The Assignments

Last month, I seize the opportunity to learn the ropes of becoming a Virtual Assistant(VA).

Thru an email entitled "Just in Case You Want to Work From Home" by my favorite local author, Bo Sanchez, I visited the websites of Jomar Hilario: http://www.jomarhilario.com and www.filipinova.com. The words "work from home", "virtual assistant", "online seminar" and "working in your pajamas" surely are enticing to my eyes. I wasted no time and immediately signed up for the online seminar. Having a baby has shifted my goal orientation from an "8-to-5-career woman" to a "wanna-work-at-home-mom". I believe becoming a VA is my ticket to this dream - to spend every moment with my daughter and work at the same time.

SOURCE: denverrealestateandrelocation.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All training materials were sent to me via email. I was so eager like a child on Christmas day to listen to the webinar, carefully run through the slides and summarized the assignments I need to fulfill in two months time. With a month to go before my deadline to submit the assignments, I am so glad that finally I finished the Powerpoint tutorials of 10 web tools I self-studied. More than completing the tutorials, a greater satisfaction I have is that I have learned something new. I discovered that there's so much websites other than Facebook, Hotmail and Yahoo. I feel slightly smarter when it comes to web surfing. I now have more power on using the internet technology yet I am so sure there's so much to learn and discover. And all of these I have done with great joy. 

In retrospect, I realized that these assignments blessed me with 3 things: knowledge, determination and passion. Blessed me.

May my dreams come true.

Easy Tutorial on How to Use Yugma.com

Easy Tutorial on How to Use YUGMA.com by Isabel Del Rosario

Easy Tutorial on How to Use XE.com

When I was younger, the only foreign country my ears had heard of is Saudi. I remember relatives coming home from this Middle East country, garnished with gold all over their neck and ring fingers. With my young mind, I formed a deep admiration for the work they do even if I don’t really understand. Young as I may, I knew that working abroad entails sacrifices.

According to news I heard some time ago, there are 4 out of 10 Filipinos who work overseas. For the last decade, there has been a sharp increase in the purchasing power of the Filipinos because of inflow of remittances abroad from our kababayans who have chosen to survive the distance in exchange of greener pastures. I must know, for I am married to an OFW.

One particular interest we, OFW and beneficiaries alike, pay the most attention is on the foreign currency exchange rate against the peso. There are numerous currencies in existence but the universal yardstick used is the US Dollar. Most overseas Filipinos earn wages in dollars. Our purchasing power relies on the strength or weakness of Philippine peso against the US dollar.

We were taught in school that the appreciation of peso is good for our country. But in a country with a big population as the Philippines, my opinion is that this single appreciation of Peso against the USD has the advantages for some and a downside for others. Families relying on OFW remittances may suddenly find themselves with lesser money to spend with a stronger peso. When the peso is strong, that means the USD exchange rate is lower. Relatively, this is bad news for most OWF beneficiaries but sounds good to the government because it takes lower amount of USD to pay for its foreign debts. Likewise, peso depreciation affects certain groups in the society while it benefits some, like OFW beneficiaries. In a scenario of a weak peso, exporters regard the higher exchange currency for the USD payments they receive. The same is the benefit for the OFW and their families.

Whatever the currency exchange rate is, may every Filipino value the hard work and sacrifice their family-member exerts just to send home the money.

Prudent spending begins in knowing how much you have available for disposal. An ideal equation is income less savings is equal to expenses. The XE currency converter tool is most useful to anyone who needs to determine money in a certain currency. Be it Peso, Dollar, Pounds, Euro, Riyal, Ringgit or others, XE.com can help you convert your currency from one to another. To find out more on how easy this works, you may refer to the embedded presentation below.


Easy Tutorial on How to Use XE.com by Isabel Del Rosario

Easy Tutorial on How to Use Surveymonkey.com

There is a TV program that uses survey results as the main answers to their questions. This was later on developed into a computer game as well. The process of collecting their survey results is unknown though.

Years ago, a popular way of conducting survey is by personal interaction with the participants. During my college thesis days, my partner and I went as far as Quezon to personally conduct interviews and survey to indigent women to find out the impact of their livelihood programs in their economic life. During that last semester in college, we prepared a series of questions aimed in identifying their demography. A detailed questionnaire follows asking them to choose from a Richter scale format as to the corresponding answer that fits them. My sister used the random survey in completing her college business paper. She hand outs their questionnaire to just anyone who happens to lend some of their time to participate in her survey.

