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3 Perks Your Virtual Staff Will Go Crazy For!

Filipino Virtual Assistant

As most readers of my blog know, I have been involved in the outsourcing industry for over 10-years.

The ‘game’ has changed a lot over that time. And when it comes to working with virtual assistants, particularly home-based virtual assistants, the game has changed more than in any other area in the entire industry, as far as I’m concerned.

It’s not about working with an offshore VA anymore.

It’s about leveraging the power of the global economy and what that means to small business owners in western countries, such as the USA, Australia and the UK (the three countries that I hear from and cater to the most). We’ve come a long, long way since to publication of the 4-Hour Work Week, people.

It’s time to look at this a little more seriously.

No More ‘Cheap Labor’ Attitude

The biggest change I’ve seen, and its been more evident over the last couple of years, is the perception of the virtual bosses that I’ve had the pleasure to work with. It used to, and still does, madden me whenever I hear ‘Hire a Filipino for $2 an hour’.  Thankfully things have changed (and continue to!), like I said, people no longer think of working with Filipino VA’s as a cheap option to finding ‘help’.

If they do have that attitude, I change their minds pretty quickly!

Sure they understand and appreciate that working with Filipino home-based VA’s is more cost effective than hiring locally 9/10 times, however, the mindset has shifted from ‘cheap labor’ to simply having ‘overseas employees’ – and that excites me more than words can express, I tell you.

I have one client who has now hired six VA’s through Virtual Staff Finder (Disclaimer: VSF is my match-making company), set them all up with their own computers, their own small ‘office’, at one of their homes (purchasing equipment, etc.) and now considers them very much part of his companies team – an overseas support arm, so to speak.

That stuff just gets my juices flowing!

Compensation – It’s Not All About the Salary!

Another thing thats changed quite a bit is the compensation that home-based VA’s are now getting here in the Philippines. Think about it logically, with demand comes supply – and the VA’s are not silly. They know that if they have the skills to help business owners (no matter where they are based in the word) help run, support and grow their businesses, they should get paid fairly for them.

The playing field is still very much ‘level’ in the grand scheme of things, of course. However, a VA that would have been a $350 monthly investment 3-years ago, is now earning $500 for a full-time role, per month (this is a salary example of a General VA with around 1-year working experience – check out my guide to paying home-based Filipino VA’s for more salary guidelines).

Everyone enjoys getting perks, right? If someone does a job well, if they perform above and beyond the expectations of their employer, they should be rewarded. Likewise, in an increasingly competitive market, if you want your virtual employee to stick with you, to be loyal to you, then you need to ‘look after them’ properly – above and beyond their monthly salary.

With this is mind, and based on experience in working with and training hundreds of VA’s – as well as hearing from virtual bosses and some of the benefits they give their VA’s, I’d like to present to you three great perks that your VA will go crazy over (in a good way!).

virtual freedom bestseller banner

Perk #1 – Paid Holidays

Just because you pay your VA a flat rate every month (and no local taxes and benefits) doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t a) give them holiday time, and b) not pay them for it. The standard that I give my personal VA’s 5-days paid holiday in their first year (normal Philippine employer behavior) – after that you can decide what to do on a year to year basis. That means they can genuinely take the time off (usually when I am traveling so not to effect the flow of business anymore than needed) without worrying about the lack of income.

Because of your virtual set-up in working together, and the fact that your VA isn’t employed by a Philippine company, you are not ‘forced’ to pay the compulsory ’13th Month’ benefit, either. This is a yearly bonus that is paid in the middle of December to all Philippine employees, and is pro-rated back throughout the year. However, if you want to be a nice boss, and put a huge smile on your VA’s face just before the biggest holiday of the year, pay it. I always do and my VA’s are always super appreciative of that fact.

Perk #2 – Health Insurance

Remember, your home-based VA is working directly and exclusively for you. They are not being employed by a Filipino company, and that means they’re not getting their usual Philippine government mandated contributions and benefits, such as Social Security (known locally as SSS), Pag-Ibig (a local fund that allows Filipinos to get housing loans, etc.) and PhilHealth (local heath care payout in case they get sick / become hospitalized).

On the subject of health insurance, this is something that not many self-employed (like your VA!) Filipinos think of. And its a great shame. The great thing about your VA having private health insurance is that they can also include their dependents – such as children and parents (at an additional cost, obviously). You’ll find that most home-based workers in the Philippines will be the bread winner for the family. So, if they can get health insurance sorted out for their immediate family, along with being the main source of income in the household then they are even more of a superstar!

