Where to find full time writers from the Philippines?

[Wonderbaum]

For years I've listen to guys like Jeff Johnson and John Jonas talking about outsourcing to the Philippines but when I try to find the services offering these solutions I have very little luck.

I know of the service AgentsOfValue but that is about it. Jeff and John talk about hiring people for as little as $2-300 per month

If you know of some of the places to find good Philippine writers please share

Thanks,
Mikael

[Emmanuel Betinis]

How much content per month are you looking for?

I'm pleased with Articlez.com (US-Based Team) on a "per-piece-of-content" basis.

[MaggieDavid]

Hi Mikael,

I know of people who employ people from the Philippines and the way they got them was to put a job ad in Craigslist.org Manilla.

They then send you their resume and you cull and employ. Now that is not to say that you won't have to fire if the person is not good, but I have been told, trial and error can get the best.

Hope this Helps.

[Loloy Diango]

Hi, Mikael! I am from the Philippines and I would like to offer our article writing service to you.

[Wonderbaum]

@ Emmanuel, I'm not looking for a project oriented deal (per piece deal) but rather someone that can help me +40 hours a week. Most of it will require writing tasks but other things might come up as well.

@ Maggie, thanks. I'll have a look at Craigs list Manilla. In the meanwhile I found something called bestjobs (dog) ph which will do the same thing.

@ Razorblade, are you offering full time employees or only the article writing service?

Thanks,
Mikael

[morwanneg]

Try odesk. Hired my copywriter there. So far so good.

[Rita012]

Have you every tried CraigZoom ? It's a great way to search all of craigslist for writers.

[Vijay M]

Justin Brooks did a guest post on shoemoney which I found to be very informative.

How To Outsource Your Traffic Generation - ShoeMoney®

[Loloy Diango]

Originally Posted by Wonderbaum

@ Razorblade, are you offering full time employees or only the article writing service?

We're mainly offering our article writing service. But I may also be able to help you out with your other needs too.

[RobynN]

I outsource all my article writing using Odesk. I have one woman that I hire if she's available and she does a really good job, knows what I expect and can do the job without supervision from me. Saves me a ton of time to work on other things.

[Randy Bheites]

Craigslist Manila, but you will have to do some serious screening/interviews (get Skype). Odesk takes care of a lot of the vetting, I prefer them.

While Filipino writers are good and very competitive price-wise, don't expect to get topnotch writing at rockbottom prices. Like all skills, you will get exactly what you pay for.

Once you find someone you work well with, treat them right and you can both have a long and profitable association

[Wonderbaum]

@ primeoutsourcing, I've sent you an email.

@ Rita012, never heard of it. Will definitely check it out.

@ Vijay, thanks. Thats a great article.

@ Razorblade, could you tell me a little more?

@ RobynN, so you're doing it on a project to project basis?

@ Randy, do you find full time employees at Odesk as well?

[Johnadab]

That was a very helpful article on outsourcing to the Phillipines,
using Craigs list.

Cant re-post link - but its in post above

Have a good read

[Dana_W]

I do find Odesk a little clunky and difficult to navigate and you do have to watch how you are billed, but I found a fantastic designer from there.

Best Jobs Philippines :: Philippine job search, job bank, employment and recruitment is a good resource for hiring from the Philippines as well.

I'll be honest, though, finding and retaining good, reliable, very talented people for $200 a month might be a bit of a challenge even there. That's just been my experience. $300-$400 a month seems more like it.

[RobynN]

[quote=Wonderbaum;744249]

@ RobynN, so you're doing it on a project to project basis?


Yes, I hire per project which is usually every 2 weeks right now. I pay anywhere from $2.50 - $3.50 an hour for someone to write around 60 articles. I have one woman that I normaly use if she's available at $3.33 an hour. I have never paid more than $1.00 an article.


Robyn

[Roy Carter]

bestjobs.ph is a great resource but as mentioned you may have to hire and fire before you find some good help. Phillipinos are generally very hard working and trustworthy folk but do make sure you get some sample work before hiring. Have the person do a small test project for you.

[Dana_W]

Roy's correct. It's pretty much the same anywhere though - here in the US, any country in the world - you'll interview a bunch of candidates, some will be great, some won't.

