In the realm of outsourcing and remote work, the Philippines has emerged as a prominent hub for skilled and reliable virtual assistants. As businesses and entrepreneurs increasingly seek ways to optimize their operations and productivity, tapping into the talent pool of the Philippines has become a strategic choice.
This comprehensive guide aims to provide you with a deep understanding of the virtual assistant landscape in the Philippines. We will explore the benefits of outsourcing to Filipino virtual assistants, delve into their diverse services, and provide practical tips for effectively hiring and managing your virtual assistant team.
Whether you’re a business owner seeking to scale operations, an entrepreneur looking to focus on core activities or an individual aiming to regain valuable time in your personal life, this guide will equip you with the knowledge and insights needed to make informed decisions and leverage the tremendous potential of virtual assistant services in the Philippines.
Intro to virtual assistant services
The first thing you need to know is that virtual assistants work remotely. They don’t have the traditional 9-to-5 job, but some work full-time. No need to go to the office to get the job done. They set their hours and work from home or the nearest cafe. Unlike full-time assistants, virtual assistants do not necessarily work for one company or client.
Virtual assistants have been around for many years, but only recently have businesses realized how virtual assistant services are relevant for the success of their business. As a result, the virtual assistant industry is booming, and as a business owner, you should consider the many benefits of hiring dedicated virtual assistants.
Where to find virtual assistants in the Philippines?
Now, you must ask yourself, where do I find a virtual assistant who lives in the Philippines for my business? The good news is there are many ways to find a virtual assistant in the Philippines. The best way to approach this is to either use a service provider company that hires Filipino-based assistants and their services or hire an independent virtual assistant through a recruiting company. We offer a guide for the best companies that provide virtual services and the companies that can help you hire a great assistant. But first, let’s get to the most well-known companies for outsourcing and hiring great and talented Filipinos.
Best virtual assistant companies in the Philippines
The best virtual assistant companies in the Philippines can vary depending on specific needs and requirements, but some popular options include the following:
- OnlineJobs.PH
- Task Bullet
- Virtual Staff Finder
- WoodBows
- SupportNinja
- Virtual Coworker
- VA Staffer
- eVirtualAssistants
OnlineJobs .ph
This is your perfect job board for hiring a virtual assistant and saving money. You can either post a job or search for resumes on this website. So, how is OnlineJobs.ph different from other job boards? OnlineJobs. Ph is mainly dedicated to finding and hiring great virtual assistants in the Philippines.
OnlineJobs. ph offers a free trial to add up to 3 job posts and view job applications. This way, you know if you will find the perfect virtual assistant through the platform. However, you can’t contact the virtual assistants except after upgrading to a paid package.
As for how you pay your dedicated virtual assistants, OnlineJobs Ph offers a unique payment solution on its website. It’s called EasyPay. However, you don’t have to pay your assistants through the platform; you can use other payment solutions like PayPal, Wise, or WorldRemit.
Pricing
- For the PRO plan, you can add up to 3 job posts, view applications, contact up to 75 workers per month, and hire workers. You pay $69 per month for the PRO plan.
- As for the Premium plan, You can add up to 10 job posts, view applications, contact 500 workers per month, and get worker mentoring service for $99.
Task Bullet
Years ago, Danny Nappi, Task Bullet’s CEO, moved to the Philippines and noticed that many Filipinos were highly educated with excellent skills. Still, they lacked the opportunities and had no way to use their great skills. So, he started Task Bullet to offer “more rewarding jobs to the Filipino people.”
These are the VA tasks that Task Bullet can support: data entry and admin support, internet research, marketing services, social media management, and sales assistance.
Pricing
- You pay $220 for 20 hours of assistant services (Starter Bucket).
- You pay $540 for 60 hours of virtual services (Light Bucket).
- As for the Expert Bucket, you pay $1560 for a 240-hour worth of services.
- They also offer different buckets for virtual assistants from the USA.
- The payment is via PayPal, Crypto, or Credit Card.
Virtual Staff Finder
Virtual Staff Finder is a virtual staffing company based in the Philippines. It’s important to note that they offer recruitment services only. Their services are helpful for clients who live in Western countries, want to hire talented Filipino workers, and don’t know where to look. This virtual assistant company will quickly help you find experienced and dedicated assistants. They have experience and have helped clients hire a virtual assistant in the Philippines based in 45+ countries.
