Virtual Assistant: How to become a VA

I started out as a marketing personnel for a school. I thought I would be doing that for all of my life. I came to a point in my life where I had to do something else.

An opportunity to work in Medical Billing but I have to leave the company and look for other profession.

In 2010, I was offered to work as a virtual assistant. He's an author, motivational speaker and wants to do business online. I like the idea that I would be working from home but at that time I was also working for another company. Eventually, I had to let go of the day job and go for this virtual job.

A lot of people would tell me I can get fired any time but I tell myself not until I will teach myself how to become the best VA this person can have.

As a VA or Virtual Assistant you can't possibly adapt the same working ethics that you had when you were working in an office. One reason is you don't see your boss face to face. Example of this is when you have question and you don't ask right away the boss would assume you're working okay and you don't have a problem on the task. When you're working in an office your boss can see you or your office mates can see you and would notice you're having a problem with what you're doing.

Second of all, you're working alone and the temptation of watching TV or sleeping instead of working is high. A good VA does not watch nor sleep during work time because at the end of the day you have to have a report or a list of tasks you've done because if you don't then your boss would tell you're fired and he's not paying you to do nothing. Unlike working in an office your boss can basically see you right away if you're working or not.

Third of all, you have to be open to feed backs. Often, feed backs in the virtual world is given to you every day or twice or thrice a day.

Fourth of all, you don't have to be good at something as long as you keep teaching yourself and be up to date with softwares.

And lastly, you need to have a good internet connection.

Talk soon,

Hunee

PS. I will be writing more on this topic. Feel free to leave a message or question/s

How do I get to earn extra

I am always encouraging friends to try to earn extra because I just do not want to hear, "my salary is not enough for my family or even to me." I am tired hearing that over and over again.

We all have 24hours to do things. You are suppose to sleep for 8 hours but since we have TV at home, you only sleep for 5-6 hours a night. Office hours should only be 9hours, including the 1 hour lunch break. What is left is basically for household chores, TV, computer, talking and sending text messages, and probably sitting on that sofa doing nothing. Those stuff are all for 9 hours.

If you simply convert 3-4 hours of that to something productive you could have earned an additional 2,000 for the whole month or even more.

My typical day would be, going to the office at 7:30am and work till 6:00 pm. Before I close my computer I would check on my blog and my online proposals for transcription work. I did get to invest time to learn how to start blogging. I did get to invest my time and money to learn the basic in transcription and I invested time again to find clients. I would have 3-4 hours of sleep from Mondays to Saturdays. Sundays for me is lazy day.

I was able to turn my expense into something self liquidating. For example, I am using my internet access to earn extra so I can pay my internet. Don't you just love it when your monthly salary is all for savings and you.

If I was able to do it so can you.

Promises are not Made to be Broken

I have been recruiting transcriptionist to do some outsourced work for me since I can not do it all on my own. The agreement was just verbal since they were a graduate of the school I am working with. Doing transcription jobs is part time for me. I don't do medical transcriptions because according Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ( HIPAA 1996), recorded medical files are confidential and it requires a thorough editing and proofreading job. For some, they do it as a stay-at-home job but still I would like the quality over quantity. It doesn't matter if it pays a lot more than general or business transcriptions, what matter is I am able to deliver a quality service to the client.

Again, going back to the agreement made last week, I was happy to know that I got eight files and I only need 3-4 transcriptionists that can type fast, has a computer and internet at home and the attitude that once they accepted the agreement they would do their part of the deal. It turned out to be the other way around. I was left doing all the eight files and now I have another 7 files to finish until tomorrow.

I know we did not sign any papers on this. Trust doesn't have to begin with signing a paper, it starts with the word, YES.

Lessons on Blogging

I Digged one post of Ben Cook about lessons on blogging. It is so much true to keep your private life as private as possible. I tried to blog on my love life for the few months I have started blogging and even though it didn't backed fire at me, I am still sure it will happen if I continue on writing about it.

My personal lessons are:

1. Never be afraid to try to write on something then post it after because you will never know if you made a mistake or not.

2. There will be people who wouldn't like your blog. They will tell you negative things and all stuff that breaks your heart. In order to win the battle, don't mind them. You are not born to please everyone.

3. I know Wendy Piersall will not agree with me, but I would always try to write at least once a day. I am a rookie and I need to learn. No body in here will tell me what to do. It is better to make that mistake now than make the mistake later.

4. This is the greatest lesson, time management. You can write posts anytime but it will never be helpful in the long run. I am blogging because I wanted to earn and at the same time tell the world my thoughts. Write blog posts during those times when it is not in conflict with work, with family and with anything that is important in your life. Thou shall not write blog posts on weekends.

