Francis

Trouble with Internet Connection for my Filippino VA

by Francis
(April 10, 2014)

In the last few weeks, my assistant Denise was not able to do as much tasks as she planned to do. The reason: a bad internet connection.

The problem of a slow or disrupted connection is quite common with VA’s from the Philippines, and one of the few disadvantages. Reasons can be numerous, but extreme weather situations are often behind the bad internet speed.

I am interested in solving this problem as much as possible, or at least show up alternatives.

How to make sure your VA from the Philippines has little internet problems

The first step is to screen for internet connectivity speed right at the interview. That’s something I actually did with Denise.

The next idea is to set up some tasks that your VA can do in shorter downtime moments. Examples are

• studying training materials like e-book´s

• writing up their daily report emails offline but in more detail

• Working on online content downloaded locally

And then: implementing the workload done offline after the connection comes back.

What to do if this does not work?

If we cannot figure out the solution to the internet connection, then the cooperation with the VA is in trouble. Without internet, we won’t get far.

Here are some ideas that I still want to try out:

1. Look for a backup internet connection (with an USB surfing stick) from another internet provider
2. Finding out how much a faster connection might cost and considering sponsoring an upgrade for my assistant
3. Using an internet cafe if the connection problems are happening only rarely
4. Testing the connection with another computer, and if the computer is at fault, setting it up again from scratch.

I’ll also ask my VA for her opinion and ideas about this subject!

Negotiating Screen Recording when Hiring a New VA

by Francis
(April 14, 2014)

Due to time restraints, I outsourced the interview process for hiring new staff to my main VA. During an interview with a new candidate, he ran into an issue. The candidate did not want to use screen recording software for tracking her productivity and work output.

That was a shame since all other requirements (writing skills, English knowledge, as well as the salary she wanted) was “in the bag” during the interview. Only at the end of the interview my assistant mentioned that we need her to use screen capturing software to track her work. That was when she became hesitant and reluctant in the discussion.

By the way, her desired salary was $300 per month for full time work. She is from the Philippines.

My VA carried out the interview with Skype using only chat. It was very visible when she was hesitant, as she took up to 5 min to respond to some questions.

Interviewing VA candidates with Skype

• Pro: Would we have skyped with audio, the candidate can’t draw out her answer so easily.

• Contra: On the other hand, many VAs from the Philippines feel shy talking live on Skype.

It’s inefficient for your business progress when you “lose” many else very capable candidates due to this.

7 Lessons Learned for Interviewing Virtual Assistants from the Philippines

by Francis
(April 26, 2014)

After trying to hire a full time VA from the Philippines from a specialized service, there are 7 lessons you should keep in mind to optimize the interviewing process.

1. Get help by a project-based Virtual Assistant to be able to keep up with the interviewing process. The hiring manager should boil down the suitable candidates to e.g. a top 3 selection.
2. Use Skype for interviewing your VA candidates. If the candidate does not want to use skype for calls, then you should consider saving yourself the time for the interview (the communication will be more difficult throughout your working relationship).
3. Search for multiple candidates first, then do your interviews in batch to find a suitable candidate.
4. Save time in each interview by preparing your questions beforehand. For multiple interviews, you save time when you don’t need to type all out.
5. Clarify your budget and the virtual assistant’s salary expectation early in the interview.
6. Important: insist on the use of screen recording software and daily updates in your first interview. This will also filter out some candidates.
7. Be friendly in the interviewing process. Take the time for a joke or two. Your candidates are super-nervous. Don’t weed out good ones by being rude or unnecessarily blunt.

New Service Experience: Converting an SBI Site to WordPress with the Help of My Virtual Assistant

by Francis
(April 29, 2014)

A client of mine whom I have helped to convert his site from BlockBuilder1 to BlockBuilder2 with the help of my virtual assistant; contacted me recently to help with converting his site from SBI to WordPress.

The task is doable. But if you do the conversion yourself, it does take quite some time. There’s also quite a bit of technical knowledge necessary to set up the first steps before doing the nitty-gritty of what a virtual assistant actually can help with.

