For the first time, after Typhoon Undang hit Aklan, New Washington got hit by a major typhoon last Saturday, June 21, 2008.

My team and I are trying to finish our weekly reminder calls for a client when the electricity went off. The news said that a storm is about to hit Western Visayas but its only at Signal Number 1. I didn’t mind the news. I am actually used to storms with signal number one. I thought this was just one of them.  I went to bed early hoping I could get back to work early that morning. But I was wrong.

I woke up at around 7am, disturbed by that loud whistling sound. It seems like a hurricane to me. I opened the curtains and was alarmed with what I saw. Trees are swaying and the rain was really hard. The wind blew hard tearing off every tree, leaves or object that are on his way. We saw trunks falling off from the trees. Then it became even stronger. Trees are now being torn off from the grounds. People ran off to a nearby shelter hoping to save themselves from a sure accident. Nature unfolded its wrath.

I was trembling with fear when the glasses at our kitchen windows started to break. Our kitchen is only made of wood and nipa and could easily break. Boom! A coconut tree fell right at our kitchen.

5 hours later, our house has been torn apart and hundreds of people are now homeless. A mudslide has happened to Kalibo, killing hundreds of people. New Washington (and Aklan) suddenly became a ghost town.

No electricty. No Water Supply. No Mobile Phones. Until Now.

Earlier today, I went to Kalibo hoping I could buy milk for Mikee. But it was even worse than New Washington. Every house or business establishment is all covered with mud.

No fast food chains. No grocery stores. No ATM machine. No Banks. No hospitals.

I actually rented a generator for tonight to email my clients and keep contact with relatives and friends.

Worst. Our gasoline station ran out of gas. Supplies are running out in New Washington. And with Kalibo in accessible, how will the people here find means?

I was wondering, did we ever get the attention from the news for any help? If we did, will it ever reach New Washington? Where will we seek help?

I am thankful to God because he kept me, my family and my team safe. But my heart cries out with hundreds of people who lost their loved ones, and homes.  Will help ever reach us, I wonder.

For those who will read this blog. I hope you can help us. ( You can reach me at +639103993192 or email me at epvirtualassistant@gmail.com)

Last May 1st, our team of virtual assistants went through 21 days of language and accent reduction training under the supervision of Mr. Marc Alvin Pastrana. From the correct pronunciations of ABC’s and 123’s to stress and pitch, the team definitely had gone through the hole of a needle.

Each of them had to go through a series of interviews and mock calls to test what they have learned. Some were scared to death, others cried, and some even said we drove them nuts! But despite the challenges, everyone agreed that it was all worth it. Aside from the training, we also immersed the team with a series of team buidling activities to boost camaraderie and team work among them.

Team Building activities include trust excercises, spider web maze, group activities and open forum. Truly itwas a fun filled experience that everybody enjoyed.

Last May 21st, OVS celebrated their graduation with a Luau Party. Certificates of Completion were given out to the team and we also gave out certificates of excellence to the outstanding performers namely: Analyn Valentin and Geovelyn Racia. We also awarded Leadership Excellence Award to Windy Joy Relato for her outstanding performance as the leader during the team building activities.

Everyone was in their best Hawaiian outfit! Children, family and friends joined us that night. Food was prepared by my loving husband and menu includes lumpiang shainghai, barbeque and lots of Filipino dishes. The evening was filled with fun and laughter. Karaoke Party all night long!

There has been quite a lot of buzz in the “blogosphere” in regards to alternative health-more specifically-water ionizers -and I have come across a lot of sites with water ionizer reviews showing various levels of satisfaction and PH water tests. From what I can gather the Life 7500 is probably the best water ionizer on the market today. Many years of advanced medical and scientific research have produced these high quality machines that are classified as “medical substance providers” by the government of Korea . LIFE Ionizers first filters the water through one external and two internal filters, then ionizes and alkalizes tap water so that it is the best alkaline or ionized available. The alkaline water ionizers produce highly hydrating water.

LIFE Pure Essentials has been manufacturing and distributing alkaline water ionizers and detox patches to the public for roughly 12 years. Ionized Alkaline water addresses many health issues and is the healthiest water available. The LIFE Ionizer also generates Ionized water with high anti-oxidant qualities of any Alkaline Water Ionizer machine tested and this creates an abundance of negative ions created by this ionization process.

If you are looking for a simple, cheap water filter perhaps you shouldn’t go with an ionization system and just stick with a Britta. The cheapest ionizers are going to put you back about $600, but in the long run ionizing your water has proved to yield some serious health benefits. These guys have great customer service, and if your interested please contact them via their website http://www.lifeionizer.com.

1. Reduce and control operating costs
2. Improve company focus
3. Gain access to world-class capabilities
4. Free internal resources for other purposes
5. Resources are not available internally
6. Accelerate re-engineering benefits
7. Function difficult to manage/out of control
8. Make capital funds available
9. Share risks
10. Cash infusion
Source: Survey of Current and Potential Outsourcing End-Users
The Outsourcing Institute Membership, 1998

It has been a while since I last posted job ads in this blog. And I want to start posting some of it again. Here are jobs I found online. Hope this helps you with you job hunt!