To end this meme, I am tagging BatangYagit, Jim, Ria, and Reyan Elena.

My Adsense is Working

I have been blogging since mid of last year. Then following some people's advices, I signed up for Google Adsense. I didn't know what to do then, so I kept on earning 0.00$ every month. Frustrated but I got the never-give-up attitude and slowly some 0.01$ coming in. A little happy with the progress.

I kept on blogging and I was even tagged as a stalker by someone who is popular but I am not sure whether it was him or not.

I got excited with the "How much is your blog worth?" by Dane Carlson because I didn't expect that for some newbie like me. I got more excited when I knew that my friend's blog is worth nothing and he has been blogging for years now. I was laughing when this other person thinks my blog was useless and hers was no worth at all. Isn't it funny.

Don't laugh at my nonsense stories. I know this is nothing compared to all you top bloggers out there. Actually, this has been a remarkable situation for me, to be able to find out that I was actually doing good at something. I thought social networking is not my thing. And that I am only good at changing friendster profile. I tried to blog my thoughts through the network's blog but I was not happy at how it ended. Some people got mad at my posts. Like I said I am the never-give-up person so I tried again.

If I would do good on this till June 2008, I'd probably buy my own site. Working on how it will look but it is still inside my projects folder.

Now my Adsense is working for me. I don't want to reveal it yet but I know sooner I will get the first check. I am not like you who are now receiving checks and most probably not that excited to get that check. Well, I am very excited and at least I can say something to myself now. And I can do something about my new hobby.

Most of the Top 30 Young Millionaires are MEN

When I made the post about young millionaires, I've found out that most on the list are men. Why is it that most geeks are men? And most male geek earn more than a female geek? Has there been a chance in history where female geeks dominate?

Ashley Qualls, of whateverlife.com, is definitely one of the young millionaires but she's on the top 25. I am sure I am not the only one who noticed that male geek dominate not just in making millions but also being featured positively in TV shows and movies. As for female geeks, there are a lot out there but they are often not featured as like men geeks are featured.

Wired has released its search on sexiest geek last December 2007, and female geeks dominate the list. Why is that?

Here's what I think. Male geeks dominate because everyone of us think that only men can do this job, like an engineering job. And now female geek dominate the sexiest geeks list because of Victoria Secret. Girls on their lingerie walking on the isle and giving some sexiness to the audience. This is what I thought, and although there are a lot of successful stories of girls making it to the top, other girls does not follow the pattern. If there are more sexy female geeks then I know in the future there will be female geeks earning millions and they will be replacing top male geek on the list.

Girls, is the a sign that we will soon be on top of the 30 young millionaires list?
Boys, do you think a female geek can be on top of the 30 young millionaires list 5 years from now?

Millionaires at 30

It is nice to look at the list of young millionaires. I'd like to shout at Dulce for providing us the link.

The list of internet millionaires, all young, and full of ideas. They own the top websites too.

Here's the real deal to all that are striving to earn their first million. Some has the idea, they just don't have the resources. Some have the resources but have no idea at all. They might have the idea but they simply tweak other people's idea. It is not a bad thing though, an idea starts from another person. Maybe next time, you might have your very unique idea and at that time you might have the resources.

Internet may have a lot of things to offer, but I wonder, how come there was never a seminar on this? I meant, no seminars like this that is happening here in Davao? A seminar that tells us what to do and how to do it. I do not say, earn millions like the list of young Americans, but earn while being online. I must say, spending time over checking others friendster profile, can be an earning time for Filipinos.

What do you think?

Get Paid to Blog - Smorty

How can I earn from blogging? I spend everyday doing blogging but how can I earn and get paid to do a blog?

People asked me why I blog. And I gave them my reasons. Now getting paid to do blogging is another thing. I want to write for someone then they would pay me for that.

I bumped into this website, www.smorty.com, and I was a little hesitant at first if this company will really pay me or what. So, I tried. When I get in, your site is actually being assessed and then they gave you notifications through email if your blog site is approved. When your blog is approved they will give you a list of what you can write. You can ignore some and you can write for some. Smorty is a service connecting advertisers with bloggers. Advertisers can pay bloggers to write opinion posts with links back to the advertisers site. See how easy it is? It's blog advertising.

I always say, you spend a lot of time editing your myspace lay out and do some shout out or comments, make a one sentence paragraph and yet you are not paid to do that blog. So I thought, why not get paid to blog. Get others to join you. Blog for money.

blog advertising

Google-Microsoft War Over Facebook: And The Winner is?

A drop of jaw when I first read the article from Infoworld;

Update: Facebook chooses Microsoft over Google

Microsoft will purchase a $240 million minority stake in Facebook as well as become its exclusive third-party ad platform

$240 million for Mark Zuckerberg! From a hacker, to a drop out, to a CEO. So that's why Mark said; "We are both happy."