You can get your VA to arrange private health insurance (which goes well above and beyond the PhilHealth benefits) through a number of different Philippines-based health care providers (Maxicare & Intellicare) that have experience, and that are very dependable as a source of health insurance. It will cost you around $300-$400 a year to get your VA that piece of mind for the whole family, and you’ll be forever in their prayers.

All my employees have private health insurance set-up, and are very thankful for it.

Perk #3 – Incentives and other Bonuses

Along with holidays and health insurance (something that is very much the ‘norm’ in the western world), incentives and other types of bonuses are obviously always welcome.

Monetary bonuses are usually the first thing that pop into mind, understandably. I know that a lot of our clients offer bonuses for their VA’s for a number of reasons such as getting a product launched on time, or finalizing a design project. These are good ideas, however, personally I don’t like to overdo the cash bonus idea – plus, if you do it too often and your VA doesn’t get it at the end of one particular project, they will be a little upset.

I like to get as creative as possible with my bonuses and employee gifts.

In the past I’ve arranged things such as:

  • iTunes vouchers
  • Flowers and chocolates on birthdays.
  • Overnight stays on wedding anniversaries.
  • Baby clothes for a newborn.
  • Restaurant gift certificates.
  • Books arriving out of the blue from Amazon.

The idea is to motivate and reward your virtual employee so they work harder, become more productive and ultimately bring you the ROI that any employer wants – lets be honest – NEEDS to see, in their employees.

Get Creative and Build Culture

The perks mentioned in this article are not ‘requirements’. They are what they are – perks. Bonuses. Incentives. But, they are also highly appreciated and will, as the title of this post suggests, make your VA’s go crazy.

When I read ‘Delivering Happiness‘ by Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh it got me thinking about company culture. It changed the way I look at working with and caring for my employees so much that we ended up creating a whole new set of ideas and values. It also urged me to start a dedicated company culture website for all my employees, too. They love it.

Just because your virtual employees are that – virtual – doesn’t mean that you can’t create culture in working with them. I know of a few of our Virtual Staff Finder clients that use the private social media network, Yammer (its 100% free), to keep in touch with them in a way that really resonates with them – Facebook style. If you haven’t checked out Yammer, do so – your VA’s will love it, and its a great way to communicate with them and break down a few barriers brought about by the distance between you.

Keep an open mind, be a cool boss and try introducing a few perks to your virtual team – I guarantee they’ll thank you for it. And then, you’ll thank me!

Have you offered your VA’s incentives and perks before? How did it go? If not, why not? Are you a VA reading this and thinking ‘Wow, I’d love that!’, then let us know why! I’d love to hear what you all have to say on this subject below.

When Is A Virtual Assistant Not A Virtual Assistant…!!?

Note from Chris: This is a guest post by Michelle Dale. Michelle is an extremely successful virtual entrepreneur in her own right. Here are a few insights from her on the world of outsourcing and working with VA’s.

Most entrepreneurs, especially those pursuing an online business venture, will at some point consider investigating how hiring a Virtual Assistant – or even many Virtual Assistants, could benefit them and their business.

For those of you who are new to this concept and still trying to learn what a “virtual assistant” actually is, you will undoubtedly find a lot of different options available for you to choose from, and not every virtual assistant option maybe right for you, so here is a quick “VA 101” which I have put together for you which is based on the wide variety of Virtual Assistants I have come across in my own career.

If you find a VA online, they could be one or many of the types of VA listed below, for example, you may find a solo-VA working offshore, or an online business manager who is also a consultant and has a multi-VA team. The absolute best combination I have found is to work with a variety of different VA’s and use a combination of the possibilities out there for different areas of your business, especially if you are looking to utilise outsourcing for all of your staffing requirements. Once you have worked out what you need, you can then choose your Virtual Assistant or combination of Virtual Assistants wisely, based on how you would like them to fit into your business. Once you have the combination right, that’s when your business can really reap the benefits of this awesome industry.

In a nutshell, independent virtual assistants are generally business owners just like you, and they assist all kinds of individuals online with their businesses. I have listed the most common ‘types’ of virtual assistant below, but each one is essentially a virtual assistant in some way, shape or form.

Solo VA’s

This I believe is where the industry began many years ago, traditional PA’s and administrative assistants found a way of working from home and servicing a client base over the Internet, thus allowing them to step out of their role in the workplace and into a virtual role. Solo VA’s have since come a long way, and they have branched out from the more general services such as diary management, call answering, customer support, transcription etc… into offering online marketing services, and in some cases creative and technical support. They generally work alone, servicing a small client base, which allows for a more intimate one-on-one service with their client. Solo VA’s can be excellent multi-taskers. The downside of a solo VA is that if they truly are solo, then the times when they are away from their work, you may need to seek an alternative until they return. In some cases the VA may have a plan in place for handling work while they are away and you will need to ask them about this directly.