The client and I Skyped for over an hour about the subject of this conversion while I took notes. With the knowledge of WordPress my virtual assistant already has, it is a very doable task to support the conversion to WordPress with the work force of my virtual assistant.

In any case, if you are wondering if you should migrate your SBI site to WordPress yourself or if you could speed up this daunting task by hiring a virtual assistant; feel free to contact us.

by Francis
(working from my desk at home)

You need to work for your living, right? So do I. But sometimes I wonder if it really needs to be “the cubicle” from your mid-20 to your retirement. There must be something else, a small voice in my head is pondering all the time.

Then I came across an inspiring article that was hitting the nail on its head, so to speak.

Meeting with my old school friends strengthened my interest in building my independence online

Yesterday, I was invited to a 30th birthday party of a close friend of mine whom I know since school times. Many people I didn’t know then were there, some with children, most with their partners.

As I was mingling and having interesting discussions with them, these topics kept coming up:

• What is your work?

• Does it make you happy?

• Is there anything better out there?

 

A few people had found their dream jobs – one of them was a co-pilot, but the down side was that he had to travel often and sometimes at night.

Many people were exchanging stories of themselves or others that have encountered psychic roadblocks at the beginning of their careers. Stress, mobbing, overhours, burnout.

It becomes so common that it scares me, to be honest.

No wonder I’m thinking there must be an alternative out there, right?

There are many “work-from-home” type info-products out there that don’t work or trick you of your money

Obviously, I won’t link to any bad examples. But you know these pages where your gut feeling is telling you: they are only after my money.

That’s why I strongly recommend that you do your homework before jumping on any train to get started with working from home. That applies both for virtual assistants as for you, their potential employer.

Whatever program you choose, be sure to follow through with it without getting side-tracked by any other program along the way.

For me, the biggest distraction is to “switch to wordpress”. Of course, there are many advantages with using this platform, advanced designs being the most obvious. But I’m convinced that high quality information is more useful to you, the reader, than just a shiny look.

(Upgrading the looks on my site is still on my to do list, though. And on another sidenote, there is one product I would recommend to you when you use wordpress to build your business – the right way.)

My take on the six advantages on working from home

Be sure to read the article first. Then, see if any of my thoughts to it ring any bell with you…

More time with your family

I don’t have kids yet. But I can only imagine how much less time I would have if I had to take care of work, my online biz, and the needs of a family.

Do you agree that your family should come first? But what will you have to sacrifice if you “have to go to work” everyday and put your family first? Will you be able to spend as much time with your friends and doing your hobbies…?

Since family comes first, why not think about how to minimize the amount of time you spend in your cubicle. Or how to escape the 9-5 for good?

Less time lost commuting to work

I live in Munich, a big city. Commuting in less than 30 min only works if you live real close to your work place. My workplace is remote, and I relocated myself to find the sweet spot between still being connected to the city and having the shortest commute possible. It takes 30 min, every day, in the morning and evening.

And that’s the shortest I can do!

• What would you be able to do with 1 hour more every day…? (I commute about 8.5 days per year!)

 

• What would you like to do with 8 extra holidays per year…?

 

Saving money

I spend about 2000$ on gas over a work year. Not to mention repairs, the environment and the risk of getting into an accident.
Nope, I don’t see how I can discourage myself from the charm of working at home. 😉

Have you calculated how much time and money the trips from and to work alone are stealing you?

A sense of freedom

To be honest, I feel a bit differently than in the article. When you are free to work without supervision, you need discipline and order. I’m more of a creative-chaos type of person. So some structure and regularity would be beneficial.

But what strikes a bell much more than “freedom” is… peace.

• Are you being yelled at by your boss?

• Do your co-workers peer-pressure you into overwork or keeping the breaks short?

• Or do you have to sell stuff to customers that are less-than-nice to you?

 

Increased health

With all the free time gained I could spend more time buying sweets and watching TV…
Erm, I mean – yes! Doing sports would be great!!

Seriously, if you would go for a walk every day, you would feel more fantastic than if you are stuck in a traffic jam during rush hour for the same amount of time. That’s a no-brainer. (Until then, try to shift your working hours earlier and leave earlier, so that you at least escape the 9-5 traffic!)