In the article:

The size of the ownership stake Microsoft will take during Facebook's next round of financing puts Facebook's valuation at a whopping $15 billion. Google had reportedly been courting Facebook as well.

In addition to the ownership piece, Microsoft will also extend its existing agreement to provide banner ads to Facebook in the U.S. With this deal, Microsoft will become Facebook's exclusive third-party ad platform as well as provide Facebook ads internationally.

Facebook was founded in 2004, it currently has about 49 million active users today. Over half of its active members are daily users. Some 59 percent of its users are outside the territory of United States.

Read more of the article H-E-R-E.

Light Bulb Head: Online Ideas

Do you ever had that time when you were too inspired to do something in the future and you keep on thinking about it and you noticed it is 3 am and your eyes are tired but your mind wants to keep on moving?

Last night wasn't terrible at all but I just can't control my mind anymore! My head is like a bulb all light up.

A shout out to Donald Lim of Yehey! Philippines. Dude! You were the only speaker I know that would share to your listeners what you are currently doing at your company.

Learnings from Donald Lim of Yehey Philippines

I listened to Aileen Apollo talking about blogging last May 2007 at the Department of Trade and Industry conference room here in Davao. I know blogging since 2004 but I haven't tried it since we don't have internet connection at home. Aileen made it clear to me that this is free and you can absolutely write anything.

October 24, 2007, my boss told me to attend the session 2 track 3 at cinema 3 of NCCC Mall, I know it is about new media and she wants me to listen to it because the company might venture into it someday. It was Donald Lim of Yehey! Philippines was the speaker. The title of the track is Innovation: New Media for Information Exchange, and it was the most informative. He even presented the whole thing Yehey! Philippines is doing. If you are a businessman attending that session you could say, "Hey! He's giving me an idea."

At the end of his presentation I was inspired to do something for my own, in order for me to earn extra and then give something to the company I am working with so that it can earn extra too.

I am a blogger and I have earned some from my blogging, although I have not reached that $100 quota of Adsense, still I can use that to post advertisements of other companies at a minimum price. And I have to stick to the goal of not making my site for flogs.

I got to do some more research and what kind of platform to use. Should I have to make my own website or should I stick to a blogger platform? Should I use Wordpress or Blogger? Hmmm....

Thanks Donald Lim!

The 360 Degrees Outlook of Social Media

You would read it anywhere that the best way to make money is online. Yeah it is true, only when you are really good at it.

I've always encourage anyone to do blogging and earn through Google Adsense or Pay Per Post, or anything that is on the net. Yes, you can earn something from it but you got to make yourself good at it by spending more hours on how to write good posts for your blog or else others won't read it. No matter how good your posts are but then again you don't know any tricks on Google Adsense then you won't get a cent from Adsense.

Think about this, you will never be good unless you start it today.

CEO at 17

She's not like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook or Keith Rupert Murdoch of Myspace. She's not done yet with High School. She's 17 and smart and will soon be like Mark and Rupert. She's only 17 and she's the founder of Whateverlife.com. She's Ashley Qualls, and she owns an influential and lucrative website.

In two years she earned a total of $1 million dollars. Monthly income in advertisements around $70,000. Again, she's 17 years old.

I wish I was like her but it's never too late to try. A hobby turned into a business.

Who is DavaoSale?

I'd like to make a quick shout for friends Hermes, Val and Mark who are the main brain of DavaoSale.com.

I am also inviting fellow Davaoeños to post a comment.

Let us make DavaoSale.com BIG!

And Then Yahoo Loves Mybloglog Too

I don't know who bought first but I have seen Mybloglog changed. It is now part of the Yahoo family.

There are a lot of things that you can do with the internet and earn while you are doing it. I am sure the maker of these sites did not start that big. It just turned out that they all love to do one thing. Make new websites wherein people will love it, adore that site, recommend that site, and when you got a lot of users SELL it.

There is another thing that I've noticed in between; If Yahoo will buy one, Google will buy another. The heat continue to rise up as to who is the king of the World Wide Web. Who's also trying to beat Ebay? In the local seen, is it DavaoSale? Maybe.

Jaiku Becomes Google's New Aquired Asset

Should I say asset? Would it bring Google additional income?

Either or, Jaiku users does not care. I think Jaiku is the same with Twitter. It is like blogging as well wherein you just post one single line or sentence of what you are doing currently. Like others would call it, micro-blogging.

Jaiku is an activity stream and presence sharing service that works from the Web and mobile phones. Jaiku, Ltd. was founded in February, 2006 by Jyri Engeström and Petteri Koponen from Finland. The service was released on the Web in July 2006. Jaiku is based in Helsinki.