[ryandales2000]

I am a Warrior from the Philippines . My suggestion is for you to post at sulit dot com dot ph ; craiglist manila; craiglist cebu, odesk elance dot com or a listing at inquirer dot net. And do not forget the Warrior Forum. Yes, here! There are many topnotch Filipinos in this great forum.

I was wondering why many Warriors are finding it difficult to get article writers and virtual assistants from the Philippines. However, I think the $200-$300 salary per month may be the problem. That is too low even for our standards here. John Jonas, if I remembered it right, mentioned something around the $400-600 per month range. At that salary range, I think outsourcing some jobs may not be a problem. Call Center Outsourcing is a huge industry here in the Philippines but if Filipinos are good in the call center outsourcing we are even better at Writing.

Randy Bheites is right: "...Filipino writers are good and very competitive price-wise, don't expect to get topnotch writing at rockbottom prices. Like all skills, you will get exactly what you pay for." In my case, I do ghostwriting (bum article marketing) at $5 per article. . My first post got the 18th position of Google out of 270,000+ results for my main keyword the day my blog was indexed by Google. My second post got the 14th spot for the same keyword in less than an hour after I submitted my post to FeedAgg. Yes you can get writers at lower prices but you get what you pay for.

[yesacpow]

Here is a very helpful post by Justin Brooke about how to outsource to the philip...

How To Outsource Your Traffic Generation - ShoeMoney®

That should help you

[jcw]

Some great resources here.

Thanks!
John

[jtripp]

Has anyone had luck with bestjobs.ph?

I've tried posting a job there a couple of times and my account is simply deleted without warning. I followed the guidelines and it is a legitimate job with a legitimate company. When I contacted customer support they asked why someone from Canada would want to hire someone from the Philippines.

I thought it was common for people from North America to post there but whoever is reviewing my postings obviously thinks it is shady.

If anyone has any tips on creating a job posting that sticks I'd love to hear them.

Thanks,
Jennifer

[Christa_Regalado]

Are you looking for a team for your project or independent contractors? I know of a mid-sized outsourcing company based in the Philippines that might help you.

On the other hand, if you are on the lookout for independent contractors, you can try freelancing sites first.

[Justin Mandel]

For anyone looking to hire a VA I recommend you read this post I wrote:
7 Tips For Hiring a Virtual Assistant

[ExceedStandard]

Originally Posted by Razorblade

Hi, Mikael! I am from the Philippines and I would like to offer our article writing service to you.

I need your services as well. Can you send me an email addy?

[xlfutur1]

Originally Posted by jtripp

Has anyone had luck with bestjobs.ph?

I've tried posting a job there a couple of times and my account is simply deleted without warning. I followed the guidelines and it is a legitimate job with a legitimate company. When I contacted customer support they asked why someone from Canada would want to hire someone from the Philippines.

I thought it was common for people from North America to post there but whoever is reviewing my postings obviously thinks it is shady.

If anyone has any tips on creating a job posting that sticks I'd love to hear them.

Thanks,
Jennifer

I have had pretty good luck there. I have a full time VA now who contacted me from an ad I placed there. You have to sift through people though. I had a couple people write an article or two and they were terrible. I did not pay the extra to be able to access resumes though, these were people that contacted me from a free posting. But if you can find one good one for free, its worth the shot.

[rapidscc]

Hello People,

I'm from the Philippines. I won't offer but I'm so happy to hear you trusting us.

Thank you!

oMar - from Sunny Philippines!!

[templarjustice]

Sorry buddy. It's been stated by many, many people that there are people that are highly qualified in the $200 - $300 (USD) per month salary range.
What you are stating at $400 - $600 per month is absolutely ridiculous. If what you were stating were true, then anyone from the Phillipines would not have any jobs, given that people would take a part-time U.S. based person & get 2 or 4 people part-time U.S. based people at the same rate.

