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I'm all about family time. And, if I can include family time with friend time, even better. That's one of the reasons I love Lake Powell. I just got back from a week at Lake Powell, where we taught a bunch of little girls how to braid hair, and how to surf: Including one who is still too little to surf by herself: We learned all kinds of life skills. But apparently, I forgot the one about how to put on sunscreen. Yes, those are my shoulders, burned around the life jacket outline. By the end of the week, all those girls could surf in the wave without the rope. It's amazing how fast little kids learn. I got this email from Mike that I wanted to share because there's a lot of relevant learning we can do from it. How does your company handle time off work? We have 13 OFS working for our company in the Philippines. (Or is it 14 now - I have to think hard to count as we keep growing and hiring.) Anyway, one area that I'd love to learn more about is how you handle holidays, vacation, and sick leave for your team. Specifics, especially about which holidays you give off, how many days of vacation or sick time, do they earn more as they work longer? What about maternity leave? (Typical to be 3+ months in the Philippines as I learned when our first OFS had her baby.) Paternity leave? (This will be a new one for us as a baby is on the way later this year.) Rather than try to understand Philippine holidays vs. US holidays, our policy is just to provide 25 days of paid time off. We'd love to hear specifics about how your company or others address time off, especially considering cultural differences. That's a lot. I'm going to try to answer all of them. Specifics, especially about which holidays you give off, how many days of vacation or sick time, do they earn more as they work longer?Our policy is "take whatever time off you want or need. If you can, we want to know about it ahead of time." I don't know if it's the best policy, but it works for us. My team just takes their leaves when they need it, like when they're sick or when there's a death in the family. If they ask for a vacation leave, it's never longer than two weeks. So the policy you mentioned about providing 25 days sounds good. I think you should try it to see if it works for you. I've always tried to make this as easy as possible on myself. I don't want to track days off. I also don't want someone to worry about taking time off. When someone asks for time off, we immediately tell them yes. What about maternity leave? (Typical to be 3+ months in the Philippines as I learned when our first OFS had her baby.) Paternity leave?Yes, maternity leave is three months in the Philippines. Paternity leave is seven days. If your OFS is paying into SSS, the Philippines government should pay for their time off. My experience is OFS are usually pretty anxious to get back to work. I'm not sure that's the best route as I notice that our team doesn't seem to use days when it's a holiday in the Phillipines.Regarding holidays, like you, not everybody in my team takes the day off. Not everybody in my team is Catholic, so religious holidays aren't as meaningful for them. Some choose to work on a holiday to save that time for a vacation. Some work on a holiday to take the day off to attend their kid's recital or doctor's appointments. The only thing that matters to us is they inform us ahead of time or as soon as possible. They email Joven, me, or my business partner, Dan, to let us know. Once we know how long they'll be out, we can make the necessary adjustments if needed. For example, if someone in customer service takes a vacation, the team lead will make scheduling changes to ensure there's always someone answering emails. If it's just one or two days off (like for sick leave) and they don't have anything urgent that needs to be done, we just wait for them to get back. In my business, we don't have anything urgent. We don't have deadlines. When people take time off doesn't really matter to us. Your business is probably different. I suggest you come up with a plan for time off and then ask your OFS if it's fair or if they have anything to add to it. If you have a relationship with them, they'll make suggestions or ask for changes. John |
A few of you will remember this photo: It's from when my 3rd baby was born. The baby who gave my wife pre-eclampsia and caused "strict bedrest" for my wife. The baby who set me on a path to work 17 hours/week for the past 12 years. The baby who forced me to really learn what OFS were capable of. She's now 15: Her name is Bailey. Names can get pretty interesting. My OFS at the time were named Joven (left) and Paul (right). Since then I've seen a lot of Filipino names. These aren't unusual...just names: Dianne Rose Malvar Singson Aurea Esquivel Orbina Don William Rosaupan Fabella Dorothea Mae Pacatang Zaldarriaga Lord Jason Campos Jose Again...nothing abnormal about those names. For most of us here in the US, the way we get our names is pretty straightforward. Our last name is our parents' last name. Then our parents choose a first name and a middle name if they want to. In the Philippines, most get their last names from their father too. But the parents don’t get to choose the middle name, just the first name. The mother’s maiden last name is automatically assigned as the middle name. The only name parents can choose is the first name, and the first name can be as long or as short or composed of several names, as long as it fits on the birth certificate. So, from above, the first names chosen were: Dianne Rose Aurea Don William Dorothea Mae Lord Jason For people who like tracing their lineage, this system makes things easier. Because the parents can only choose the first name, you’ll find a lot of interesting choices, like multiple first names or names spelled differently. Take this baby born in 2021. He has three first names, and there’s no vowel to be found: https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7eenx/baby-name-philippines-glhynnyl-hylhyr-yzzyghyl-why Like I said, names can get interesting. John |
I'm the type of person who asks for forgiveness rather than for permission. I tend to jump in, before I know exactly how to make it work. I rarely read instructions. These were all good things helping me figure out how to outsource to OFS. There was no manual when I started. Heck, there wasn't even OnlineJobs.ph, which makes it so much easier. If you're like me, you've likely already hired OFS. You've jumped in. You've made mistakes. You've figured it out. But a lot of people aren't like me, so I want to simplify things so that if you haven't yet hired someone, you can feel a bit more comfortable. Nearly every day I hear from someone who says "I just wish I would have done this sooner!" I almost never hear "Man...I should have waited another year before hiring." Here's the simple of what hiring an OFS looks like (these are normal concerns I hear): - Posting a job isn't right or wrong. If you're scared about doing it wrong, just post the job. Chances of you doing it wrong is super low. And, if you don't find the right person, we'll give your money back. - Narrowing down candidates is easier than you think. You don't have to have a bunch of tricks. It doesn't take a ton of time. Just ask people questions. - The prospect of hiring someone is daunting. The prospect of continuing to run your business without help is worse. - Taxes are a non issue. The OFS is not an "employee". There's no way to W2 them. You don't send them a 1099. They're not in the USA and you don't have a presence in the Philippines. There's no "withholding", no compliance, no regulations.* - You can't trust the person you're hiring any more (or any less) than if you were hiring someone in your office. The Philippines culture makes this trust way easier. But you won't see that until you try it. (my OFS have my credit card, bank account, home address, access to my email, ...) - Paying people is easy. Use EasyPay. Or Wise. Or Paypal. Just pay people on time. - The easiest way to start is to hire someone to do something you know how to do and can teach someone. It's the best case scenario for you. You get something off your plate and immediately stop feeling overwhelmed. You know what to write in your job description, what skills you're looking for, how to train, how to give feedback, what outcomes look like. Outsource this first. "Do what you're good at and outsource the rest" is the worst advice I've ever heard. As soon as you accomplish the first thing with your new OFS you'll see the light at the end of the tunnel. Worlds of opportunity open up. You start becoming the CEO. - You can hire full-time. You can hire part-time. You can hire hourly. You can hire per project. You can hire however you want. We don't dictate what you can or can't do. Just hire someone. Generally offering a full-time job with a salary is going to be better for them (and for you in the long run). - You hire someone after interviewing them by saying "Hey, you seem like a good fit for us, I want to offer you a job. When can you start?" That's it. To some of you, this email feels like, "duh!" this is so obvious. To others, I hope this offers you a path forward. If you've been thinking about hiring an OFS but aren't sure, the best way is to take two steps forward. 1. search resumes on OnlineJobs.ph. Look at what people can do. 2. Post a job on OnlineJobs.ph. The rest will follow. Everything I offer (OnlineJobs.ph, OneVAAway.com, VAsMadeEasy.com) comes with a full guarantee. If something doesn't work out, just let us know and we'll give your money back. We don't want it if we don't earn it. No hoops to jump through. John *Don't listen to anything I say. I'm not an accountant or a CPA or an attorney. |
Remember back when we used to think that in the future, we’d finally be rid of COVID and get back to normal? Those were the good old days. Now, we look at COVID like it’s the flu or the common cold. You don’t want to get it, but you’ll get it sooner or later. When you do get it, we’ll just have to manage it. Filipinos have learned to live with COVID like the rest of the world. Everything is open for business, but they’ve kept their mask mandate. Because of this, case spikes are smaller. People are still being hospitalized for COVID, but more beds are available now than at the start of the pandemic. Because of the global supply chain problems, some drugs are still difficult to come by. Vitamins are now more expensive than before. Pharmacies can run out of COVID testing kits and essential medicines like paracetamol and ibuprofen. COVID hospitalization costs are manageable if they’re up to date with Philhealth contributions, don’t have a severe infection, and have health insurance. Most Filipinos, on average, would need around $450 (P25,000) to $900 (P50,000) for treatment. But for: severe cases or those that don’t have Philhealth, or are confined in an expensive hospital, Covid treatment can cost up to $18,000 or more. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1482978/surviving-covid-19-a-costly-struggle This is why I pay for my workers’ Philhealth and health insurance. They get the support they need. They don’t have to worry about their medical expenses as much. I don’t have to worry about their medical expenses. It ends up cheaper overall. John PS - Unlike the Philippines, where I live, the mask mandate is long gone. Garth Brooks, 45,000 people, no masks on anyone! |
