Late last year, I got hold of the December 2012 – January 2013 issue of the magazine, Entrepreneur Philippines, from my sister. It’s quite a while that I haven’t purchased its back issues. I love Entrepreneur magazine just as I love Kerygma. I collect both for the former gives me guides and tips on how to be my own boss while the latter is my source of inspiration in the spiritual aspect.
Anyway, the latest issue of Entrepreneur Philippines features the trending business opportunities in 2013. One of these is Mobile Communication. Just take a look at your Facebook wall, local newspapers, and television ads. A lot of different types of smartphones and tablets are now available in the market with very affordable prices compared to the previous years where only a few can avail.
According to Mashable, a new study shows that Mobile Web will rule by 2015. People are now spending more time then ever on their mobile phones and this is a great opportunity for businesses to reach consumers using Mobile Marketing. This is what keeps me restless nowadays. Why? Because I believe that this recent trend will greatly benefit FilipinoVirtual Assistants. That this is the right time to evolve as a Virtual Assistant.
Sir Jomar Hilario’s latest post on his website is in line with this. The uprising demands for Virtual Assistants worldwide just pushes me to be more up to date with the latest trends in technology and what necessary skills are needed to compete with this new 
wave of opportunity, which some say is unlimited.
This is where my new journey starts and I want you to journey with me and let us evolve together as Filipino Virtual Assistants. In the coming weeks, I will be posting topics on tools, programs and websites which are useful in Mobile Marketing. Don’t forget to subscribe here to keep you updated with the latest trends that can benefit us, Filipino Virtual Assistants. Mabuhay tayong lahat! 🙂
photo credit: William Hook via photopin cc
This poster was personally made for me by one of Sir Jomar Hilario’s Virtual Assistant, Jasmine Roces. We, members of JH Mastery Group are just blessed to have these people supporting us all throughout our VA journey. They’re already like online family to me although we don’t know each other personally.
I never thought that this year’s Valentines Day (Philippine Time and Date) is now marked as the First milestone of my VA career. I just experienced the feeling which is best describe in a quote, “When you least expect it.” It was on the day of hearts (<3<3<3) that I got my first OFFICIAL GIG as a Filipino Virtual Assistant. Were the emoticons thread started by my super galing mentor, Sir Jomar Hilario and my ever supportive group, Jomar Hilario Mastery Group attracted this? Hmmmm, I even remember I was the first to comment on that thread! (now, I’m having goosebumps!). But one thing I’m sure, it’s God’s gift for me…To show that He loves me and assuring me that everything is under His care if I just trust in Him. Well, that will be another post about my life story on the reasons why I want to be a VA.
Back to my first ever VA gig which is in Odesk. I applied for this while carrying my baby with special needs at around 3 in the morning of Valentines Day but still night of February 13 in Canada. The job was newly posted and I grabbed the chance to apply. I was already feeling discouraged since I had many applications but never had the chance to be interviewed or hired however I never gave up. One thing so funny about this first gig was that in my profile, I lowered my rate from $5/hr to $2/hr for the reason that after viewing other contractor profiles having the same skills (which I am confident of having), they have an average of $2-$3 rate and this might be the caused why I’m not easily hired. I do have skills more than data entry (thanks to Sir Jomar’s VA assignments!) but does not have enough confidence yet of these newly acquired skills, thus my blog is entitled, The Evolving Virtual Assistant.
I thought that this first gig of mine was an hourly type where your are paid per hour only to find out while already doing the task that it’s a fixed-type, meaning there’s a fix rate (the budget was $15) and there’s no assurance when you’re going to be paid or that you’ll be surely paid (that’s how desperate I was, you may say). And would you believe that my bid for that gig was ONLY $2 for the whole task?! Anyway, together with my clarifications I was having with the task I opened up to the client that I really thought it was an hourly job type and admitted that it’s my fault not carefully reading the job details and it’s a big lesson learned and that I would still finish the task. I finished it a day before the deadline. What happened next was I got a message this morning from my very 1st client telling me this:
Wow!! It’s amazing how being honest pays off. From $2, he’s willing to pay me $10 for the task I did. God is always good. For others, this may be a kind of gig not worthy of pursuing, but for me, I take this as a stepping stone to succeed in my VA career. It takes hard work to find an online gig.