They will help you find Filipino VA experts in the following fields: bookkeeping, content writing, graphic design, customer service, WordPress development, telemarketing, etc.
The recruitment process usually takes from 7-14 days. It’s important to note that once you hire a virtual assistant through Virtual Staff Finder, this assistant is your direct hire. You pay them according to your agreement and contract with them.
Pricing
- Virtual Staff Finder takes a one-time $495 service fee.
WoodBows
Sprout-Flowers.com has recognized WoodBows as the best virtual assistant company. They have offices in the US, India, and the Philippines. So, if you’re looking for an experienced virtual assistant, this is your go-to virtual assistance company. They have virtual assistants who can help you with graphics and web design, customer support, digital and social media marketing, data entry, and content writing. It’s worth mentioning that you get work done in your preferred time zone.
And if you’re worried about a US accent, the Philippines-based virtual assistants have “excellent English fluency.” And if you like, you can hire US-based English Native speakers from WoodBows.
WoodBows use time tracking software. This way, you can know how your assistants spend their time and are confident you’re charged for the exact number of hours worked.
Pricing
- You can benefit from their custom plan if you don’t need full-time assistants.
- You could also hire a full-time virtual assistant and get 160 hours of task work for $1399 monthly, plus a dedicated account manager and tech support.
- Woodbows accepts PayPal, so you can easily pay your Filipino virtual assistant.
URL: https://www.woodbows.com/
SupportNinja
SupportNinja is a virtual assistant company based in the US and Philippines. This is where you can outsource Philippines virtual assistants and have a team dedicated to supporting your business. SupportNinja offers unique services: customer support, technical support, back-office support, content generation, and lead mining.
This is how it works. You send SupportNinja what you need. They will come up with a plan to suit your business needs. You sign a contract, they build your team, initiate training, and then you get to work.
SupportNinja is perfect for clients looking for a comprehensive outsourcing solution to get work done. So, if you are looking for a virtual assistant to help you with simple personal tasks like booking hotels and restaurants, scheduling, and replying to emails, SupportNinja can’t help you.
Pricing
- Their pricing plans differ according to the client’s needs, so you request a quote for pricing.
URL: https://www.supportninja.com
Virtual Coworker
Virtual Coworker is one of the virtual assistant companies that will help you find great remote workers. Filipino virtual assistants are highly educated. That’s why Virtual Coworker helps businesses find qualified remote workers in the Philippines. Virtual Coworker makes it easier for you and supports you throughout the hiring process, from screening to sending daily reports of logged hours.
With Virtual Coworker, hiring a virtual assistant has never been easier. You could hire web developers, graphic designers, recruitment assistants, lead generation specialists, customer service, content writers, digital marketing managers, bookkeepers, and accountants.
Pricing
- As for how much you will pay your remote workers, they offer a guide according to the given tasks and level of expertise as an estimate.
URL: https://virtualcoworker.com.ph
VA Staffer
VA Staffer is a virtual assistant company based in the Philippines. This is one of many virtual assistant companies that help you with lead generation, data entry, social media management, podcast management, web development, CRM, and automation support. So, if you’re looking for virtual assistant talent, this is your go-to company for finding an assistant in the Philippines.
VA Staffer offers a project management tool that will help you assign tasks, upload files, and start discussions so you can smoothly run your business operations.
VA Staffer evaluates your business process, so their services go beyond offering a virtual assistant team.
Pricing
- VA Staffer offers an hourly plan for those who want to benefit from multiple skill sets ($298 per month) and a dedicated assistant plan ($800 per month).
eVirtualAssistants
Originally GoHireNow, eVirtualAssistants is the right place to find talented virtual assistants. They offer a comprehensive list of services like administrative support, customer service, sales and marketing, writing, IT and networking, translation, data science and analytics, translation, and legal. So, whatever services you need, you’ll likely find them at eVirtualAssistants.
It is important to note that virtual assistants you hire through eVirtualAssistants are independent. They don’t work for eVirtualAssistants; you can cancel your subscription once you hire them. eVirtualAssistants’ purpose is to connect you with virtual assistants in the Philippines. Unlike Upwork and Freelancer, they don’t take a percentage of virtual assistant salaries because you don’t have to pay your virtual workers through the platform.
Pricing
- You can pay $49.95 per month or $99.95 per month, and you can cancel when you’re done hiring.
- You can also pay a one-time fee of $299.95 to use the recruiting service of eVirtualAssistants. This way, you don’t have to view applicants. Instead, you get to choose from the top 3 resumes.