I've always found foreign currencies interesting. I'm so used to the green USD that when I first saw other money I thought it was strange. Now I often use foreign currency as a bookmark souvenir of where I've been. Most of the world uses paper and linen for their currency. That’s the texture you feel when you touch a dollar bill or a euro. It feels organic. It feels like paper. But if you’ve ever been to Australia, the UK, Canada, or Mexico, you’ll notice that their currency feels different. They use plastic polymer for their bills. It's supposed to last longer, be water-proof, and be harder to counterfeit. There was even news years ago about how Australians can go swimming with money in their pockets. Here's my Mexican Peso bookmark: Notice the see-through butterfly? The whole note feels slick, almost like wax. Now, the Philippines is joining Mexico, Australia, and 57 other countries in using plastic bills as their currency. Why are they changing from cotton-abaca to polymer? The Philippines has had the idea of using polymer notes for a while now. We know how easily paper bills can break down over time. In a tropical country, paper degrades even faster. This makes the currency more expensive because they have to replace them often. A more durable currency would help the Philippine government save money since they won’t be printing as much. Like everything else, COVID also had something to do with it. Paper also attracts a lot of moisture and dirt, making it harder to sanitize. You can damage paper currency if you wash it. With polymer, all you need to do is spray it with alcohol, wipe it with a towel, and you’re done. They started distributing P1000 bills ($18), and this is what it looks like: John PS. Europe seems to be ahead of the times in a lot of things...but not in money. They still use coins all the time! It drove me nuts while we were there. In Switzerland I gave someone cash and as change, they gave me 9CHF (about $9) in coins! My kids think it's awesome, so they brought it home. |
Mistakes are a part of life. There are a lot of things in my life that I wish I could change. But the one thing I’ve never regretted is doing something and failing at it. Most of my regrets are things that I didn’t do or started too late. Like with my business, I made a bunch of mistakes when I started. If I had stopped outsourcing back then, nobody would blame me. I had struggled enough times to swear off outsourcing forever. But I kept at it until I got it right because I knew once I found the right system, any problem that came after would be easier to figure out. Did your first, second, or third hire not work out? I understand your frustration. The first few people I hired didn’t work out for me either. But once I found the right person and created a hiring process (OneVAAway.com), I learned how to avoid bad hires. Is your Filipino worker making mistakes? Does it seem like they don’t know what they’re doing? I went through that with several people on my team. Here's what I've found: 1. Ask them why they're struggling to do it right? Be upfront about the problem and your frustration. 2. Have you set it up so that you're the one always correcting mistakes? If so, they'll expect it. Why go through the extra work to make it perfect when you're going to correct their problems anyway? Let them know this isn't how it's supposed to work. 3. Give them a title and a responsibility. Make it their responsibility to get the work right. You're not the one to be fixing it. Don't fix their mistakes. Outside of that, training is the best way to fix problems like this. Training is a lot of work. That’s why I created a training library (VAsMadeEasy.com), to make it easier for you to train your OFS. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. It happens. Expect mistakes to happen with your OFS. Just don't let the mistakes continue and continue. Make changes to correct it. Go to OneVAAway.com to learn how to hire a great Filipino worker. Get that great Filipino worker the training they need through VAsMadeEasy.com. John |
Vacation!!! Such a happy topic. But not so much in the Philippines. It comes with stress there. We’re pretty generous when it comes to giving paid time off here at Onlinejobs.ph. We tell our people they can take as much time off as they want. But I have always felt like my people are hesitant to take vacations. We (me and my business partner Dan) want them to take vacations. We want them to have a break from work. I want to share what I can enjoy because of their hard work. I want them to be healthy. Giving them as much time off as they want is one way of doing that. I thought this was something unique to our company. Then I got this email from Andrea. When I hired my OFS in Oct 2020 I told her she got 10 US holidays and she was welcome to exchange them for Holidays she preferred. She was also granted 2 weeks of paid vacation upon completing 6 months. She has taken hardly any vacation time, so I addressed it - asking if it was cultural or something else. She let me know it was cultural and that previous employers discouraged vacation time. I assured her we wanted her to take a vacation to come back refreshed and renewed and ready to work again. She was happy to hear that! Regarding the cultural aspect of not taking a vacation, Filipinos are eager to please. This is part of what makes hiring them so amazing. When they find a job they love, they want to do everything they can to keep it. So to show their dedication, they avoid taking leaves as much as possible. It could also be that they want to save up their leaves for something important. Like if there’s a death or serious illness in the family. In our case, we let them take all that time off with no limits, and they still don't want to take it. I know that some employers discourage vacations. I understand why they do that, but I don’t think it’s healthy for your Filipino workers long-term. We all need a break every once in a while, even the most hard-working, dedicated OFS. If you discourage your OFS from taking a vacation, it could be one of the reasons why they disappear. Encourage your people to take a break. Encourage them to come back refreshed. Encourage time off. John My most recent vacation saw my daughter finish 5th at Mountain Bike National Championships. I'm a proud papa. |
Our lead generation isn't the same as your lead gen. My business is different than yours. But lead generation is still critical to almost all businesses, so here are some ideas for you from ways my team does it for me. - participating in forums - they regularly make posts and contribute to relevant forums. They don't always include links, but when they do, it's usually to my business. - Social media - My team completely runs my social media channels. I don't actually know what they do there...nor do I want to know. - Ads - We run google ads. We run Facebook ads. We run YouTube ads. We DON'T run tik-tok ads (we probably should...I'm just not hip enough yet). I never login to any of those platforms. - Free giveaways - we have multiple instructional documents we give away free to bring new leads in. I didn't write most of these documents. I didn't write the copy for the opt-in pages. I didn't create the opt-in pages. I didn't hook them up to my email provider (mail chimp). I did write some of the emails that go out. How is your OFS generating leads for you? John |
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit Luzon, with Abra, a province in Northern Luzon, as its epicenter, last Tuesday (July 26). This earthquake was so strong that the effects were felt all the way in Manila, which is 270 miles away. This has reminded a lot of people of the July 1990 earthquake. That was also in Luzon, and it was so destructive and deadly that it killed 2,000 people. As far as we know, there are 3 reported casualties, and dozens are injured. Many buildings are damaged, and some partially collapsed. Vigan, a UNESCO Heritage Site famous for its many historical landmarks, suffered much damage. Their electricity had to shut down temporarily, but it’s now back after they made sure that the power lines are safe to use. Most of the hospitals in the area have also re-opened after they were deemed safe. The local disaster council has been activated, so they’re now working to ensure the people affected are safe and provided for. People who live in the area were asked to brace for aftershocks. There’s no tsunami warning issued because Abra is a landlocked area, so they don’t have to worry about that. But the area is mountainous, so they’re watching out for landslides. Below is a list of other areas affected by this earthquake. If you have VAs in those places, you may want to check on them. Intensity VII – Vigan City Intensity V – Laoag City, Ilocos Norte; Peñablanca, Cagayan; Dagupan City, Pangasinan; Sinait, Ilocos Sur; Baguio City Intensity IV – Gonzaga, Cagayan; Baler, Aurora; Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya; Ramos, Tarlac; Ilagan, Isabela; Basista, Pangasinan; Claveria, Cagayan; San Jose, Palayan City and Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija; Madella, Quirino; Tabuk, Kalinga; Santiago City, Isabela Intensity III – Quezon City; Iba, Zambales; Navotas City, Malabon City, Metro Manila; Magalang & Guagua Pampanga; Bolinao, Sison & Infanta, Pangasinan; Bulakan, San Ildefonso, Guiguinto, Plaridel, and Malolos City, Bulacan; Tarlac City, Tarlac Intensity II – Dona Remedios Trinidad, Angat & Santa Maria, Bulacan; Tagaytay City, Cavite; Pasig City Metro Manila; Polillo, Gumaca & Infanta, Quezon Intensity I – Tanay, Taytay, Morong, Antipolo City, Rizal; Marilao,Bulacan; San Juan City, Las Pinas City, Metro Manila; Lucban, Quezon; Subic, Zambales; Mercedes,Camarines Norte; Olongapo City, Zambales; Carmona, Cavite If you want updates on this story, you can check it here: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1635407/quake-felt-in-metro-manila |
Security is one of the biggest concerns people have when working with an OFS. What if my OFS gets hacked? How secure is the internet in the Philippines? I understand these concerns. We often see it in the news and in movies about how hackers can steal your information. The thing is, most of the technology is the same. A bunch of my team use MacBook Airs. A bunch of my team have iPhones. Their Windows computer has the same security as your Windows computer. Routers are made by Cisco or Linksys or... the same companies who make your router. The biggest security vulnerability is actually you and your OFS. Humans are the weakest link in the data security chain. This vulnerability is so prevalent there’s a name for it: social engineering. Social Engineering is when an individual cons somebody into providing access to them even if they are not supposed to get that access. They can use tactics that either put people at ease or seem familiar or evoke fear and panic to their mark to achieve their goal of breaching security. Check this out. This week my team got an email from me: Except...I didn't send it. Someone was purposefully spoofing email as me. It's the second time it has happened. The first time it happened gmail didn't catch it. Fortunately there weren't serious consequences involved, but if there were this is a legitimate security concern. My team has been advised to make sure any email from me or my business partner are actually from us. Here are a couple things you can tell your team to increase security: 1. Think before you click. Don’t click unfamiliar links and attachments. When receiving links, check the URL by hovering on the link and seeing the actual URL at the bottom of your browser. If that does not work, do a right-click (or a 2-finger gesture tap), use the copy link option in the floating menu, and paste the copied URL to a note app. This will allow you to check the link's validity without opening it. 2. Check the sender of important emails by viewing the original or raw message. Do not ever provide personal information or passwords until you're 100% sure of the source. Companies will never ask for username/password. 3. Don’t download files you don’t know, especially if you are not expecting to receive any. 4. If you’re really worried about data security, you can also encrypt or password-protect your files. You can do this for Google Drive (https://support.google.com/docs/answer/10519333?hl=en) and One Drive (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/protect-a-document-with-a-password-05084cc3-300d-4c1a-8416-38d3e37d6826) I know a lot of people worry that the Philippines is less secure. It's not. They're not more likely to get hacked than you are. Their internet isn't less secure than yours is. Data security comes down to social engineering almost every time. John |