In comparison, Twitter is crowed-favorite, but since Google owns Jaiku then maybe Jaiku will beat Twitter.

Anyway, it shows us that that's another way to earn in the internet. So for those who knows how to make one like these geek guys then do it and then make it big then sell it, you'll be millionaires in the future.

For the Love of Blogging

If you want to earn from blogging you got to put in mind first that you got to love blogging first before you can start earning from blogging. Why? Because you could do a good blog post if it does not come from the heart. Blogging is personal it is not just writing because your main goal is to earn.

I may have earn a little in Google Adsense but I have earned it in just a few months of blogging. I am not a professional blogger but for some people who have linked with my blog is a good sign that some like my blog. And for some who gave comments to some of my post is another good sign that some like my posts.

So the next time, you want to earn in blogging, maybe learn how to blog first and then the earning comes in.

Happy blogging!

Can You Really Earn from Blogging?

Like I always said, I am new to blogging. Here are things that I have learn from the few months of trying to earn extra money.

The reason why I wanted to continue blogging is that I can write possibly anything. I do restrict myself to blog only those that I think would be helpful. Through blogging, I have earned a little. Here's a tip. Normally a typical Filipino would love to earn big over night. That's is what I call Super Lotto Big Winner. In blogging, you have to write in the most honest way as possible. You could not just copy and paste someone else's blog on your blog. It is a no-no according to my friend Boink. In blogging, you have to write with emotions. No matter how attractive your Title Posts are, still nobody would like to read it. Again, you have to take a look at where you are and what you do so that it can have a connection to the blog that you are trying to make.

Let me give an example to that. I am a marketing assistant and every time I write a post for my blog I have to make it in line with what I am good at and that's how to market. I am proud to be a Filipino so I write things which can be helpful to Filipinos. I could not write about Singaporeans or other Asians nor Americans. Also, I have to consider that blogging in the Philippines is not that popular as to blogging in the United States of America. Although there are a lot of Filipino internet users but still not all have heard of blogging or at least understand blogging.

Can you really earn from blogging? Yes, you can earn from blogging. You just got to get it started and start with sense and emotions. I have earned that little because I am starting and I am positive I can earn more if I do continue to blog and not to expect to earn that big soon. Blogging is an art. For me, it is an abstract that needs a careful thinking.

I Signed Up for PPP!

I work for a business process outsource company and as part of the marketing team, I am tasked to establish the company's web presence. I gladly took this on since it allowed me to do one of the things I enjoy doing: blogging. I've subscribed to various blogs and I came upon topics on how to earn from blogging. These blogs keeps recommending one site: PayPerPost . I decided to give PayPerPost a try.

The first thing that impressed me with PayPerPost is the clean interface that's very easy to navigate. Registration was hassle-free and within a few minutes I was good to go. PayPerPost has made it very easy to find the opportunities that's best suited for me.

What I like about PPP is that I was able to meet some Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) and it is nice to know that they are online, making blogs and at the same time earning extra. In my previous posts I have mentioned that my Mother used to be an OFW and she died in Taiwan. It was so hard to communicate with her and Mom would always find a way to earn extra. If only PPP is available when my Mom is still alive, she could be like my good friend Reyna Elena who is blogging and earning at the same time.

I love blogging and PayPerPost has given me the chance to take a crack at earning while blogging. I already have referred some of my friends to use PayPerPost as a means to monetize their own blogs.

I signed up for PPP hoping to reach out for more Filipinos abroad. I am also wishing that I earn extra like them. Who wouldn't want money anyway? For those who wouldn’t like to earn extra money, then why are you reading this post?

If I get lucky I would probably be an advertiser and not just a blogger with PayPerPost.

Sign up now!payperpost

Make Money in Blogging

I know that you can write anything in your blog. You can write some personal stuff, some travel pictures with some notes on it, write about food, write about how corrupt someone is, write about anything under the sun.

This is my first blog and I do not know exactly if I am making the right one where in I can attract others to read my posts. I do not follow formats as like others would recommend; "Talk about one topic." I can' talk about one topic. I know I can make another blog of another topic but I would prefer my first blog to have all what I wanted to write.

Making money through blogging is not an ordinary thing today. A lot of people have tried and some were lucky to earn through Adsense, PayPerPost, Adverlets and other services available. Whether you are required to do a blog of a product or you simply write what is on your mind.

I do not intend to simply ask you to copy and paste some post on the internet. Although you can give comments on to someone else's blog. Instead of writing a short comment why not make it a post.

Like I always tell myself, "No Pain No Gain". Happy blogging everyone.