What people must first do is understand conversion rates. Just go to Currency Converter on a google search & do a proper conversion. Then understand what the typical rates for services/products are in that local country. It is extremely a disservice if you give a abnormal or higher than expected rate & also have to train that provider to do the work you need them to do. The disservice comes when & if they lose the job you gave them, & they are banking on the High income you had provided. Then that person can't live on the living wages you created. It's best that all people start at a lower wage & provide quality service & then work to grow w/ that person. It is up to BUYERS of services to go in knowing that they need resourcers at a lower wage, but BUDGET for the future at a higher wage. We as a people need to get back to paying for performance. IMHO, service providers have become lazy and also do shortcuts in doing there work. Everyone is trying to do MORE vs. providing a quality product. Look at where the world is now....

Originally Posted by ryandales2000

I am a Warrior from the Philippines . My suggestion is for you to post at sulit dot com dot ph ; craiglist manila; craiglist cebu, odesk elance dot com or a listing at inquirer dot net. And do not forget the Warrior Forum. Yes, here! There are many topnotch Filipinos in this great forum.

I was wondering why many Warriors are finding it difficult to get article writers and virtual assistants from the Philippines. However, I think the $200-$300 salary per month may be the problem. That is too low even for our standards here. John Jonas, if I remembered it right, mentioned something around the $400-600 per month range. At that salary range, I think outsourcing some jobs may not be a problem. Call Center Outsourcing is a huge industry here in the Philippines but if Filipinos are good in the call center outsourcing we are even better at Writing.

Randy Bheites is right: "...Filipino writers are good and very competitive price-wise, don't expect to get topnotch writing at rockbottom prices. Like all skills, you will get exactly what you pay for." In my case, I do ghostwriting (bum article marketing) at $5 per article. . My first post got the 18th position of Google out of 270,000+ results for my main keyword the day my blog was indexed by Google. My second post got the 14th spot for the same keyword in less than an hour after I submitted my post to FeedAgg. Yes you can get writers at lower prices but you get what you pay for.

[Manuel Viloria]

I've seen some ads in the Philippines offering a monthly salary of P20,000
or about US$414 for call center agents.

I've also seen virtual assistant service providers charging $900 monthly.
Some of these VA service providers have placed ads in Philippine job boards
offering monthly salaries of P15,000 to P25,000.

One of these VA providers has even mentioned online that he has to turn
away business temporarily, while he trains more Filipinos.

Now let's do the math... $400 per 22-day month comes out to a little over
$18 per 8-hour day, or about $2.27 per hour. Assuming you hire a full-time
writer who churns out 8 articles a day, that's $2.27 per 400-word article.

The remaining challenge is to find someone who is willing to write 8 articles
a day for only $2.27 per article. That $400/month for a full-time writer is
starting to look quite low...

Kind regards,
Manuel Viloria

[ryandales2000]

Originally Posted by templarjustice

Sorry buddy. It's been stated by many, many people that there are people that are highly qualified in the $200 - $300 (USD) per month salary range.
What you are stating at $400 - $600 per month is absolutely ridiculous. If what you were stating were true, then anyone from the Phillipines would not have any jobs, given that people would take a part-time U.S. based person & get 2 or 4 people part-time U.S. based people at the same rate.

What people must first do is understand conversion rates. Just go to Currency Converter on a google search & do a proper conversion. Then understand what the typical rates for services/products are in that local country. It is extremely a disservice if you give a abnormal or higher than expected rate & also have to train that provider to do the work you need them to do. The disservice comes when & if they lose the job you gave them, & they are banking on the High income you had provided. Then that person can't live on the living wages you created. It's best that all people start at a lower wage & provide quality service & then work to grow w/ that person. It is up to BUYERS of services to go in knowing that they need resourcers at a lower wage, but BUDGET for the future at a higher wage. We as a people need to get back to paying for performance. IMHO, service providers have become lazy and also do shortcuts in doing there work. Everyone is trying to do MORE vs. providing a quality product. Look at where the world is now....

Outsourcers from the US should know that there are a lot of American call center companies which have established offices here in the Philippines and they are hiring Filipinos at $300 - $500 per month and these hires do not have to buy their own computers or worry having to pay for the DSL fees. If your price point is $200 per month and your Filipino virtual assistant will be left to himself/herself to secure his/her computer and DSL connection I do not think you will find it easy to find a qualified person. This is just my humble opinion. If I am offered a salary of $200 per month working an 8-5 job, paying for my computer and my DSL, I think I should better decline the offer and take a chance of promoting Clickbank products and submitting bum articles myself to EZA.

