Marge's Ramblings

From Transcription to Virtual Assistance

2010-10-22T20:34:00.011+08:00

I promised to write about how I evolved from being a transcriptionist to a virtual assistant. So here it is...

Just like how I became a transcriptionist, I was pushed to the virtual assistance niche. After a year of doing transcription, and maybe not doing it properly, I started to have ringing in my ears. It might have been due to the bad quality of my headset, or it might have been due to the numerous bad audio files I picked up from the work queue.

Whatever it was that caused me to hurt my ears, it must have been God's work. A door was closed. I could not abuse my ears, so there was no question that I had to stop transcribing. But a window opened. I found job postings at Craigslist and replied to a few ads that I felt I qualify for.

After going through some Skype interviews, I finally got hired by an internet marketing company in the UK. The task was to create one-way backlinks from high PR sites to their site. Uh-oh... What's PR again? And what is a backlink?

Fortunately, the boss only needs someone who can communicate well, dedicated to her work, with stable internet connection, a fast learner and honest. So I qualified.

It was quite an experience, learning SEO and internet marketing hands-on. Like I learned it as I went along.

And then one day, the boss asks, "Do you know how to prepare a wireframe?"

My reply... "Is that the one used for eyeglasses?"

So the boss sends me a link to a site showing what a wireframe is and how to prepare one. Then he sends me a Word file that has information about a business that I'm supposed to prepare a wireframe for. And that was it.

As I accomplished more tasks, I gained confidence that I could learn more and do better. So I started to accept more projects, more clients.

When a client asks me to convert M4A files to MP3, I look for a free software that will do that. If I'm asked to take still photos from a video, I find out how I could do that. And so it was an interesting journey with every client, and I enjoyed, and still enjoying, every minute of each trip!

One thing that I can never stress enough is the importance of honesty. While it's true that I accepted projects involving tasks that I had no prior experience with, I've always admitted that fact to the client. My strongest point has always been the ability to learn, and learn fast. And staying true to my work ethic.

Driver Mommy

2010-10-09T20:58:00.004+08:00

A few nights ago, my kids were given a new experience they are likely to talk about for a long time.

Mommy drove the car.

It's not really a first time experience. I've driven Bea to the emergency room one night when she accidentally inserted something in her nose. I've driven Xia to and from school when she was still attending a regular school. And Jude had experienced being in the car when I had to take it in and out of the driveway.

Oh, and there was that time when my husband had a few drinks at a friend's house and letting me drive us all home was the responsible thing to do.

But a few nights ago, it was different. the drive was longer than any of the other times I've taken the driver seat as Mommy. It was late and my husband was coming home from a long trip and there were no longer rides from the city to our place. Since we don't have a yaya, I had to take the kids with me all the way to the city to pick up my husband. It was a revelation to hear the kids talk about their perceptions about their parents.

Daddy drives the car, because he's the daddy. And Mommy only sits in front with Daddy, she's not a driver.

And so all the way to the city, there ensued an argument on who drives better. The girls, of course, were Mommy's fans. And Bea was only too eager to share how fast Mommy drove that night we went to the hospital.

But Jude would not accept that. Boys are better drivers, they are faster, all the time, and they overtake other cars.

Of course, Mommy was not doing that, because she's being careful. Oh, But Mommy cannot drive a Hummer car, only a Toyota. But Mommy can drive any car, because she knows how to drive. No, Hummer cars are for boys. But Calleigh drives a Hummer in CSI Miami. She's a girl...

You get the picture...

Investing on a Home Business

2010-09-14T06:50:00.007+08:00

In response to a query from old colleagues about the start-up cost of setting up a virtual assistance business, I'm writing about it in this blog so I won't have to repeat myself in case someone else asks.

I've written about how I got started, the circumstances that led me to get into a home business, and what I did to jump-start what is now a full-pledged career. Those are the intangibles. So here now are some tangibles.

Equipment. We had to invest on a high-end computer, and a fast and reliable internet connection. Well, the fast and reliable was, and is, not within my control. So let's leave it at having a steady connection. But if you have a choice, like if you're living in a city where there are two or more providers, shop for the most reliable service, don't even think of the cost. These days, they are almost level in terms of cost, but not in service.

