You may have noticed that there has been a recent proliferation of outsourcing courses in the internet.  We have John Jonas, Tyron Shum, and John Reese, to name a few.  All of them are considered internet marketing “gurus” and they have now grown to include outsourcing as one of their expertise.

I have nothing against outsourcing courses.  In fact, I encourage anyone new to the concept of outsourcing to take any one of the courses by the people mentioned above.  It will open up your eyes and encourage you to try your hand at delegating some of your work to people overseas.

My only gripe is that most, if not all, of the outsourcing courses slightly downplay the rates that are proper for online contractors in the Philippines.  I don’t know the living conditions, minimum wage, and cost of living in countries like India, Indonesia, etc. so I will decline to comment about wages in those countries and just stick to the Philippines.

Most of the outsourcing courses recommend paying [...] Continue reading

You have heard time and again that the best country to outsource work to is the Philippines.  But, do you know the sites where you can hire Filipino online freelancers?

Here is a list of sites where you can hire Filipino contractors:

1. EasyOutsource.com – EasyOutsource is one of the best place to hire Filipino online freelancers.  Our site has an all-Filipino worker line up.  The site is growing rapidly.  The site is very easy to use and have a lot of features that are useful to a job site.  One of these features is an internal messaging system that employers and workers can use to communicate with each other.  We are constantly adding new features and improvements to the site to make it even better and easier to use.  The best part is, using the site is free for both employers and workers!  There are no registration fees involved.  You don’t have to pay anything to post jobs, browse profiles, browse job posts, and apply for jobs.  Isn’t that

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When you start outsourcing regularly to extend the capabilities of your business, you’ll be amazed at the variety of tasks that can be delegated to an assistant or contractor. This will rescue your time and allow your business to accomplish more. What’s been really crucial to my businesses is that with the help of outsourcing, I’m no longer limited by the amount of time and energy I personally have. Outsourcing has opened up a lot of new possibilities and allowed me to move my business in the direction I want to go.

I want to talk about the kinds of things that people are successfully outsourcing. I hope this will encourage you to think about your own business and the tasks you commonly perform. Ask yourself: could I train someone to do this? Your answer might be something like: “Yeah maybe I could delegate this, but I could do it better myself, and it wouldn’t cost me anything.” That may be true, but don’t lose sight of the big picture. [...] Continue reading

I have hired many people for many online jobs, ranging from low-skill data entry to high level programming, and experimented with different methods in the process. How do I know if someone is a good fit? How do I interview? Do I hire full time? Part time? How much do I pay? I will answer all of these questions in this article based on years of personal experience. Of course these are my personal suggestions and your opinions may vary.

1. What do I look for in a profile?

After posting a job and waiting a day or two for the applicant list to fill up, the first thing I do is look at all the applicants’ profiles. Different jobs have different priorities, but the main things I am looking for are that there is a completed profile, that the person appears to be intelligent, and that the person speaks English well. If I am hiring a virtual assistant I will require a higher level of English proficiency than if [...] Continue reading

You have heard us recommend that you outsource your work to the Philippines.  So, why the Philippines and why Filipinos?

I may not be the best person to write about this.  No wait, on second thought, I think I am.  Shameless promotion of my country, race, and trade aside, I seriously believe that the Philippines is the best country you can outsource your work to.  And why do I think that?  Let me count the ways…

1. Filipinos are the best English-speakers in Southeast Asia – I even daresay that Filipinos are the best English-speakers in Asia.  The Philippines was an American-administered territory from 1898 until 1946 and was the site of American air and naval installations until 1991.  Because of this, the country is heavily influenced by the American culture and language.  English is the primary language of instruction in schools.  It is not difficult to find a Filipino that speaks very good English with little to no trace of a native accent.
2. Most Filipinos are well-educated – College

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Two of our more recommended methods to send and receive payments are Xoom and PayPal.  We have used both services and have found that both are convenient and easy to use.  While some may prefer one over the other, each has their own merits.  I will discuss each payment method in detail so that you may be able to choose which payment method is best for you to use. (Jump to PayPal section)

Sending money:

Sending money through Xoom is very easy.  You just create a Xoom account, choose a method of funding your money transfer, enter recipient details and payout method, and you’re good to go.  You only need to create an account with Xoom once.  All the details you enter are saved in your account and should you choose to re-use the same details (e.g. funding method, recipient, payout method), you don’t need to re-enter them again.  Creating a Xoom account is free.

There are a lot of ways that you can fund your [...] Continue reading

When hiring or working with an online freelancer, there are certain things that you have to keep in mind as employers.  Below are suggested best practices that you may want to implement when you hire an online freelancer.

• Make your job description as clear and concise as possible – When you hire an online freelancer, make sure that you outline his/her responsibilities clearly.  If possible, make a list of the work you expect from your worker.  Never expect something because it is implied.  Remember, you are only connecting through the internet and you don’t have the luxury of using anything else but words to get your message across. Use screenshots and screencasts liberally. Jing is an excellent free service for creating and quickly uploading screenshots and screencasts.
• Agree to a payment plan and stick with it - If you agree to pay your contractor on a weekly, bi-monthly, or on a monthly basis, make sure that you stick with it.  Do not pay weekly this month and then switch

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If you’re a foreign employer and have outsourced your work to a Filipino freelancer, you might want to know what are the non-working holidays in the Philippines.  This is not to say that you must necessarily follow these holidays and give your employees time off during these days, but, if and when your employee asks for time off during these times, you won’t be caught off guard.

So, here is a list of Philippine Holidays and the dates they fall on:

A. Regular Holidays

New Year’s Day - January 1

Holy Week – Since the Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country, majority of Filipinos observe this holiday.  It starts with Palm Sunday and ends with Easter Sunday.  Of the entire week, only Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are non-working holidays.  The date for this Catholic holiday is not fixed.  It usually falls between the third week of March to the second week of April.  The exact date is different every year and is dictated by the [...] Continue reading

On my previous post, I discussed the average salaries of traditional jobs in the Philippines.  I also mentioned on that post that those figures don’t include other benefits that companies offer on top of the regular salaries employees receive.

So what are the benefits that are required by the Philippine government to be given to working Filipinos?  To give a short run down, the following are government-mandated benefits:  Social Security System (SSS) contributions, Philippine Health Insurance (PhilHealth) contributions, Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-ibig Fund) contributions, 13th month pay, service incentive leave, meal and rest periods, overtime pay, special holiday/rest day rates, and night shift differentials.  Other more common benefits that are not mandated but are given by a lot of companies are: holiday bonus, mid-year bonus, and paid holiday and vacation leaves.

• Social Security Sytem (SSS) – The Social Security System was created by the Philippine government.  All employees hired by private companies are required to become an SSS member (Republic Act No. 8282).  This system aims to protect

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The Philippines is a gold mine of professionals.  Every year, Philippine colleges across the nation graduate 380,000 students across different courses and fields of study.  Students choose their field of study based on their interest, intellect, their parent’s ability to afford the tuition, and more than anything else, how much they expect to earn once they enter the work force.

One of the more common courses that most Filipino students take up have to do with computers and information technology.  In this field, they have a higher chance of getting a job than any other course of study.  So, you might be wondering, how much does a computer professional earn in the Philippines?

According to ZDNet Asia’s Philippine IT Salary and Skills Report 2008, the following table shows the average annual salary of IT professionals in the Philippines.

Aside from IT professionals, you might also be interested to learn about average salaries for other traditional jobs that are comparable to more common jobs being outsourced on the internet nowadays. [...] Continue reading