes, and inspired me to continue with our juicing protocol. I really feel lighter these days, getting my nutrients in liquid form. And I can bring a bottle with me anywhere!
For those of you who have the time to do your own juicing, go ahead and invest on a good juicer now. That’s our plan, too, since we have a fast juicer, and it’s not good with leafy vegetables. So this WAHM has to take on some extra projects for that dream Hurom Juicer
But if you are living the busy life but want to have your nutrient boost without the fuss, just go over JuiceHutManila.com and choose your combos. Or better yet, try out a cleanse, just like I did.
Oh, and when you do decide to try out a cleanse, think of getting some extra bottles for your family, too. Husband and kids were all too interested to find out what’s in the bottles that they just had to take a sip from my supply. 🙂
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.
by The Happy WAHM
We met one fine day at La Creperie in Robinson’s Galleria. She was referred to me by my partner, The Techie Mom, for domain and hosting service, and a possible WooCommerce set up. I’ve been working with WooCommerce for years already, and around the second quarter of 2014, I started to seriously think of offering it as a service outside of my VA gig as a new income stream. The first person to know of this plan was of course my partner.
So in July, I met Mia Sison. She told me her apprehensions about having an online store. She was selling her products through Instagram, and using Viber as the point of communication. She also was not sure as to what the process would be. She has gotten used to doing business through her phone, and she was worried that her customers might not welcome the change.
I was just going to buy her domain name for her, and set her up with a hosting account, which I did. Then I was supposed to just wait for her to get the site ready for me to install the cart. But she wanted to know how an online cart actually works, so in that first meeting, I discussed with her how the process would go, from the time that a customer lands on the site, what happens when they click on the ADD TO CART button, how she would get alerted of orders, how the customers would pay. I took note of her present process on deliveries and went on to explain how I would set up her cart to accommodate the present process.
As we continued to discuss her cart, she had questions about what else to put at the site, what would be on the menu, how customers would navigate, if she could connect her Instagram account with the site, could she put photos, could she put another product in a way that that product would not be a major item at the site, and I just felt that she needed help in setting up the website itself, not just the cart. So I offered to just manage the project for her. At no cost. I would just charge her for the cart set up, and I would take care of getting her a designer.
In truth, I was not even familiar with her products at that time. So my first request was for her to provide me with a list of her products, descriptions, etc. She said she has a product brochure, complete with cleansing instructions and all. And I said, great! Send that to me, please!
And she sent me this really colorful artwork!
And what do you know, the artist is not a stranger, but rather an admired online personality of mine.
Upon seeing the brochure, I instinctively knew who the best web designer to contact. And I was so grateful (still am) that she was available to take on the project that time because she’s the designer who gets full booking for months ahead. Or maybe because she loves me, too, that she took pity on me. #wishfulthinking
The old brochure became the basis of the web design, with Nica providing all the images and artwork, and Pat translating them to codes that made them come alive online.
The process was long, but it was a very fulfilling five months of working with the best of the best. I will continue to be in awe of Nica’s artistry, and will forever be Pat’s number one fan. Together, they created this online showcase of healthy goodness that I am so proud to have been a part of.
This is Juice Hut Manila.
As for me, it was by far the most challenging cart set up I’ve ever done. Variable products, variable purchase options, variable shipping. Without any extensions used. It was a dream project for someone who thrives on challenges.
But most importantly, I will forever treasure the relationship that was started with this project. This is what makes my WAHM life so fulfilling. The relationship that develops on a project and goes beyond its completion. Nothing beats getting to work on projects that you can be passionate about while working with people that you can be friends with.
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.
by The Happy WAHM
It’s two in two! Two sites in two weeks! Can’t get any better than this.
This site has been around since last year, but only during my goalsetting in November did I really get to internalize on its purpose. I bought the domain early in the year, wanting to use it as my ‘pay-it-forward’ kind of site. I wanted to create an online resource for WAHMs and WAHDs (or WAHM and WAHD wannabes) where they can either get ideas, or offer ideas. And then for a while, I decided to turn it into my coaching site, but later changed my mind again, because I felt that the coaching is a big part of what I do, hence it should be with MargeAberásturi.com.
So in December, I collaborated with Chasing Dreams on the design to get the site off hibernation. This site was actually our first, but as you well know by now, my personal biz site made it to launch date first. In terms of content, I was simply more ready with the business site.
This was the mock up of the logo.
And this is the final output. I requested for the Sketch Block font to make it identifiable with TheHappyWAHM.
Last night, hoping to make it two in two, I worked overtime to just put a couple of products in the shop and set up the directory pages.