Multi-VA Teams

These are usually teams of VA’s who collaborate online for a single VA company. They will either be groups of VA’s with similar skills, or different skills depending on the company hiring them. Almost always the multi-VA team is made of up freelance independent business owners and they can either work full-time, part-time or on an adhoc basis for the main VA who developed the team. Most multi-VA teams will have a primary VA, the one who developed the team, and more often than not, they will be the primary point of contact for clients at all times, and may still also provide services themselves. The good thing about multi-VA companies is that they often have resources available to “step in” during holidays, so there is no disruption to any ongoing services.

Offshore VA’s

Offshore VA’s have come to be known as the VA’s who work in countries with a lower cost of living, generally “offshore” from the western world. Two very popular countries where offshore VA’s can be found are the Philippines and India. Whilst of course many of them do not speak native English, you can find offshore VA’s who speak excellent English, and they are able to communicate with you very well. Particularly, VA’s who have come from call centre environments are often able to speak conversational English surprisingly well.

The benefits of offshore VA’s mean that entrepreneurs and start-ups can cost-effectively get the support they need within their businesses, and for anyone on a shoestring budget, this is an ideal solution, because rates tend to be lower to match the economic climate where the VA lives.

Online Business Managers

Online business managers have likely taken on the role solely as a manager, and generally won’t be the ones performing the VA services anymore. In many cases, they have a multi-VA team themselves who they will utilise in order to provide a wide range of services for a larger number of clients. Online business managers often started out as virtual assistants and they moved into hiring a multi VA team – they should be very experienced in working online, and have excellent project management skills for those looking to carry out larger scale projects and business expansion, which they need more of a right hand kind of support for. This solution is ideal if you have a variety of tasks you need doing and don’t want to spend time on training and quality control. A skilled online business manager can do this for you, perfectly.

Virtual Consultants

Virtual consultants will likely have had a great deal of experience as a virtual assistant, and over time, they developed more of an “expert” status after handling a multitude of tasks and clients. Some online consultants will remain solo, while others may have multi-VA teams with them. The consultant will want to work with you more as a partner and advisor, and they will often charge clients based on their experience and ability, rather than on a skill or service set. You will need to talk with the individual, sometimes in great depth, to find out how they are able to assist you with your business.

Virtual Intermediaries

Virtual intermediaries are companies which are set up to introduce you, the client, to a suitable virtual assistant. They will generally have a significant database of independent professionals, for which they will take down information from you on exactly what you’re looking for, and then they will carefully consider your requirements and find a suitable match. The great thing about these introducers is that it cuts out all the leg work for you; they’ll generally screen the VA’s beforehand to meet a minimum standard, and keep profile and rates information on file. If they don’t have someone suitable within their database, they will set to work in finding a match for you using their resources.

Example: Chris is the founder of the brilliant service “Virtual Staff Finder,” which can help you find pre-qualified offshore solo-VA’s, for almost any requirements.

Whatever it is you’re searching for, there is a virtual assistant out there for you. Questions? Comments…? You know the deal – go for it, below..!

Can Offshore Virtual Assistants Create Good Quality, Original Web Content? The Virtual Business Lifestyle Case Study – Day Two

 

outsourcing life, wen content

Location: New York, USA – Reading Time: 7mins

So, following on from yesterday’s post where my company’s chosen virtual assistant v wrote on cool online app’s for sharing and storing files online, organization and calendar sharing, today we continue with my case study, looking into the world of the Philippine Virtual Assistant, but more specifically answering the question as to whether or not they can help you in creating original, quality web content for projects such as blogs, site content, eBook’s, etc.

Please note: This is REAL, completely UNEDITED text (sure, we’ve formatted for the blog, but that’s it!), written by one of the virtual assistants that works directly for my company, serving a client that is based in the USA. Let’s continue with the test!

 

Applications for Writing:

Unleash your creativity and earn money in the process.

Google Docs (https://docs.google.com/). Don’t worry if you don’t have MS Word or spreadsheet because Google Docs and Spreadsheet has these. You can create a new document, spreadsheet or presentation and upload your files from and save to your desktop. You can access your files anytime anywhere and choose who can access your documents. Those who have access to files can share changes in real time. And it’s all free!…

READ POST

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