One of my jobs now is that of a Virtual Assistant Philippines, meaning I now do administrative and secretarial tasks for a client company in Florida while I live here in the Philippines. These I do for about four hours around midnight.

The number of virtual assistants in the Philippines has been rising together with the rise of the Internet — the medium that has enabled developing countries such as ours to win lots of call center jobs.

The Internet has also given opportunities for lots of Pinoys to earn money from various online enterprises, such as writing for websites, designing websites, selling cell phone loads and various products from beauty creams to houses and used cars on websites like sulit, and selling to international buyers on eBay.

How did I get my job as a virtual assistant Philippines?

It started with my job as a freelance online writer and my hobby as a blogger. I worked for years in a U.S.-owned Makati firm summarizing published news items and magazine articles for U.S.-based clients, so when the firm decided to get change its focus, I gravitated towards writing online. And it was here online where I met this client who initially hired me to write articles for his and his wife’s company website.

How did I meet this husband-and-wife team?

I met them through Craigslist Manila. This is an international classified ads site where anyone can post ads for free. It provides a focused site for each major city in the world.

If you haven’t seen this ads site, you can type craigslist manila on Google, and then explore the site, particularly the JOBS section.

However, because Craigslist is free for all posters, there are a lot of scams on the site. I have heard of writers not being paid. Just be analytic about the offer, follow your feelings or instinct, and decide what risk you can bear. Prayers can help, of course. Do your best, and God will do the rest, sabi nga natin. Oftentimes, if I see blessings from this client, I thank God for leading me to go to Craigslist at the time this client advertised for a job, and to apply for this client’s simple ad.

Does being a Virtual Assistant Philippines pay well? And what’s the downside of the job?

Yes, it pays well, if one gets a good client. And it also fits snugly with freelance writing, particularly if you’re also writing for your own blog or other blogs. You also stay at home, and you don’t have to suffer the daily travails of a commuting worker.

The only downside is the night schedule. For some like me, sometimes the abrupt change in sleeping hours causes terrible headaches, but I hope my body clock adjusts soon.

Virtual Assistant Philippines

Just today, I discovered that one of my new articles on another blog was stolen, copied and pasted. Eksakto.  Wala man lang iniba.  Right to the period. And I’m glad that it was not by a Filipino blogger.  It was a very relieving discovery for me… na hindi Pinoy.

I spend time writing my articles, especially those with facts and figures. Most of the time, I don’t rely on second-hand information. If I can, I go to the source.  I go to the official websites, to the websites of the persons, companies, government agencies or organizations. And I make effort to make my article unique, I put a different spin on it, even if I use the same statistics or data, kasi yon naman ang data — you can’t change it.  There’s significant time and effort exerted to research, analyze and write.  Pati yong HTML coding (for posts na kelangan ng special layout).  Tapos, kokopyahin lang.

Meron pa akong nakita, kinopya itong post ko about tuition fees. Eksakto. Ang haba ng article na ito, di ba? At work in progress talaga itong post na ito, kasi kung saan-saan ko kinukuha yong tuition fees — from schools’ websites (mostly), from calling schools, from students commenting here, from my own search for school for my daughter, from students’ forums, from my daughter’s friends… Tapos, kinopya lang, copied and pasted. Buti, yong blogger na nangopya is obviously bata pa, siguro hindi pa alam ang plagiarism, hindi pa alam ang mga Internet etiquette, so I just advised him.

What are really detestable are the PROFESSIONAL PLAGIARISTS — the online PIRATES.  Google has started penalizing sites with duplicates, so plagiarists and pirates, start changing your ways.  Now, your plagiarized posts are appearing on Google results, but they’re not on Page 1.  Soon, your plagiarized posts will appear no longer.

Related Articles:
Fellow New Freelance Writers in the Philippines — Some Tips
Freelance Writers — $5 Per 400- to 500-Word Article
My Personal Make Money Online Version

You can really make money on the Internet. After a time, you can even depend on the Internet as your monthly source of income.

Many Filipinos are already making a living on the Internet, and I’m happy to say I’m one of them.

As soon as I reach my earning goal on the Internet, I plan to resign from my day job and focus on increasing my Internet endeavors. Currently, I’m earning between $250 to $300 from the Internet every month — not yet enough for my family, so I haven’t resigned from my day job.

At the start, you’ll only earn cents, but later on, you’ll find that these cents add up.

