Keep Blog Readers Engaged Thru LinkWithin

I'm very fond of reading blogs and some of them keep me clicking and clicking to their other posts. It is like a chain reaction. Reading a blog post that interests me and then checking out the "Related Posts" at the end of that post makes me want to read some more. Now, I became curious on how to put those related stories after each blog post. I then noticed that it is an installed widget called LinkWithin.

photo credit: flickr.com Grete Kempton

Scam Alert #1

Photo from forexrobotnation.com

I want get as much gigs as a want. As long as I can still handle them and squeeze them on my free time. So, seeing VERY easy gigs in oDesk is like a trap and I fell for the first time.

How easy was this gig? It was a commenting job on Sulit, a buy and sell online classified ads here in the Philippines. So even if the employer is under a Peter Parker (Spiderman's name when he's not in his tight hero outfit) name, I immediately knew that he/she is a fellow countrymen. The gig was to comment on one of her products that she's selling in Sulit. Interested contractor must write a good feedback pretending to have bought the item (an Iphone 4) as a satisfied buyer. Easy right? And it's for a fixed-price of $2. I applied for it and got accepted. She (yes she's a a girl her Sulit account profile pic shows a woman who is named Margie Cristobal) explained at once on her first message what she wanted me to do. I did it without realizing that the contract was not started yet.I sent the link of my work to her and waited for her reply.

How to Make An Online Form Using Google Docs

Shopping Spells order form

I started an online shop three (3) years ago in Multiply. There were still few merchants and online shopping was not that in demand as compared now. In order to automate my ordering system a bit, I decided to make an order form using Freedback, an online form builder. It was very easy to make since you just have to input your questions, mark if they're required, save it then you'll be able to get the code to embed it in your online shop or any website. Once a buyer orders by filling-up the form, it automatically goes to my email inbox. Very organized, right? 

Years passed and I've made some profit so I got my very own line of products now (I started from reselling). And some merchants are interested to resell my products. Yipee! Inquiry messages were sent every once in a while. I need to keep track of these inquiries and note who are my authorized resellers. I need another form, a reseller inquiry form. But unfortunately, I can't make another online form in Freedback since I only signed up for a free account. So the search for another online form maker started.

BestBuds VAs' Virtual Assistant Online Lessons (VAOL)

Ron Salvador of BestBuds VAs

My virtual assistant (VA) gig, under my 1st Filipino employer named Ron Salvador of BestBuds VAs, was just finished. That was a month-long task of social media marketing, email marketing and blog commenting. It was an easy task since I'm online almost the whole day and it only took me 30 minutes to 1 hour to squeeze in this gig. That's the advantage of being a VA. You can still have a full-time work and at the same time earn additional income.

Now who is Ron Salvador? He was an attendee of Jomar Hilario's VA Seminar and started his own team of VAs. His main advocacy is to teach CHANGE. He believes that we all need to be informed, especially the ones with lesser incomes, that there can be a career in becoming a VA. Not only it saves you money and time going to and from an office but it will allow you to spend more time with your family and do more things that are you think are more interesting than being in a 9am-5pm work. Being a VA allows you to work at the comforts of your home and lets you have control of your time.

Now, I want to tell you about what I was marketing since it will be a great help for those who want to be a VA. It pays off knowing first in-depth about this career before diving into the ocean of VAs where competition is around the corner.

Article Rewriter: One of the Easy Jobs in oDesk

I recently realized that there are so many jobs open for article writing in oDesk and it pays very well as long as you'll be given continuous projects. I remember in high school, I used to write long essays in some exams. Why don't I put that to use and eventually regularly earn from it aside from being a Virtual Assistant?

Eager to start writing articles, I looked for available jobs last night and discovered that there are not only article writers needed but also article re-writers. I want to try that! Article re-writers are also called article spinners. They re-write an original article for a number of times depending on the employers needs. You are either given a topic to research in Google, choose an article about it and then rewrite. Or the original article be directly sent to you thru oDesk or email.

How To Convert PPT to PDF Using MS Powerpoint 2007

What is PPT and PDF?

PPT is a slide show presentation file which can be created using Microsoft PowerPoint. PDF means Portable Document Format by Adobe. This file format is used to send formatted documents to be clearly seen by the recipient.

We were ask in our assignment to create a PPT file using PowerPoint and then convert it to PDF. There were many conversion softwares in the internet which you can download but if you are already using MS Office 2007, it has a capability to save the document as a PDF file.

Check out the guide below on how to convert ppt to pdf.


How to Convert PPT to PDF Using MS Power Point 2007

How To Upload a File in Scribd and Embed In Your Blog

For the past week, I was in search for a user-friendly sharing site that I will regularly use to share my 'How To' Guides (our assignment from Jomar Hilario's VA Seminar). The previous one I used was Slide Share. Now, I wanna try using Scribd. It allows you to upload PDF, Word and Powerpoint documents to be shared to a lot of readers. Below is a guide on how to sign up, upload a file and embed in your blog. I made a powerpoint presentation of it, converted it to PDF and then uploaded it to Scribd. I used the code generated by Scribd to be able to embed this file to this particular blog post of mine.

