How To Hire A Virtual Assistant

You Can’t Afford Not To Have A Virtual Assistant

First Published: ADawnJournal.com July 7, 2009

I have outsourced a good chunk of my tasks before; however, those were nowhere near having a virtual assistant.  Those outsourced tasks were done on a one-time basis only by independent contractors and most of the time I have not met those individuals again. I have thought of hiring a VA (Virtual Assistant) before, but I was reluctant due to costs associated with it. However, just a few days ago, I was able to hire a VA at an unbelievable cost, and it does not make sense not to hire at this incredibly low rate. You just can’t afford not to hire anyone and enjoy your free time, or use your newly discovered free time for something more productive.

Today, I am going to tell you how you can hire a VA even if you don’t make a killer monthly income.

Which Sites To Use?

There are many sites online where you can hire VAs at incredibly low rates. To browse through all these sites, do a search by entering these keywords: virtual assistant, outsource, freelance, etc. The site I use to hire my VA is oDesk. This is one of the most cost efficient sites to hire someone at low rates.

How Much Will The Cost Be?

At oDesk, you will be able to hire someone at below $5 per hour. I have hired assistants at $1-$3 per hour in the past. Don’t underestimate these virtual assistants because of their low rates. These are highly qualified, educated individuals in their respective fields. Many of them

hold Masters degrees and speak and write English better than many native speakers.

How Can They Work At Such A Low Rate?

They can afford to do it because these individuals are working from low-cost countries such as Philippines, India, East European countries and so on. With these low rates, they are able to make a decent living – which is unthinkable in Western countries.

How Do I Do The Actual Virtual Assistant Hiring?

Use these simple steps to have your first virtual assistant:

·   Create an account with www.Odesk.com

·   Verify your credit card

·   Post a job

·   Pick and interview a few candidates among the many who will be replying to the job you posted

·   Hire the most suitable person who fits your specifics

What I Like Most

oDesk provides some unbeatable features, such as:

·   You set and control how many hours your VA will work

·   No additional headaches: oDesk does all the admin work such keeping track of hours, billings, and payments for you

·   Pick hourly or fixed price jobs

·   No commitment. You can terminate your assistant or end an assignment anytime you want

The Internet has revolutionized everything. Virtual marketplaces like oDesk provide endless possibilities for entrepreneurs and service providers across the globe – which was not possible just a few years ago.

How to Deal With Stress

Stress Relief Tips

If you are going to better yourself and develop yourself to achieve your life goals, one of the biggest hurdles you need to overcome is stress. Stress is something that weighs us down and holds us back. It is an albatross around our necks that refuses to let go. It is something that must be defeated if you are going to achieve success in your life.

Stress can come from many different sources including your job, your relationships, your finances or even how your favourite sports team is doing. Staying in a stressful situation for long enough and you will begin to develop health problems. Many doctors theorize that as many as 90 percent of the health problems people face is as a result of stress.

So, how do you get rid of it?

1. The first thing you need to do is to look at what is causing you stress and remove that thing. If finances are causing you stress, begin to put together a budget that will help you manage what you have more effectively. If your job gives you stress, then it may be time to find a new job.

2. Try to find time for yourself. It is very important that when you begin to feel stressed, you take time for yourself by backing away from what is causing you stress. If you are at work and things are really starting to stress you out, just get up and take a five minute breather. Go to a break room or just stand outside in the sunshine. You will be surprised by how much this can help you.

3. Begin doing things that are considered to be stress relievers. This can be a wide variety of items including, but not limited to, meditation, yoga, walking and even just taking a nap.

4. Get some exercise. Studies show that exercise helps to release endorphins in the body and that makes you feel better. Not only that, you also get healthier and a healthier body is able to deal with stress more effectively.

5. Spend time with those that you love. It is surprising just how stress can melt away when you are spending time with those you love. You can laugh with them, talk with them and feel the stress melt away. That is why family and friends is something that can help your stress become less of a problem.

Being stressed is not a good situation to be in. Many people feel as though they are trapped in the stressful situation and that is no way to get out of it and begin moving forward with your life. If you want to get out of the situation and better yourself, then you need to find ways to beat the stress and you can beat the stress. Don’t think it is not possible because it is. Just follow these tips and the stress will disappear before you know it. Stress does not have to rule your life, so do not let it.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Simplepersonaldevelopment.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to Ahmed Dawn Dot Com. This article originally published on the above website on May 15, 2010

What Is A Real Estate Rent To Value Ratio?

Can You Afford To Buy A Home?

When borrowing to buy a house, there are many things you need to take into account. The value of your desired property should correspond to how much you earn in such a way that you can see a point in the future when you would be able to make a final payment and clear your mortgage to own the house outright. Opinions differ on what proportion you should stay within in terms of salary to mortgage, with many people being of the opinion that you should spend no more than five times what you earn in a year to buy a house. Certain experts on the market say that you should consider it on a proportion of rent to valuation. That is to say that you should consider how much you can afford to pay in rent, and multiply it by a certain amount to get the ideal value.