The main focus of the site is to encourage entrepreneurship among women, and men, who stay home. I wish to have guest posts from anyone who’d like to share a hobby or an idea that has the potential of becoming a profitable business, just like the first post, How To Make Mango Puree. Incidentally, that was written by a man, so while the WAHM in the site title means work-at-home mom, it can also be easily referred to as work-at-home man.
I also have a page for partner sites, and these are the ones who responded to my call on Facebook last year, on who would want to get listed on my still-inactive site. And I’m so grateful to them, because they trusted me that much.
The Shop page is a showcase of my affiliate marketing stream. I’ve been doing affiliate marketing for two or three years, I guess, but it’s only now that I decided to have them in one place. Affiliate marketing is a good income stream, if you know how to do it right, and this is one of the topics that I will share in my February 28 VA Business Success Workshop. Since I’ve been asked to share my blueprint for my virtual assistance success, I find it important to share how to create other income streams out of the niche that I have chosen to pursue.
The site is still considered under construction, but I wanted to get it out there already. Everyday is a great day to get something started, so why not today?
I hope you will drop by, and again, if you have an idea and you don’t know what to do with it, let’s talk! I may be able to help you turn it into a profitable venture.
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.
by The Happy WAHM
About a month ago, I asked fellow WAHMs for suggestions on a payout processor. See, I’ve been having serious concerns about my current processor. I’ve been with them since 2012, and honestly, I was only really happy with the service for maybe the first four months, when service was on time. After the honeymoon period, everything just went downhill. I have written about our bumpy start here and here, and after those times, I just had to go with the flow, as choices have really been limited.
I could take the crappy customer service, for as long as they credit my payout on time. But even that just felt too much to ask from them. And so last month, I just felt that I need to move on. I feel so bad, really, because I was among the first WAHMs who endorsed them to clients and fellow freelancers. But we all need to get paid on time, right? So, I’m moving on…
I’m really grateful to fellow WAHM, Kristine, for suggesting Western Union in my survey thread on Facebook. There were other great suggestions, of course, like Paypal, Xoom, Orbit Remit and RemitHome. But after going through each one of them, except Xoom [you already know what happened there] and Paypal, I decided to give Western Union a try.
And it did not disappoint.
Here’s what clinched the deal for me…
My scheduled payout is always the 15th of the month. But because present payout processor has never acted on my transactions on time, I have since requested client to allow me to process my salary on the 10th. I would receive my payout around the 20th, or worse, even later. There were months that processing my transactions would take them 15 banking days, so you can just imagine my frustration. Of course, I would not want to request the client for an even earlier payout. It’s not fair to him that he should suffer for the inefficiency of our present processor.
So last December 9, I went ahead and processed my payout, thinking that the Christmas parties might get in the way of employees attending to their tasks promptly. What do you know, they acknowledged the transaction on the 12th. Three days for a mere acknowledgement!
So I was thinking, maybe it’s time I look at other ways to get paid. I remember that my client has a Western Union account, so I went ahead and logged in, checked out the terms and then sent out a proposal to my client for a change in processor. Within minutes, he replied with a go-ahead. And so I did. That was yesterday morning. And this afternoon, the money was credited to my bank account. Amazing!
So now, my only dilemma is the other transaction with the [now] old processor. Since they have a sending limit, I always have to process my payout in two separate transactions. So I have transactions A and B with the old processor. What I did yesterday was to process the amount of transaction B with Western Union, as a test on how they would perform, and then immediately sent a request for the other processor to cancel Transaction B, but keep Transaction A. Alas, up to this time, they have not acknowledged the request for cancellation, nor do they have any notification on the status of my other transaction. Based on our bank records, both amounts have been withdrawn, and should be credited to my account already. But well…
Suffice it to say that we will be using Western Union from hereon.
Here are some share-worthy notes:
- No sending limits – you can get paid with any amount, the sending fee is adjusted according to the amount being sent. Fee is competitive, as well as the conversion rate.
- Different sending options – your client can send using either his bank account, a debit card, a credit card, or can go to a WU branch and personally transact.
- Different receiving options – you can opt to receive through your bank account, or pick up from hundreds of accredited establishments. Most major banks in the Philippines are listed at the WU site.
- Opt to send free of charge, just adjust the sending date. So let’s say you want to receive your payout on the 15th. Your client can save on the sending fee if he chooses to send using his bank account balance. It’s free for the client, but it will take 4 days to reach you. So you can work around that by sending the money just 4 days earlier.
- Instant notifications. Your transaction is acknowledged in real time.
For yesterday’s transaction, I chose the option for my client to pay via his credit card. At the WU site, it says that it will take 1 to 2 days. But as it is, it only took 1 day to reach me. Good, yeah?