Everyone wants to hire experienced workers. I get it. An experienced OFS can get to work right away. They require less training and onboarding, giving you a faster investment return. ...in theory. But you know what? Some of the best people I've hired were newbies. They didn’t have any experience. They didn’t know how to do anything. But they were the most loyal, hard-working people who have done amazing things for my business. Take my project manager, Joven. I had to teach him everything when he first started. If I were just looking for experience back then, I wouldn’t have given him a chance. Now, he’s a rockstar and my number one worker. That’s why I like to keep an open mind when hiring. Yeah, newbies require a lot of training and handholding. But most businesses have a lot of tasks that require training in order to hand them off. You're going to have to train anyone. Until you've hired a team, consider hiring someone who is new and willing to be taught. Newbies are also cheaper than experienced workers. You’ll also get more applicants because there are more inexperienced workers out than experienced ones. Inexperienced Filipino workers are now more technically proficient than the ones I encountered ten years ago. I’ve also made training easier, so you don't have to worry even if you hire a newbie. Just go to VAsMadeEasy.com. You’ll love it because it’s less work for you. Your new hire will love it because they want the opportunity to learn on the job. If you're putting off hiring because you're worried about finding someone super experienced, maybe hiring someone less experienced will be easier for you. I've talked to a lot of employers who were glad their first hire was someone they could teach. John |
I have a friend who lives in Chile. The other day he sent me a photo of his kids: Everywhere else in the world it's HOT! (at least...it seems that way) Here are a few typical Filipino cold desserts according to Julia: Halo-halo.This beloved dessert is now known worldwide thanks to Jollibee and Filipino restaurants. But the mass-produced stuff still doesn’t compare to the cheap halo-halo you can get from neighborhood stalls. Stalls that are only open during summer afternoons and use authentic halo-halo ingredients. The neighborhood halo-halo stall is where you hang out with your friends to cool down. Image by: Elmer B. Domingo Sorbetes. You know the sorbetescart is coming when you hear the sorbetero(sorbetes vendor) call out his wares and ring his bell. Sorbetesis traditional Filipino ice cream made with coconut and/or carabao milk and sold in roaming carts. Each cart can hold 3-4 metal bins of ice cream, each a different flavor. Sorbetes usually comes in tropical flavors like mango, ube (sweet purple yam), avocado, pandan (Asian vanilla) or coconut. You can also find other flavors like strawberry (usually in Baguio), cheese (my favorite), and tablea(Philippine chocolate). You can have your ice cream on a sugar or wafer cone or as a sandwich . Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lainetrees/5693223587/ Iskrambol. Iskrambol or ice scramble is shaved banana-flavored frozen evaporated milk, topped with powdered milk, chocolate syrup, marshmallows, and candy sprinkles. This candy-colored Filipino version of a Slushy is a favorite among school kids. Image source: https://www.pinoyrecipe.net/ice-scramble-recipe-or-iskrambol/ Mais and Saging Con Hielo. Though not as fancy as halo-halo, mais con hielo (sweetcorn with shaved ice and evaporated milk) and saging con hielo (cooked, sweetened bananas with shaved ice and evaporated milk) are perennial favorites because of their simplicity. It’s not as sweet as halo-halo but just as comforting. Image source: https://www.foxyfolksy.com/plantain-bananas-in-syrup-minatamis-na-saging/ Ice Candy. If you’re craving something cold and sweet on a budget, you can go to your favorite sari-sari store to get ice candy. Ice candy is just frozen juice in a plastic bag. But sometimes, people add their twist to it by adding fruit bits or sweet beans. Samalamig. Before the world was introduced to boba drinks, we already had a version of it. Samalamigis a chilled drink commonly sold by street vendors. It comes in different fruit flavors and typically has chewables like nata de coco, tapioca pearls, gelatin, coconut meat, and sugar palm fruit at the bottom of the cup. It’s are refreshing drink and snack in one package! By Judgefloro - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61283444 -------------- My son is about to leave for the Philippines for 2 years to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. People have already told him about the Halo-halo and the Sorbetes. John |
What I'm about to say is totally optional for you. But it's also really good. I give my workers at Onlinejobs.ph additional pay for insurance premiums. I pay for their PhilHealth, health insurance, and SSS. Because I don’t have a business entity in the Philippines, I can’t pay for these benefits directly. I reimburse after they’ve made their payments. How do I know if they really paid for these benefits? Specifically for PhilHealth and SSS. Do they just tell me they’ve paid for it, and I just send them the money? Of course not. We reimburse them after they send in their receipts. As I mentioned, Filipinos are mostly honest and will be glad you're paying for these premiums. They'll be happy to get those receipts to you. If they send bogus receipts for those and ask you for the money, they are cheating themselves more. By not paying the premiums, they’ll miss out on the protection and benefits of government-mandated insurance. You can also ask for their transaction records if they didn’t keep the receipts. Filipinos can access their Philhealth (https://memberinquiry.philhealth.gov.ph/member/) and SSS (https://member.sss.gov.ph/) transaction history through their websites. It’ll show the record of their contributions, loans, etc. John PS. on my ride today I broke my bike saddle. We snobby people who ride bicycles seriously don't call it a "seat", we call it a "saddle". Mine is (was) all carbon. I got careless with where I leaned my bike and it fell. Carelessness...such a curse. |
You’re ready to hire another OFS for your team. Should you delegate that process to your OFS? That’s the question Corey asked in his email. John, Gotta confess - most of the time I can't stand people's weekly emails and usually unsubscribe. Your emails haven't met that fate yet! Honestly, I find them insightful and helpful. So I'm writing with a question I'd love you to address. What do you think about having your longtime, trusted Filipino VA hire someone else for you on Onlinejobs.ph? I originally hired my VA at your website YEARS ago. She's been fantastic and I like to think we have a great working relationship. Now, I need someone with a certain specialized skill set and thought of having her source this position. Good idea? Bad idea? Or somewhere in between? Thanks in advance for your guidance.Blessings,Corey I'd say YES...but it also depends. I understand wanting to delegate this process. It’s one less thing on your plate. If this new OFS is working with your current OFS, you’d want them to get along. The good thing about Corey’s situation is he already has a loyal VA. She knows Corey’s business and management style. She’s not going to take this task lightly. She’ll want to bring in someone she can work with and make the business better. What I've seen from my OFS over the years is that if they're hiring someone: 1. they want to make sure the person does a good job because the new person's work reflects on your current OFS 2. they're hesitant to recommend someone they aren't SURE is going to be good 3. they take responsibility with the new person. They work to solve problems. It’s good if: - The current OFS knows exactly what you need for that position and - They have a wide enough network to source this person from. This network can include OnlineJobs.ph. Ask your OFS if they're comfortable doing the hiring for you. For the final decision, if the person is working for me directly I make the final decision. I'll still interview. If the person is working directly for my current OFS, I let them make the final decision. If you don't have an OFS, the best solution would be to hire one yourself. I can teach you to find an OFS that will fit your business and your personality at OneVAAway.com John |
We have superstitions here in the US. - Don't walk past a black cat - The number 13 is bad luck (Friday the 13th, most high rise buildings don't have a 13th floor...) - Don't walk under a ladder There's more of this in the Philippines. Julia (my content OFS) writes: ------------ Even though a lot of us aren’t that superstitious anymore, it’s deeply rooted in our culture here in the Philippines. Take the greeting we use when we enter someone’s home, “Tao po”. When you enter a Filipino’s home, we use the traditional greeting “Tao po” as we’re knocking on the door. Tao po literally means, “I’m a person.” It’s a habit. We don’t really think much about it when we say it. But we use this greeting because of the pre-colonial pagan belief that elemental creatures walk among us. They play tricks like hiding your things or knocking on your door. Saying “Tao po” is reassuring the homeowner that we’re humans, not spirits. We also believe these elemental creatures live in large, old trees, rocks, and mounds of earth. So it’s considered good manners to say, “Tabi-tabi po” (excuse me) when you pass by places with them. Announcing your presence shows that you respect these creatures, so they stay out of your way. If you fail to do this, the creatures can curse you. Everybody has a story about how one of their family members got sick because they weren’t polite to the spirits, so being rude just to spite them isn’t worth it. I don’t believe this, but I still say “tabi tabi po” because I don’t want to risk it. Image from https://filmfreeway.com/TabiTabiPo Superstition is even a cottage industry in the Philippines. In front of a lot of churches, you’ll find fortune tellers and faith healers. You’ll see people selling folk medicine, talisman, and charms beside rosaries, candles, and religious statues. Some places even showcase these beliefs as part of their tourism campaigns. Obando, a municipality in Bulacan (21.7 km from Manila), is renowned for its Anitist fertility festival. Childless couples dance in a procession every May to honor Tagalog fertility gods and Catholic saints. It’s said that they will grant you a child if you offer chicken eggs to the church altar (for the saints) and dance with all your heart (for the deities). Image from https://mb.com.ph/2022/05/17/thousands-expected-to-join-fertility-dance-2022-in-obando-bulacan/ Mark, one of our developers, is from Siquijor. Siquijor is a magical island because of how prevalent witchcraft and traditional healing are. People flock there to get their fortunes told, for healing, or to hex people. The practice is so widespread you can even buy love potions and folk remedies as souvenirs! Lizards and tree barks are used to make potions. Image from: https://dumaguete.com/siquijor/witches-and-healers-in-siquijor/ ----------- When I lived in Brazil for 2 years as a missionary I remember some of their superstitions. - If you drink cold water when it's hot outside you'll get sick - A 2 liter bottle full of water on top of your homes power meter will lower your electricity bill |