How to Upload a File in Scribd and Embed in Your Blog

Now, why don't you try it yourself? :)

How To Sign Up in Mini Freelance

As a Virtual Assistant, I'm always in search for additional jobs to add more income. Since some projects are already big and a little complex, what I can apply for are mini jobs. You can find these simple little tasks in Mini Freelance. These mini jobs require you to do simple tasks such as signing up on a site, joining and posting on a forum, liking a page on Facebook or sending a message in Twitter.

Sample mini jobs in Mini Freelance

Wanna try working as a mini freelancer? Why don't you try and sign up.
How to Sign Up in Mini Freelance

Goodluck!

How To Use SlideShare

Our assignment in Jomar Hilario's Virtual Assistant Seminar is to learn a number of internet softwares (preferably useful for VAs), make a powerpoint presentation of it, convert to PDF then share it.

As I was looking for a PPT to PDF converter and asking suggestions from fellow VAs what to use, the first response is SlideShare. It is a software used to share presentations, documents and videos.

Here is a tutorial on How To Use SlideShare:

How to use slide share

View more presentations from erlainegool

How To Use BITLY

See this link? http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=4097887 It's long isn't it? Did you know that we can shorten it to this one ---> http://bit.ly/becomeaVA Isn't it amazing? It can be done by using bitly :) It shortens, shares and tracks your links.

Here's a tutorial on How To Use BITLY:

How to use bitly

View more presentations from erlainegool

My 1st Filipino Employer

Being a graduate of Jomar Hilario's Online VA Seminar, I was invited to join in Facebook the Virtual Assistants Seminar Group. I got to meet a lot of VAs and share our experiences as first-timers. The more experienced ones give tips on how to be more efficient. Other VAs also share their assignment (their blog site showcasing their VA work) wherein newbies like me learn more.

Aside from the VAs, some of the members of the group are employers themselves. This is where I got my gig from a Filipino employer. His name is Ron Salvador of BestBuds VAs. Our main job (many VAs were hired for this) was to market BestBuds VAs' Virtual Assistant Online Lessons (VAOL) and let it be known to many. How do we do this? Simply by email marketing and social media marketing. This is where the power of the Internet comes in and all the popular social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Multiply, Friendster, etc.

Social Media Marketing thru Facebook

This gig will last for one (1) month. VAs are handled by a team leader who provides us the marketing tools needed. Every week we are required to submit a report for them to know what we have accomplished. Watch out for more updates about this gig! 


Want a home-based job? Learn from Jomar Hilario HERE.
Wanna avail of the VAOL? Visit BestBuds VAs.

Article Writing Needs Research

Many Filipinos are choosing Nursing for their college degree. Even my sister, who's already a Marketing graduate, is currently taking Nursing as her second course. Her main goal is to go to US and work as a nurse there. But where exactly in US? Of course, in California, where most of our relatives are nurses there.

My 4th gig is to write a minimum of 400-word unique article about an overview of nursing schools in Southern California. I was told to research first to get info about the nursing schools in that area. I researched in Google, Articles Base and Ezinearticles.

While doing the research, it is a fact that the best nursing schools are in Southern California. These nursing schools offer various nursing programs depending on the student's interest in that field. They even hold night classes and online classes for students working daytime.

I was supposed to submit the article the next day but I was able to squeeze some time to finish the article in one sitting :) I hope the article I made suits the standards of the employer.


Want a home-based job? Learn from Jomar Hilario HERE.

Research on Recording Studios

Gig #3 is all about research. This was initiated by the employer meaning he found me and asked me for an interview. The first job he offered me was to create a blog in Wordpress. But since I haven't tried blogging in that platform, he decided to give me another job. I was asked to search for recording studios in Angeles City in Pampanga, Philippines. He told me that he once stayed in Clark in 1980s. Rob wants to do voice recording. Aside from Google, I also asked Yellow Canvass, an online directory of Yellow Pages Directory, for some leads but there were no recording studios in Angeles City when they sent me the contacts list thru email. Out of the 8 recoding studios I research in the Internet, only two (2) of them has an updated contact information. These are:

1. Studio Name: A-Syan Recordz International
    Address: 25B California Street, Villasol Subdivision, Barangay Anunas, Angeles City, Pampanga
    Contact Number: +639053438621
    Email: mci.medel@gmail.com
    Website: http:/www.kapeko.com
    Rate: Record + Instrumental + Mastering = Php 3000 per song
             Mastering = Php 1200 per song

2. Studio Name: Bedrock Music Studio
    Address:  Plaza de Amor Bldg.508 Flora Avenue,along Sto.Rosario st., Angeles City, Philippines
    Contact Number: +639204045126
    Email: none
    Website: none
    Rate: Php 200/hr for rehearsal
            

Bedrock Music Studio's rate is very cheap because Rob informed me that recording studios cost 5 times than that amount in Los Angeles, California. Well, what we don't know is the quality of equipment used in Pampanga versus in LA.