Those who view it as a rent/value issue tend to agree on a proportionate value for a new house as being $125-$150 on a house for every dollar you pay in rent. Looking at it like that means that if you were renting for, for example – $1,000 a month, you could buy a house valued at $125-150,000, and so forth. If you paid back the mortgage at the same rate as you paid your rent, you could own the house in just over twelve years, depending on the proportion at which you set the bar and allowing for interest rates and fees. This does seem like a reasonable ratio, taking into account that your income and your other living costs may begin to vary either within or just after the end of that period. It also allows for fluctuation in interest rates.

Due to the situation that we find ourselves in at the moment with a view to the global economy, there are currently uniformly low interest rates in most of the bigger mortgage markets throughout the world. If you are in a financially strong position at the moment, unlike many people, you are in a stronger position than ever to afford a mortgage because the lower interest rates make the extra costs over and above the value of the house negligible compared with the same situation three to five years ago.

Additionally, the ratio set out above (of 125/150-1, value to rent), will grow if interest rates drop and fall if the rates rise. Looking at how much you pay in rent right now and taking into account the likelihood of a further drop, you can have a justifiable valuation for the house you can afford to buy. Of course mortgage rates depend on your own financial situation and the likelihood of that situation changing, as well as other aspects relating to your personal situation. Financial experts are currently suggesting that if you can find a mortgage with an interest rate of less than 5%, it is good value, unlikely to drop much further and you should take it, if all your requirements are satisfied.

New Zealand Travel Blog: Auckland Highlights & Impressions

Auckland Travel Blog: Part 1

At the AKL Airport

Just like my experience in Melbourne, I didn’t have to face any human immigration officers at the airport. The automated machines process immigration for select visa-free countries called eGate and I was able to pass through immigration without any issue. Traveling with only one carry-on also helped.

SkyBus to Downtown Auckland

The most affordable way to reach downtown from the Auckland Airport is to take the SkyBus. You can purchase tickets ahead of your trip online or at the airport. The ticket booth is located right at the bus pickup spot at the international terminals in the Auckland Airport. Look for the SkyBus pickup spot and ticket booth near Door 8 at the international terminals.

The was a young female employee who greeted me at the bus spot and she showed me where to wait and mentioned the next bus would arrive in 10 minutes. I was the first one there waiting for that bus, but later on more customers were coming in.

If you buy a ticket ahead of time, you get discounts. I paid only NZD $17.50 on the SkyBus website; you will find tools there to figure where you need to get off based on your address. My destination was the President Hotel at 35 Victoria Street West, Auckland downtown. So I needed to get off at 175 Queen St Stop 7051.

The bus operator was extremely friendly and once I told him where I needed to get off, he made sure I got off at the right spot and explained to me that I still had to walk a couple of blocks to the hotel. He was my first hands-on experience on how nice and helpful New Zealanders are.

How to have a Positive Attitude in Your Life

Having a Positive Attitude in Your Life

One of the most important things you can do for yourself is to have a positive attitude in your life. With a positive attitude, you will find your life completely changes based on the fact that you are seeing things in a brighter and happier way. It is vitally important for any amount of personal development that you have a positive attitude as well. If you do not have a positive attitude, you will doubt your ability to improve upon yourself, and that is a nail in the coffin of personal development. As well, have a positive attitude can help you reduce your stress and a reduction in stress is important for your health. So, how can you have a positive attitude in your life to aid your personal development? Follow these easy steps to make it happen.

1. Start being passionate about the things in your life. Get right into things and follow the philosophy of Carpe Diem, which is Latin for Seize the Day. With this attitude, you will enjoy life more and you will work to continually improve upon yourself as a result.

2. Be grateful for what you have. Your philosophy towards personal development should be one of being grateful for what you have, and to always achieve more with your life.

3. Whenever an opportunity presents itself, seize it. One of the worst things in terms of personal development is regret. Even if the opportunity does not work out, you will have taken the risk to make it happen. When it succeeds, you will find new confidence in yourself and that allows you to make even more personal development decisions.

4. Instead of reacting to situations, act on situations. If you wait for something bad to happen, it probably will and this is why you have to make good things happen by being proactive with situations.

5. Keep laughing and always try to have a good sense of humor about situations. When you find humor in situations that most people would not, you will find it is easier to conquer challenges and easier to make a bad situation turn good. With a good sense of humor, you can have a positive attitude and that will help your personal development.

6. You are in charge of your life and you need to remember that when you are going through personal development changes. You are in charge and no one can tell you what is good or bad for your life. Yes, you can listen to the advice of others, but you should always ensure you make a decision based on what you want, rather than what they want.

Personal development is something that is important if you want to change your life, but to change your life you need to have the right attitude. The right attitude is highly important because you need to trust your decisions and to know that you can make the changes in your life that you want. Depression is something that can hinder personal development, and having a positive attitude keeps depression at bay. In the end, you will be happy you had a positive attitude, and your life will have changed forever.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Simplepersonaldevelopment.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to Ahmed Dawn Dot Com. This article originally published on the above website on Mar 13, 2010