When it comes to outsourcing your business (or yourself!) to the Philippines, there’s definitely a learning curve. Here are 6 ways you can guarantee failure for yourself : (Hint: Don’t do these things!) 1. Try To Hire Someone To Do Everything Here’s an example of an email I’ve gotten from business owners over the years. Hi John! I’m looking for someone to help me in by business. I need a VA who can build and design my website, create a database from my products, write a weekly newsletter and blogpost, make videos for social media and make product images for me. Is there someone like that on your website? So wait…you want a programmer, graphic designer, video editor, webmaster, fluent in English and likes to write, who can write sales copy, autoresponders, forum posts, ebooks, and reports. Haha! Yeah, right! Hire someone to do a specific task. Then train them to be able to do everything. 2. Hire A Project Manager Don’t try to hire a project manager first along with 6 others, and expect that “project manager” to manage those other 6 and get things done. They don’t know how. YES! They’re very capable of being project managers. But you're not going to turn everything over to someone right away. 3. Hire Someone And Ignore Them This is in line with #2. Someone isn't going to step in and run everything without significant help from you. You have to train people. You have to provide feedback. If you need help with training, we got you covered with VAsMadeEasy.com 4. Ask Someone To Do Work Before You Offer Them A Job This is my favorite. I get an email that says: Can you please tell me why I can’t successfully hire someone, they all keep disappearing. Here’s the email I send them: I want you to start by doing a trial task. Write 20 articles, submit them to article directories, do a bunch of directory submissions for me, build me a website and write all the content for it. Then, I’ll evaluate your work and see if it’s going to work out. Yeah, right! They’ll only do work AFTER they know they have a job working for you. If you are giving a test task, pay them for their time and effort. 5. Demand Immediate Results This is a long-term proposal here. I’ve been doing it for 17 years. You’re not going to see the same results in 17 days. Don’t expect it. 6. Search and Search and Search For The Right Person, Then Email Them Hey John, I searched for 3 days and I found the perfect candidate. They can do everything you said wasn’t possible back up in #1 on this blog post. Why won’t they respond to me? Why? Because they already have a job and they’re loyal to their current employer. Instead of trying to find the perfect person up front, try contacting 20 potential fits, see who responds, then sort through them. These aren’t hard things to avoid…you just have to know about them to avoid them. Now, hiring an Online Filipino Specialist will be much easier. See how easy it is to find the best person for your business at OneVAAway.com. John |
I’ve mentioned how Filipino homes are small, how they clean their homes, and how they use tsinelas. All these topics revolve around Filipino homes, and I just realized I haven’t talked about the actual houses yet. I will fix that today. The most iconic architectural style for homes in the Philippines is the bahay kubo. It’s a home made of natural materials like coconut lumber, plywood, bamboo, nipa (mangrove palm), and coconut leaves. It's often built on stilts for ventilation and prevent animals from going in the house. This style is usually found in rural and coastal areas. It’s easy and cheap to build and move. When I say move, I mean you can literally have people carry your house to move it to another location. If you need to move to be closer to other family members, avoid bad weather, or be closer to a water source and you're only moving a couple of blocks, it's sometimes easier to just move your entire house than build it from scratch. To move their homes, they'd ask their neighbors for help. It's a lot like asking your friends to help you move, but in this case, you're asking them to move your whole house. Another common style in the Philippines is the bahay na bato(stone house). This style became popular during the Spanish colonial era, so you'll see them in many heritage sites in the Philippines like Vigan, Intramuros, or Dapitan. It’s usually 2 stories high, the first floor built mainly from stone, and the 2nd floor could be built from hardwood. The second floor would often have wide windows that wrap around the whole house to allow as much light and ventilation as possible. To show off your wealth, the home can feature expensive and intricate details like ornate carvings on the banisters and capiz (a light, iridescent shell) on the windows. These homes were built mainly for the Spaniards and wealthier Filipinos. They often surround the town plaza where the church, schools, government offices, and businesses are often located. Both the "coconut house" and the "stone house"are suited to the tropical climate. They both have a lot of ventilation. The stone house can withstand typhoons, while the coconut houseis easy to rebuild when it does get damaged. That's why these styles still exist today. But the problem with both these house styles (which the Americans found out the hard way when they came to the Philippines) is the lack of indoor kitchens and plumbing. So when the Americans started building bases here, they introduced the tsalet(chalet) home. It's still built with ventilation in mind, but they also introduced concrete as a building material. Unlike the coconut and stone houses, the tsalethas indoor kitchens, plumbing, and parking. They started out as template houses for US soldiers and officers in US bases like Baguio and Pampanga. Below is a popular example, the Bell House in Baguio. It looks like a typical American house, right? But what differentiates the tsaletis it was specifically designed for mountainous tropical terrain. It's cooler in the mountains, but it can still get really hot and humid, especially during the summer. So the tsalet has a lot of windows for ventilation. Since they're in the mountains, they're also well insulated to keep the heat in. Some even have fireplaces! The Filipino builders and carpenters they hired to make these homes shared the knowledge, and tsalet became the standard after World War 2. Those are the older homes in the Philippines. The newer houses are more generic. Most city houses now are ramblers, townhouses, and condos made of concrete, steel, and glass. Cookie cutter homes or ultramodern styles that look like every other housing development. Similar to what you see in suburban USA...typically just smaller. Often they find ways to still integrate the old styles into modern homes. Like, if you have a yard, you can buy a miniature kubo where you can hang out or eat outdoors. John PS. Would you prefer this newsletter in a podcast? I record these as podcast episodes, often with more detail. /podcast/ |
Jonathan emailed me an interesting question that I think is relevant to everyone hiring OFS. It will give us some good insight into what banking is like in the Philippines. Hey - do you have a post on banking? One my OFS doesn’t have a bank account and says there isn’t a bank on their island. They primarily use PayPal. However, we process all of our payments through Gusto which aligns our accounting nicely, I’m not going to deviate from that. Do you have any articles that might be helpful? Thanks,Jonathan I asked one of my OFS, Jam, to answer this. He used to work for PayPal and is familiar with banking protocols. ------------ If the VA is living in a rural/agricultural area or a small island, the only bank available would likely be a small rural bank or a cooperative. Most small banks are not connected to the network with international banking access, which means the bank would not have a SWIFT code, making international bank transfers impossible. The advantage of using PayPal is it would also allow him to transfer funds from his PayPal account to GCash. GCash is like our Venmo. We can use it anywhere, and it can easily be converted to cash. Another reason why the OFS is asking for payments through PayPal is because Filipino workers have learned to mistrust employers who "pay" using direct bank transfers. It’s widely circulated among the VA and freelancing communities that some scammers will say that they will send a bank transfer to pay for work, and there was none. The scammers will then send a fake screenshot showing the alleged "bank transfer successful" receipt. As a result, many have recommended avoiding employers that "pay" using direct bank and wire transfers. Using PayPal protects the worker because they get to see if the transfer did go through. But looking at Gusto, it’s understandable that paying through PayPal would be difficult. I recommend asking the VA to create an online savings account instead. A BPI (Bank of the Philippine Islands) or CIMB (Commerce International Merchant Bankers) savings account can be created through the GCash app. They can also open an online UnionBank account. They don’t go to an actual bank to do this, and these banks have active SWIFT codes. ----------- Thanks Jam! This means basically anyone in the Philippines can get an online bank account connected to their GCash. Any payment system should work with these online bank accounts. We have people all over the country. Urban (in Manila) and super rural (no bank close by). We pay them all with EasyPay. John |
The best (and fastest) way to succeed with outsourcing is to get stuff off your plate and outsource the things you know how to do. That way, you know what to look for. You know what looks good and what looks terrible. If your OFS needs help, you know how to help them. But what about a job that you don't know how to do? Can your OFS do this for you, or should you hire another OFS? It depends. If: - it's a small task - there's training available for it (you can check VAsMadeEasy.com) - it's something your OFS has time to do, and they've shown interest. It might be better to give this task to your OFS. This is how I got my team to do things like social media, things I have no idea how to do. I check if there's someone on my team who would be interested. If so, and they have some experience, I get training for them. I read through the training, so I know what to expect. My OFS goes through the training and implements what they learned. I ask them to provide me with a summary of what they learned and what they will do. This way I have a pretty good idea if they understood the training and if what they're about to do is right for my business. There's a learning curve but I prefer doing it this way because I'm giving this new task to someone I already know and trust. It's easy for us to talk through the process. They're learning how to do this task by doing it, and I'm learning based on the feedback they're giving me. This is why we created VAsMadeEasy.com; I wanted training that could be instantly handed off to an OFS and they could summarize it for me and start implementing. I didn't want to have to sift out the pieces that were intended for the CEO (almost all trainings assume the business owner is the one taking the training). This process doesn't work for all tasks! So what about something that you can't have someone on your team do? What about hiring someone technical? How do I do this? The first thing I do is research. I ask someone I know who understands that thing to point me in the right direction. If I can, I'll ask two people. "Hey, I'm looking to get X done. What kinds of skills should I be looking for?" Once I have enough information, I start looking for qualified people at Onlinejobs.ph. It's amazing what looking through profiles will tell you about the qualifications you need for your job. Then I post a job with as good of a description as I can. I've even found it helpful to say in the job post "I don't really know how to do this so I'm looking for you to direct this project for me." When choosing who to hire, if you don't know how to tell how good someone is going to be, go with experience and pay. - More experience is almost always going to yield a better result for you. Ask how much experience they have with X thing. - More experience almost always means higher pay. Last, ask them how they'll solve your problem. Like, ask them for a plan. If you don't understand their plan, or don't like it, it's probably not a good fit. John |