Nowadays, there are online sites dedicated in providing free, easy and convenient survey facilities. Survey Monkey is a useful tool in creating surveys and analyzing the results afterwards. Not only businesses benefit from it, but also students, researchers, product managers members of the academe and professionals. This is done in 3 simple steps. First, you have the liberty to choose your designed theme. Next, you formulate the questions guided by the various formats already devised in the website. Collecting survey results can be done in multiple ways, all offered at the convenience of your own office or home. You can send the survey via weblink, an email broadcast, and posting thru your website or you can share it on Facebook. This greatly saves you on manpower cost, time and resources. Survey Monkey will even let you analyze, tab or download the responses with just few clicks of your mouse.

Next time you need to conduct a survey, remember Survey Monkey.

You may refer to the easy tutorial I have made below.

Easy Tutorial on How to Use Survey Monkey.com by Isabel Del Rosario

Easy Tutorial on How to Use Skype.com

Easy Tutorial on How to Use Skype by Isabel Del Rosario

Easy Tutorial on How to Use Scribd.com

Just a few weeks ago, I had a reporting task in my graduate school class. Thanks to my VA assignment, making the Powerpoint presentation was not a problem at all. I finished the slides in a matter of minutes. You see, as a VA, it must be really important to practice doing more in less time. That is perhaps the reason why our VA guru, Jomar Hilario, required us VA-wanna-be to learn and study 10 web tools before he can recommend us to potential clients. I even applied my newly-revived-making-slidepresentations-skill during a client call. I personalized the presentation indicating my client’s business name on the first slide. With that simple thing, I managed to shine above the rest. My client felt valued and important just seeing his company name on my presentation materials.

Visual aids, in any form, most especially using slide presentations, make a huge difference.
This is something I have learned from working and studying SCRIBD.

SCRIBD is a slide-sharing site that allows you to upload, read and publish anything. The topics are varied, anything under the sun. There are film reviews, book and movie commentaries. Some publish tutorials on How to/Guides or manuals. There are also those who upload their chapter summaries, report summaries, or original manuscript. There is something for everyone in SCRIBD. Any field of interest, be it economics or management, are available in this site. You can browse countless slides at your own pace.

SCRIBD helped me learn how to embed a Powerpoint presentation in blogger. To see the proof, check my embedded easy tutorial on how to use SCRIBD below.

Easy Tutorial on How to Use Scribd.com by Isabel Del Rosario

Easy Tutorial on How to Use Logmein.com

Easy Tutorial on How to Use Logmein.com by Isabel Del Rosario

Easy Tutorial on How to Use Evernote.com

Buy groceries.
Visit the dentist.
Meeting with prospective clients at 2pm.
Vaccination schedule on Saturday.
Exam on Management next week covering Chapters 1-6.
And the list goes on and on.

As long as we’re alive, we will never run out of things to do. But sometimes, our thoughts get clouded and we forget the task that needs to be done. Or a situation comes that requires us to remember a past event or information. These things happen.

Isn’t it frustrating that you forget a special person’s birthday, or you hardly remember the ingredients to that special dish your partner loves, or you can no longer compose in mind that astounding presentation your boss admires?

Thank you there is Evernote, that lets you remember everything from your mother-in-law’s birthday to your annual executive check up appointment. Put all those important notes in this website and even if how many years had passed, you can retrieve the information if the need arises. It even allows you to create tags and search your old notes. Add an image or a photo if you like and all of these are automatically sync to be saved on the database. Evernote is compatible with any program: be it Mac or Windows, and with all mobile devices available in the market today. No need to worry if you forget your handheld phone where that important event was saved, just log in to your office desktop and search the information in your Evernote.

Now, that’s the wonder of Evernote. Everywhere, you can check your note.

For an easy tutorial on How to use it, click on the slides embedded below.


Easy Tutorial on How to Use Ever Note.com by Isabel Del Rosario

Easy Tutorial on How to Use Dropbox.com

What comes to my mind when I hear or read the word Dropbox is a physical box located in supermarkets, drugstores or payment centers where you can drop your raffle entries. Mostly, for promotional offers, consumers are enticed to join the contest in exchange for a possible draw of your name as a lucky winner. Now, with dropbox.com no need for you to enclosed empty sachets of consumer products just to sign up. There are no pre-requisites just to join. All you need is a computer and a reliable internet connection to get you started.

To find out how to sign up, use the site and view the tutorial, scroll down to view the slides.

Easy Tutorial on How to Use DROPBOX.com by Isabel Del Rosario


Dropbox is one of my best online site discoveries so far. It is one tool every person in this digital world will need. Imagine gaining an instant backup system that lets you save all your precious images, photos, files and documents. Anything you upload on your Dropbox account is accessible anywhere, anytime and at any computer. All these capabilities Dropbox can allow you to do for free.

Last month, my laptop broke on me. It just didn’t want to start. I am not trained to repair computer hardware or software, thus there is nothing I can do to make it work. I wouldn’t really mind if it doesn’t want to turn on if not only for all the pictures saved in there. Years of memories captured in still shots died with my laptop. I could only think to myself, if only I backed them up or save them in a CD or a USB flash disk. If only I had known Dropbox then, I could have uploaded these pictures on my account.