The computer, in 2006, cost me Php25K. It was not branded, just an assembled unit, with all the specs I needed. My present PC now is branded, which cost me Php32K. And I now have a branded laptop that serves as back-up when I really need to be somewhere else but can't put off work. Then there are the peripherals, like speakers, a headset, a microphone (if your headset does not have one) and a web cam. A scanner and a printer are also must-haves. And if you're considering transcription, you'll need a pedal. Got mine as a gift from my mother-in-law. So unless you have a mother-in-law as supportive and as generous as mine, list that down as part of your investment, too. The pedal was $80 way back then.

Taking care of your investment means you also need to have a UPS and an AVR. The UPS is costly, but believe you me, it will be worth it. Think of how much time you'll save and how much heartache you'll be spared when the power goes off a second before you could press "save" after you've typed in pages of notes. Yes, it will be worth it.

Software. I'm sure you have the complete MS Office Suite. If you don't have it yet, then don't just sit there. Go get it! Word and Excel are the most basic. Powerpoint will serve you well for presentations, and Publisher worked well for my desktop publishing service. Access is great for database, although more often than not, I just use Excel, too. Very recently, I started using MovieMaker. It's cool! And I'm learning Photoshop. Uh, not so cool there. But I'm getting results. So I guess it's kinda cool, too.

You don't really need to buy expensive softwares. You just need to know what you need, then look for free downloads. ExpressScribe is free, for those thinking of getting into transcription. I use FTP Commander for my file transfers. And Google Docs, too. Plus, clients actually provide software. So it's not really a problem. You just need to be a fast-learner.

When I first started out, the hottest thing online was medical transcription. So I invested time and money for training. I enrolled in a medical transcription course while my son was still in the hospital. The training was flexible. We were allowed to do it on our own pace. So I just fast-tracked mine. It was actually a crash course in medicine, with all the specializations. Dermatology, pulmonology, gynecology, urology, and all the other -logies in medicine. There were 15 modules. We learned everything from physical examination to surgery. And for every specialization, there is pharmacy, and that's where I had trouble. But, I passed anyway. The good thing about taking that course was while my son was still in the hospital, I was learning about his condition, so that when the neonatologist or the neurologist tells us that something needs to be done, we were actually making informed decisions.

The course cost us Php27K. Add to that the transportation and meal expense.

But, and here's a big but... I never got into medical transcription. I did general transcription. Business transcription - conferences, interviews, podcasts, webcasts, speeches, focus groups - but not medical transcription. The closest thing I got to medical transcription was when I did a series of interviews for a medical program for the University of Western Ontario.

Do I regret ever spending that much money, time and effort for a training I did not put into practice?

No. Because that training more than prepared me for all the things I'm doing now. And I have evolved. I no longer do transcription. Not at all. I'm finding my niche in social media and search engine optimization and internet marketing. I did dabble a little in article writing, but it's too draining for me.

So there. Starting a home biz? Assess your skills. Decide on what you love to do for the long haul. Then make some investments. Oh, I forgot my desk. I had one made, not bought at the store, because I want my things to be where I want them to be. So I had one custom-made for my needs. It cost me about Php8K.

How I evolved from being a transcriptionist to a virtual assistant, I'll write about next time. And how to look for clients. For now I have to do the laundry and start with my girls' school activities.

Come back soon!

Lauro Purcil

2010-09-12T20:37:00.008+08:00

Yesterday, I was again blessed to be with a person I very much admire. I was at the UP-Ayala Technohub to sign the incorporation papers of the Overseas Filipino Council International - Philippine Chapter, and was really thrilled to see Mang Lauro again.

I met Mang Lauro in cyberspace sometime in 2007. And then in a "getting-to-know-you" dinner arranged by the OFCI president Anita Sese-Schon, we finally met in person in 2008. Mang Lauro is blind and has speech impairment. But anyone reading his posts in the various fora he's a part of would never think that he is. Very rarely would you see a typo in his postings, and he is one of the most eloquent persons I know.

Very recently, he attended a UN convention in New York as the Philippines' candidate to the United Nations' Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. He was allowed to bring with him an assistant but he graciously declined. He went to New York on his own! And yesterday, he arrived at the Technohub in a taxi on his own. Amazing!