Many of you have been asking how much I pay in benefits per year per person to my team. I did some back-of-the-napkin math, and here’s what it looks like. Your OFS can pay more to their SSS (since they are paying as voluntary members, not under a company). The bigger the premiums they pay, the more their benefits increase. Things like loans, maternity leave, and eventually, their pension. Some of my OFS pay their Pag-IBIG fund contributions. At Php 200 a month (less than USD 4), they can take a home loan from this government fund and withdraw their contributions with dividends after 20 years. A good rule of thumb is, if you want to contribute more, you can contribute a maximum of 13% of the salary to the SSS and a maximum of 4% for Pag-IBIG. The amount we pay for our OFS' health insurance would depend on the provider. Most of my OFS got ValueCare, and they gave us a $400 yearly quote. This was the one we ended with initially because it gave our team the most coverage for their locations. But depending on your team’s needs or budget, you can get less or more. The cheapest plan we saw was around $150/year, but they don't have a lot of coverage. You can compare plans using this site: https://mariahealth.ph/individual/ We pay their health insurance twice a year. We pay quarterly or monthly for the other benefits, depending on how often they send in their receipts. Our new-hire OFS do not get these right off the bat. We usually wait around 2-3 months after they've started. When we’re sure the person is a good fit, we start paying for benefits. If you want more details on these benefits: https://blog.onlinejobs.ph/how-to-compute-for-filipino-va-benefits PS. My oldest son started his missionary training recently. He's on zoom classes all day long for 2 weeks at home. Then he'll move to the Missionary Training Center in Provo. Then on to the Philippines. We won't see him for nearly 2 years. Not looking forward to that move! |
I hate FB...but you already know that. I've said it multiple times. I don't have it on my phone. I don't login to the website. I didn't see the news that blah blah blah... So how do we run so many FB ads? To be completely honest, I don’t know. I mean, I know in general how it’s done. I just don’t know how it’s posted. Or what website to go to. Or what buttons they push. I don’t need to know that because I have a fantastic OFS team to do that for me. Here’s our process. It starts with brainstorming. We look at what our marketing objectives are. I work with my team to come up with concepts. If I have an idea, I just record a bunch of videos and send them to the team. Sometimes they come up with ideas, and they send me a script. I tweak the script, shoot the videos and just send them to my team. Once my team gets the video: My video editor grabs them and edits them. Sometimes I give feedback when some parts don’t work. But for most cases, the videos come out great. Once he gets the green light for them, the videos are sent to the writer. My writer watches the videos and writes several titles and captions per video. After a grammar check, they’re sent to the FB ads manager. The FB ads manager tests the ad, schedules, and monitors them. The best-performing ads stay on. The worst of the bunch is deleted. My FB ads manager also monitors my social media for posts that do well. She boosts a post if she sees it getting a lot of views and engagement. That’s the simplified version. I want to point out that the ads are just part of an overall marketing strategy. The team tweaks the messaging depending on what part of the marketing funnel they’re working on. That’s how we create and run a lot of ads. I don’t need to know how to do it myself because I got a team of specialists to help me. Do you want your OFS to learn how to run FB ads for you too? We have training for that at VAsMadeEasy.com. John PS. How we train OFS isn't super different than how I'm teaching my little kids to ride mountain bikes. We ride a bunch of times. Then I pay other people to teach them. Here's my daughter learning to brake properly at a skills clinic last week. |
Just giving you guys a head’s up that Aug 29, 2022 (Monday) is a regular holiday in the Philippines. A "regular" holiday is like a bank holiday in the US. The holiday is National Heroes Day in the Philippines. It’s celebrated every last Monday of August and was enacted in 1931. The day was meant to commemorate the Cry of Pugad Lawin, the first revolt that kicked off the 1896 Philippine Revolution against the Spanish Empire. What is the Cry of Pugad Lawin? Here’s the story. Pugad Lawin (trans: Eagle’s Nest) is a place in Quezon City. It’s said that in August 1896, a group of Filipino revolutionaries (Katipuneros) gathered for a meeting to discuss starting a revolution against Spain. During the meeting, as a symbol of their defiance, the Katipunerostore up their cedulas(community tax certificates) and cried out "Viva la Independencia Filipina" (Long live the Philippines). This was a big thing because these cedulaswere essentially IDs, given by Spain as receipts when you pay your taxes. They refused to recognize Spain’s authority. Technically, this wasn’t the first time Filipinos revolted against Spain. But this was the first organized revolt with the clear goal of independence, not just reform. Born from the Cry of Pugad Lawin was the formation of an insurgent government, a constitution, and organized attacks against Spain from different parts of the Philippines. Why is it celebrated on the last Monday of August? Well, nobody remembers exactly when this happened. Those present gave conflicting accounts of when it happened. The only thing they agreed on was that it happened in August 1896. They just settled on the last Monday of August to make it easier. If you want updates on the latest Philippine holidays, subscribe to our holiday calendar: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=lcvk4qcjgj299mlqs7b02b7pmk%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=Asia%2FManila John |
I'm not a big movie guy. I'm also not a big superhero guy or superhero movie guy. I haven't seen the latest [insert any superhero movie name here] movie. But Julia (and most of the world it seems) is. So here are some Filipino superheros according to Julia my OFS: ---------------- I’m excited whenever a new superhero movie comes out. We’re big fans of superheroes here in the Philippines. Our love for superheroes started during the golden age of Philippine comics, which began in 1946. American GIs stationed here in the Philippines would share or leave behind comic books. We fell in love with superheroes so much that we started creating our own. Some were adapted from American superheroes. Some are uniquely Filipino. Below are just some of them. Darna. Darna is our biggest and most famous superhero. She’s so popular that she has several movies and TV shows that have been rebooted and played by several actresses. She looks like Wonder Woman and has similar powers like super strength and flight. But unlike Wonder Woman, she wasn’t born with superpowers. Darna is, in fact, Narda, an orphaned, disabled young woman. Because of her kindness and a strong sense of justice, the deities gifted her with a magic pebble. When she swallows this magic pebble and shouts out “Darna,” she transforms into a superhero. She shouts her name and spits out the rock to change into Narda. Image By "Darna Art Galleries." Mars Ravelo's Darna. Retrieved 2008-11-18., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20270854 Captain Barbell. Captain Barbell is inspired by Superman and Thor but has a similar backstory to Darna. A deity gives Tenteng (nickname for Vincent) a barbel or a medallion (depending on the movie/TV). He turns into a superhero when he shouts, “Captain Barbell.” Image By http://www.geocities.com/capsulezone/cap-barbell.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21204891 Panday. Panday (blacksmith) is one of the first superheroes we have that wasn’t inspired by an American superhero. Panday (alter ego, Flavio) is a blacksmith who gained power when he forged a sword from a magical meteorite. He doesn’t have superhuman abilities, but his sword can emit energy bolts and cut through anything, which is helpful because he usually fights demons and flesh-eating beasts. Image By Philippine Postal Corporation - From the phlpost.gov.ph website: Archived 2016-06-24 at the Wayback Machine, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=80529551 Pedro Penduko. Pedro Penduko is a lot like Spiderman because he’s young, easygoing, and quippy. Pedro started as a cowardly teen. But when he gains an amulet that turns into a magical sword, he’s forced to fight monsters that terrorize his hometown. My daughter is such a big fan of this one. Batang X. Batang X is like the X-Men if they were all kids. Instead of a kind mentor like Professor X, they were kidnapped by an evil alien (Dr. Axis). I loved this show growing up. It was so popular, McDonald’s helped produce it and gave out Batang-X comics (see below) as part of the Happy Meal. Trese. This is our most famous superhero, thanks to Netflix turning the graphic novel into a show. (Check it out! It’s terrific!) Alexandra Trese is a healer/warrior responsible for maintaining the peace between humans and elemental creatures. In the world of Trese, elemental creatures live among humans; we’re just unaware of it. The creatures have an uneasy truce for their survival. Alexandra’s family is responsible for investigating and delivering justice for creatures breaking this truce or harming humans. Image By Netflix/BASE Entertainment - NetflixGeeked Twitter, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67799777 And that’s just off the top of my head! Special mentions include Kumander Bawang (Commander Garlic, he fights vampires), Kapt. Pinoy (our version of Captain America), Pandakekoks (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, except they’re frogs), ZsaZsa Zaturnnah (LGBT Wonder Woman), Super Inday and the Golden Bibe (a goose gives young woman superpowers). ------------- For me, my wife is superhero enough. John |
Tropical storm Florita is the 6th typhoon that entered the Philippines this year. I'm letting you know about this storm because it’s really strong. It’s causing a lot of rainfall in most of Luzon, increasing the risk for landslides and flooding. In case you don't know Philippines geography (I'm still learning) Luzon is the big island in the Philippines. Manila, Quezon City, Caloocan, Makati, and a lot of other big cities are on Luzon. Most of them are having flooding. Source: https://www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/tropical-cyclone/severe-weather-bulletin/1 It’s so strong that the Philippine government canceled work and classes along the storm's path. They also issued a storm warning, banning passenger boats and fishing vessels from going to sea. If you have OFS in Luzon, you may want to check on them. If you have OFS in Visayas or Mindanao, they should be okay. John |