I’m forever grateful to my ever supportive mentor, Sir Jomar and his VAs especially those whom I keep in touch online like Nikki, Trina, Mia, Rachel and Jasmine. I’m not even a member of his exclusive groups like OMC and MMC, what more if I am. Mas grabe pang gig ang makukuha ko!
To those aspiring to be an effective Filipino VA, I’m highly recommending Sir Jomar’s Seminar on How to become an Effective Virtual Assistant. There’s an upcoming event for this. Check it here at http://bit.ly/filipinovatraining .
To those who are already VAs who believe that they can earn more from this career or those who wants to know more about online marketing, you can check Sir Jomar’s website at filipinova.
Do you want to impress a client with a new tool in creating presentations? Then Prezi is the tool you are looking for. As I mentioned in my last post, it has exciting features that let users zoom in and out their presentations and more engaging when added with imagery, music and videos. Aside from these features, it can also import your PowerPoint files when in Edit Mode. You need to have an eye for creativity though and maximize Prezi’s features or else it will just be like any other presentation placed in a new presentation tool.
To learn how to import PowerPoint presentation to Prezi, here’s an easy to follow tutorial I created just for you. When you’re done creating your first Prezi, please do share it with me by posting your link in the comment box here. I would love to see and share it!
Have you ever encountered speakers who keep their audience engaged? What about those that put their audience to deep sleep? What made those speakers effective in conveying their ideas? One of the contributing factors is how the presentation is presented that can be easily understood.
If you’re a Virtual Assistant or an Online Marketer, I would definitely recommend a presentation tool called Prezi.
Prezi can create a twist and livens up your usual presentation. It has the unique features of zooming in and out ideas being shared, enables user to insert imagery, music and videos that will help your targeted audience be more engaged. Online marketers and Virtual Assistants can greatly benefit from these features. Online Marketers can effectively send their message across to their customers while Virtual Assistants can add their knowledge of this tool as a new skill and demand a higher rate from their prospective clients.
To experience first hand these exciting features of Prezi, sign up now for free and master Prezi for a fun and engaging presentation. Here’s an easy to follow tutorial I made on How to Sign Up with Prezi. Comment below if you’re done signing up. I will be posting another tutorial about Prezi so check regulary this blog.
We have learned from my previous tutorial the steps on How to Sign Up for Pinterest using your Facebook Account. Now that you already have an account, let us learn one interesting feature goodies of Pinterest, the “Pin It” Button.
Have you experience viewing beautiful photos of your dream vacation with your family, your favorite pasta recipe, a favorite inspirational quote or any image of your interest from different websites? You want to grab and Pin It to one of your pinboards in your Pinterest account? If you’re using Firefox as a browser, you can start pinning right away once you’re done viewing and followed my step by step tutorial below.
To apply for an online job as a Virtual Assistant, it is important to have your own blog and website to show to your prospective clients that you have indeed the skills to be hired. One of the these blogging tools is WordPress.com.
WordPress.com is a free blogging service to those of you who would like to start a blog or create a website in your VA career or your business. What I love about WordPress.com is its more than a hundred beautiful free themes to choose from for your blog or website and its different features that you’ll surely love. One of my personal favorite features is its ability to publish your content even if you are away from your desk using mobile apps which is available for iPhone, iPad, Android and BlackBerry.
Don’t know how to create a blog using WordPress.com? Here is my own step-by-step tutorial on How to Sign up for a Blog at WordPress.com.
I first learned about Pinterest through my mentor, Sir Jomar Hilario and got hooked with it. Pinterest is your virtual pinboard where you can organize anything you find in the web that is of your interest like inspirational quotes that makes your day, food recipes that you are planning to prepare for your family, how to make different kinds of crafts to keep your sanity of taking care of your kids , home decor ideas for your dream home, your favorite books and even different kinds of information on how to work from home as a Virtual Assistant.