Mang Lauro holds a Bachelor's degree in English and a Master's degree in Public Administration from the University of the Philippines and is considered as one of the icons of Filipino PWD advocacy.

Meeting Mang Lauro has been a humbling experience, and he has since been a source of inspiration for me to pursue volunteer work. Looking at his pictures from the UN Convention yesterday, my heart swelled with pride that I am even acquainted, much more friends, with a person as remarkable as Mang Lauro.

VANetworking Webinar

2010-09-09T10:25:00.004+08:00

I started my day early today. I again received an invitation from Tawnya Sutherland, founder and CEO of VANA, to attend a free webinar with Karri Flatla.

It's all about writing loveletters. Well, not quite, but I'd like to think of it that way.

Karri Flatla is a marketing strategist, copywriter and coach to online entrepreneurs seeking growth and action in their businesses. Do I sound like I just quoted direct from her website? Gosh, I forgot what her site address is, but I'm sure I'll locate it somewhere in the pages of my doodles.

So anyway, her topic is about putting words to a blank page, putting ideas into action and mindset shift for getting un-stuck in business and into growth mode.

Which was exactly what I have resolved to do just very recently. Stop analyzing things too much, take action! You cannot expect any result when you're not willing to act.

She offered a scholarship ticket to be given to the person who will submit a short essay on why he/she deserves that scholarship ticket. I hope to have the time to sit down and write that essay.

But for now, I have deadlines to beat and children to teach.

The joys of a working mother!

Analysis, Paralysis

2010-08-31T15:59:00.004+08:00

Why is it so hard for me to keep this blog updated? It's not lack of ideas on what to write, really. I'm overflowing with ideas on what I'd write about. What happens is that I analyze things too much. Will it be okay to write those thoughts? Will it be too revealing? Should I really write about my children? Would I be exposing them too much? I'd like to connect this blog to my website... will it be okay if I just write about anything? How will it affect my business site?

So I end up not writing at all.

And I hate the idea that I'm unproductive on that aspect. I love to write as much as I love to talk. That's why I named this blog "ramblings". I sometimes, or most of the time, just ramble on in my thoughts. So I'd like to make some changes on my approach on things. Stop analyzing. Just do.

And then maybe I'll get organized as I go along.

And here's hoping that it will work.

Hello again....

2009-12-08T23:26:00.006+08:00

I've been away for so long. My last post was when we have just made the decision to homeschool our kids, and now the girls and I are on our third quarter.

And my work has taken a turn for the better. I'm learning a lot of new things everyday, and I'm enjoying everything that I'm doing tremendously. What more can a person ask for?

Oh well... maybe a kidney? No. Not even that.

I've been so blessed, I wouldn't dare ask for more than what God has been giving me.

Very recently, I found out that I've been born with just one kidney. The condition is referred to medically as renal agenesis. And this condition is associated with bicornuate uterus, which I also have. Imagine that... staying healthy all this time, with just one kidney. And to top it off, I managed to have three children in a bicornuate uterus. In hindsight, this double whammy of a condition explains why all my three pregnancies were really difficult, and that the latter two were both premature.

So dare I ask for more?

Hmmm... maybe just an inspiration in coming up with brilliant goalsetting ideas for our homeschooling portfolio. I never expected it could be this hard!

But just the same, life is good. I'm embracing it with thanksgiving in my heart.

We're committed...

2009-04-16T14:34:00.008+08:00

Yes, folks! We are really pushing through with our children's homeschooling.

Yesterday, the girls took their diagnostic exams at The Master's Academy Homeschool in Mandaluyong City. Results will be released next week, so I'm really excited. Once we get the results, then our next step will be to enroll the girls. So now my to-do list includes clearing up a space in the house that we can convert into a study corner. It's important that we keep to a schedule, and having their own "official" space will help them get organized.

The girls are also looking forward to this new phase in their lives. My worries about my incoming fifth grader missing her classmates from her old school are fading fast. It warms my heart when she says that she prefers to have mommy as her teacher. The first grader, on the other hand, simply does not want to go to school, referring to her sister's old school. But she wants to study with mommy.

And so the WAHM will soon embark on a new journey as a parent-teacher. Come visit and keep us company as we trudge along the unfamiliar paths. My girls and I may stumble a bit in the beginning, but I'm sure we'll all have great fun learning together.