I started using Basecamp to manage projects in like 2005. It was just me. I didn't have anyone working for me. It was my organization and task list. Things to get done soon and ideas for later. Since then I've gotten super comfortable with how project management software fits in our work flow. Are you new to project management and want an example of how someone else does it? If you’ve never done project management, it’s best to keep it simple. To start, all you need to do is ask yourself the following questions: What’s the project, and what’s the end goal for this project? Who are the people that I need to get this project done? What are the different steps that need to be done to complete the project? All project management software revolves around these three questions. The rest are just details. Most project management software will ask you for the project name and details. That’s what the first question is going to answer. The next step in creating a project usually involves adding the right people for the project. That’s why you need to answer question #2. Question # 3 is where you start thinking about the tasks. I don’t usually put in the tasks right away. Sometimes I brainstorm with my team first on what these tasks should be. Once we know what they are, they often automatically assign these tasks to themselves. Sometimes, I know exactly what I want them to do. So I just create the task, assign it to the right person (or persons), then talk about the details in the comments thread. That’s all you need to get started. You can start adding details as you get used to it, like deadlines, files, milestones, etc. This is how we implement with Basecamp: https://youtu.be/co6y4GF0SlY John |
One of the things I regularly outsource to my OFS is writing. It’s not that I can’t write. It's that I hate it. And it's super time consuming. When I started my online business, one of the things I did was regularly write articles and submit them to article directories. I wrote blog posts, landing pages, sales pages, and squeeze pages. It wore me out mentally and physically (so weird that typing can wear you out physically...) So naturally, it was one of the first things I outsourced. Immediately I was so relieved. I didn't have to force myself to write anymore. It gave me time to go into detail on topics I wanted to cover, but which I didn't have time or mental energy for (an example of this is the long blog post I wrote about mindless work). Removing the pressure to write made writing more enjoyable and less of a chore. Because I'm not bound to it anymore, I can step back to look at our marketing overall and not just the content creation side of things. Win Win. Even if you're the type of person who enjoys creating content for your business, you can still benefit from having an OFS for content creation. Having a creative person on your team gives you another person to bounce ideas with. Somebody to help you flesh out ideas if you're stuck. They can work on topics that you don't have the time for or you're not interested in. They can contribute their ideas to a certain topic. They can contribute new ideas. The next step for me was to make sure the content we create is really good, and I have to admit, it took a while for us to get there. One of the things I often had to work on with my OFS is getting them to write like me. Filipinos tend to be more formal, and I’m more conversational. I made them read a lot of the stuff I wrote. I also send a lot of feedback videos. This email that you're reading right now went through several feedback videos just to get it right. (hint: I didn't write this). Another issue we encounter at times is when Filipino mannerisms and idioms get into their writing. I've had them eliminate phrases from their writing like "to avail" or "if ever"...phrases which make sense, but which don't sound natural to me. If I don't understand it, I have them rewrite everything. It usually comes back better when I point out that I didn't understand it. When I saw myself doing a lot of proofreading and editing, I delegated that to someone else. I got them a Grammarly account to help with the proofreading. I implemented a system where two pairs of eyes have to go through the content before it gets to me. So when the content gets to me, all I need to do is approve it or give feedback. That’s exactly how things work with my newsletter right now. Sometimes I write the emails. Or I give Jamie (my OFS) a few ideas and she’ll write the emails. Sometimes the ideas come from her. All the email drafts go through editing and QA before she makes a draft on Mailchimp. Once they’re there, I go through them and schedule the ones I like. I email her if there are drafts that are lacking or don’t feel right. The fact that she’s doing most of the work for me is why we can send out emails four times a week. Want to know how I find great writers? Go to OneVAAway.com John |
I mentioned briefly about paying attention to the exchange rate when I talked about inflation a few weeks back. When I first started outsourcing to the Philippines in 2005, I had no idea what the exchange rate was. I just paid this agency $750/month and I had a full-time person working for me (Joven). When Joven left the agency and came to work for me, I paid him $500/month, which was double what the agency was paying him. Win-win. Then, a couple years in Joven emailed me and said: "Sir, I don't know if you know this or not but the Peso is at Php 38 to 1 USD. When you started paying us it was at 50. We've had a 20% pay cut because the dollar is struggling." I had no idea and I felt terrible! They were struggling financially because of the US economy crash of 2007. I started paying them more to make up for the difference. I also started paying attention to the exchange rate. Global inflation has made the exchange rate more volatile over the past 2 years. Before the pandemic, the Philippine peso to US dollar exchange rate was between Php 50 to Php 52 to 1.00 USD. Now, it fluctuates between 47 to 56 pesos per dollar. That difference of 2 or 9 pesos is nothing for us. Nine pesos is roughly worth 20 cents. You can’t buy anything for 20 cents. But in the Philippines, a dollar that costs 47 pesos and a dollar that costs 56 pesos is a big deal. Let’s say you have an OFS, and you’re paying that person $600. Let’s convert that using the lowest exchange rate between the Philippine peso and the USD in the past 5 years: Php 47 to 1.00 USD. At that rate, their take-home pay comes out at Php 28,200. Now let’s convert that $600 USD using the highest exchange rate so far (Php56 to 1.00 USD), which comes out to Php 33,600. Php 28,200 vs Php 33,600. That’s a difference of Php 5,400, worth around $100. That’s 1/6th of their income. That’s $100 that could have gone to pay for this month’s internet, water bill, or groceries. Some employers get around this by paying in pesos instead of dollars. The problem with this approach is that you really have to pay attention to the exchange rate. What I do is just monitor for big changes in the exchange rate. If there’s a really sharp dip, that’s when I send a little more. My team tells me they also monitor the exchange rate to get the most out of every dollar. Like, for the past few weeks, the dollar has been really strong, so my team is actually getting more even though I’m not paying them more. As I write this, USD is at 56 Php. But if or when the Philippine peso strengthens in value, that situation could change. Look, I'm not saying you need to look at this every day. It's just something to be aware of. You can always see the exchange rate by searching "USD in PHP". John |
Here’s a quick lesson on Philippine Geography to make it easier for you to identify what part of the country your OFS is located in. The Philippines is subdivided into 17 political regions, Regions 1 to 13, plus four regions that don’t have numbers in their name. Region 1 is in the northmost part of the country; then it goes down to 13, which is in the southmost part. These regions are distributed among the 3 island groups: Luzon (north), Visayas (center), and Mindanao (south). You can tell what part of the country a region is based on the number. Regions 1 to 5 are in Luzon, the biggest island group in the northern part of the Philippines. Also, in Luzon are 3 of the 4 regions that don’t have a number to their name: the MIMAROPA region, the National Capital Region (also called Metro Manila), and the Cordillera Administrative Region. Regions 6 (Western Visayas), 7 (Central Visayas), and 8 (Eastern Visayas) belong to the Visayas, the smallest island group in the middle of the country. Regions 9 to 13 belong to Mindanao in the south. Also included is the only other region that doesn’t have a number in its name: BARMM or the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Why do you need to know the different island groups? So you know whether your OFS is affected by a natural disaster. I talked about a major earthquake in Northern Luzon a few weeks ago. It made national and international news because of how strong it was. But because it happened in Luzon, my OFS living in Visayas and Mindanao were unaffected by it. I didn’t have to worry about my entire team, just those living in Luzon. Learning about the culture also helps when working with an OFS. I talk about Philippine work culture in detail in my book, The Outsourcing Lever. John |
"My Filipino worker just disappeared!" I've heard this quite a few times from other business owners, especially those just starting out. This usually happens in these 3 situations: 1. You just hired a new person, gave them their first task, and then they tell you they have to resign. 2. You’ve had someone working for you for a bit; they’ve done great work, then suddenly you don’t hear from them for a week. 3. You’ve had someone working for you for years, and they stop responding to your emails and don’t email you for a month. In over 90% of the cases I’ve seen, the cause is that the person is embarrassed that they don’t know how to do whatever you’ve asked them to do. They either don’t know how to solve something, don’t understand something, or can’t figure something out. The natural Filipino reaction is to shy away from it because they don’t want to disappoint you. Unless you want to lose an employee (or lose months of productivity like what happened to me a couple of times), you need to do a few things. You need to provide training. On-the-job training is ingrained in Filipino work culture. You can create the training or use the ones we have at VAsMadeEasy.com. Email them and tell them you know they have a problem. Tell them that you’d like to know what the problem is so you can help them solve it. The first step will literally save you thousands of dollars and countless headaches. Numbers 2 and 3 will help you gain their trust. When they’re confident about their skills and know they can trust you, they’ll run out of reasons to disappear. Usually this is when someone starts to go above and beyond what you've asked them to do. John PS. Meet Milo: He's 19 and running a web design agency. He just got back to the US after living in American Samoa for 8 months because he saw a business growth opportunity. It worked. On his way home, he flew through Salt Lake City, so we met up for a hike. The kid is a rock star. |
When I hired my first full-time Filipino worker, it scared me a little, not going to lie. Can I afford this? Can they actually do good work for me? Can I keep them busy full-time? How will I create tasks for them to do? How will I have the time to train them? I'm responsible for paying this person...what if I can't? Eventually, I took the leap because I realized I couldn't just keep working the way I was. To grow, I had to do something different. After a couple of years, I finally realized something: Hiring someone full-time forced me to think. I had to look at my process. Which ones have value? What tasks waste our time? What can I have him do to grow the business? It wasn’t an automatic process. It took me a while to figure out what tasks were worth our time. But the good thing about having a full-time Filipino worker on your team is that they can do so many things. Once you figure out the tasks and processes you need for your business, you can just outsource those to them immediately. Want to know what other employers are outsourcing to their OFS? I asked employers around the world what their OFS do for them. We came up with 221 tasks. OFSTasks.com It’s completely free. John PS. Despite the brutally hot summer, I'm still out riding bikes with my wife. It's something we love. I feel rejuvenated after riding so I can be effective at work. |