For me, Pinterest have great advantages to entrepreneurs especially those in the small and medium enterprises and online sellers. These are the following:
1) It’s a great venue for them to showcase their beautiful products and services.
2) Creates links to people who have great interest with their products and services which can be their potential clients.
3) Get to know more their market for effective strategies and promotions.
Now my personal interest with Pinterest is this. Since most entrepreneurs are so busy planning and finding means to grow their businesses, they have no time to focus on tasks such as marketing and promotions. I have learned from different sources on the topic of Entrepreneurship that at present, one effective way of businesses to reach their market is through their online presence. Meaning, they have to have their own websites and sign up with the different social media available. This is where the help of a Virtual Assistant (VA) comes in. They can hire VAs to take care of those tasks such as creating websites, signing up for the different social media, marketing and promoting. This is where I can be of service to entrepreneurs and business minded people.
With the Philippines experiencing growth in economy and the stock market, I am hopeful that Virtual Assistants will not only be in demand to foreign clients but to Fil;ipino entrepreneurs and businessmen as well.
Interested with Pinterest? Sign-up now! Here’s my step by step tutorial on How to sign up with Pinterest using Facebook Account.
Hi! Here’s my latest post in my wonderful group, Jomar Hilario Mastery Group and Virtual Assistants Seminar Group:
Hi everyone here! I just need some encouragement in this quest of being a Virtual Assistant. I have been a member of this group and I consider Sir Jomar as my mentor for a very loooong time now. I have learned a lot from all of you and have even availed of 2 downloadable seminars late last year which is How to Become a VA and the FBME with Jay Mclean. From availing of these, I also received a LOT of bonuses that can help me and add to my knowledge and confidence of being an effective and highly paid VA. That’s how generous Sir Jomar is. He’s really there to help us succeed.
See? All the possible opportunities for a VA is already in my hands! But how come I feel so sad right now realizing that until now, I’m not yet done with my VA assignment but have tried to apply at onlinejobs.ph and freelancer which I received a number of clients who are scammers. My first application was a legit client but he was looking for a full time VA. I can only work part time, as of now, since I am taking care of my baby who has special needs. It’s a real challenge for me to do the assignments, how much more of really working as a VA. Sabi nga ni Sir Jomar, 3x sacrifice ang gagawin ko. If my baby is asleep, I try to self study and make my assignments but sometimes I really experience na kahit anong pilit kong maging gising, nakakakatulog ako in front of my computer (sleep deprivation).
Haaaayyy! Just sharing my struggles. I would be very glad to hear from those who are now VAs but has the same situation with me.
Hi! I would like to welcome you to my blog. This will be an interesting blog since this is part of a requirement I need to submit to my mentor, Sir Jomar Hilario which I myself don’t know what lies ahead on my journey of becoming a Filipino Virtual Assistant (FVA). As I learn new skills, tools and programs needed to be an effective Virtual Assistant (VA), I will share it here and you will witness how I will evolve on becoming one.
Why do I specifically mentioned Filipino Virtual Assistant (FVA)? Because I’m proud to be a Filipino and many client foreigners look for Filipino VAs because of our creativity, honesty and our ability to manage projects. This is according to existing Filipino VAs as mentioned by Sir Jomar in his seminar I downloaded.
In a recent webinar I attended with Sir Jomar, I believed many were enlightened when he mentioned that being a Virtual Assistant is NOT limited to those who write articles. It gives hope to those who are not so good in article writing but have other computer and internet skills which only needs to be developed to qualify as a Virtual Assistant. That is why, to be called a versatile Virtual Assistant, one should not stop from learning new skills, especially skills that are highly paid to be able to evolve as a Virtual Assistant.
Are you interested to become a Filipino VA? Why don’t you attend the upcoming events of Sir Jomar Hilario on:
March 9-10, 2013, Saturday-Sunday, 9am – 6pm for those in Davao and nearby areas.
March 16, 2013, Saturday, 9am – 6pm for those in Manila and nearby areas.
Visit http://bit.ly/filipinovatraining for the details.
The Evolving Virtual Assistant 