Advertising Agent

Email Compliance Assistant

Virtual Customer Support

Graphic Designer

Online Customer Service

My little baby Mikee has become my source of joy and strength eversince she came into our lives. The one dull house has become a fun-filled room full of laughters and emotions. She can easily turn my fears away with just a touche of her hand, and she can even turn my grouchiness to happiness with just one laugh from her. I wish I can freeze this moment forever!

Now that she’s 1 year and six months old, she mimicks our words and talks a lot! She memorized the names of my virtual assistants and knows them one by one. I can remember how Mark’s face lit up one night when she asked her papa for another bottle of milk by saying “papa, ’sa pa meek” (papa one more milk). She now prays at night and asks Jesus to guard each and every member of our family even her play mates “Cha-Cha and Mac-Mac” and ends her prayer with “Mi-men” (her very own version of Amen).

Each morning when she wakes up, she heads out of our room and goes straight into our office, sits right in front of one of the computers and types into the keyboards. I can’t help but laugh at the sight of her. She mimicks my way of working and even holds on to the mouse as if she knows how to use it! In this particular photo, she asked me to put on the headset and immediately after she said “Hello Lola!?”

Mikee has become a crucial part of Offshore Virtual Solutions. Now I don’t have to worry who to pass on the business when I grow old!

Our first visit to Jawili Falls

Yummy Treats!

Since the launch of Offshore Virtual Solutions last February 26, 2008, our small home based company has grown rapidly. From one Virtual Assistant, OVS family has grown twice as much. We currently have a team of 4 Virtual Assistants, 1 Web Designer and 4 Trainees. To celebrate the company’s achievement and success, OVS heads out to the beach and party!

Here’s a peak at our very first company outing at Wassenar Beach Resort, Jawili, Tangalan Aklan

I have been putting off this blog post at my lists of to-do for the last 2 weeks. Perhaps, this is the longest period that I haven’t written any posts. And I am hungry to write, in fact I don’t even know where to start.

I have previously posted a question about suggestions for a busy virtual assistant and I have received good suggestions, tips and strategies from you guys. All of them I have written in my black book and has become a part of my action plan.

I recently decided to expand my virtual assistance business and hired a few assistants to help me with works and tasks. My initial reason for starting up this company is to gain more financial stability. Since last year, my online business has helped me put food in our table, and now I am slowly regaining the financial stability I had when I was still working in the call center industry. Best part is, I am working in the comforts of my own home.

Since I decided to expand my business, I decided to utilize the extra room we had in our kitchen as our office. Its a tiny spot right beside our kitchen, it is very small but big enough to house my 2 computers. My cousin decided to help me financially and he bought 3 new computers for our start-up business (which I am very excited to have!). Now our problem is how to fit those 3 new computers in this very tiny space!

My cousin and I named our business as Offshore Virtual Solutions. Then, I decided to create our website and buy a domain. The website has helped us a lot in getting new clients.

Now that I work with a team of talented and skilled VA’s my next agenda is to expand our services.  I want to learn new skills to enhance our skills and abilities. Search Engine Optimization is on top of my list.

I am trying to populate my list of the skills that my VA’s and I need to learn. I think I would appreciate some help.

What do you think are the other skills or software that we need to acquire? Can you give me some links and suggestions?

I will really appreciate it.

For the past 2 weeks, I found myself trapped into a whirlwind of tasks and deliverables! Since my cousin and I are starting our very own virtual assistant business, I have to find time to juggle in between clients and business. I also have to squeeze in time for my family.

Since I resigned last year, this is the first time I found myself wearing my old “workaholic” hat. Just for this week, I used “ontheclock.com” to monitor the number of hours I spent at work. I was surprised with the results! I work 15 hours a day! (Whew!). I wasn’t even aware of that fact until my husband said a silly joke to our friend that I work full-time as a VA and part-time as a wife and mom. Silly but true! A part of me actually felt bad about it and I feel that I should be addressing this issue right away.

I think I could use some help. I wonder how many virtual assistants out there are caught between the same situation?If you are, how do you efficiently balance your time without sacrificing the other? If you are a VA, a wife and a mom I would appreciate your thoughts and suggestions!

I’ve been in the business of Virtual Assistance for a few months now and I have loved every single day of it.

If you are still on a crossroad and still undecided of what type of online job you would like to pursue, here are some reasons why you would want to be a virtual assistant:

* VA’s work from home. If you miss your hubby or your baby, you can talk and play with them anytime.I don’t have to miss any important milestone in my baby’s life!
* You don’t have to worry about transportation expenses!

* You control your own time!You can take a break whenever you want to!

* Being a VA gives you the opportunity to meet a lot of new people online. You will also learn different cultures cause most of the clients will be based outside of your country.

* You will learn a lot of new things! It’s a constant learning process.

* No routinary work! Every day is a new day with different tasks and projects to work on.

* Constant skill development.

* Being a virtual assistant can be financially rewarding.