You found an Online Filipino Specialist who’s really good. You like their work. You’re getting along great. You’re just about to hire them when they tell you, “By the way, I have another job. Is that okay?” It's not ideal, but sometimes hiring someone already working may be your only choice. This usually happens when: Situation #1: You’re hiring a technical specialist, and your options are very limited. Situation #2: You just need someone part-time, but that OFS needs a full-time salary to support themselves. First and foremost, the fact that they’re honest about their situation is a good thing. This shows that they don’t want to lie to you. They don’t want to be hired under false pretenses. They know that you may not like the situation, giving you a chance to walk away. If you still decide to hire an OFS who’s already working for someone else, here’s how you can make this situation work. If you’re in situation #1, it’s going to be hard to expect them to go above and beyond for your business if they’re also working for someone else. The best you can get is that they meet your expectations. They'll likely still be very good; just be aware their first priority is their full-time employer. You and your OFS have to negotiate and agree on things like: - How many hours a week should they be working for you? - What’s the expected output? - How quickly can you expect them to respond to your messages or feedback? Situation #2 is a little trickier. Nobody can survive on a part-time salary. Expect them to need a full-time job. If you’re hiring part-time because you want someone who’s super experienced and can’t afford their rates, there is another option. You can try hiring someone inexperienced and give them the job full-time. If you’re worried about giving them training, we have you covered on that (VAsMadeEasy.com). Some of the best people on my team started out as newbies. If you give them a chance, they just might surprise you. If something isn't working, the first thing to do is ask them. Say something about their productivity and ask why. Often people think they have time to take on a second job only to find out it's more demanding than they thought. John |
We all have little things in our house to make it homey and comfortable. It can be pictures on the wall or a nice comfy rug. In the Philippines, one of those things is the banig. The banig is a traditional handwoven mat. It’s usually made from dried palm leaves or reeds dyed in a variety of colors. These reeds are then woven into plain or intricate geometric patterns. In past times, the banig was used mainly as a sitting and sleeping mat. Like in other Asian countries, pre-colonial Philippines homes didn’t have chairs or mattresses. When they were eating, doing chores or resting at home, they sat on a banig on the floor. Before they go to bed, they would roll out the banig they use for sleeping. But even after most Filipinos stopped using the banig for its intended purpose, they keep finding ways to bring it back. Nowadays, you’ll see the banig used mainly as carpets, wall decoration, room dividers or picnic blankets. You’ll see a lot of banig in handicrafts like bags or decorative boxes. Below, you’ll see it being used as a headboard and focal point for a bedroom. Even though most Filipinos use mattresses, you’ll still see some of them getting a banig and using it as a sleeping mat. They say it’s because a banig stays cool, even on hot, tropical nights. Julia, my OFS, tells me that when they go camping on the beach, they’d bring a banig and put it over the sleeping bag because it’s more comfortable. Some use the banig as a mattress liner. You can even buy a mattress lined with banig if you don’t want the inconvenience of adjusting the banig when putting on a bedsheet. John |
The Philippine government just released the official list of holidays for 2023, so we just updated the Philippine Holiday Calendar to include them. If you haven’t subscribed to that calendar yet, you’ll see them below: For PC: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/1?cid=bGN2azRxY2pnajI5OW1scXM3YjAyYjdwbWtAZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ For Mac: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/lcvk4qcjgj299mlqs7b02b7pmk%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics Regular Holidays January 1 (Sunday) – New Year’s Day April 9 (Sunday) – Araw ng Kagitingan April 6 – Maundy Thursday April 7 – Good Friday * April 22 (Saturday) - Eid'l Fitr * * June 29 (Thursday) - Eid'l Adha * May 1 (Monday) – Labor Day June 12 (Monday) – Independence Day August 28 (last Monday of August) – National Heroes Day November 30 (Thursday) – Bonifacio Day December 25 (Monday) – Christmas Day December 30 (Saturday) – Rizal Day Special Non-Working Days February 25 (Saturday) – EDSA People Power Revolution Anniversary April 8 – Black Saturday August 21 (Monday) – Ninoy Aquino Day November 1 (Wednesday) – All Saints' Day November 2 (Thursday) - All Souls' Day December 8 (Friday) – Feast of the Immaculate Concepcion of Mary December 31 (Sunday) - Last Day of the Year Looking at the 2023 calendar, you’ll notice a couple of changes. Change #1: No more special working holidays. Now, it’s just two types of holidays: regular and special holidays. The difference between regular and special only matters if you have a legal entity in the Philippines because there’s a pay difference if they work during the holidays. If you want to offer paid time off during these days, you can choose to offer it only for regular holidays or both. Offering both would be nice, especially for families, because special holidays are also school holidays. This will let them spend more time with their kids. Change #2: Inclusion of Eid'l Fitr and Eid'l Adha Eid'l Fitr and Eid'l Adha are Islamic holidays (the dates with the asterisks) considered regular holidays under Philippine law. If you check the official list sent out by the Philippine government (https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/nationwide-holidays/2023/) those holidays are not included because they have to wait for declarations from Islamic officials. The dates are usually declared just 2-3 days ahead. It’s really short notice. There are approximate dates for when these holidays would be. So instead of waiting for the declaration, we included those dates in the calendar and just modify them once the official dates are announced. When I saw the list of holidays above I thought "that's a lot!" so I looked up the number of US holidays in 2022. There are more US holidays than "Regular Holidays" in the Philippines (13US vs 12 Philippine)! But when you add in the "Special Non Working Days" the Philippines has more. At OnlineJobs.ph we also give Dec 26-30 off...but that's mostly because I don't want to work those days. John PS. My daughters are now into their mountain bike racing season. Race 2 just happened. It was hot (95 degrees at 6500 feet) and hard. Taking second place (both of them) made up for the struggle. Here's Addie at the finish line: |
School’s back. For some, it's the first time in 2 years. For others, it's back after summer vacation again. It’s the same in the Philippines. Their kids are going back to school. They haven't been in person for 2 years and they're in the back-to-school shopping rush. Only this time it's worse. Julia shares what back-to-school shopping is like in the Philippines. ------ I’m one of those parents who enjoy back-to-school shopping because I love shopping for school supplies. But even I can acknowledge that it can be exhausting and frustrating. If you want to get the best supplies at a good price, you have to do your research, make price comparisons, and shop early to beat the rush. I think the excitement of going back to school is getting to everybody because everybody was shopping early this year. These past few weeks, all the malls and bookstores were full of people. School supplies were running out of stock. My husband and I went to 3 different stores just for index cards. Index cards!!! I barely used index cards when I was a student. But for some reason, it’s now the hottest stationery of the year! Because of the pandemic, some school supplies were harder to get now than before, not just index cards. I think it’s partly due to the global supply chain issue and partly because more people had to buy new school supplies than ever before. School supplies can be expensive. If there’s anything that can be reused, we’ll reuse it. Many of us would carefully unwind ring notebooks so we could gather the unused pages to make new ones. We would share extra or unused school supplies and books with friends and family. That way, we don’t need to buy new supplies every year. During the pandemic, we didn’t have to buy school supplies, but many of us did use up whatever we had in stock. So when they announced that face-to-face classes were back, we needed to buy more. A big example of this would be school uniforms. Here in the Philippines, all students wear uniforms regardless of whether they attend public or private school. Pre-pandemic, we find ways to make our school uniforms last. We usually buy or have a seamstress make the uniform a little bigger so the uniform can last for at least two years. And when our kids outgrow their uniforms, it can be passed on to younger siblings/relatives/friends. But now, the kids have all outgrown their uniforms. We’re all in a rush to buy uniforms or fabric. There’s a shortage of uniform material and a long waiting list (at least 4 weeks) if you want a tailor-made uniform. Despite all that, I am happy that the kids are going back to school. They need social interaction. ------------ Our kids were in person at school last year, so this was back to school after summer for us. Only, we pulled them out of school 10 days early so we could go ride our bikes across Europe. It felt like the longest summer ever. Still not as long as 2 years of at home school like the Philippines. John |
When hiring an Online Filipino Specialist, there’s a big chance you’ve had applicants from Manila. If you know any Filipinos, it’s also likely that they’re from Manila as well. Is Manila that big? Why do so many Filipinos live there? First, let me correct some misconceptions about Manila. Manila isn’t a mega city. The actual city of Manila is just about 17 square miles. When people say they’re from Manila, most refer to Metro Manila (also called National Capital Region). Metro Manila is made up of 16 cities, including the city of Manila, Quezon City, Pasig City, Mandaluyong City, Caloocan City, etc. All of those cities combined cover an area of 239.22 sq miles, just slightly smaller than Tucson, Arizona. The total population of Metro Manila is about 14.4 million people, that's 13% of the entire Philippine population. All these cities are highly urbanized. This is where you’ll find their government head offices, most popular universities, and multinational corporations. Despite that, Metro Manila isn’t a big place. Just to give you some context of how small Metro Manila is, here’s a map of the Philippines. That tiny red spot there is Metro Manila. Because most schools and jobs are in Metro Manila, many Filipinos live or commute there. It’s the 2nd most densely populated region in the country and the 5th most densely populated place in the world. Living there is expensive and crowded, but people go there because Manila offers so many opportunities. 36% of the country’s GDP comes from Metro Manila. If you’re looking for work, to many, Metro Manila is the place to go. Metro Manila is a great place but has its share of problems. Traffic, urban poverty, and lack of affordable housing are just some of the reasons why many Filipinos would rather go back to the provinces if there are opportunities available there. For decades, the Philippine government has been developing cities far and away from Metro Manila to entice people to move back home. They created economic zones to encourage companies to invest outside of Manila. They set up the infrastructure and enticed companies with lower labor costs and less competition for talent. This is one of the reasons why you’ll find call centers all over the Philippines now instead of being concentrated in Manila. I’m proud that online work has also played a role in this. When we did a series where we interviewed Filipino workers, most of them credited Onlinejobs.ph for helping them move back home. I have people on my team who moved away from Manila as soon as they found online work. The Philippine government has even contacted me a few times to talk about this. They told me how Onlinejobs.ph has helped small towns grow by encouraging people to stay in their communities and spend their income there. The people are clamoring for and getting better internet because they want to work from home. Ultimately, I’m saying that when you’re hiring, keep an open mind. You don’t have to limit yourself to Metro Manila. There’s talent all over the country. Their internet and electricity infrastructure has improved dramatically over the years. There is an OFS out there who’s right for you. John |
