Marcelo Smith

I’m from Spain and now live in Bali. I first came to Indonesia while travelling through Asia and expected it to be another stop. It wasn’t. I stayed, started learning Bahasa Indonesia, and gradually made a life here.

My first online business was a design and marketing agency. In 2023, I made my first remote hire: a WordPress developer. They had a strong work ethic and could work independently. I would send over a brief, go to bed, and often wake up to find the work finished without having to chase or micromanage anyone.

That relationship changed what was possible for the agency. Lower overhead made more projects profitable, and having someone dependable meant I could say yes to work I might otherwise have turned down. It gave me room to grow without taking on a large permanent team. Since then, I’ve hired designers, developers, video editors, writers, and SEO specialists across Southeast Asia and Latin America.

The idea for OnlineJobs Indonesia became personal after a conversation with a friend who worked in a local shop. They wanted to work online and were trying to learn new skills, but they didn’t know where to begin or how to reach employers overseas.

At the same time, I knew Indonesians who had found remote work with international companies. The difference it made to their lives was enormous. They could earn substantially more than many local jobs offered, work with greater flexibility, travel, and provide more for their families. The opportunity was there but there wasn’t a clear path into it for many people.

Those experiences came together in OnlineJobs Indonesia. The model is simple: Employers pay a flat subscription when they want to contact workers. Workers use the platform for free and we never take a cut of their pay. Once they meet, both sides decide how they want to work together.

I write these guides from the employer’s side because that is where my experience comes from. Working across cultures can take some adjustment from both sides, but when it works, it can become a relationship that lasts for years.

For me, success is knowing that the platform helped create working relationships that made an employer’s business stronger and gave an Indonesian worker more options in life.

My dream is to help create hundreds of those relationships. One good remote job can affect more than one person. It can give someone greater freedom, change what they can do for their family, and open opportunities that previously felt out of reach. I’ve seen that happen with people I’ve worked with, and I want OnlineJobs Indonesia to make it possible for many more.

Marcelo Smith