An Income For Expats
A frequent question I get is what is a source of income for expats. Some are looking for jobs in the Philippines. Honestly, I’d rather go to the dentist. I’d never work for someone else again. For the most part, jobs in the Philippines are low paying. The best means of income for expats is online marketing. The quickest path to making money while living in the Philippines is by doing it online. Anyone can do it and it does not require a lot of money to get started. Twenty dollars is about all you need to get started. Though it is the good way it is not fast and it is not easy.
This article is probably the most valuable single bit of information I have ever shared on this website. I don’t expect it to be fully appreciated but that’s okay. I know though that a few people might just jump on this and find this statement to be completely justified with time.
Many expats think about blogging about the Philippines as a way to earn an income while living the Philippines. I did and still do. To be honest, this niche is difficult to make money from. It could very well take you at least a year. Probably longer. It will take serious dedication and a lot of time and you’ll need to learn advanced web techniques if you ever hope for anyone to find your website.
Now someone is going to say “You just don’t want the competition.” You know what, you’re right, I don’t. However, that’s not way I’m saying this. From what I’ve learned about the web now, I would not have started in this niche. I’m also not too worried about competition as my site is solidly ranked and you’ll have a very hard time unseating it as a beginner. I also don’t rest on my success. Instead I build on it. I am constantly making it harder to overtake me. As are most of the others that have reached page one on Google.
I enjoy my life in the Philippines and I love blogging about it. The picture above was taken this week while I was visiting Bantayan Island.
With that said, blogging about anything is what you should do. At least get started. I say get started with the goal of making money on the web while living in the Philippines. Just don’t expect it to happen fast. I’ve seen some gifted people making hundreds of dollars a day within six months. I’m not gifted and honestly you probably are not either. I’d rather tell you that you can get rich quickly on the web but honestly people that tell you that are full of hype. When you see offers like that, you should run for the hills. The only exception to that is if they come from someone you trust. It is unlikely that someone you trust will tell you that because it just isn’t that easy.
The purpose of this article is not to teach you online marketing. I do have another site where I do more of that one but I’m not really active there. The reason I’m not really active on it is that is probably the most competitive niche on the Internet.
I will say this, if you don’t get keyword research correct everything you do will be wasted. There are two issues here. If people are not searching for your topic no one will find your site. If thousands of people are searching every day for your topic then it is likely some of the best webmasters on the Internet are already targeting those topics. That means getting your site ranked well on Google is very difficult and next to impossible for a beginner.
Education for Income
Just over a year ago, I took a course that started changing things for me. It was a course for a highly respected online marketer. His name is Chris Farrell. His course was a bit basic for me but I still gained from it. You can see his site here. His course was a great launching point, he is really good at motivation and teaching the basics in small doses so that you can understand and absorb what he is teaching. He calls it EUI or Educate, understand and implement.
Recently though, I found another course that I like quite a bit. I signed up because they offer a lot of one on one help. It is from a couple of guys named Leo and Paul. Their course is cheaper and provides more intensive one on one help. You can even schedule a live session on Skype with them. They also provide an article writing service at deep discounts. That means if you can’t write they will help you with that too. Both their course and Chris’ course though will help you with finding ideas for articles. You can see the Leo and Paul Membership course here.
You don’t need both but I wanted to tell you what I did. I think Leo and Paul offer a better deal but both guys sites are very good and both sites have my confidence and trust. Also, Leo and Paul offer more help with WordPress and WordPress is the platform you need to setup your website with. Chris covers it but it was weak. Now he does a good job over teaching you how to work with HTML without actually learning HTML. You do not need to learn HTML but having the basics will serve you well.
Those courses are not enough. They are a beginning point and should be seen as that way. I think the Leo and Paul course can serve you longer than Chris’ but Chris might be a better choice for the complete newbie. I could even see getting in Chris’ course for a month and then moving over to Leo and Paul.