Lesson learned the hard way. Let me just charge that to experience.

Now, I know better.

Dropbox will surely save me from “if only”.

Easy Tutorial on How to Use DeviantART.com

Each one of use were created equal, yet unique from each other. Our interests, likes, hobbies, personalities, dreams and even profession vary. There are doctors, engineers, bankers, scientists, and artists. I believe whatever we may be, there is an “artist” inside each one of us. Artistry can be manifested in a number of ways. You may have the hand skills to produce a captivating painting or drawing. Some might be genius in creating a work out of scraps. There are also people who can effortlessly create a pot out of clay, a building out of bricks, or an item out of recycled paper. And still there are talented people who can create a story or poem out of words, a beautiful music out of a simple leaf, or an animation out of sketches.

It must have been the abundance of artists that deviantART.com was conceived. This is the second web tool I have learned and presented below.

Easy Tutorial on How to Use Deviant Art.com by Isabel Del Rosario


A Deviant as defined by the website is “a deviant art user”. This website is a community of artists and art lovers worldwide. A deviant can post in here original work of arts such as photos, paintings, poetry, canvass, anime, body art and everything imaginable and artistic. You can share your arts to an instant online audience that can critique or review your work. It is like having your own gallery online, which is open 24/7, and which gets an instant audience thru this web community. The site also allows you create your own profile and have your own fan base. What could be more rewarding than getting appreciation from your fellow art lovers! Serious deviants make use of the site’s chatting facility to communicate or collaborate with their fellow members. Artistry thru journal writing can also be expressed here. It’s like having your own diary in the privacy of your own computer. You can also sell your art works here. Those interesting statement shirts, graphics, posters, creative apparel and others you have in mind can be displayed here.

It’s amazing to come across such enhancements in technology. Communication is made easier with the advent of chat and online networking. Reaching out to the rest of the world was made easier with the presence of online communities. Offering your products and art works has been unbounded with the presence of online marketing.

All these you can enjoy with the power of deviantart.

Easy Tutorial on How to Use Blogger.com

Embarking on a new path to become a VA, there are corresponding assignments that need to be accomplished.

This is where the task of choosing 10 web tools or programs comes in. I have chosen 10 websites that I studied and actually used and created a tutorial about. A slide presentation supports all tutorials I have made. Creating a presentation alone has brought immense benefits in my life. Now, putting a picture into my thoughts or ideas has become a breeze. It tickles my imagination, brings about my creativity and challenges my decision making skills. You read it right. I need to decide what colors, font, font size and corresponding images I need to put in my slides.

There is beauty in everything we do, no matter how small it may be.

Yes, I am inclined to use technology and actually appreciate its value. However, there are a few websites I know and frequently visits. Most of the web tools I have created a tutorial about are new to me.

Blogger is one of them.

I have heard of the word blog before. I have read of successful blogger stories that were able to create income out of it. I know of people who are into blogging as a way to de-stress or express their thoughts with the whole world as their audience. Little did I know that I will also join the bandwagon on the blogger world in my goal to become a virtual assistant. Here in my first blogspot, I claim that treading this VA path can help me earn millions. Of course, I will create other channels to bring in the money as well. Sure, it may not happen overnight for I read somewhere that the sure and quick way to get rich is to get rich slowly. What is important is that I have taken action.

Blogger is hosted by Google, thus it is important that you sign up at Google first before creating your blog. The sign-up process is simple and easy to accomplish. Just apply curiosity and you will learn to navigate the site in a matter of minutes. Any topic, idea, thoughts, commentaries, review or even angst you can put into words and Blogger is a free channel that can host your imagination. You can even spice up your blogs by adding an image, video or like what I did, embed my slide presentations in my post.

Believe me, all of these things I would not have known in this lifetime, if not for the required assignments.


Easy Tutorial on How to Use Blogger.com by Isabel Del Rosario

The Start

I guess every story has its beginning.

Just like the story of creation.

The beginning of a love story.

The start of a rainbow.

Or in my case, the beginning point of my journey as a Virtual Assistant or VA.

This journey started from an email link I received from one of my local favorite inspirational authors and speakers, Bo Sanchez, with an eye-catching subject "Just in Case You Want to Work from Home" and yes indeed, it stirred my interest.

Just like the cliche goes "and the rest is history", I say to myself I am just starting to build my story as a VA-wanna-be. There's much to learn for now but I enjoy learning and so I find this really interesting as I progress thru the "assignments". I now appreciate more the purpose of "assignments" for it push you to learn, to study, to research and in the end be a smarter person.

This is just the start.

I am giddy to the bones that the day will come that I become a Pinoy VA Millionaire.

How?

I'll share with you my stories along the way.

Until my next post.