To know more about TMA Homeschool, please visit their site by clicking on the link provided on my list of Homeschooling Resources.

My dear friend, Elsa...

2009-03-26T18:37:00.004+08:00

She’s been my friend for eons, and she’s ancient. She's 55, which makes her 16 years my senior. But ours is a friendship that defies age and absence. In fact, if there is ever truth in the idiom that absence makes the heart grow fonder, then we are the living proofs of it.

We became friends in 1994. At that time I was just starting a career in my hometown. My hometown, her turf. See, I left the place after high school, and she chose the time I was away to establish her medical practice there. By the time I came back, she’s already the number one family doctor in the province. And I was almost a stranger.

We were introduced by a common friend, another ancient one that I may write about next time, and we hit it right off from the get-go. She was amused by the way I dressed for comfort, and in the process I created my own fashion. I would ride the bike to the office, wearing long skirts and boots. I would dress my hair with scarves, and I would wear dangling earrings made of bamboo, or shells, or horsehair. I loved the ethnic look. I still do. The same way she does.

What I really admired about her was the way she ran her household. They were a couple of doctors, but they never had a househelp. She did everything. She had help from Uncle Sam (I call him that, or Doc Sam), who was at that time the only anestheseologist within a five-hour drive radius, and the kids, of course. I saw her as superwoman. Doing laundry, cooking, keeping house, maintaining a garden, and as if housechores were not enough, she also made her own quilts, and decorated her house with her framed cross-stitch projects. She had this curtain in her clinic made of flour sacks, but you would never think of it as that, coz she had it lined with a fabric with cross stitches on it. She is just the most creative science person I’ve ever had the major luck of being friends with. And you should see her trellis.

We had fun for 3 years. Then I had to leave again. Work brought me back, and work took me away again. And then I got married, had kids, and here I am, a WAHM, in another province, and she’s still busy with her medical practice in my hometown. I see her once a year, when I have to go there and pay real property taxes. And the sweet part is that, we just always pick up where we left off. Each time we get together, our time apart just fades away. We sometimes talk on the phone, or send e-mails. I miss her. She’s been a great influence. I sew my own curtains, too. By hand.

Life of a WAHM

2009-03-25T10:29:00.012+08:00

Here's a post from my old site that I really, really, really want to share with those mothers who might stumble on this site. I wrote this in February 2008. The schedule might have changed a bit since school is now over, and soon I'll be embarking on a new role, that of a parent-teacher. Yes, folks... I'm embracing homeschooling. And to know more about it, please stay tuned.

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I’ve had 4 hectic days, and the new batch of projects is just beginning. I have this transcription project that I’m doing for a Canadian university, and the Lakbay-Aral to Olongapo which is drawing near. Plus some other odds-and-ends job that a VA does. And the housechores! I can’t neglect the housechores and the kids, however tight the deadlines are.

VA… Sounds pretty glamorous, huh? But I tell you this, the glamour stops with the name. Well, at least as far as I’m concerned.

Picture this. The professional WAHM, called a VA, wakes up at 4:30 am, prepares breakfast for her school-age kids. The older kid, who leaves the house at 6:30, must be up at 5:00. While she’s having breakfast, the sexy WAHM checks her mail. But before that, rice must be cooking already, and the water for the girl’s bath must be heating, too. The WAHM then bathes the girl at 5:45, starts to dry her hair at 6:00, must be dressed by 6:15, because the service picks her up at 6:30. Hmmm… what’s missing? The lunch! Lunch is prepared sometime between 6:00 and 6:30.

As soon as the girl has left, she wakes up the second girl and feeds her breakfast, too. By 6:50, she must be bathing, hair dry and in a ponytail by 7:15, and must be dressed by 7:30. The service picks her up at 7:45.

Next is the little boy. He eats breakfast while Mommy is having coffee and Daddy reads the news. Then it’s his turn to be bathed. The boy, not the Dad, okay? When he’s fresh and clean again, he keeps Mommy company while doing the laundry. While the machine turns, the WAHM sweeps the frontyard. When the laundry is done, it’s time to download audio from the server. While downloading, the WAHM picks up scattered toys, sweeping the floor from the bedrooms to the living room to the dining room and finally the kitchen. Then goes back to where she started with a wet rag and mops the floor, going through the same route.