This one gig is easy :) I'm glad to know that after this, he still have some work lined up for me.

Want a home-based job? Learn from Jomar Hilario HERE.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

I Can Buy A Frappe

Yes! I can already imagine buying my favorite Javanilla shake from Seattle's Best when seeing my humble new earnings in oDesk from being a Virtual Assistant. My first and second VA jobs paid me already. First gig already ended while the 2nd one is still on-going. I'm happy that even if I'm a newbie (just signed-up last March), I was already able to get some gigs :)

See that $4.17? At $1 = Php 42.65, I already have Php 177.85 already!  Yehey! Keep them coming and hopefully climb up a little higher.

Thank you Lord :)

Want a home-based job? Learn from Jomar Hilario HERE. 

Data Entry For A Rental Site

Got my 2nd oDesk job last April 15. This a data entry job requiring workers to update a renting site with the prices and rental periods of different items for rent. It has a very low hourly rate job of $0.25/hr (Php10.75/hr at $1 = Php 43) and additional $0.02-$0.03 per data added or created. Several contractors, including me, were required first to undergo training on how to input data. We were given a training manual and a training site. The hourly rate can be monitored through oDesk Team while the "per data" rate is being monitored through their accounting system in their training site. So I'm confident that this is legit.Their website uses the Wordpress platform so we were all given our usernames and password.

While on training, I was able to chat with the other team members thru ODesk Team. We were all on the same boat. Most of us didn't get the instructions because it was a little vague. I didn't want to continue working on the training without being sure what to do. So I sent a private message to the employer and asked for more specific steps on how to do the job. He patiently did reply and I went back to work (starting all over again). I passed the training :) Some team members didn't pass and I felt sorry for them. Now, those who passed are given the last test if to be fully accepted or not. We are now working on an existing site and input data from this site to the Rentabilities site.

But I got stuck. There are missing information which stops me from completing the job. So I sent a PM again to the employer and asked for help. He said they're having technical problems and will get back to me as soon as they fix the problem.

Days passed and still haven't heard from the employer. I sent a message again for an update. I'm now patiently waiting for a reply and crossing my fingers that this job is truly legit and I'll be get paid.

Download oDesk Team here.

Want a home-based job? Learn from Jomar Hilario HERE.

My First VA Job

Yipee! I got hired for the 1st time! My patience paved off. The job came from an employer based from London. She manages Kingfisher which provides childcare services and kids club. The task is to edit a Word document base from the amendments written in their PDF brochure. She sent me the files to my personal email. It required me to download and install Dropbox to view the files she shared. Files were so big and downloading is so slow which needs patience again.

Well, I gotta do this job first and hopefully finish it on time and with flying colors! I'll keep you updated :)

Want a home-based job? Learn from Jomar Hilario HERE. 

oDesk

I signed up in oDesk last March to start my "career" as a Virtual Assistant (VA). I have heard friends telling me that they know a friend or two earning money from their work there. And it is also one of the online job sites that Jomar Hilario suggested in his VA Online Seminar. I wanted to try this to have additional income and hopefully make it full time.

There are a LOT of competition that's why you need to build an outstanding profile/resume. As a newbie, it is better to start with a low hourly rate to attract employers. They also have free online test/exams to take to prove knowledge to certain applications.I am mainly applying for administrative jobs. Some require purely data entry, email response handling, powerpoint presentations, data migration and lots more.

I am now patiently waiting for the employer who will give me my first online job as a VA :)


Want a home-based job? Learn from Jomar Hilario HERE. 

Why I Want To Be A Virtual Assistant

I'm an Electronics Engineer (previously called ECE) by profession and an Analyst Programmer by experience. But I want to be a Virtual Assistant. Why? Because I want to work at home and at the same time be hands-on to my daughter and future kid/s. I know the demands of my previous work and it really cuts-off some quality time with family (on-calls, some Saturday work, long hours in the office, etc.). No offense to the financial institution I've worked for 4 and 1/2 years but that type of job will really take my time and that includes travel to and from the office where in that could have been spent with family. I am now working in my husband's family business while taking care of our daughter (we bring her with us to the office). But soon, she will start pre-school and will require me to bring her to school and attend to her needs (We don't have a nanny since she was born). That means, I need to resign from my current job and find another source of income wherein I can work from home. And that future source of income must contribute a lot to our household operating expenses, tuition fee, house amortization and other miscellaneous expenses.

When I came across Jomar Hilario's blog, I immediately want to attend his Manila VA Seminar. I paid for the fee which I considered reasonable and looked forward to attending on a holiday sched since I can take a leave from work. Unfortunately, they had to move the seminar the next day which I won't be available anymore. Good thing was they gave me an option to refund or get the online VA seminar instead. I opted for the online VA seminar where they sent me materials (which includes audio files) and guidelines on how to become a virtual assistant.

Attendees (live or online) must submit an assignment (based from the seminar) that will serve as the first step on how to be a VA. And now, I'm starting this blog to showcase what I have learned to become a virtual assistant - at your service!

Want a home-based job? Learn from Jomar Hilario HERE.