For my long time followers (and stalkers!), you are probably already know the story of how I started my home-based business. From being a freelancer, partnering with my cousin and now establishing my own virtual assistance company.

365 days has passed and I can’t believe it went by that fast. It was indeed a remarkable 365 days. As I look back at it, I see challenges, hurts, difficulties, negative feedback from client, and team mates who have joined and left us. But more importantly, I see triumph, success and a bright future ahead for epVirtual Assistants.

We didn’t plan out the party. It was actually just pure cramming but it was one of the most memorable ones I have ever had. July 1st 2009…  Happy 1st birthday epVirtual Assistants!

I gave my team T-shirts for the party and a company mug for each VA. And of course I have given 2 loyal VA’s who also celebrate their 1st year anniversary with epVirtual Assistants>> Anah and Ilyn!

Here are some pics from the party. There’s more in our facebook Fan Page.

If this is the first time that you hired a virtual assistant especially an offshore one, you are probably feeling a mixed of emotions. Excitement, Enthusiasm, Worry and Confusion.

It may seem difficult to work virtually with an assistant not to mention if your assistant is located thousand miles away from you. Here are some tips to help you work with your virtual assistant.

Click here to read the full article http://ping.fm/RGyG6

Tips on How to Work With Your Offshore Virtual Assistant http://ping.fm/NLU3X

Working at home has open doors of opportunities to most Filipinos nowadays including me! I have been a Virtual Assistant for almost 3 years now and I have enjoyed every single moment of it.

3 years after, I now manage my very own small VA Company >> epVirtual Assistants. And as we approach and celebrate our first year as a company, we are opening our doors to Filipino telemarketers who wanted to start working at home too!

If you are a call center representative who have just got laid off because of recession, or just probably resigned because of personal reasons, this is a chance for you to invest your time and start earning right from the comforts of your home!

Qualifications:
-At least 6 months of experience at a Call Center preferably telemarketing experience
-Headset and Computer / Laptop at home
- Internet Access at home

If you are interested to apply please email us your resume at hr@epvirtualassistants.com
We need 5 agents to complete the team so limited slots only. The project is lead generation.

Send in your resumes!

Time indeed flies so fast. It has already been a year since Typhoon Frank hit the whole Western Visayas. I remember the fear, the sadness, and chaos that was brought by the tragedy leaving hundreds of family homeless.

I remember how my daughter and looked by our window watching the trees fell right in front of us. The loud whistling sound of the wind, the falling trees and raging waves crashing towards the sea wall in New Washington. Our house by then is near the sea so we could actually hear and see the waves crashing, big rocks started to smash the sea walls and houses near it. It was like a scene in a movie. A scene I never imagined possible in real life.

Just hours after, the scenery changed… Our kitchen windows are all broken, our computers inside the office soaking wet… and the community suddenly became like a ghost town… No electricity, no water for seemingly endless days.

I remember the second day after Typhoon Frank we rented a generator. And I started posting pictures about the typhoon… suddenly it spread like crazy, hundreds of people suddenly visited my blog, I received tons of emails asking about how the situation was.

More importantly this gave me a chance to help out in my own little way. I remember the happiness I felt when I was able to deliver a message from the overseas to one of their family members here. Finding their relatives in their behalf…. I let our neighbors use the computers for free in case they would try to call their relatives abroad.

Typhoon Frank may have caused damages to the people here in New Washington and the whole Aklan, however, the tragedy also brought out the best in everyone. Uniting the community and people as one. Sad truth behind is, we have to suffer and survive the wrath of nature in order to bring out peace, love and support from one another.

365 days after, our province get back into shape. Everything went back to normal or should i say even better. New houses, new infrastructures, new life.

Among the 365 days in a year, this is the sole day to honor all the hard work of all the dads in the world.

Father — they are the epitome of strength, the pillar of the family. Without them world will never be the same. Reminiscing my childhood days, I can remember the bonding moments that I once had with my papa. Days he would carry me up in his shoulder, time that mom and I would disturb him while he is reading the newspaper… I can still remember that despite the heavy rain he would go up in our roof to repair it just so we will not get wet inside the house. How he would still report for work even if its flooded in the whole Metro Manila. And now even in his old age, he would still care for us and continue to provide us even if he doesnt have to.