As you become smarter, and as you increase your money-making gigs, you’ll see the dollars coming in.

Here are ways to make money online, and I classified them as:

• Easy   —   Some money
• More Effort Needed   —   More money
• Much More Effort Needed   —   Much more money

I’ll try to shorten and simplify my explanations so you won’t get overwhelmed, and so you can start immediately.  I’ll write about specific strategies in my later posts.

EASY WAYS:

1.   Join Paid-to-Click (PTC) sites. (Warning: As of May 2011, I’m no longer recommending PTCs. More and more PTCs are not paying. Three sites, where my daughter conscientiously clicked, even those recommended by sulit.com.ph clickers, are no longer paying.) Just please go to No. 2.

You just sign up, and view a number of ads at certain times of the day. But beware, there are a lot of scam sites. Some new sites really pay, but oftentimes they shut down without paying when they lose money. Those that pay very little are the ones that survive.

If interested, you can find nerbie on sulit.com.ph and ask what the legitimate sites are. I
referred nerbie instead of the others on sulit because I find him very helpful to new bloggers. He’s earning about $1,000 a month from blogging, but he also participates in PTCs.

My young daughter also does PTCs, so if interested, you can comment below and my daughter will give you the PTCs she’s doing.

2.  Answer questions on MyLot.

Choose questions you like to answer. The longer and more relevant your answer, the better.
Sign-up for a MyLot account.

MORE EFFORT NEEDED:

3.   Answer questions on WebAnswers.

Choose questions to answer. You’ll earn thru Google Adsense. If you don’t have an Adsense account yet, WebAnswers will help you get an account after getting 10 awarded answers.
Sign-up for a WebAnswers account.

4.  Start a blog on Blogger and earn from Google Adsense.

Blogger is a free blogging platform, and it’s the best of the many free blogging sites on the Internet because it’s owned by Google.

Just go to Blogger.com, and create a blog. Just follow the instructions. Don’t worry about making a mistake. Every mistake can be corrected easily. You’ll learn.

What is a blog? A blog is just like a diary, a newsletter, a magazine, or a newspaper where you write something that your readers can read.

It can be about anything, but of course, it helps if you write things that are interesting to many people. And Google bans topics such as pornography, graphic sex, gambling, prescription drugs, malware, promotion of crimes, etc.

Think of topics that people are searching. Best resorts in the Philippines? Best investments? Makeup? Clothes? Gardening? Pets?

Choose topics:

• that you know
• that you enjoy writing about
• that other people are interested in
• that other people are researching on the Internet

As you blog and learn, you’ll come to know about keywords, keyword search, SEO, etc.

But the more important thing is you start now.

After you have written about 20 articles, and you have attracted some readers, apply for a Google Adsense account. If your application is approved, you can earn from clicks of Google ads on your blog.

Be warned that only legitimate clicks are paid, and you will be banned from Google forever if you click your own ads, or if your friends/family click on your ads. Google will know; it has sophisticated software to track online activities.

You can also earn from Amazon. I’ll write about Amazon soon. Meanwhile, build up your Blogger blog or site.  Sign up for a Blogger account.

MUCH MORE EFFORT NEEDED:

5.   Write for free revenue sharing sites.

You write articles for these sites, and then share Adsense revenues. Some also allow Amazon links. You get an income share of from 50% to 100%.

There are many of these sites, so since our time is limited, choose the best.
I recommend these sites:

EXCERPTZ —    This is fairly new but the advantage is your articles get noticed immediately. You get 80 percent of Adsense revenues. You can also link to Amazon directly.

BEST-REVIEWER —   It’s easier to create posts on this site compared to others. Why? There’s already a format. It’s like filling in the blanks. There’s a format for Top, something like Top 3 Best-selling Movies of all Time, or Top 5, or Top 10. The other format is How much money does ___ earn? Just write any person or occupation. Of course, choose those that are interesting and popular — the celebrities.

HUBPAGES —   This is the most popular revenue sharing site today. It’s on the list of
Quantcast’s Top 100 Sites and Alexa’s Top 198 Sites.

There are others like xomba, bukisa, snipsly, squidoo, shetoldme, and yousaytoo, but I suggest you focus first on the three above, although you can also explore these four.

6.   Create your own website hosted by a web hosting firm that you pay.

Blogger.com is free, why would I pay to create a website or a blog?

