Here's my 2 cents- I own a web design/dev outsourcing center in the Philippines.
These are all issues I hear, see, and people complain to me about.
1.) People want to much for to little. To many guru's out there spewing you can get a VA for $200 full time(160hrs a month).
What they meant to tell you is that a data entry person, and if they did find one for $200 they are in a province with shitty internet, and begging for a job.
They also forgot to tell you that soon as Joe blow comes along and offers them $300 they will make their work priority and yours gets done when they get to it.
2.) Most Freelancers in any third world country take on to many jobs. They overload themselves with work. They agree to multiple jobs at shitty pay to equal one good pay rate.
They also undercut the shit out of each other to get the job and then they pay for it later when they are getting killed trying to deliver.
3.) People hire a VA and expect them to be a jack of all trades.
Most VA's are good at one thing. Split up tasks and get someone who is good in one field. Don't hire a web designer and expect him to be great at answer your emails for clients, answer the phone, and code in PHP
I had a potential client come to me and he talked to my business partner. Her English is perfect and she's a senior level programmer which is rare.
He said I don't want to do anything in my business, but collect checks. I need 10 people just like your partner who can speak perfect english, senior level programmer, answer phone calls, emails, and everything else I can pull out of my ass.
This is crazy logic. If you've been to the Philippines you know it's hard enough to find perfect English speakers, but to get everything in one person- Good Luck.
Also, programmers want to program. They don't want to be your bitch, be bothered with dealing with your pain in the ass clients, or any of your other jobs. Let them do what they're good at.
Things I've learned in this business since I started.
To find a good VA that are loyal and good at what they do you have to be willing to pay the price.
Sure the point of having a VA is to save money, but is it going to kill you to spring for the extra $100-200 to get quality and loyalty over shit work? It would cost you a fortune in the US to get the same.
Get to know your VA. Find out what they like, what their hobbies are, and what makes them tick. When they do a good job use this information to reward them.
If they like music get them a itunes giftcard, if they are a movie buff than get them movie tickets and dinner for their significant other. This may sound like bullshit and you're thinking I just want to make money, but this shit goes a long way.
VA's are workers- Think back to when you had a job. Did you enjoy feeling appreciated or your boss just hammering you with work and telling you to get it done. If you treat them great when the next fucktard comes along and wants to offer them more, they will stay with you because they like you.
If you have a big operation and need lots of VA's you need to find a project manager. You don't have time to deal with bullshit, making sure people get shit done, and any problems that can come along with outsourcing. Hire someone to deal with this shit and take care of them.
By the way- I didn't write this assuming your being cheap. It's more to open peoples eyes to outsourcing and help people find a good VA.
The reason I moved to the Philippines to start my outsourcing business is because I went through a ton of headaches and seen a need to solve this problem.
I was one of the cheap fucks at one time lol. Once I got here it opened my eyes to everything I was doing wrong.
If anyone has any questions on hiring a VA feel free to ask away. I love this shit.
