Hiring a Virtual Assistance?

Yes but that depend of the guy/girl
i have an awesome friend there that is a VA and here work had always been awesome for me

msg for her email

Yes, and you should be able to get a fairly good worker for that much a month as well. $600/mo is no joke to someone in the Philippines.

Hit and miss.

You may--probably will--have to go through several people to find the right one.

Even on fiverr where the person had great ratings, I've had to cancel a number of gigs due to non-performance. They simply didn't do the work.

With the Philippines, make sure the person you hire is actually one person, not a family or a group, and is actually the individual doing the work.

There will be a learning curve. Don't expect perfection out of the gate.

The Philippines is much more family and friends-oriented, so sometimes they can magically take the day off.

Be extremely detailed in your instructions. Be clear about what you want.

Do a quality check very early on to make sure you're getting what you asked for. Don't let the hours pile up--then you could be in for a big and unpleasant surprise (for both of you.)

Start small, verify, then ramp up. Keep your $600 as the carrot for now.

Having an outsourcer who is trained and able to do the work the way you want is a valuable asset, and is worth developing. But unless you are lucky right out of the gate, it is going to be a struggle.

Agreed with Jason, you'll find some that are reliable and know what they're doing, others will be unreliable, blame their internet connection for lack of work or not showing up to work or just do a lousy job. Gotta weed through em, ask for references and ask if you can speak to those references.

I work with a few people in India and they do fairly good work for the most part. The tasks I get them doing is not rocket science mind you, but if you are looking for someone to take care of the more repetitive, non-exciting parts then a worker from the Philippines is probably a really good idea.

$600 per month, hmmm. I am interested to know how much that will work out to per hour?

It is not important which country the VA from. It is too much important how much expert the VA is. So you can hire any VA from any country of the world. Before hiring anyone you need to check his previous work report & feedback. Thanks

And interview them on video skype. You'll get a better feeling for who you are dealing with and their skill level. Talk to a few people. It can be fun learning about their life and culture too.

I would recommend hiring a VA if those tasks are taking up unnecessary time for you, but you feel they contribute heavily to your business. We hired a couple of VAs a year back for helping us with a variety of marketing related tasks, but my real issue came in making sure they did quality work and were accountable. The accountability part was taken care of by implementing a time tracking software with screenshots. Random checks on those screenshots definitely helped.

On the part of making sure they do quality work was a bit of a challenge. Usually these VAs need very strict processes documented so there is no room for error and you've got to regularly audit their work for a week or so. After that, it's a smooth ride.

Hello,

You can use software to do this, post on FB pages, comments, replies, likes, content and much more, no virtual assistant needed, and yes you set up all comments and replies, all real no fake stuff,
Ya that's how I do it.

Agreed with Jason, you will find some that area unit reliable and apprehend what they are doing, others are going to be unreliable, blame their net affiliation for lack of labor or not showing to figure or simply do a lousy job. Gotta weed through em, enkindle references and raise if you'll be able to speak to those references.

It's worth a shot! Just make sure they know what they're doing and have a good work ethic

Finding a virtual assistant to do what you need can be done. But you may have to 'try out' multiple people until you find your 'successful' candidate.

It will take you time, money and perseverance in order to find the 'right' person.

Once you find them, don't try to be cheap. Yes go with what you can afford but keep in mind that you get what you pay for.

If you can afford $600 per month and find the right person who agrees to that price, pay it. Don't try to short change them by paying $250.

Is this still available?

Not only Philippine, you can hire the freelancer from any region. There is no problem. It is not important the freelancer location, but it is too much important, how expert the freelancer is. You have chosen good ways of traffic. I think if you can work in these traffic way, you will get a good result. Thanks for your advance.

If I was paying someone oversees that I hadn't even met in person to be my virtual assistant, I would try to keep them as busy as possible...especially if it was a salary type setup. I remember hearing from someone who hired a virtual assistant based in India to work full-time for them exclusively, only to hire them again posing as another interested employer and ultimately find out the worker was double dipping so to speak haha.

Be careful!

$600 is too much

I pay my VA $50 and I pay only for results

The problem with so many VAs is they drag out the time because you're paying by time.

Forget that.

I figured out a system that produces a win/win situation and I only pay $50 per month on average.

Pay for performance not "would have, could have, should have." "Would have, could have, should have" don't pay the bills. Results do!

I have one worker living in Tamil Nadu India and pay him around $2.25 per hour for basic data entry work. We have a very good relationship overall I would say and keep in touch through email and Skype chat.

Very interesting thread.

Try to make a job yourself for a hour, or two, so you know how much time for that time is needed time. but don't pay too little. There is saying, "if you pay by peanuts, you get monkey working for you".

As a person who's been living in the Philippines for over two years, I would be wary when hiring a Filipino. Although I have not personally hired one, I have been observing and working with some. Their culture is way different than ours in the west. Here are some things you should be aware of, and avoid if possible:

– Work is not that important here. Filipinos are extremely family oriented and may suddenly disappear without a word if there is an important family matter.
– Time does not exist here. It is fairly common to finish things late rather than early.
– Family "emergencies" are fairly common, and sometimes they might ask for advance payment to cover up the expenses. I would advice against doing this, or it will become standard practice.
– Many expect maximum income for the least amount of effort. Pay only for results, not for hours worked.
– Most Filipinos lack initiative. You may need to constantly remind what to do, or they might slack off.

Philippines has some of the worst and most expensive Internet connections in SEA region. I'm paying $80/mo for a 15Mbps DSL connection with barely any upload speed. The connection can become very unstable when it's raining, which is almost every day during the rainy season. Most people can only afford a 3Mbps unlimited DSL, or a 3G/LTE connection that has a data cap of 800mb per day for $20/mo and have to share it with family. Some areas have electricity rotation and experience regular brownouts multiple times a day, especially in the provincial cities.

Although this is a very rough generalization based on my own observation, it is more often true than not. Good employees are few and far between. If you find one that does not do the things mentioned above, hold onto them like your most precious treasure. Finding a new VA is likely going to be a pain in the butt.

Also, $600/mo is a lot for a Filipino. A starter salary in a call center is about ₱12,000 PHP, or roughly $260 USD. I would start from a minimum base salary and give bonuses based on performance only. Paying more does not necessarily equal to better quality in the Philippines.

VA's are only as good as the training you give them.

Every Filipino I have ever worked with has had a really good work ethic if that means anything. I worked in various group homes for over 5 years and every worker that came from the Philippines was always working overtime and driving a nice car.

I own a design business and have had a great experience with my VA. I don't know what I would do without her!

I was also seeking to hire someone from the Philippines, but the different time zones were going to be a bit of a challenge for me. So I did my research and found va.today and have been so happy since.

DNJones

Once you weed out non performance, it can quickly become an asset to your business.

i dont think forum,blog,facebook posting can give you maximum revenue.

google is the no 1 search engine and traffic comes from google. i am too thinking to advertise on google.