Where to find full time writers from the Philippines?

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.

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.

@ 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

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

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

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.

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

@ 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?

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

For anyone looking to hire a VA I recommend you read this post I wrote:
http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...assistant.html

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!!

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

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

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.

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

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

Agents of Value | Webmaster Outsourcing Services

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:

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

Mike,

It seems I am late to see this thread... let me konow if you still need and I can be a big help... I have 3 writers under me doing some freelance at GAF...

Craigslist on the other hand is unreliable... let me know

Thanks,
Raden

Hi,

I am currently writing up a job description for a job i need filled. I am using a place called bestjobs.ph

It seems to be really good and have heard great things about it

Hope this helps

Im really glad to see all this discussion of outsourcing work jobs here in the philippines, our group would be setting up an BPO company providing writting, graphics design to video presentations specifically for internet marketers. We wont be based in Manila, the country's capital, but instead a major city up north, primarly to reduce cost and tap into a fresher talent pool. I hope we can give you a competitive price, well be up and running in a week or two.

thanks

Just like to set facts straight: The average salary of a writer working in Manila, Philippines is around $400-$600/month. This amount does not include costs of electricity, equipment, government requirements like health/retirement benefits, etc. that the employer also have to pay.

The reason you can get writers below $400 is either they are based in provinces (working from home without any supervisor) or just plain undervaluing themselves. This also means they are not exclusively working for you. They can get other jobs while working for you, which can obviously lead to affecting the quality of work and the time spent with you. If the writer decides to not show up, you can't really do anything but scratch your head and look for another.

If you hire writers managed by agencies which would costs around $800-$1,200, you get writers exclusively working for you and you are also paying for the office space, electricity, equipment, government requirements like health/retirement benefits, etc. plus you have a supervisor and is guaranteed replacement in case your writer fails to do his task. In other words, just because you pay a little higher with agencies it doesn't mean it's overpriced.

Doesn't sound like the person being payed "below market prices" wins.


"And when I get that diamond for my needs paying below market prices given the fact that I would be in a start-up phase, then everyone wins. "

The problem is not to find SOMEONE but a good one that combines all the talents you need. Be prepared to invest quite some time until you have found somebody who can do what you want AND is reliable, hard working and self organized.

For every job I post I usually get swamped with applications. That means I have to go through about 40 resumes on average.

Guys with little or no experience go for $200-$300 already but you have to teach them literally everything.

If you pay around $400 you can expect some dedicated hard workers already that have some experience already and should be able to learn what you need from them quickly.

You still will have to teach and train them of course.

One last tip: If you give up too early or expect too much you will fail. If you have found somebody who is ok you must give him at least 2-3 months to learn and adapt everything before you can expect him/her to work fully independently. Most people give up before the VA gets into gears.

Gunter

If you hire too low you will have an extreme amount of turnover and believe me it can kill a business. I used to outsource a ton of telemarketing and sales services and had to shut down for a short period of time because of the constant turnover. I had no problem getting clients, I had a problem retaining contractors.

I closed, regrouped, raised my rates and my standards, got better contractors and paid them a higher wage. And lo and behold I am doing much better now. Turnover can kill a business. Thats why its good to always have 2-3 backups handy just in case.

Stacey

I wanted to read all the answers to your question before posting but then the thread is a bit too long now so I would just like to share my opinion.

I am a Filipino and I used to write for a middleman who charged foreign clients $10 for an article. I got paid only $1-$2 per article. You can see through my signature link how well I could and can write for such low pay. I got attacked by peers a lot for agreeing to accept pay like that. They say I was allowing someone else to exploit me but I was a newbie and I had no idea how to sell myself online so I could make more money. I had to start somewhere so I slaved away writing 5-8 articles a day for that amount.

I can honestly say that those were the worst days of my life. I learned later that many of the other great writers who started work with my middleman at about the same time as I didn't last very long and simply decided to strike off on their own. Now they earn so much more. I was such a slow poke but now I'm following their lead.

My main point here is this: There are many great online Filipino content writers but those who start at the very bottom earning $1 per article never stay there for a long time. If you find some who are still willing to accept low rates, they are either newbies or very much in need of quick cash. In other words, experienced Filipino writers who are really good will definitely ask for a little more than a few dollars for an article.

To answer your question, I will echo what some have already told you in this thread. If you still want cheap Filipino labor, the places to go are Craigslist and Getafreelancer. But I can't promise good quality.

By the way, just a little side note. There are "flaggers" in Craigslist who flag posters who offer very little. There was a point when the conflict got so heated that it escalated to a racial pride issue. Many Filipinos feel that we are trampling on our race for allowing to be used as cheap labor.

I have another question for everyone. What can one expect in terms for number of articles/words in a 8 hour day? I know what I am able to write personally but that might not be the norm.

Any suggestions or comments?