Moving to a tropical island and live and work there

I’m not even sharing my super-secret plan of living on an island and lying on the beach all day. Because it’s super secret.
But perhaps you can imagine another dream place to live in if you were free to choose where you live. (And if it’s only to save taxes, or being closer to your family!)

Your thoughts on working from home

A virtual assistant will probably enjoy a few of the advantages mentioned in this article already. Many VAs from the Philippines I have interviewed or worked with make it an absolute priority to take care of their family when working from home.

What is compelling to you when you think a bit more wildly after having read all of this…? Please feel free to comment below. And if you know someone that should definitely change their outlook before stress gets the better of them, please point them here.

by Francis
(March 02, 2014)

We worked with Denise for 3 weeks. Unfortunately, I have had trouble managing her work because the time tracking of her work did not function as it should have.

This can be due to the time tracking service used (we used hubstaff which worked out for my main assistant, but not so much for Denise). But it can also be due to the personal preferences from your full time assistant.

To prevent this issue, especially for a trial period where you get to know your future full time assistant – here is the proposition from my main VA:

Hire the new assistant, but make sure to start them on a 40 hour contract (not more not less per week) monitored by an outsourcing service that pays only for hours tracked.

Click this link to find just the perfect service for that.

 

Are there any disadvantages of having a virtual assistant?

by Francis
(March 11, 2014)

I am sure it’s very visible that I am an absolute fan of VAs and the idea of outsourcing. But I got asked by a visitor if there are also not some disadvantages in having a VA.

To be honest, nothing is ever perfect, and outsourcing is not for everyone. One big disadvantage of having a VA is that you have a great deal of responsibility.

If you cannot deal with taking care of a coworker, training him, paying on time and making sure that you can communicate on a regular basis, then you should re-think if outsourcing is for you.

But these challenges can be overcome quite easily, in my opinion.

And the advantages by far outweigh the cons.

Be sure to read on to learn about 7 advantages of having a personal/virtual assistant.

 

Managing a full time virtual assistant from the Philippines – No start is easy

by Francis
(March 12, 2014)

Working with my full time VA from the Philippines sure has its ups and downs!

Just wanted to let you know that I have published Denise’s very first work update, which is a first-perspective little letter about her impressions during her first week as a VA working on my team.

Even if you didn’t yet start with working with VA’s, I am sure that this look behind the scenes can be quite eye-opening and can increase your horizon as an entrepreneur.

Click here to go directly to her diary entry.

Comments for Managing a full time virtual assistant from the Philippines – No start is easy

Sep 10, 2014

Don’t limit yourself by: JomvieI also had a rough start working as a virtual assistant. I am just too fortunate to be given the kind of employer who is so helpful in making my way through to my new career path.Although I’ve worked with a couple of online employers a few years back, but my main focus is to write contents.And, yes, I can say that I’ve increased my skills and can even create some images/graphic designs apart from writing contents. My advice to those who would like to start their career online to not hold back and don’t limit yourself from doing new things.

Escape the Cubicle! Succeed and Earn Money from Home

by Francis
(March 12, 2014)

In my opinion, there are many opportunities in working from home and earning your livelihood on the internet. It does not matter if you are

• a virtual assistant and do freelance work
• or a person working a day job who wants to take responsibility for an additional income.

The difference is only the quality of the information you receive to attempt that dream.

(By the way, the dream is a lot less impossible that your friends and coworkers may want you to believe. But it is not easy and will require an effort from your side.)

But nothing is more frustrating than going down one strategy found on the internet and wasting hours and hours, even years without getting where you want to go.

Many programs promise you riches overnight. Flee them where you can.

Success takes effort, perseverance and the right strategy.

And since you are on this site, you know all about the unfair advantage you can gain if you “super-charge” your own efforts with the support of a trusted, efficient virtual assistant. Right?

If you want to join the revolution of entrepreneurs and online workers that escape “normal” 9-5 jobs… then join the “Work from Home Revolution“!