I’m working on an eBook now that will detail how I’ve gone from $30 a month in revenue to $1000 a month in a year. Though I must be honest, this month doesn’t look like it will be a $1000 month for me. I think that is because of the depressed mood of the American consumer though. That eBook may take a few months before it is ready, I’m not sure. I may launch it in stages and the first stage might come much sooner. It will detail the process and which tools I have used. I won’t go into it in public because I don’t want my competition to have that information.
The eBook will also discuss my plans for the future. You see, once you have some revenue coming in then you can jump start what you’re doing. It enables you to pay for services or outsource your work. Now every article with my name on it is written by me and I wont be paying writers for this website. I do have some micro sites where I have bought a few articles, most of those are by me too. I just go slow. Unfortunately, I need the income from my websites to live on and can’t invest it all back into the sites.
Other Sources of Income For Expats
Many expats want to come to the Philippines and setup a business here. There are a few markets that can be good. There are a few that I want to break into. Most of those I can’t do. I don’t have the right kind of visa. Jessie could do them and so can your wife or significant other. Marketing online though doesn’t have those pitfalls. My business is US based and I market to Westerners.
If you set up a business in the Philippines and market to Filipinos then you’re going to earn what Filipinos earn. Some talk of sari sari store. I wouldn’t want to do that. Now some talk of a resort. Now that I’d like to do. Did you know that to lease land in your name for the tourist industry requires an investment of five million US dollars? I’d also invite you to read about the troubles resort owners on Bantayan Island are having with the DENR. Also read about the dispute over the lease the holder of Sand Castles Resort in Boracay had. He lost his lease and his investment in the buildings and improvements. If he did it his name and the current requirements were in place at the time he started, that’s five million dollars gone.
If you have the dollars for an investment like that, then you have an option I can only dream of. I’d love to own a resort or a disco but they are not in my near future. An Internet cafe would be a possibility but you’ll have significant dollars and time to invest in that business too. A lot less than five million but the potential profits would be a lot less too.
Some folks with the proper visa do both online marketing and business in the Philippines. If you’re going to offer services in the Philippines then once again you are going to run into the stiff competition that Philippines expat sites have.
Instead you can setup affiliate based website aimed at products. With a few hundred visitors a day on a site you can earn a couple of hundred dollars a month if you have educated yourself and understood the basics. The most important of which is keyword research. Then you have to actually implement when you’ve learned. I don’t find that kind of site to be very much fun but it can make money faster. If you have 20 of those sites making a couple of hundred dollars a month then you can make enough money to live in the Philippines on that alone. These kinds of sites are all you need for an income as an expat and they follow you where ever you have an Internet connection. Here is an example of my newest site. It is still under development but there is enough there now to give you an idea. See Canon DSLR Reviews.
UPDATE: Last night I found a site that teaches you how to setup a WordPress blog. It is very inexpensive. It teaches by video and would likely help a new person out a great deal. Here is the link.
This is not easy to do but it is also not magic. You need to learn the skills and that is the key. They are skills and they can be learned. It will take time, as my friend Chris Farrell says “This is not a sprint it is a marathon.” If you’re willing to work at it, even 30 minutes a day you can make money on the web. If you are in a position to put more time into that, then you can make more money faster. You need to give it six months to start earning.
Chris is a star on the Internet now. Three years ago no one had heard of him. Now nearly every online marketer knows of him. He started about three years ago. It took him six months to make money but soon he was making hundreds of dollars every day. I just don’t have his gift. Some do. Chis had his first million dollar day about a year ago. Yes he had gross receipts of over one million dollars in a single day. One of his students, Jo Barnes recently had her first six figure day. I’d love to have a four digit day. I have had some three digit days. There have been days when I made $100 a day. I’m not even close to doing that every day. Many though are more successful than me. They are not in the Philippines expat niche. Though I know one guy that might be making that kind of money in this very niche. But I know he spends more time on other niches as well. I just don’t know what those are, he keeps information to himself in that regard. If you are wanting an income for expats then I honestly believe that online marketing is the way to go.