But I do not think it is for me or for others to decide. This is a demand/supply issue which is ultimately determined by the market players themselves. Try posting jobs at $200 and look at the results--and do not forget to pay attention to the quality.

[Wonderbaum]

Hi All. Thank you for all the comments. I definitely agree that you can try to buy help at too cheap a price but I will also argue that it you'll need to pay +$400 a month then you should expect to either have some agency assist you, do the upfront screening and monitor the work OR you can expect to hire someone with a fair knowledge about what this is all about.

I am curious to ask the people from the Philippines whether this list from World Salaries is actually accurate?

Philippines Average Salary Income - Job Comparison

[mblair13]

Razorblade: I have an E-book that I have written. I believe it needs to be 'beefed up'. I've done this first draft and I know it could be better. What would you charge a new Warrior to do this? Right now it's only about 8 pages long.

[Pete Egeler]

Originally Posted by Wonderbaum

Hi All. Thank you for all the comments. I definitely agree that you can try to buy help at too cheap a price but I will also argue that it you'll need to pay +$400 a month then you should expect to either have some agency assist you, do the upfront screening and monitor the work OR you can expect to hire someone with a fair knowledge about what this is all about.

I am curious to ask the people from the Philippines whether this list from World Salaries is actually accurate?

Philippines Average Salary Income - Job Comparison

Based on the fact that the figures quoted are 5-years old, I'd say they aren't very reliable.

Pete

[johnmags]

We are a team of Filipino writers with high grades in all english subjects. We might be able to help you with your needs on ebooks, articles and other virtual services including full-time jobs. We also rewrite and proofread ebooks at a rate of a dollar per page. All works are of good quality. Just make a PM.
Sample article: How to Protect Yourself in Times of Recession - Associated Content

[Networking_now]

Originally Posted by Wonderbaum

For years I've listen to guys like Jeff Johnson and John Jonas talking about outsourcing to the Philippines but when I try to find the services offering these solutions I have very little luck.

I know of the service AgentsOfValue but that is about it. Jeff and John talk about hiring people for as little as $2-300 per month

If you know of some of the places to find good Philippine writers please share

Thanks,
Mikael

Look at their rates on their website, it is so expensive, isnt it?

Agents of Value | Webmaster Outsourcing Services

[johnmags]

I am curious to ask the people from the Philippines whether this list from World Salaries is actually accurate?

Philippines Average Salary Income - Job Comparison

Hi Pete, to answer your question; on the average, some of them are accurate except for some changes. Take note: that data is based on 2005.

With regards to the issue of $200-300 per month versus $400 per month; Well, Randy is right when he mentioned:

While Filipino writers are good and very competitive price-wise, don't expect to get topnotch writing at rockbottom prices. Like all skills, you will get exactly what you pay for.

[ryandales2000]

Originally Posted by Wonderbaum

Hi All. Thank you for all the comments. I definitely agree that you can try to buy help at too cheap a price but I will also argue that it you'll need to pay +$400 a month then you should expect to either have some agency assist you, do the upfront screening and monitor the work OR you can expect to hire someone with a fair knowledge about what this is all about.

I am curious to ask the people from the Philippines whether this list from World Salaries is actually accurate?

Wonderbaum,

I think the quoted salaries in the link you gave are still fairly accurate except for US$/PHP exchange rate. What I mean is that the peso values are OK but the dollar equivalents are way off mark. The current exchange rate is around 1US$=PHP47.80. Just look at the peso values in the right column and then divide these by 47.80.

[Loloy Diango]

Originally Posted by mblair13

Razorblade: I have an E-book that I have written. I believe it needs to be 'beefed up'. I've done this first draft and I know it could be better. What would you charge a new Warrior to do this? Right now it's only about 8 pages long.

Hi, sent you a PM.

[gino76]

I open to do trial and error writing. Let me know the niche.
If I am familiar with it, I will be happy to write one free article for you.

[Stacey Wockenfuss]

Thanks for all the great information. I honestly grappled with outsourcing to other companies for many years with my telemarketing and VA business. I just couldn't get over the thought of hiring outside the US. But then came the realization that I was spending days, weeks, and months sometimes trying to pick up the pieces and find reliable US help.

