Mark Quitong https://mark89.com Wed, 17 Sep 2025 11:50:50 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.5 https://mark89.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/cropped-MQ-32x32.jpg Mark Quitong https://mark89.com 32 32 What computer or laptop specs to use as a Virtual Assistant https://mark89.com/what-computer-or-laptop-specs-to-use-virtual-assistant/ Wed, 01 May 2024 08:26:20 +0000 https://mark89.com/?p=802 Read More

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Finding a good computer or laptop is essential when you are a Virtual Assistant. A lot of tasks run in the background such as browsers, tools, software, and web apps will slow down your device. For Virtual Assistant laptop specs or Virtual Assistant computer requirements (Desktop), you must look for good specifications. You can buy second-hand, or brand-new, but in my case, I bought a second-hand laptop as a backup just in case I need to go somewhere.

4 tips to buy a laptop/computer for Virtual Assistant PC requirements:

  1. Processor Count: A quad-core processor with a minimum of 2.8GHz will do the job if you are just about to start. If you saved some pesos and would like to upgrade, 3.0GHz and above is good for multiple tasks and it can run multiple apps.
  2. RAM: Minimum of 8GB, but I would suggest to get at least 16GB of RAM. Clients might give you simultaneous web apps and they need to have a bigger RAM to run them smoothly.
  3. GPU: Get at least 2GB of separate graphics card rather than relying on a built-in motherboard card. I would also recommend a minimum of 4GB and up if you have a task that comes with video editing or AI Generating software. 
  4. SSD: If you bought the computer second-hand or brand new, some might give you an HDD which is slow in this era. So I would suggest you get an SSD minimum of 128GB. HDD copies 30 to 150 MB per second, but SSD can perform 500 MB per second. This helps and makes your computer fast when turning on, or opening an app.
  5. Internet Speed: A PLDT fiber connection with at least 100MBPS will do the job, but in my setup, I love the 400MPBS and up. The 400MBPS plan price is not that high compared to the 100MBPS, so I still suggest getting more speed like 400MBPS and up.

Others to be followed if you might wish to add them soon like a computer monitor with a higher refresh rate, fancy keyboards and mouse for ergonomic performance, and other accessories that will make your Virtual Assistance task comfortable.

My main current computer setup is Ryzen-3 (4-cores) 3.5GHz combined with 16GB RAM 2666MHz and GTX 1050ti Graphics Card with an SSD of 256GB. I am satisfied with this setup. But if I find a client soon that requires a higher computer specification to run the tools/apps simultaneously, then my current setup is upgradable to a higher Ryzen processor and RAM capacity

So basically if you are on a tight budget, start with the minimum specs and upgrade them later on if you notice some drastic performance drop over time when doing multiple tasks.

]]> How I Started My Virtual Assistant Freelancing Career https://mark89.com/how-i-started-virtual-assistance/ Tue, 30 Apr 2024 21:05:08 +0000 https://mark89.com/?p=725 Read More

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Way back in 2013 while managing my sister’s computer shop, the idea came up and I wanted to create a blog as I am fond of gadgets, especially the Android Smartphone. I created a website and started posting about mobile device specifications. It was fun, my website got monetized by Google Adsense and I earned through that platform.

While doing it for over a year, one of my friends noticed my ability in what I’m doing online and he invited me to be one of his assistants. It’s because I’m into online, I grabbed the opportunity and started to be part of his team. After over 6 months of working with him, the contract was paused and I started to do my journey by learning through Videos on YouTube and some articles on how to start a Freelancing career.

As an associate degree IT graduate from STI Gensan, what I learned there, especially the programming was tough to initiate in actual work because the timeframe in teaching was too narrow for 2 years. In summary, my knowledge of programming is not so good. On my actual task of developing websites using WordPress in an automated way, I can still apply my knowledge from academics, but the Java language and Visual Basic were not applied. Instead, I used Basic HTML, CSS, Javascript, & PHP codes that I learned online to back up the website whenever my client wanted a little bit of customization of the interface or the function.

Do I need to be a programmer to be a Virtual Assistant?

For me, no. Virtual Assistant’s task is too broad and you can get jobs by just managing a Google Sheet. My main research objective when I was about to start was not to do website development for the client, I focused on learning how to manage existing websites, doing admin tasks like data entry, Office Suites like Google and Microsoft, Photoshop basic, Canva editing, video compilation software, SEO, and some marketing tools. Over time doing this daily, I tried to open an account on the Freelancing platform and I found my very first client which gave me 3 USD per hour. The tasks given were part-time doing data entries in Google Sheets and eventually found another client that gives full-time with different hourly rates.

And this is my journey as a General Virtual Assistant. I still learning more and counting on different objectives and tools to enhance my experience and deliver quality work. The virtual Assistant job is fun to do when you are passionate about the specific field. So if you are a client, pick me up and let me be your Virtual Assistant to help you assist in various tasks of your business. And if you are a Freelancer like me, just believe in yourself and focus on learning, and especially trust our God that gives us this talent.

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