Tagged with: Expats • Income for Expats • Jobs in The Philippines • Live In The Philippines • Living In The Philippines
Filed under: Expats • Living In The Philippines
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You are right on. I once had one of the largest sites in the world on a particular subject matter. I was basically a database/information website. I made $3,000 to $5,000 a month just on google adsense. Then my affiliate sales added another $5,000 plus monthly and other sales from consulting, mail lists, etc. Well you get the pictue. I personally find most sites on the Philippines are very lame.They all offer the same thing with slightly different window dressing. I mean how many ways can you basically say the same thing. “How to find the girl of your dreams”, surviving in the Philippines” on and on!!! No disrespect Randy.
But, Randy is correct that there is still tons to be made by the motivated and smart marketer. I may embark on such a venture. I have no doubts I would be way up on the first page on google in no time. It will not reqire much traffic to accomplish this based on what I have seen so far dealing withthis subject matter. But maybe I won’t as I don’t really need the money and I have some short term memory issues that would hamper some of this effort. Have to think on it. BUT WATCH OUT if I do it LOL
Thanks for the inspiration Rusty
Richard
Your abandoned business venture sounds like a dream to most of us who live on pension money.
Could you please be a little more specific on what really made you decide to end everything.
I am a little confused.
I agree with Richard. Most of the websites about expats in the Philippines are lame. I learned about you from another site which I won’t name. I found several of the blogs offensive (the main purpose was to draw traffic) and responses to the comments rude. I used to visit the site daily. Now I visit if 2 or 3 times a month.
When I move to the Philippines, I won’t be writing a blog or sitting around drinking all day. I think I will be able to keep myself busy.
Glad you’re hear though probably people same the same thing about me there. lol
Though, I don’t think my blog is typical. It is far too personal to be typical and not just opinion but what I’m actually experiencing here. I wish I could get out more and experience more.
Of course, I have some that say I’m too personal. That’s just who I am. It is my way.
Another thing that sets it apart from MOST, the articles are not 500 words. I use to actually try to keep my post short. I don’t now.
Life is in the details and all those side tracks I take are usually there for a reason. I might be the only one that gets them though.
Doing the best I can.
Rusty. It’s one reason I like your blog and the blogs from Dave Dewall. You have relative articles about day to day life in the Philippines. It is truly about “Living in the Philippines”. I enjoy reading the stories about adventures outside of the home. It also shows respect when you talk about a local person and they have a name. Each person has a story and when you listen to them, they are fascinating.
Keep up the good work.
I wish I could get out more.
Thanks for the kind words.
I am amused to find the topics I write about on other peoples websites a few days after I publish them. I use to think it was just coincidence but its not. I just take it as a compliment. I tend to do just the opposite. If I see an article on another website I had in the works, I might very well delay it.
Hopefully, I’ll have many more adventures soon. I plan a trip to Tacloban soon. Jessie has not been home in a long time and that is a high priority for me right now. She said wait until Jan but no, we’ll try to go in Jan too.
I miss Andoks. I wish I could make that trip to Tacloban also.
I am either going there are to Manila soon, well if things hold together. I’m almost certain to go to one. I need to go to the Embassy in Manila but I want to go to Tacloban. Jessie needs to go to Tacloban
One can make money with ads by Google but it is specialized. It also takes a lot more traffic and you have to be in the right niche. Trust me this isn’t it.
Some niche’s pay as much as $50 a click. Trying to get ranked in those is a often a nightmare. 
Because everyone is trying to get to the top. I’m working on one of those. I just let the site sit there for six month so it will gain some age. It may not succeed but i’m going to give it my all. 
I’m limited in what I can say on this topic on this website because of Google policies.
It cost $150 a month to host this site because of the volume of traffic it gets. Now it host all my other sites too but they could ALL be sitting on one $10 account.
I just started doing affiliate marketing in a new way. A site getting 200 visitors a day can earn you around $200 a month. You can build it in a day if you can churn out content for that site. I’ve always been a slow writer so I’m very slow. I really didn’t expect it to do a dang thing. I have earned as much as $150 in a week with it and the site has about 5 articles on it.