Glad I read this post.. I didn't know there were a number of article writing services too here in PH! I've been outsourcing from people in the US and might as well try the links given above.

I didnt know 'cause I hardly fine one on SE.. ;(

What are these motivational materials you guys keep talking about?

Do I need to buy "Unleash the Power Within" for my Filipino VA?

Tyrus

Okay then let me throw something out there... I would imagine that 8 hours of focused work should be able to produce a least 6 decent quality articles of each +500 words.

Said in another way. If you're paying $400 - $500 per month for a VA then they will need to produce that amount if they price is to compete with places like e.g. Need-An-Article (which will do 550 word articles for $5.52 a piece).

Getting back to your original question, "where do I find full time writers from the Phillipines",
John Jonas has now his own website for this here Find a real, online job! | Home

Bestjobsph is closed to all outside the Phillipines now.

Further if you want a bigger selection, I have the contact details from previous applicants for writing 40 hours a week.

Just PM me if you want their contact details.

To screen the applicants I asked the most likely candidates to send samples of their work,
write 10 articles on the same subject matter and tell me how soon they can have it done by.

This is to see if you need to spend much time correcting the work
See if they follow through on their commitments
See how many articles they can write in a day.

From there you can tell if you want to work with the writer and what that person is worth to you.

Missing these screening steps leaves you open to costly mistakes.

Hope that helps Mikael,

Ewen

If I were to outsource to the Philipines I would be looking to get a VA that had an interest in eventually making it in IM themselves and not just to make ends meet. That way I think you could offer a lower starting salary, but teach them about IM along the way. I know from experience that very few people actually want to work fulltime as writers. There's definetly a big difference between someone writing just for the money and someone writing because they love it. So, I would consider offering free IM training as part of the package.

Hi Wonderbaum,

A couple of years ago I posted an advertisement on craigslist:manila because I needed an affordable writer and an assistant.

I received around twenty replies. Many were collage educated and quite a few were very capable individuals.

I selected the best applicants - two of them - and both are still working for me to this day.

I have since used craigslist:manila for more projects than I can count and all have worked out really well.

Hope this helps! ....

Odesk is a great place to find writers. I have seen many from the Philippines there.

Filipinos are really great worker. Try bestjobs dot ph or onlinjobs dot ph.

Go for Odesk 100%...

Not good experience with OnlineJobs nor BestJobs ph, everytime I´ve tried John Jonas resources I´ve wasted time and money...

And believe me, I´m an outsourcing veteran with a big team.

Odesk is easy, fast and you will find killer writers there.

Guru.com is reliable also.

Hi Mikael,

We have used writers from the Philippines before and although many of them speak very, very well, you may have issues if you are very particular about how your articles sound.

We have not had the best luck with writers; I will tell you that. And when we did find a few, then they would suddenly have an emergency and we would not hear from them for days! This happened several times. I believe what happens is they find someone who will pay them more and will dump their current employer in a blink of an eye. I truly believe that is what happened to us. You really have to be careful and set the standards that you expect and really consider having them work on a project basis as I said.

By the way, we have used BestJobs.ph for our employees and will continue to use them.

Despite what I have said, there are some real good people that you will find there. In fact, we had a virtual assistant who was very loyal to us (and still is) and he is not currently working on any projects for us at this time. Real nice guy and always willing to please!

So not to discourage you, but I would suggest that you interview a few people and talk to them to see how well they actually speak English and ALWAYS get a sample of their work!

When you are ready to hire someone, hire the person on a project basis. Perhaps just having them write a couple articles would be a good idea instead of hiring them either part-time or full-time. You can always hire them for part-time or full-time status later on if your choose.

We learned our lesson and hire on a project basis as a result of the bad luck that I mentioned. That way, you have a better chance at getting the work completed because they will not get paid unless they complete the project.

Hope this helps you! Good luck with your business!

Welll... I would add that Filippinos are a bit overestimated...

You should open your mind to another possibilities.

If we are talking about cheap, you can find killer writers from South_American countries, and from East-Europe... and even from USA...

We are not saying that ALL Filipinos are good. Some are, some aren't. You just have to find one and see for yourself.

When you say that they are overestimated, that may be your opinion, but there are already a lot of people who have hired Filipinos and are very satisfied with the work delivered to them, as evidenced by the people in this forum.

For those looking for writers and VAs, try easyoutsource.com. It is a job site and you hire directly, not through an agency.

Just my two cents...

Hi,

We can definitely help you out. We provide competent and dedicated writers at reasonable prices. Samples and rates will be sent to your email

Hope to hear from you

Not sure why you or others haven't come across onlinejobs.ph

John Jonas started it once bestjobs.ph stopped taking on new employers other than the Phillipines.

Lots of writers there with their capabilities ranked for different areas.

Ewen

P.S.
Site was layed out by his fulltime tech guy from the Phillipines..