You see 9 times out of 10 when I would hire someone in the US to do a job they would a) flake on me with some lame excuse (cough cough lie) or b) give me subpar work. It was painful. I lost clients and I got sick of it. And believe me because I have been a VA and consultant for a long time, I know what to look for in a contractor. So it wasn't my judgement.

Simply put, foreign based workers have stronger work ethic for the main part. Just the other day I hired someone to do graphics, and he not only did the work for less than $20 dollars, but he did an awesome job and quickly.

Thats not to say I don't hire locally. My main assistant is in California and she is fabulous. I kept her around because she is so great. But for the most part when it comes ot nitty gritty work such as SEO stuff like blog posting, web design, and link building, I outsource overseas. Its becoming a fact of life online and something I have had to embrace in order to grow my business.

Stacey

[Wonderbaum]

Originally Posted by ryandales2000

Wonderbaum,

I think the quoted salaries in the link you gave are still fairly accurate except for US$/PHP exchange rate. What I mean is that the peso values are OK but the dollar equivalents are way off mark. The current exchange rate is around 1US$=PHP47.80. Just look at the peso values in the right column and then divide these by 47.80.

Thank you. I know that the figures might be old but then again I can't imagine that salaries will rise that fast. But I'm glad that you could confirm the Peso amounts. I understand that the current struggle of the dollar will have an effect.

[mblair13]

JohnMags
I am so new I can't PM yet, can you PM me?

[gino76]

Please don't overlook on the exchange rates. The figures appear different but the values are still the same.

[Terri LC]

Hi Mikael! You may want to check out catchfriday.com I was told about it from someone in Australia who uses full-time writers from the Philippines.

Catchfriday is a Business Process Outsourcing Company, registered and situated in the heart of the Philippine Business Area, Makati.

Good Luck,
TLC

[Gabe77]

I think small to medium sized outsourcing companies can assist you with your requirements. They provide you with the people, technology, etc. Al though I am not sure if all are members of the BPO Association in the Philippines. But definitely, they have some sort of organization in their niche. Why not google these associations and see which company fits your needs.

[Wonderbaum]

Originally Posted by Terri LC

Hi Mikael! You may want to check out catchfriday.com I was told about it from someone in Australia who uses full-time writers from the Philippines.

Catchfriday is a Business Process Outsourcing Company, registered and situated in the heart of the Philippine Business Area, Makati.

Good Luck,
TLC

Thank you Terri but $1280 per month for a VA is TOO extreme for me. I'm sure I can find equal quality services for less than that price.

[babarapho]

Try out odesk or getafreelancer. They do cheap and nice job there.

[Wonderbaum]

Originally Posted by babarapho

Try out odesk or getafreelancer. They do cheap and nice job there.

From what I understand they are more project based and not meant as a place to get someone full time, right?

[jetlady]

Hi, Wonderbaum.

I feel honored you have such high regard for Filipino writers. Unfortunately, in my team, we don't go lower than .02 per word. We just want to keep up with the demand and think we deserve better.

We also have native English speaking writers with us.

Let me know if you need articles done at a fast rate. Thank you.

[Dana_W]

Originally Posted by jetlady

Hi, Wonderbaum.

I feel honored you have such high regard for Filipino writers. Unfortunately, in my team, we don't go lower than .02 per word. We just want to keep up with the demand and think we deserve better.

We also have native English speaking writers with us.

Let me know if you need articles done at a fast rate. Thank you.

I absolutely think that you should hold out for decent pay. And generally speaking even when I am outsourcing to the Philippines I find that when I pay on the high end of the local pay scale, I get better work.

[Wonderbaum]

Originally Posted by jetlady

Hi, Wonderbaum.

I feel honored you have such high regard for Filipino writers. Unfortunately, in my team, we don't go lower than .02 per word. We just want to keep up with the demand and think we deserve better.

We also have native English speaking writers with us.

Let me know if you need articles done at a fast rate. Thank you.

Hi Jetlady, I'm not sure what you're referring to. I can't see that you have made any comments in this thread before?

I'm sorry if I'm mistaken.