Okay, that was really exhausting, right? So she deserves to sit down for a while. She sits in front of her PC and checks if the download is going fine. Replies to some mail, manage the e-groups she’a moderating, put in some time in VA work until it’s time to cook lunch.

Uh, she has not washed the dishes from breakfast. Those are washed while preparing lunch, see. And the little boy falls asleep some time between the laundry and the dishes. Then the kindergartner gets home from school and lunch is served.

After lunch, that’s when the real VA work begins. Check the planner, tick off items already done, update calendars, read some more mail, reply when there’s a need, you get the picture. There’s a break at 2:30, when the grader gets home from school and it’s time to do some homework. By 3:30, it’s back to work. Hopefully, all three kids would go to sleep. If not, well… tough luck!

There’s another break for dinner. When an audio is on the bad side, it’s best to take a nap while the kids are awake and get to work when they’re in bed, so that it won’t be quite a contest between the bad audio and their shrieks. So it’s nap time at 7:00 until 8:30, tops. Then it’s back to the grind until the work is done. Good days end at 2:00am, better days end at 12:00mn.

You think you’re up to being a WAHM?

Better question is… will you be happy being a WAHM? I know I am.

Make a plan to become a WAHM

2009-03-24T16:49:00.004+08:00

Once I’ve decided that I wanted to work at home and be with my kids, I then sat down to work on the financials. How much do I need to earn to be able to sustain our family? Giving up my monthly salary would create a big dent on our budget. That’s where the cost of work has been most helpful. See, in the beginning, I thought I had to earn the same amount I was earning from my employment. But after realizing that there were a lot of expenses that I would be taking out of the family budget, it was easier to come up with a realistic target.

Armed with a target amount, I then made a list of things I could do from home. I bought reference books and read them from cover to cover. Honest! I still have a copy of 101 Best Home-Based Businesses for Women by Priscilla Huff that I refer to ’til now, and I spent hours searching the internet for business ideas and work-at-home opportunities. And for each idea that I came across, I made an assessment of my skills and capabilities. Can I do this? And the better question is, can I do this for a long time? Because of course, you would want to start on something that you can sustain. Something that you can stick with for the long haul. And then assess if you can afford the start-up. With me, I was hellbent on finding something that I can do online. And when I found one, I really spent time and money to get some training. I enrolled in a training program, invested on a high-end desktop PC, scanner, printer, pedal, headset, and just about any software that the training center advised me to have. And because I’ve already made financial investments, the more that I was motivated to make it work.

Now, investing on hardware and software for a work-at-home venture is different from having to pay money to get a job. This is another important lesson that I learned from the professional WAHMs that I “met” online. While looking for work-at-home opportunities, you will surely come across sites that promise you earnings in thousands of dollars, just by simply signing up with them and buying a kit to get started. Uh-uh. That’s almost sure to be a scam. Always remember that you don’t need to pay money to get a job. The only exception to this rule is if you are getting into a direct selling opportunity where you need to buy a kit to get started. And even in this venture, you are not paying to get a job, instead you are paying for an inventory of items that will get you started in the direct selling business.

In planning to become a WAHM, bear in mind that your chances of becoming successful with a tiny amount of work are slim to none. Starting a home office or business entail hard work, constant re-education, creativity, and more hard work. So if you have decided to be a work-at-home mom, be ready to roll up your sleeves and dig in.

How I got started

2009-03-24T16:43:00.006+08:00

Going back to work after my third delivery was the hardest for me. It was a premature one at 7 months, and it was touch and go for a while. We had to leave the baby at the hospital, and even after we’ve taken him home, we had to bring him back to ICU on his second month. A lot of complications, and I’ve been advised to personally take care of the baby for the first 2 years, at least.

So when I reported back to the office, and received a notice that I was getting a promotion to head office, it was like a physical blow. There we were, financially drained from the complicated pregnancy and subsequent delivery, and I was being moved from my comfort zone. I was really not being given much of a choice. My provincial assignment was being made redundant, and they were giving me a new position with wider scope, bigger responsibility and greater challenges. Another time, I would have grabbed the opportunity with both hands and jumped in with both feet. But with the new baby, there was no way I could even consider it.