- Check the rates each virtual assistant adds to their profile and how to pay them.
URL: https://www.evirtualassistants.com
What services can a virtual assistant provide?
Virtual assistants from the Philippines can provide a wide range of services, including administrative tasks such as data entry, email management, and calendar scheduling. They can also handle social media management, digital marketing, content creation, and customer service support.
Administrative Assistance
This is among the most popular and well-known virtual assistant services. Administrative assistants provide administrative support and perform administrative tasks like data entry, scheduling meetings, making travel arrangements, and preparing reports and presentations. Performing research online is also an administrative task that many virtual assistants provide.
Digital Marketing
Many virtual assistant tasks, like social media marketing and social media management, fall under this category. Businesses need to promote their services, and what is better than the many social media platforms?
So, social media is one of the often outsourced services. It relies heavily on content writing and graphic design. Graphic design is one of the most in-demand services, as graphic designers help businesses create creative social media posts, flyers, etc.
Other services related to promoting business products and services are web development and web design. No business under the sun can survive today without a professional website. Web design is also one of the most in-demand virtual services.
Project Management
Project management is indispensable for businesses nowadays. Businesses can hire a virtual project manager to plan, execute, monitor, control, and close projects. A successful virtual project manager can handle many software development projects.
Sales
Virtual sales assistants can provide your business with many services, like qualifying leads, lead generation, and cold calling. These services do not require face-to-face interactions and can be done remotely successfully.
Tech Support
This is also one of the jobs that can be done remotely. Duties include resolving network problems, installing new software, or troubleshooting errors.
HR
Since many companies nowadays are interested in hiring virtual employees and not in-house employees, the rise in virtual HR and recruiting services makes perfect sense. They can help with the hiring process, like writing a job description, screening candidates, being involved during the interview, and arranging trial tasks. They can help businesses find the best talents and simplify the hectic hiring process.
Do you need a virtual assistant?
Businesses know that in-house employees cost money, and whether you have one in-house employee or many doesn’t matter. You get to pay for office space, and not all businesses can afford the cost of office space. Nowadays, you don’t have to follow the standard or the traditional business model. You get to create the standards that meet your business needs. One of them is using the services of virtual assistants and saving money, so let’s see who needs virtual assistants.
Small Businesses
Most small businesses want to cut costs, and they start by avoiding renting an office, so they hire remotely, whether for the long term or the short term. Small businesses can work remotely without needing a location, especially if they provide marketing services, software, or web development. Likewise, most businesses that don’t work in production lines or construction can do without an office.
Large Corporations
Many are under the impression that only small business owners need virtual assistants. This is not true. Some corporations may benefit from remote HR recruiting services for hiring assistants overseas because they want to establish their presence in remote locations. Large corporations have remote sales support teams to minimize costs. Some benefit from virtual translation services, legal services, etc.
Entrepreneurs
Like businesses, individuals like entrepreneurs who are just starting or writers need virtual assistants because they cannot take care of everything themselves. For example, they might need a virtual assistant to manage accounting finances, give legal advice, or provide administrative support.
Why hire a virtual assistant from the Philippines?
English Proficiency
Any business owner in Western countries will seek a virtual assistant with native or near-native English proficiency. The last thing you want is to hire someone you cannot communicate with. Communication can make or break your business. You need someone who fully understands your business requirements, specifications, and how you want them to perform any task. Virtual assistants based in the Philippines speak perfect English. That’s why they are the favorite choice of businesses hiring remote assistants.
To Save Money
One of the many reasons many businesses choose to hire remote assistants is that they want to save money. As you will see below, hiring remote assistants from Filipinos is a cost-effective solution as their hourly rates are way below virtual assistants from the US or Europe. So, besides their English proficiency, education levels, and skill sets, you get value for your money when hiring a virtual assistant based in the Philippines.
How much does hiring a virtual assistant from the Philippines cost?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. First, it depends on their skill set. A web developer will charge more than an administrative assistant, for example. Plus, the payment differs according to the experience level. An expert with years of experience will get much more money than a beginner. This is what the Time Doctor website posted for reference. The rates mentioned below are full-time per month.
- General Virtual Assistant – $500 – $800
- Content Writers – $500 – $700
- SEO Assistant – $750 – $950
- Web Developers – $800 – $1400
- Graphic Design – $700 – $1200
- Mobile Developers – $800 – $1400
You could also check the plans of the different virtual service companies that hire assistants from the Philippines. WoodBows, for example, offers a dedicated virtual assistant full-time with account management for $1399 per month.