Some points that might appeal to your clients:
- If what you are getting is substantial [more than the sending limit of your processor], then doing the transaction twice proves to be more expensive in the end. With a flat fee of $4.99, if your client has to process twice, then it will amount to $9.98, as opposed to WU’s $8.00.
- Using their credit cards can earn them points with the card issuer.
- They earn WU reward points for every transaction fee they pay.
And of course, it may also be good to point out that Western Union has been around for decades. And with the news of remittance companies being shut down by Westpac in Australia, we would want to be with a service provider that has been in the industry long enough to weather these kinds of storms.
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.
by The Happy WAHM
Inbound Marketing. In my eight years as a work-at-home mom doing mostly virtual assistance, I have not given this a thought. At all. At least, not for my own websites. I’ve been like, okay, this is my work, I have my goals, and the goal is to have my client’s pages appear on page 1 of Google.
In the early days of my online career, I worked with a UK-based Internet Marketer. His business was all about designing profitable websites, search engine optimization, email marketing and social marketing. He builds really attractive websites for clients, with the goal of engaging visitors and converting those visitors into customers. But before a website gets visited, the site needs to be optimized so that people will find it in searches. That’s where SEO or search engine optimization comes in. We try to study search behaviors of a particular target market. We find out what are the keywords our target market is using when they do a search for a particular product. Then we use those keywords in our meta data and content. When visitors land on the site, we try to engage them with a call-to-action button, convincing them to leave their email addresses so we can do our email marketing. It was fascinating at best, boring at worst. My tasks included creating wireframes, researching keywords, writing content, creating links, watching over analytics…and just about any activity that would put our sites on page 1, and have them stay there. We tweak strategies when the graphs are showing a dip, and remain aggressive when the graph is on an uptrend.
Then I built my own business site, and set up my own blog, and conveniently forgot to apply the wealth of information I learned. I was like, okay, I need a domain that will represent who I am, and it will be my brand. I’ll set up my meta title, meta description and meta tags. And I did. I researched for my domain name, checked out competition, decided on my keywords, and set them all up. The sites went live, and I went my merry way to work on another stranger’s SEO, leaving my own sites without much content, hoping that by some miracle, people will find me.
Sadly, it doesn’t work that way. And it never will.
I did not even have my own analytics on my blog, until about two weeks ago. In my mind, what do I need it for? I am gainfully engaged with a client. I don’t have to stress about people finding me.
Fast forward to August 30, 2014. Thank goodness for one Martine de Luna, who invited me to attend the Spiralytics workshop on inbound marketing. Listening to the speakers awakened a desire that I’ve been trying to keep a lid on for the longest time. The desire to write.
I mean, they were talking about how powerful content can be. And I know I can put out content on any given day.
Yes, I’ve been writing. But am I being read? I don’t think so. So now, I want people to find me. And maybe inspire them with my content that they will come back and regularly visit. And I’ll be the world’s biggest hypocrite if I just don’t say it straight here: I want to monetize my blog.
So, with my stock knowledge on SEO and email marketing, I’m now making it my goal to apply what I have learned about inbound marketing. It’s going to be a challenge, and it will be a slow process as I still have to prioritize my virtual work as operations manager for some guy’s business in the land of stars and stripes, but I can make it happen. I will make it happen.
First stop: the 46%. According to Jimmy Cassells, 46% of online audience would likely follow a site with customized design. And my site? It sat on a free template since the day I built it. So my fist mission has been to finally act on my dream of getting it professionally-designed, and it can’t get any more professional than Fancy Girl Designs, so I went to her.
I think the design process was my biggest stumbling block. I see beauty in everything around me. A blogger friend launches a site, I go ooooh wow! And I kind of dream, I want something like that. And then another blogger friend announces a re-design oh her site, and I go oh, this is what I want my site to look like!
Same thing with the color palette. I just like each and every palette that I see on my newsfeed every day. So it really was a monumental task, creating a mood board for the designer to have an idea on the look that I want to have for my site.
But as you now know, I did it! Here, let me share my mood board with you…
I was a zombie for two days for pulling an all-nighter for this mood board.
Errrr… I didn’t actually work on this one for two nights. Truth is, there was another mood board which I worked on the first night, but it was totally scrapped. Not worthy of sharing here.
But back to inbound marketing…
I’m really looking forward to becoming a more productive blogger in the coming days and applying the fresh knowledge that I have learned from Rhiza and Jimmy. And between you and me, I’m realizing that it really helps when you’re happy with your site. You tend to write more. 🙂
‘Til my next ramblings!