You shouldn’t work on 20 sites at once. As a newbie you should work on ONE site exactly. Learn it, get it making money and then branch out. The low traffic required is they key. How you do that though will be explained in my eBook. If you just put up a site and do nothing else, nothing will happen.
You don’t need to be a database wiz, WordPress handles your database. You need to be a traffic wiz.
I couldn’t help to respond on your site. My friend Scott has been an avid user of your blog. Your site may have been part of a catalyst of education that brought him to the Philippines. The life of an affiliate is the best business that I ever got involved in. I have never had so much freedom in life. The best part is watching the rewards come in. I am recently re learning the business and thank you for your time invested in your post and sharing your knowledge. Thank You
Rober Z
Hi Robert, you’re very welcome. Sometimes it is frustrating to me that I can’t get people to try. But that is where most fail. They never try.
I found a product last night on how to setup a wordpress blog, It doesn’t appear you need it but it may help someone else. Thing is cheap, right now only $17.00
Rusty, do you recommend amazon affiliate sites or adsense sites? Does your portion of your income come from this site? Thank you
J
I recommend both but AdSense you’ll need more traffic and training. The Leo and Paul membership site is great for AdSense. I am trying some new things on AdSense based on what I learned there.
You need either a lot of traffic or high paying keywords for AdSense. You need the right theme. The theme on this site is not the best for AdSense but I’m more interested in building a community than having a theme great for AdSense, those two goals often clash.
It is all about the keyword. I don’t put AdSense on my sites targeted for affiliates.
Personally, I make about 2500-3000 USD a month and I am moving to the Philippines TOMORROW. lol….yup, tomorrow, Nov. 25th.
Took me about a year to really make good money online, but I was able to quit my job a year and half ago and have been making my whole income online and surviving in the USA on that, so I would think it should be no problem moving to Phil and living on my income online.
The only thing that concerns me a little is that I will be moving to Surigao, and worried about the number of brownouts they have a year, a month, a week….
I do need to actually be online part of the time to make my income, so just a little worried about that.
I don’t own a lot and I’m leaving behind just about everything except for my laptop and some clothes.
I’m moving to Phil permanently and hopefully will be married to my girl late December or early January.
Earning a living online is possible and it does not necessarily require a blog to do it.
I have made very good money providing services online: writing, editing, website setup, blog setup, and I worked as a Customer Service Rep online for $14/hr for awhile.
Now I make all of my money online by Internet Marketing. I won’t get into specifics, but I have developed a good list of subscribers and I earn money every day and only work about 30 minutes a day.
A person needs to decide first what they are good at and if they can provide a service online with what they know….that is much quicker than earning from a blog, which they can also do and start to work on…then develop some Internet Marketing skills and start experimenting and learning.
Wishing everyone the best!
Hi JC, yep many make more than I do. Most don’t do as well as you have in a year. My goal is $5000 a month within a year. It can be tedious work but I’m getting to the point now where I can hire people to do some of it for me I still do most of it myself. I hate spending $200 to put up a website and then have it flop.
Not sure of the one I just put up but it didn’t take me long and I did it all myself. I’m not doing well with adsense, haven’t cracked that formula yet. For long time, what I did with affiliate sites was all wrong.
I don’t know how the brownout situation is where yo’re headed. We use to have a lot in Bogo City but we don’t have that any more. I certainly hope they don’t return on a regular basis that was getting really tiresome.
I hope you’re trip goes well. Stay in touch and let us know!
Hi Rusty
Glad to see that you are doing well. I remember back in 2008/2009 when you told me that you are making $100 per month. Great work!
In the mean time 2 years ago I moved to the Philippines and am still “adjusting” to the intense heat, combined with even more intense humidity.
Thanks for the hints about making money online.
Who knows, one day I may decide that I am ready for it. In the meantime I am developing a farm and that costs me all the pension money.
These are the views from the farm, that is why I am still not ready for online business.
