Monday, June 13, 2011

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

What is a Virtual Assistant?

You have a job and have the skills that makes your boss look good and feel better and you're very successful at it. But you're now tired of commuting and wants a change in your daily routine. You want to be home when your kids arrive and help them with assignments anytime. Maybe you're tired of the hustling and buzzling of city life and wants to settle somewhere in the mountains or by the beach without suffering your opportunity to earn for your family.

Good news! The virtual world is here. A great opportunity to work from the comfort of your own home is one of the best things the Internet has brought. Offering online services are now possible by being a virtual assistant or VA.

What do VAs actually do? Entrepreneurs,independent professionals and small business owners tend to work more than eight hours a day. But then no matter how busy they are, they don't see the need for a full-time secretary or office manager. What they do is they hire a VA to help them in the nitty-gritty part of their activities.

A VA's tasks may include office administration work, scheduling, project management,logistics coordinating and more. If you happen to get a VA job for start-up company, you may be busy researching for resources that could propel their businesses with minimal budget. An author or a consultant may ask you to manage his or her hectic life by arranging more personal things like making sure that his appointment with the doctor won't conflict with client meetings. Expect lots of market research, assignments to send out marketing materials and news releases, handle the billing and bookkeeping, or update your client's Web site.

As a VA, you may work "on call" or set your own schedule as long as you deliver your client's needs.

VAs in US are usually paid $20-$40 per hour. Those with more specialized skills could earn as much as $100 per hour. VAs in the Philippines are paid an average of $5/hour depending on skillsets. Those who offer more technical skills like web development, programming as well as project management earn $10-$20 per hour. Others charge a retainer fee or arrange a per project fee.

In all cases, you are virtually working from your home for clients who may be based in your community or on another continent.

Communication is done mostly by e-mail, phone, fax, instant messaging and other online communication tools like Skype and Magic Talk. There are also lots of online project management tools like Basecamp, Zoho or Google site to coordinate about your project. 

Just like in any other business ventures or professional endeavors, being a VA is rewarding only if you will put your heart in it. Your success as a VA earning dollars per hour in the Philippines depends on your dedication, hard work, honesty and integrity in doing your work. After all, being in the virtual world is all about building virtual relationships. So why not build virtual business client relationships and do virtual business together that would benefit your client, by having a great VA from Philippines, and you, by delivering your client's needs even while your laundry is spinning in the washing machine.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Tips to Start Your Day, Blogger

As I was reading and surfing around feeds that I subscribed in to my Hootsuite account, I found it interesting that tips for bloggers could be a quotable quote too...
  1. At the end of the day, you need to work out your own system, but you need a system - Marketing Savant 
  2. Having deadlines has been a great benefit to me. It’s taught me to cultivate self-discipline, stay organized, and stop wasting time. - Jennifer Fulwiler 
  3. Let go of perfectionism - Jennifer Fulwiler 
  4. First Thought, Best Thought - Allen Ginsberg
  5. The only “rule” of blogging that I’d be brave enough to preach is: find your own way. - Darren Rowse

Monday, March 14, 2011

The Official Website of Karla Chin

The Official Website of Karla Chin: "Holistic Nutrition & Lifestyle Coach. Founder of Thriving Lifestyle."

Monday, January 3, 2011

A Virtual Assistant's Resolution for 2011

I'd like to start this year with resolutions aimed at organizing things from my life and business and begin anew.
  1. Remove clutter from my workspace. A clutter free workspace helps me focus better.
  2. Better time management. Alot more time to those that require more attention and whom I've given my commitment to.
  3. Nurture clients who nurtures me as a person and not just a hired VA. Some clients I've served well started  to demand more work hours but at a lesser rate and seem to forget that I have a life too other than being their VA.
  4. Write more posts for my blog. a blog post a month isn't that bad, right?
  5. Connect more in LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. These are the only three that I'd like to use in reaching out to entrepreneurs and business owners who are looking for services that I can offer.
  6. Shrug off the bulges. Hmm... it's been so long since the last time I jogged. Recently the only exercise I can regularly do is typing exercise and it's doing nothing against my belly bulges.
  7. Learn something new. This is a constant goal.   
 I think it's time to start anew and get going now... Cheers to a more prosperous 2011!!!

Want to share something?

Hi! If you're a WAHM and have articles which you feel would contribute to the growth of all freelancers, independent contractors or home-based workers, or if you want to share any of your experiences or musings working from home, please feel free to send them over to bexmvpr at yahoo dot com.