Yes, you can earn from Blogger.com. But there are advantages to owning your own site too:

• You have more design options.
• You’re free to choose the ads that you display on your site.
• You can sell your website or your domain name if it becomes successful and popular.
• Blogger.com can delete your website if you violate its terms.
• You have an easier-to-remember domain name.

On Blogger.com, your domain name is domain name.blogspot.com, something like
happytravel.blogspot.com.  If you own your site, your domain name would be happytravel.com.

Today, however, Blogger allows you to buy a domain name to remove ‘blogspot’.  Just pay $10 per year.

Of course, you can have Blogger blogs and paid sites at the same time.

workingpinoy.com is hosted by 1and1.  But one day, I’ll move to Hostgator, my original choice.

One of the best webhosting firms is Hostgator.  Go to forums and you’ll find that many bloggers recommend it as a webhost.

7.   Become an affiliate marketer.

This is like being a sales agent of a company. You sell a product and you get a commission.  I have tried popular affiliate sites like Clickbank and Commission Junction, but I have not yet been successful on these sites. I have a day job, so I lack time to market products. The products need to be blogged about.  In addition, these sites have commission amounts that you need to reach before you can get your money and certain time limits.

My recommendations are Amazon and Clickbank. You can sell Amazon products through your sites, including your Blogger blogs, and revenue sharing sites. Most importantly, Amazon is a trusted brand. It really pays.

Clickbank sells only digital products like ebooks and software, so it doesn’t have delivery problems.

8.   Become a freelance writer.

You can find a writing gig on Craigslist Manila. I have written a blogpost on my great
experience getting a freelance writing job on Craigslist.  Be warned though that there are a lot of scams on Craigslist.

There are other sites where you can get writing jobs, like Odesk, etc., but I haven’t tried them.

As you surf, you’ll see a lot of  ads that say Become an instant millionaire, Earn thousands of dollars Overnight, or Watch your dollars grow as you sit.  Take a look to see for yourself.  All of them ask lots of US dollars from you first before you make money. Don’t get enticed, or else you’ll be throwing your money to swindlers.

Lastly, if you don’t have yet a Paypal account, get a free Paypal account. Many online enterprises pay through Paypal.  If you don’t have a credit card to verify Paypal, visit the Union Bank website and read its advice on Paypal verification.

Google Adsense pays Philippine bloggers thru Western Union.

Related Article:

Fellow New Freelance Writers in the Philippines — Some Tips

The applications I received prompted me to write this post, as I realized that some new freelancers still looking for writing gigs need some guidance. I’m still fairly new in the business — there are a lot more experienced and high-paid Pinoy freelancers out there — but I think I can give some useful tips.

1.  Follow the instructions of the clients on how to apply.

Clients are already testing your ability to write starting with the way you follow their application instructions.

Some clients want you to apply through a specified email; others want you to fill up a form on a certain website. For most Craigslist clients, you apply using the email created by Craigslist for the specific ad.

Some clients want only your letter and your writing samples, so don’t send your long resume. I’m certain they don’t have time to read resumes.  Include your resume only if asked.  There are others who like to see your blog or website.

If they ask you to send one or two writing samples, send one or two, not three or more. Mention also if these samples were already published by other clients, or are still to be published. If the client is asking for more than three samples, especially long articles, do a little sleuthing. Is the client serious, or just collecting samples? I’ve seen one ad on Craigslist in which the job poster was asking for six sample posts for every category, and there were 12 categories!

I’ve also received applications which are links only, and there are no accompanying letters. I clicked the links for curiosity, and they’re on Scribd or other online storage sites. Are these how they’re applying? And do clients like these?

2.  Apply only to the writing job that you know you can do well.

If one job ad says you need to be on the Internet for 8 hours every day for 5 days a week, and you’re looking only for a part-time job, the prudent thing is to ignore this ad. If the ad is looking for someone who knows a lot about  sports or stocks, and you’re not confident about your knowledge of these topics, the better decision is to again ignore this ad and look for another.

You can always research on these topics, but it will take you time. Worse, if you don’t enjoy writing about these topics, it will show in your articles.

3. Weigh the price if it’s worth your effort.

This is always a sensitive topic, as it concerns livelihood. If we advice other freelancers not to accept $1 to $2 jobs, those who are accepting these rates would argue they need the money. If we explain to them they’re pushing down writing rates, they would say give us the higher-paying jobs.