So I asked to be given redundancy pay instead. I was thinking, “We’ll survive with the money while I look for work nearer our place.” That’s when I started pouring myself into internet searches. I wanted to look for something that I can do from home. I found that medical transcription was hot. So I went around the city looking for schools or training centers that offer flexible hours. I found one that I could attend on weekends. And for a few months, I trained to become a medical transcriptionist.

The internet is a rich source of ideas and opportunities. I spent hours upon hours searching for work-at-home transcription jobs. Fortunately, it didn’t take me long. I landed a sub-contract with a US based production company, and another with a small business in Canada. So when I left my job in May 15, 2006, I was ready. I started my first project on May 29.

For those of you who are thinking of working from home, it’s important that you prepare yourself. With me, I did a lot of research, and I took every information I gathered seriously. It surprised me to learn how much it cost me to work. I’ve never given that a thought, ’til then. While I was earning a 5-figure income monthly, a big chunk of that actually goes back to expenses that allows me to work. For me to be able to go to work, I had to pay a live-in househelp (I actually had two), which means I pay them monthly salaries, plus 13th month pay and annual bonus, and I pay extra for water, electricity and food. Also, I had to maintain a wardrobe for the office, plus shoes, bags, and lunches out. It was a good thing that I had a service vehicle provided by the company, but for those who have none, transportation expense would take a big chunk of takehome pay. Not to mention the guilt treats. You know, those toys that you buy to make up for the time that you missed your child’s first tummy turn, or first step, or whatever. And since you are busy with office work, and more often than not too tired to pay attention to the prices of things that you buy, you tend to spend more on your haste. And the small repairs around the house that you could actually do yourself, but because you are working, you pay someone else to do it.

And so I did my own computation. From my net takehome pay (after taxes), I deducted all the expenses that I could make do without once I started working from home. And the amount I came up with became my target income for my work-at-home job.

And I’m proud to say that I still have not touched my redundancy pay to this day.

Is working home for you?

2009-03-24T16:40:00.010+08:00

This is the question that I ask my former officemates who have been inquiring about my WAHM status lately. See, the company I used to work for has been streamlining on its manpower - heavily, I might add - and people are being displaced. Word is that, from 1,800 current employees, headcount will be down to 500 by early 2009. These are people I’ve worked with for 8 or so years, and now they are losing their jobs. The only good thing about it is that they’ve been offered redundancy pay. That is way a lot better than early retirement pay.

The sad part is that some of them are husband and wife teams. Like my former staff, who married a technical guy, and now both of them are in danger of losing their jobs. They have not received any notice yet, but from what I’ve witnessed, there was hardly any notice given to those who have left so far. Oh, and by the way, my husband is also with that company, and he has been summoned to a meeting, informing him that his section is being collapsed. But his is another story altogether. See, he is just so good at what he does that the higher-ups have been trying valiantly to save him. So I’ll write about that in another day.

So some of the girls (women) I’ve worked with have expressed interest in what I’m doing. And they want to know if they can do it, too. So I ask them, “Do you think it is for you?” Because not everybody can be happy working from home. I’ve writtten about the life of a WAHM some time ago, and what I’ve pictured there does not even come close to the real scenario that WAHMs face everyday.

My advice, before you even think of becoming a WAHM, is to assess yourself if you can be happy doing it. Unlike being in a regular office environment, there is definitely no glamour working from home. And there will always be distractions. However good you are at organizing your schedule, you always have to make allowances for the kids. Good if you don’t have kids to mind like I do. I have three.

Being happy at what you do is very important. As they say, choose a job you love, and you won’t work a day in your life. So if you think that you can be happy being at home, running an office and doing housechores and taking care of the kids, then by all means, plan on becoming a WAHM.

I have a new home...

2009-03-24T16:26:00.005+08:00

Welcome to my new home.

From Nutmeg's Weblog, I'm transferring to this new cool site that I intend to fill with topics on health, education, livelihood and people. It's a HELP blog for WAHMs, by a WAHM.

I hope to be able to keep this site alive, for as a WAHM, I already have my plate full. But I'll really try my best to take time for this.

As a start, I'll be migrating some of my stuff from the old home to this new one.

Do come and visit me often.