My life as a budding Virtual Assistant. Hope that the experiences I share here would somehow give you an idea or even inspire you to take up an additional career in the virtual world.
Was about to shut down my laptop and get an early snoozefest (yup, nowadays 3:00 am is early for me) when I thought of checking my crochet blog in Google and here is what surprised me:
I guess having a Google Plus page helps a lot :) even though it's not as popular as Facebook pages. Well, not yet anyways. But what's important especially to bloggers like me is that coveted place in the Google searches where you are highly visible to searchers.
So make sure you share your blog posts to your Google Plus page, if you aren't doing so already.
By the way, you may want to start earning online either through blogging or becoming a virtual assistant or both (like I do!). Check out my mentor Jomar Hilario's website and find out how by clicking here. Becoming his student was one of the best decisions I've ever made!
Working while taking care of my huggable, kissable nephew :)
Quitting from my 7-year job as Executive Secretary, I found more time to pursue my passions and thankfully, get more virtual work from oDesk.
In a month, I was able to finish two e-books, launched them into a self-made site and get new clients from oDesk. The pay may not yet be as great as my office-based job but the rewards of freedom, peace and sense of fulfillment are far more gratifying than any amount of money. Plus there's that cutie pie you can watch while you work :)
Start your own career as a virtual assistant or---as some prefer to be called nowadays---virtual contractor! Check out the easy-to-follow tutorials of my internet mentor Jomar Hilario by clicking here.
For over 2 years now, I've been a webinar junkie. Starting an online career as a virtual assistant, it was my constant concern to improve my skills and get as much updated information from online content that's why I'm always on the look out for free webinars.
So far the best ones I've been following are from Jomar Hilario (I've been one of his students since 2009) and Brendon Burchard of Experts Academy and best-selling author of The Millionaire Messenger. These guys have changed my life dramatically with Jomar teaching me to have an online career and Brendon inspiring me to be a motivator and author.
Every now and then I get some e-mails inviting me to check out a video on internet marketing and recently I've been following the webinars of Robert Allen after I bought his book The One Minute Millionaire. One of his frequent webinar hosts is Bob Gatchel who teaches multiple ways to earn from the internet that's why whenever he's on, I make sure I attend.
Anyway, last Thursday on my first day of vacation leave, I woke up early to catch Bob's latest webinar training on "10 Ways to Make $10,000.00 online". It was an exhilarating audio training where you'll learn unique ways to make money online from eBay, blogging, PLR products, etc. Got some ideas and was already choosing some of the tips there that I would be using but what got me really interested was the offer of Bob to a limited number of people to be coached one-on-one by his team of professional internet marketers for 30-days to guarantee that you could earn right away from any of the 10 ways he presented. Saying that there was an interview to go through before being considered for the program, I immediately hooked on by magicjack and called the number Bob gave. A nice gentleman got my call and started the interview by getting my name and what's my job and a little later on he started asking about my financial status. Was a little embarrassed at first but if this is what I needed to answer to qualify for the program then what the hell. I admitted that I had some credit card debt that I wanted so much to get rid of and he reassured me that it was really why they offered the program, to help people get out of debt as fast as possible. He said that I was a fitting candidate especially that they don't have a market yet in the Philippines and I could be their first success story here.
Encouraged by his words, little by little I became more open about my finances and a few moments later he was calculating my credit card debt, thinking that he was doing this to estimate how many months I should expect to pay all of my credit card debt after enrolling in the program. To my surprise, he was actually computing how much credit card balance I had left so I could pay the program. He said that since they believe in my dedication as a solo parent and they would really want to help me get out of debt right away, they would shoulder most of the $1,995.00 program fee and only ask me to pay a "measly" $600.00. Furthermore, soon as they swipe my card they could immediately start me on the program by helping me open my own eBay store. So if I was really serious in improving my finances and give a secure future to my son then I could start giving him my credit card details.
And I did. Because I was dead serious in getting out of debt and securing my son's future but not by getting into more debt!As he was calling his assistant to run my credit card, I was already in a lot of stress especially when I got my phone calculator and saw that $600 was roughly P25,000! God must have heard my desperate prayers because when the guy went back he said that his assistant had already gone home but he would call me back the following day to verify the transaction. Yes, I still didn't try and cancel the transaction because of "hiya" or misplaced embarrassment.
But as soon as the call was finished, I called up my credit card company and asked them to send me a new one as I have misplaced the card and to cancel all immediately incoming transactions. Okay, I didn't chicken out all the way because the following day when I got the call from the guy, I told him that I had changed my mind about the program and I don't believe that getting into more credit card debt would improve my finances. He still tried to persuade me by saying that they were really "committed" to helping me out of debt and that if I changed my mind I could call him anytime.
Today, a Google + friend of mine posted a video about get-rich-quick internet scams and the phone conversation there pretty much resembles the one I had with the online marketer.