How to pay for Philippines virtual assistants?
Bank transfer
You could easily transfer money through a bank to your Filipino VA, but you should note that banks charge high fees. It’s one of the options available but not the best.
International Money Transfer (IMT)
Western Union, OFX, and WorldFirst are all reliable international money transfer providers. It is a more cost-effective solution than the bank.
Online payment systems
You could also use other online payment options like PayPal, Payoneer, and Wise. As you’ve seen throughout, most virtual service companies providing assistant services in the Philippines mention that most Filipinos have a PayPal account.
How to hire a virtual assistant in the Philippines?
You can visit OnlineJobs It’s your perfect job board to hire virtual assistants in the Philippines and save money. You can check potential hires by either posting a job or searching for resumes on this website. Then, you can contact those applicants you think fit your work by email, interview them, and hire them.
How can I ensure effective communication with my virtual assistant?
Communication is vital when working with a virtual assistant from the Philippines. You can ensure effective communication by setting clear expectations, establishing regular check-ins, and using communication tools like email, messaging apps, or video conferencing.
6 Things you should consider before hiring a virtual assistant in the Philippines
Hiring virtual assistants is different from hiring in-house employees. As a rule of thumb, you should know it’s a different experience. Therefore, you need to consider some points before hiring any virtual assistant. So, what should you discuss with your Philippines-based virtual assistants before hiring them?
Business hours
If you are considering hiring a virtual assistant living in the Philippines, consider the time difference and discuss it with the virtual assistant. Are they okay to work in your time zone or not? What are your expectations and requirements about the matter? Do you expect them to work on their own time, or do you expect them to stick to your business hours? It depends on the task you’re asking them to accomplish.
Holidays
If you’re hiring full-time virtual assistants, you should ask them if they have to take off the official holidays in the Philippines. And you should ask yourself first if you want them to work on a holiday. Do they expect to be paid more for the days they work during their official holidays? Do you think it’s necessary if they do? Of course, it depends on your business needs, availability, etc.
How often will you pay?
Some remote assistants expect to be paid every month. Others expect to be paid every two weeks. They might expect to be paid after they finish their tasks. Others prefer to take up-front payment before they start working. Are you going to pay them per hour or task? These are important issues to discuss before hiring them, as miscommunication can hurt your business.
How to pay them?
Most businesses ask this relevant question: How will we pay them if we hire remote assistants? Of course, you don’t want to hire an assistant to find out that you can’t pay them or that the process is confusing. So, will you use PayPal, bank transfer, or another payment solution? No matter what, you should ensure that the payment solution they accept is convenient to you because guess what? If you’re hiring this assistant long-term, you’ll have to process payments through this method frequently. So, you have to choose a hassle-free payment solution.
Discuss exchange and transfer rates.
When a virtual assistant tells you they need this money, do you think this is the only amount you’ll pay? You need to think again because if an assistant mentions the money they expect to get, they may say the amount they need to receive fully after the transfer rates. So, instead of having an unhappy assistant, discuss beforehand how you will transfer the money, the expected transfer costs, or exchange rates so that you and your assistant are happy about the business transaction without any surprises or hidden fees.
Short-term or Long-term job
Before hiring, knowing if you want to hire a long-term or short-term virtual assistant is essential. For example, some assistants want to work only on long-term projects, while others prefer to work on short-term projects.
Bonus Tip:
13 Month pay
In the Philippines, employees are offered a 13th-month pay before December 24. It is mandated by law, and employers must pay for it. It is an extra one month’s salary. Discuss the expectations of your assistant about the 13th month’s pay. You don’t want to disappoint your workers if that is what they expect after a year of hard work.
Christmas bonus
However, the Christmas bonus is voluntary and normally given to employees in December out of the employer’s generosity, but it can be provided at any time of the year. So if your assistant is doing an amazing job, giving them this bonus would not be such a bad idea.
Final Words
In conclusion, hiring a virtual assistant in the Philippines can be a game-changer for businesses and individuals seeking cost-effective and efficient support. The Philippines offers a rich pool of talented professionals who excel in various tasks, from administrative work to specialized skills like digital marketing and content creation. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can confidently navigate the process, finding the perfect Filipino virtual assistant to help you streamline your workload and achieve your goals.
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