That dropped to $30 a month later on. So I was breaking even for a while. Now my hosting cost much more than $30 a month. This site can’t be hosted on a low cost account any more.
That farm is probably better for your health.
No way could I do that but I bet working online is a lot easier. Once you know how to do it, it can make some money.
I need to get back to working on that eBook about how I went from $30 to $1000 a month in a year. I put up three new sites this year. One was put up just last week so it isn’t doing anything yet. The other two are doing well. I’m beginning to think I can make money at will now. Finding the right product is the hardest part though. A site like this tough, it didn’t have a product in mind when I put it up. I just put up a site that I thought there was a need for and then found a way to make it generate income. Those are really the best sites in my opinion but they require much more work.
BTW please let me know when your e-book is available.
Rusty, Love your site. Please let me know when your eBook becomes available. Thank you!
Thanks Peter, I thought I’d have it out this month but now its not looking like it. That old needing more hours in the day thing, well that and I’m lazy. LOL
Hey Rusty
Amazing site with pretty good contents.
BUT, I would brush up on my vocab,spellings and such…
proof read the stuff before you publish them, my friend
I’ll direct your attention to this comment:
http://cebuexperience.com/philippine-immigration/special-resident-retirement-visa/#comment-135770
Hi all,
Its good to read that many more have chosen the same path to earn money with google adsense. To make it clear as i could not find the answer, is money earned online with websites a taxable source of income for a expat living in the philippines or not. Yes the money is NOT from a philippine source but it is earned by maintaining your websites while in the philippines, so might be considered as a sort of work to generate it.
How is this explained?
I make about enough for a living but thats it….so no luxury, but to survive, just knowing where the limit is by this question.
I don’t make a lot from AdSense, I do better with affiliate sites and my eBook. For me, right now AdSense barely covers the server cost but I’d hate to see it go away. I really haven’t setup sites for AdSense but I will likely move into that. I did setup one but intend to put my own video course on it as well. I have to look into it more first. it is very competitive high cPC so it will take more time getting it to rank. I’ve not spend much time on it. Letting it age some.
I can’t tell you for certain that it isn’t taxable. It is my understanding that it is not taxable. My business is US located, has a US licence (expired now because I can’t renew it) and the income is from the USA. If I own a business and visit another country, say South Africa, my income is not taxable there.
If National Geographic comes to the Philippines and makes a video and makes money selling ads on it, that is not taxable in the Philippines, at least I sure don’t think so. I don’t see how that is any different.
Now if I setup a business here and start hiring locals (which I’d like to do) then I’m doing business in the Philippines but even that wouldn’t be a Filipino based business just because of I hired locals. Many people from all over the world hire them as outside employment. I think it has to do mostly with who your selling too. I’m not selling products in the Philippines. My opinion is that it is not taxable. However having worked for the IRS for almost 20 years, I consider nothing certain.
A CPA also told me I had nothing to worry about.
Now I’d like to go into the Civet Coffee Business. That comes from a cat like creature in the Philippines. Then I’d be selling a product that is produced here and exporting it. To me, that is an income earned from the Philippines. So I want go into it. I’m trying to nudge my gf to do it.
Hi Rusty, i think its the way you generate the income and WHAT you do for it. The moment u have a US company and generate income you can pay the taxes in the US. The US and PH have an tax agreement to prehibit taxation in both states. So the moment you pay TAX in the US at least you are not evading it.
Now that you don’t have a company anymore you can still pay taxes in the US, but something changed. You are now seen as an individual who lives in the Philippines and gets income out of the US. (US source)
Now you get the question what many have….you have income from abroad but do work for it in the Philippines.
Since you work for it here…PH could say, you generate it here even you get paid in abroad for it and then it will be seen as a philippine source instead.
With Adsense or affilate programs, well…can you name it work that you do for it. Even you sleep the site you have online generates money.
For this many questions to be answered.
I hope will react.
Hi,
Income from google adsense generated with marketing own websites is very clear not income from a Philippine source but since we are living in the Philippines and we spend time to maintain or improve our websites how sure is this not to be seen as work and taxable.