So, I’ll just say, if we can, let’s not accept the $1 and $2 dollar 400-word jobs. I’m sure the clients will increase their rates if there are no writers accepting these rates. They would try writers in other English-speaking countries, but as I’ve observed, most clients prefer Filipino writers.

Read the comments on my other article on freelance writing jobs, and you’ll read how one American writer condemned me for accepting $5 dollar articles. She explained that her freelancing rate has plunged by half because Third World writers are accepting low rates. In one article I wrote for another website, I said that the American clients paying low freelance writing rates are also to be blamed for their exploitation.

4.  Lastly, let’s lift up the image of the Filipino freelance writer.

If we agreed to write 5 articles a day and submit them before 8 pm everyday, then we should submit 5 articles before 8 pm everyday, not just 3 articles, and not after 8 pm. If we no longer like to write for the client, let’s inform formally the client in advance.

Most of the complaints I’ve read about some Pinoy writers point to lack of commitment — that they don’t submit on time.

We can sustain writing for a certain client if we like the price and if we like the topic, so it’s important that before we apply for a writing job and commit to it, we should be satisfied with the price and we be confident we can write about the subject easily.

Notes below added March 19, 2011:

How do we know if a writing job ad is a scam?

Except for ads that are obviously fraudulent, we can’t really be sure if a certain ad is worthy of trust or not. I’ve read about ads by previously good-paying clients who have not paid their writers.

Nevertheless, there are signs that we can look out for:

1.  A prospective client who asks for more than two 500-word samples and who requires that the articles are new and unpublished.

I think a client should be able to evaluate a writer by just one or two samples and by the application letter.

2.  A client who says he’s going to pay monthly and after all articles of the month are in.  You’re taking a big big risk if you respond to this kind of client.

3.  The client quotes a very high rate, perhaps $25 for a 300-word article, but says only those which pass his standard will be paid. I bet all the articles won’t pass his standard.

4.  A client which lists a lot of requirements, such as 500 words, links to references, one keyword mentioned for every 100 words, one secondary keyword mentioned in the second and fourth paragraphs, summary to be provided, Copyscape to be performed, and keyword density to be followed, and then offers one dollar per article!  This is probably  not a scam, but his rate is SCAMDALOUS!

5.  A writing job ad which refers to a legitimate writing opportunity, but which misrepresents how the job is paid. These ads link you to Adsense revenue-sharing article sites such as mahalo.com, Demand Media Studios sites, Associated Content, etc. In these sites, if your article doesn’t get hundreds of impressions and doesn’t earn cents, you’ll not get any cent.

No. 5 leads me to write about Revenue-Sharing sites.

I write for about three or four Google Adsense Revenue Sharing Sites, but I found them as I surfed for blogging tips, and not through job ads.  As these sites depend on Adsense, Amazon, Ebay, etc. for their revenues, writers should treat these only as possible sources of income in the future.  You write for these sites only after you’ve finished your day job.

Whenever I have time, I write for hubpages, best-reviewer, xomba, snipsly, excerptz and some others. Many times on these sites, I write primarily to get backlinks for my blog sites. Backlinks from good sites help in pushing up the Google ranking of my blog sites.

Among these sites, hubpages is the best. It loads fast, has a lot of writing tools, and its instructions are easy to follow. There are a lot of people earning $,$$$ from hubpages, but these are the ones who have started writing more than a year ago and who have learned about keywords, SEO, linking, niche topics, affiliate marketing, etc. that are effective.

I also like hubpages because of its high online ranking. As of today, March 19, 2011, hubpages is the 76th top U.S. website on Quantcast and 140th on Alexa.

If you’re looking for an easier way to get backlinks and possibly earn Adsense too, check out Best-Reviewer.Com. Here, you don’t have to write a long article. Just make a list of at least three something interesting — the most beautiful Pinay singers, the best U.S. banks, the cheapest new cars, etc. — put in some notes, and then put in your links, and you’re done. This site is much lower in ranking than hubpages, and it’s relatively new, but last week, my first $2.89 from this site appeared on my Adsense chart.

Hope these notes helped a bit.

Related Articles:

My Personal Make Money Online Version

UPS Uninterruptible Power Supply for Freelance Writers

Freelance Writers — $5 Per 400- to 500-Word Article