If you’re just starting out with outsourcing, how much does it really cost to hire a Filipino VA? What are your initial costs?
You need to budget for three things:
1. Your Onlinejobs.ph Pro ($69) or Premium ($99) account subscription for 1 month
2. The salary of your virtual assistant ($400 – $1500 depending on experience)
3. Your VA’s 13th month
1. OnlineJobs.ph Cost
If you only need to hire one or two people, a one-month subscription is more than enough since it only takes a few hours to find a great VA.
You can cancel as soon as you upgrade if you don’t want to be charged for the next month. You’ll still have access to all the features of the upgraded account for 30 days.
Tip: Sign up for the $99 and use the “Tell Me Who To Hire!” AI Matching. It will save you a bunch of time and makes the process so much easier. $30 to save 2-3 hours??? Yes please!
2. VA Salaries
The salary of your virtual assistant can vary depending on their skill level and experience. More experienced virtual assistants will ask for more. High-level technical and rare skills would also be more expensive.
Full-time salaries range from about $400/month for total beginners who know almost nothing to $1500-$2000 for super advanced, super experience people. We’re talking 10+ years experience in programming, design, online ads, social media, content writing, admin work… You name it, you can find it.
However, if you’re just starting out, I would recommend outsourcing simple tasks first—something you can do and train someone else to do for you. Newbies and inexperienced workers would be ideal hires for this.
In many cases, newbies might even be better than experienced VAs. Yes, they will require more training and encouragement, but their biggest advantage would be their attitude. They’re hungrier and more eager to learn and to prove themselves.
Evan Carmichael always asks:
“Am I looking for someone young and hungry, or someone experienced and expensive?”
You can always train someone to gain skills, but changing a person’s character is much harder.
For most positions, I want young and hungry.
3. 13th Month
Lastly, you should set aside your VA’s 13th month.
The 13th month is OPTIONAL. If you can’t afford this yet, you don’t have to.
If you’ve never heard about it yet, the 13th month is a bonus that most Filipino workers get at the end of the year. This is completely different from a Christmas bonus. The 13th month is equivalent to 1 month’s salary IF the VA has worked for you for a year.
If they’ve worked less than a year, you just take the total amount you’ve paid them through the year and divide by 12.
Again, this is entirely optional. If you can’t afford to give 13th month, your VA will understand.
The reason we’re putting this in as part of your initial costs is we’ve seen that Filipino VAs are more likely to stay and are more motivated when they know they’ll be receiving 13th month pay.
And…you don’t even have to have the money for the 13th month now. It’s paid in December, so you have time to save up to pay it. Hopefully, enough time for the person you hire to help you make more money.
John