After watching this, I began researching on the web about Robert G. Allen and I found this video clip from an Australian news network:
Whew! Without divine intervention I would have really ended up in more trouble. Next time, I'd practice a little more due diligence! That's the lesson here folks, DUE DILIGENCE!
With the dawn of multitasking, came the epidemic of desk lunching which according to this article on Forbes.com has been on the rise and should be cause for alarm with the health risk it entails.
According to the article:
The desk lunch does have an incredible allure to it of being within close proximity to your workload and without all of the time consuming extras of going out (i.e. waiting for a table, waiting to take a group order, waiting for the check) that the group lunch of old can't boast. Continuing to stay seated throughout the day may not only prove to be a health risk, but at the same time it may be your only option.
To break the pattern of the desk lunch, Forbes suggests some tips here.
Was browsing Pinterest and found this very informative website on internet marketing: jeffbulas.com
Jeff offers tons of free social media and internet marketing advice and resources ready to read and implement. A few of his helpful articles are listed below, go check them out:
"There’s been a lot of buzz this year around content marketing but no one is really talking about how to directly make money from a campaign.
If you want to generate revenue, it’s important to understand how information spreads on the internet. StumbleUpon and BuzzFeed recently teamed up to figure this out."
"Like love, it takes time, passion, consistency and effort. That said, there are some standout tools that will allow you to get the most out of social media—while simplifying your life!
In our quest to provide the very best service to our clients, our agency has spent countless hours trying and testing every conceivable social media tool and technology. There are the good, the bad, the ugly and, well, the downright heinous! Here are 10 of the most effective (and cost-effective) tools and resources we’ve discovered:"
"Good, regular blogging is one of the best things you can do to help your business grow – businesses that write on their blog regularly receive 55% more website visitors and have 437% more indexed pages in Google than business that do not. But even inside the realm of business blogging, there are still important mistakes to avoid, or pitfalls that can prevent you from fully seeing that success."
Seems like Google is jumping in the bandwagon with the popularity of free cloud storage storming the web like those of Dropbox and Sugarsync. Google launched today Google Drive, offering free 5GB storage and paid storage of up to 1 TB.
Google's latest doodle, a giant zipper running down the centre of the search engine's homepage, marks the birthday of Gideon Sundback, the Swedish-American electrical engineer most commonly associated with the development of the fastening device that revolutionised the clothing industry.
One of the effective ways to attract employers and increase your hireability (if there's such a word) as a virtual assistant is to have certifications on your online resume.
Brainbench.com is one of the most-recognized online assessment company in the industry and being certified by them will make your resume quite attractive to potential employers, especially if you have minimal experience in the virtual assistant field or if you're only starting a career and have no ratings yet (some employers prefer higher-rated contractors).
Known for its innovative, yet easy-to-use online assessment solutionsBrainbench is the only assessment company with a rich offering across personality, knowledge, skills, abilities, and past work behavior. Other companies offer strengths in one or two of these areas, but only Brainbench offers world class tools in each category.
Create your free account now and avail of their free tests while they still are. Most of the important assessment tests here are paid so better grab this opportunity so you can be certified free-of-charge.
Another of our countrymen victimized as an overseas domestic helper, quite sad. That was the point I was trying to make on my blog post on virtual workers, that Filipinos need not be out of the country to earn dollars. We have got to get out the word out there that there are jobs in the country and they could even work from home via oDesk!
The internet has opened up markets that were originally unavailable and now independent contractors can simply join an online marketplace and upload their details. They can be ready to go in a matter of hours. Online marketplaces like oDesk, Guru and eLance offer employers the ability to hire employees for a wide range of projects -- from specialized engineering to hourly employment. Managers have the ability to review work before ending the contract and can see screen shots of the employees computer. Employers can easily post job notices on these sites and have qualified contractors submit their information.
I'm inclined to believe that because at the start of 2012, my oDesk employers went from 1 to 3 and that's only in January. And just this week, my new employer gave me a bonus barely 2 weeks after she confirmed my contract under her.
Here's some of the tweets, I got from fellow VAs and oDesk too!
Hi @millimarti I work in @odesk too! nice to hear that ^^ God bless u!
Becoming a virtual assistant only last 2011, under the mentorship of Philippine Internet guru Jomar Hilario, made me realize that I could work from home by offering the same skills I use at my day job to online employers. No additional skills needed, just the same honest and consistent service one can give when you're working at an office setting. Don't let the technology discourage you either because it's as easy as surfing the internet which I'm pretty sure you know how (otherwise, how did you get to read my blog?).
Having an online career has given me a new perspective in life, especially in improving my earning capacity as a solo parent. I can earn extra dollars while being with my son and without having to be an overseas contract worker like so many Filipinos believe they have to become in order to provide better for their families. I hope and pray that more Filipinos, especially parents, would explore this new industry so that they wouldn't have to sacrifice the very important things in their lives just for a couple of dollars.
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