Ruben Licera paying it forward

CEBU, Philippines – If he were a hashtag, Ruben Licera would be "#cebukeepsmegoing," a term inspired by The Freeman's 95^th anniversary media campaign. While most high-earning individuals lavish themselves with material rewards, Licera, a successful Cebuano internet marketer, shares to others what he has achieved.

"Give something back," said Licera in an interview with The Freeman. "What you give [measures] what you receive." Bo Sanchez, John Calub and certain charitable local personages inspired him to give back his blessings.

Today, Licera mentors fellow bloggers and gives free seminars to those who are interested to learn online marketing strategies. This is aside from the other community outreach programs that he is supporting and the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) social media arm which he runs for free.

Licera, 33, owns and operates RLComm International, a company that promotes local and international businesses through online marketing. Among his clients are an international food supplement brand, hotels, and many others.

How he started

Ruben Licera Jr. used to work as press relations officer with a string of other executive functions under his belt at Maribago Bluewater Resort in Mactan and its other sister beach and island resorts in Cebu. In 2010 he left the job, which he held since 2008, because he wanted to learn more and do more.

"I was down, and felt [I stagnated]. And I thought that if I don't start it now, then I had to wait another year," he said. He needed to save enough money in order to marry his long-time girlfriend, Iren, and start a family with her.

In 2010, he and a likeminded friend rented a house in Bulacao, Cebu City, to start their own home-based companies. Licera started his RLComm with three freelance employees and a second-hand desktop computer given to him by his brother. His biggest tool was his solid faith that he would make it.

As a graduate of Journalism from the University of the Visayas and a trained writer, he used to be a PR writer for a foundation and a correspondent for The Freeman. Licera said he had enough experience to sell his writing globally. But he admitted that he had to read all the available information he could find online to be always abreast with news related to his new career.

His first online job was as a part-time writer, and later on search engine optimization (SEO) specialist when his boss told him to take over the post vacated by an SEO who had resigned.

Not like these days wherein online marketers - writers and SEO specialists - are in abundance, back in 2010, there were only a few of them. Even his friends did not believe he would make it.

Then clients started coming in - from all over the world.  From the three workers who started with him, RLComm now employs at least 25 home-based writers and online marketers all over the country. From a shared apartment, the company has since moved to his new two-story house in Jagobiao, Mandaue City, where he now holds office.

Trials

It was not a smooth journey for the budding businessman. While he was ready to sore high, problems kept blocking his way. Shortly after he resigned his day job in May, 2010, he contracted dengue, which almost killed him. Four months after, he was hospitalized again for a gallbladder problem; and two months later, underwent appendectomy. The repeated trips to the hospitals did not only drain him physically, it also made him bankrupt.

With his savings gone, Licera thought of going back to regular employment. But he persevered and sustained the business with borrowed money from family and friends. His faith in God, he said, saw him through. At his lowest moment, he believed that he was being prepared for something big.

When, at one point, RLComm lost a big American client at the height of the U.S. recession, he struggled hard to keep RLComm afloat. Licera admitted that being a son of an INC minister, he was raised to rely on God and his own capabilities.

As a family man

As the business began to stabilize, Licera was eventually able to save money. In 2011 he married Iren. Their first child, Third, came a year after; and their second, Fort, just two months ago. Amid his odd work schedule, he still finds time to bond with the family on weekends; they dine out or go to the movies.

He regularly works from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. During short breaks, when Third is still awake, he loves to listen to the boy talk endlessly about his friends at school.

Community involvement

Licera is actively involved in the Cebu blogging community, where he mentors fellow bloggers, numbering more than 200 of them. Those who aspire to be in the online marketing business he willingly teaches and trains. However, he advises them to be really ready, to first save to last them "through the rainy days."

"I ask them to show their bank books to me," he says. "A person's savings account is a testament of how ready and willing this person is to start and stay in his new business." Many of those he has taught have gotten into the business, but only few persist. As a teacher he gets frustrated by every failure of his students, so he makes sure that one has enough savings before admitting him or her to his seminars. In running a business, he says, one has to be prepared to fail, to be able to quickly bounce back, if ever.

Now doing well as online marketer, Licera dreams for his company to be able to bring a local brand to the world, perhaps a product coming from Cebu or the Philippines. He trusts that if they can do it for international brands, they can also do it for his country. "Internet marketing can level the playing field, in any industry, anywhere," he says.

He also hopes Cebu can introduce a social media platform similar to Skype; he believes Cebuanos are capable of doing it, with the right motivation and support. "I'm hoping that in the next five years one big startup [internet business] will come from Cebu," he says. And he is confident in the capacity of the Cebuano to deliver.

Ruben Licera Jr. is willing to do his share to help to make dreams come true. As he has already proven that it can be done, it's his time to pay it forward. By sharing to other dreamers the lessons he had learned in his own quest.