Ruby Castillo https://www.fiverr.com/fxruby 3m 720 #freelancemom
The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.
I am Ruby Castillo, a freelance writer and now an entrepreneur. I began working online more than ten years ago as a Forex trader as I was looking for ways to earn money and stay at home with my first-born child, Tomás, which is now 19 years old.
For the first two and a half years of trading Forex, I worked as a trader for one of Asia’s largest Forex brokers. It is a great place to work (as I am still working for them), and I am very grateful as they teach me about discipline and hard work.
Even though I was working hard, I still have time to do more. So I decided to look for other ways to make money online. I first tried doing Affiliate Marketing, but I failed.
Yes, I earned some commissions, but not constantly. The truth was that I didn’t do it right, I didn’t find the correct products or services to promote, plus I didn’t want to spend any money paying for ads or for courses to teach me how to do it correctly.
I was desperately finding ways to make more money because, in 2006, my second child was born, a beautiful little girl named Pamela.
After Pamela was born, I decided to open an account in Fiverr to become a freelancer. I began on Fiverr making video testimonial and selling an ebook I wrote called How To Start Trading Forex (which is still selling on Fiverr and Amazon).
After three months of being in Fiverr, I received my first order. I still remember how happy I was to get the notification about the sale. The truth is I didn’t believe someone was trusting a newcomer with a job. Soon I started receiving more orders, and I start earning money, not a lot, as I only charged $5 for a 30-seconds video, but I begin to realize that it was possible to be successful as a freelancer.
One day a client (who is still my client) ask me if I can help him write some articles for his website. Even though I have no professional experience as a writer, I always love doing it, besides I had written two short ebooks that are still selling on Amazon and countless blog posts for my website.
I accept the gig.
He liked the way I wrote, and he began to order my gig continually. One day, Fiverr change the conditions of video testimonials and put my gig on hold. It was then that I decided to open another gig about writing articles.
This time it was easier to begin as I already have five-star reviews on Fiverr and a client who continuously order my gig. Soon another client from Malaysia started to order my gig almost every week, and my seller level was upgraded to level two.
The more five-star reviews I achieved, the higher my writing gig began to appear on Fiverr, and more jobs I was able to do.
Becoming a freelancer has been a long journey, but I am happy I decided to do it. I had learned a lot about myself, and I notice the more grateful I am, the better luck I have.
It is not easy to combine motherhood with my freelancer career as now I am working more than 8 hours per day, every day. But thanks to my writing skills and my perseverance, I provide food, education, and entertainment to my kids. And I am very grateful!
After almost 20 years of beginning my online journey, I regularly need to remind myself to celebrate the success of my business because I lose a bit of my warmth, fun, and happiness as I am always working on the next project.
So if you are beginning your freelance career, please remember that it is okay to be vulnerable after all you are human so you don’t have to pretend to be invincible either to yourself or to your clients.
One of my favorite quotes by Alan Cohen said: “The successful people are those who are grateful for everything they have. Giving thanks for what we have always opened the door for more to come, and ungratefulness always closes the door.”
That is why I am grateful for my life, my kids, and my freelance career!
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