Who knows more about this ?
Hi Rusty,
Does the people in the Philippines use internetshopping?
Dou you use it? Is there any list of internet shops, or sales portal?
Selling on internet should be another way of generating income.
Petr
The internet is extremely underused in the Philippines. There are a few places that have it. Most of those though, you select what you want, email them and then go to the bank and deposit the money in their bank account.
Most of the send gifts to Filipina shops are owned by foreigners. I want to get into that business as well but I don’t have the energy to do it myself and can’t get the help I need to do it. I actually wouldn’t do it on the visa I have now. Many do and they are risking their continued life here. I believe that would be illegal. I’m not 100% certain of that. Since you’re dealing with shops here in the Philippines though, I don’t believe you’d be able to legally do that and claim your business is a US based business.
The vast majority of Filipino using the internet are doing it via Internet cafes. They have enough money for a few hours at the cafe and their daily needs. They usually don’t have the money to buy a lot of things. They are buying their food and paying their rent. Many Filipinos do have the means to buy lots of extras but by far most don’t. Its a different world and there isn’t a very big market for selling anything to Filipinos that is not already covered up in competition and low prices and profits.
I know one guy that wanted so much to sell physical products. I pushed him into Internet marketing and that is now his sole source of income. I don’t see most businesses in the Philippines that market to Filipino as a good idea. Some are, if you have something unique that would be a different story. Like the upstart selling mosquito traps. He came to one of my sites trying to sell me something. I wanted it. When I asked how to buy it I was told to come to his Manila office and he’d sell me one.
At some point there could be a huge opportunity for someone with the right visa and means to market their website to sell things online. If you don’t know how to market a website, you’ll fail. It wont do any good to have the best product that many people want if they can’t find your website. We are not at that point now. The people that have anything close to that for the most part are selling to foreigners. Like flowers and gifts for their overseas girlfriends.
Hi Rusty,
Any update on your eBook? I am about 4 to 5 weeks away from moving to the Philippines and looking forward to the move. Just sold my home and now only waiting for the closing. It would be nice to earn some additional income via the internet. I always look forward to reading your very informative articles. They have been a terrific education. Thanks.
Hi Peter, no i haven’t released an update. Hopefully you joined the email list when you purchased. If you did, you will get an update there.
I hope you’re trip goes well..
I did purchase your incredibly helpful expat training manuall, but I am speaking about the eBook that you planned to release where you describe how you went from making from $30 per month to $1000 per month in additional income. Still planning on making that available at some point? Thanks.
No, I haven’t. One major reason is that one of the tools I used to do it is undergoing major enhancements. It could use them. Though it really jump started me and is good for an initial boost it needs work to make it sustainable.
The other is I need some more me’s.
Just not enough time for me to do it right now. I expect the updated version of that tool to be out this month. I could really use the income I think the eBook could generate. I haven’t some trouble deciding on how I want to go with it too.
The eBook will only be useful if people sign up for the same services I did. If they don’t it will be of little use.
At some point, I can see me offering a complete marketing course. I have the knowledge now. I feel I need to establish myself a bit more and to make sure what I’m doing will continue to work. I’m sure it will but only time will answer that question with a certainty.
Plus, I’m constantly learning.
Good luck with it. I for one would be interested in purchasing the eBook and I’m guessing that there are others also. Thanks.
I will do it when I am able to. Best I can do. It isn’t something you can do quickly. It takes time.
I understand and I thank you. Best wishes to you and your family. It would be nice to meet you one of theses days.
wow I like the added picture.
very good
I noticed in watching videos of festable there.
and I seen no balloons.
I hurd that many who sell them in USA retire early and rich.i think this would be worth a try. of corase I havn' resurched it yet. to see if heleum is avalable there.
and baloons could be imported if needed, peso or two many be tomuch for some. but still think it could, add to the festablethere. and could help some make extra money by hiring the locals to sell.
I have soc sec. so don't really need to do this but would be fun to try.
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