My husband — Im so proud of him. Cause even if he is a house husband, he takes good care of me and my daughter. Of course yes, he is imperfect, (just like the rest of us) but despite the imperfection his love for us esp his daughter outshines. I can never take care of this family without him. He is the best cook (as shown to my sudden weight change), the best friend, and the best father to Mikee.

They have more daddy-daughter moments than us and sometimes I get too jealous.. but i guess, he will constantly be the knight and shining armor in my daughter’s life.

To my dad and mark… happy fathers day

Well this by far has been the longest time since I last updated my blog. I am planning to give my blog a much needed make over. So I will actually begin my quest in looking for a new wordpress template. I have another blog which is hosted in blogger which i find it easier to change the theme because all I need to do is upload it. However since I am not much of a techy I really need help with installing a new template.

First, I will look for someone who can help me with installing the templates or personalize a template for me in a budget. Any suggestions?

Okay… Ive been quiet and haven’t updated anything in this blog site for weeks. I have long been thinking and planning on what to do with this blog.

Im actually confused as to what topics to talk about and I feel this blog is not organised at all. I just talk about what ever comes to my mind. So I feel I have to basically formulate a system for this particular blog and what I want it to be.

Well my top read post is my post for the Typhoon Frank, I was one of the first Bloggers to publish the news about it. It was such a humbling experience, I was able to help a lot of Aklanons in my own little way by being a point of contact, especially to those who have relatives abroad and are looking for their relatives here.I recently started a new blog dedicated to being a Filipina VA and pink-ness.

I also notice that most of my readers are either aspiring Virtual Assistants or Aklanon’s who are OFW’s.

This is why I am torn into 2…. Will I just go for Virtual Assistant Related Topics or Focus on Aklan?

Here’s my top online resources:

Fantastic Books
Billys Books – A fantastic Book Store

Furniture Sore
ROCKA er opptatt – Hos ROCKA har du muligheten til � innrede hjemmet ditt innvendig og utvendig med stilfulle og lekre m�bler

Internet
Website Design - A fantastic site for website design and Optimization

Internet Marketing
Doctors Marketing Campaigns – Doctors Add Campaings, Professional marketing for doctors

Joint Pain
Knee pain relief - OsteoTrim is an advanced knee pain supplement that soothes your knee joint pain while helping you lose weight.

Mortgage Loans
Mortgage Loans – By Mandalay Loans – Mandalay Loans – Mortgage Loans

Online Printing
Business Printing – Printerbees.com is a fantastic site for business cards,envelopes,calenders,stickers, notepads,postcards and lables.

State Auctions
State and Government auctions – State and Government Auctions

Here’s my story:

Over the weekend, we experience severe power outage here in New Washington. Image 7 times power black out in just a duration of 3 hours! Unfortunately I only have an AVR and I don’t have a UPS. So the computers turned off and on the whole time. Ive got 3 computers in the office and one laptop.

After the 7th blackout, I tried opening up my newest pc, unfortunately its no longer working. We plugged in the second one and BOOM! The computer made a loud banging sound and the power also didn’t work. The third one worked but its the oldest model that I have (and the slowest too)!

I panicked! I am in the middle of a deadline and I cannot afford not to work! Its only 4am and I called up our technician. Unfortunately he’s still sound asleep. I remembered its Ati-Atihan festival so the repair shops will definitely be closed at Kalibo. Frustrated as I was I went back to sleep.

When I woke up, i tested the computers again and to my dismay both of them really didn’t work. The following morning I brought the other one to a repair shop the second one was brought to where I bought it since it still has warranty.Good thing is we have extra money to make room for the repairs.

The motherboards and powersupply both got damaged. I spent almost $300 just for the repairs. Its as if I bought a new one.I also bought a UPS for the computers.I wish I can sue AKELCO and ask them to repay the damages but I know it would seem as if I am banging my head at a brick wall. But I wish they know how damaging it is for their costumers.

Why did I call this post a week full of mishaps? Because after what happened.. everything seems to fall out of place. Work, client’s feedback, productivity and quality.Grrr

The good part is.. its as if I am starting all over again.