Business Ideas in the Philippines: Be a Virtual Assistant

If you still don’t have an idea what business to start, consider virtual assistance. You can start a small online business in a form of virtual assistance service firm. If you can’t start a company now, you can begin as a self-employed professional working at the comfort of your home.

As a virtual assistant (VA), you can provide technical, administrative, and creative services to clients local and abroad from your home office using the Internet. Moms who want to work from home so that they will always be with their kids can benefit this home-based business. This business is also good for employees and even Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who want to start a part-time business to currently earn extra income and have a full-time business in the future.

WordPress design and development

One of the most popular VA services today is WordPress design and development. WordPress is a free and popular Content Management Software (CMS) used by many businesses to power their websites. This is also the CMS that is used by this blog. You can learn WordPress development even if you’re not a techie person or a graduate of any computer related course. Well, I’m an accountant but I learned how to develop WordPress websites.

Companies that want to build their presence online need to hire VAs to design and develop their website. They also need VAs to help them promote their website and brand online, through social media marketing, search engine optimization, and other online marketing strategies.

If you want to be a successful VA, having an entrepreneurial mindset is pivotal. You have to invest time and money on acquiring adequate knowledge, skills, and experience to get yourself ready to serve clients. Thus, you should not ignore investing in training and mentoring. Training is an expense, but it could give you return of investment that will cover that expense in the near future.

Investing in training and coaching program

In the Philippines, one of the virtual assistance training programs that I know is Jay Pasana’s Web Internship Program. The Web Internship Program is a 6-months, step-by-step output driven certified online coaching program that will provide you the following, according to their website:

They’ll train you anything about WordPress web design from zero to Advanced Professional in 6 months.

1. Build your online portfolio
2. Teach you the special tools of the trade
3. Teach you how to get better paying clients
4. Teach you how to build your online business
5. Give you back end support in no time
6. Help you land a web design job
7. Give you a lifetime access on the training program
8. and many more.

The program’s online class will start on March 22, 2014. The regular rate of the program is P15,000, but they will cut that price to P12,000 if you will enroll before February 25.

P15,000 or P12,000 seems to be a big buck for Filipinos, but knowledge and developed skills are always priceless, right? Money can be stolen from you, but your knowledge and skills will not. Besides, if you will get your first client, that amount will immediately be recovered. In other words, your rate of return on investment is high compared to other investments or business ideas.

To learn more about the details of the Web Internship Program, please visit their official website at WebInternshipProgram.com. You also can fill out their registration form here.

Final thoughts

Finally, remember that before you enter in the virtual assistance or web development industry, make sure that you have the passion or the enthusiasm to do it. No matter how great and effective your trainer or mentor is, it’s still you who will define your final success. Thus, if you really want to be a successful VA, be passionate, patient, diligent, dynamic, and find a mentor.

Photo courtesy of inkflo