In my newsletter, I post regular updates on typhoons and earthquakes in the Philippines. Some of you might be worried if outsourcing to the Philippines is worth it, given that they go through 30-something typhoons, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes every year. Yes! It's definitely worth it. Once you find the right Online Filipino Specialist (OFS), it’s going to change your life and your business. How can you improve your situation in case of a disaster? 1. Insist on workers having laptops and/or portable hard drives. A laptop is easier to carry and save than a desktop in an emergency. But if your OFS uses a desktop (most developers and designers would probably use a desktop for work), then insist that they have portable hard drives where they can back up their work regularly. A portable hard drive is cheap (about $40 for a 1TB capacity); it's something you can provide for them. It's super easy to grab and carry in case of emergency. 2. Invest in cloud storage. Another way to ensure that none of your OFS’ work gets lost in natural disasters is to invest in cloud storage. This makes it easier for them to return to work or pass them on to someone else if needed. In our case, we save our work in Google Drive. Actually, we do most of our work on Google Drive. Writing happens there, spreadsheets happen there, and files get stored there. 3. Get their emergency contacts to ensure continued communication. Ask your OFS for emergency contacts that you can call if they’ve been affected by a natural disaster. Ideally, this should be a relative or friend that doesn’t live in the same place but has the resources to find or contact them. Get phone number and email. 4. Set up a small emergency fund. If your OFS pays their SSS (they should), they can take out a calamity loan to help recover. But that can take time, especially if everybody in their area is also getting a loan. You can help your OFS by setting up a small emergency fund they can borrow from to help them get back on their feet faster. The size of this fund depends on your means. A couple hundred dollars is usually sufficient. We've done this dozens of times for people and have never had a problem getting paid back. If you haven’t hired an OFS yet (check out my hiring process at OneVAAway.com). You can consider hiring from places in the Philippines that are less affected by natural disasters. Western Visayas and Mindanao are the places least affected by typhoons. The province of Palawan in MIMAROPA, Cavite in Region 4, Isabela in Region 2, Cebu in Region 6, and Bohol in Region 7 don’t have any active fault lines, making them less likely to experience earthquakes. To know where these places are, check out my newsletter on the basics of Philippine geography. A last word of advice. I say to hire from specific regions as an option. I've never done it. It's not that simple (we don't have a geography filter at OnlineJobs.ph). More important is to hire the right person, wherever they're from, and start working together. A natural disaster may only affect them once every 5 years. And...Filipinos are really good at recovering. John PS. Where I live, the only likely natural disaster is an earthquake. We expect a really big one at some point. We have a lot of food stored for this emergency. |
When I first started outsourcing to the Philippines, their internet wasn’t really good. Like, 256Kbps wasn't uncommon. That's "K" - Kilobits. Not "M" - Megabits. 5Mbps was really fast! For years, the Philippines had the dubious reputation of having the slowest internet service in Southeast Asia. Fast forward to now, and their internet has gotten so much better. It’s so good that I didn't notice that they used mobile data when working until they told me about it. Case in point, my OFS, Jam, sent me a picture of his work set-up. He’s currently working in a school parking lot. He drives his daughter and a couple of other kids to a school far from home. Rather than drive back home to work, he set up a workstation at the back of his car. He’s using mobile data for internet. I initially thought that this was an isolated case. Maybe Jam was just working in a place where the internet was really good. But then I started asking around. I found out that even my developers sometimes use mobile data because it’s gotten to the point where it’s good enough that they can use it for work. I know this doesn’t apply to the entire country, nor would this work for all jobs. The internet in rural areas with underdeveloped infrastructure still isn’t enough. Mobile data isn’t as fast or stable as a fiber connection. My video editor/graphic designer rarely uses mobile data because he usually handles big files. He’s always uploading or downloading something, so mobile data is never enough for him. But the trend is really good. The country’s mobile internet median download speed is now at 21.41 Mbps, and its broadband median download speed is now at 68.94 Mbps. We see improvements in internet speed every few months. Musk’s Starlink was also approved to operate in the Philippines this year, so even the most isolated places in the Philippines are expected to have an internet connection soon. The fact that several people in my team can work anywhere means that YOU can hire anywhere. You don’t need to worry whether or not their internet can handle the work. Their internet can handle it. Just focus on finding the best Online Filipino Specialist for your business. Finding the best OFS for your business doesn’t have to be painful or tedious. I’ll walk you through my easy and painless process at OneVAAway.com. Want to know what tasks an Online Filipino Specialist can do for your business? Go to OFSTasks.com. John |
Let me preface this by saying I am not an accountant or a tax attorney. I’m simply sharing how we’ve been dealing with taxes and our OFS for years. This is how 5 different accountants have dealt with it for us. Also, my OFS Jamie is not an accountant. What she shared about taxes is based on her experience paying taxes as an online Filipino worker. YOU SHOULD NOT LISTEN TO WHAT I'M ABOUT TO SAY. Don't take it as legal or financial advice! I got an email from someone recently saying they have two concerns about hiring an OFS (Online Filipino Specialist). One is the taxes. They think hiring an OFS means they’d have to pay taxes because I call my OFS team my employees and offer them benefits. Their second concern was whether the OFS is an employee or an independent contractor. Even though I call my team in the Philippines my employees, they are independent contractors. I don’t pay their taxes. These are the only things I need to do tax-wise with my OFS: 1. I have them fill out a W-8 BEN and 2. declare them in my 1120S. *2021, The IRS updated the W-8 BEN form. I've explored this. I've talked to accountants. I've talked to attorneys. I can't figure any way you could consider an OFS an employee by normal "employee" standards. You can't give them a w2. They don't have a US tax ID number. You can't even give them a 1099. Having said that, DON'T LISTEN TO WHAT I SAY! Consult your attorney and accountant! On the Philippine side of things, I asked Jamie about this because she’s been paying taxes as an online worker for years. When she registered as a taxpayer, I remember she asked for a day off because she spent hours in lines just to get her paperwork filed. They (your OFS) are registered as independent contractors when paying their taxes. They pay a local tax (~1% gross) yearly and national taxes quarterly (~8% over Php25,000). From what Jamie tells me, they can do most of the filing and payment online. John PS. don't over complicate this. |
JANUARY 2023 UPDATE: We have updated this to reflect the slight increase in the monthly contributions as issued by the SSS Every time I mention SSS I get tons of questions. Here we go. First, this is completely optional. You don’t have to pay for it. But if you can afford to, it’s a nice thing you can do for your OFS. - SSS stands for Social Security System. It's a state-run social insurance program where non-government Filipino workers are expected to contribute. - Businesses with legal entities in the Philippines must contribute to the SSS. If you don’t have a legal entity in the Philippines, paying your Filipino’s SSS premiums is optional. - If you want to give your OFS a benefit and can only afford to give one, I strongly recommend SSS. It’s one of those benefits that can help your OFS in so many ways for a long time. - When they sign up for SSS, they also get a government-issued ID called UMID (universal multi-purpose ID). My team tells me it's one of the few IDs recognized everywhere. Having a UMID would make it easier to open a bank account, verify their identity online, get a credit card, passport, or driver's license, etc. - When your OFS pays into it, it creates a pension fund they can use when they retire. This is also where they can get maternity, disability, and calamity benefits. (more on these in another email) - SSS is also a way for Filipinos to take out easy loans. Most Filipinos take out an SSS loan first to establish credit. This SSS credit record is something that they can show to banks if they want to open a credit card or take out a bigger loan. - Because you don't have a business in the Philippines, you can't pay directly to SSS. Your OFS must pay it themselves. When they do, they declare their contributions as “Voluntary” because it's not associated with a Philippines business entity. - So, how much do SSS premiums cost? The premiums should be about 14% of their salary, but they can't be more than Php4200 (~ USD $76) per month. To make this simple, multiply your OFS monthly salary times 0.14. That's their contribution amount. If your OFS makes more than $543/month, they should make the maximum contribution of $76/month. (14% of $543 is $76, and $76 is the max they're allowed to contribute each month) - You can pay for the entire contribution or just a portion. For Philippine companies, the standard practice is to pay for two-thirds of the contribution, and the worker pays a third. That means you would pay the worker an extra $51/month for SSS. They would pay $25 out of pocket for SSS. Total = $76. - They take the money you give them and pay it to their SSS account. Since this is voluntary, they can pay monthly, quarterly, or annually. At our company, we just add it to their monthly salary. We ask them for a receipt when they've paid it, so we know where the money is going. Another option is to ask for a screenshot of the member's data record, they'll find this in the SSS member's portal. - The amount they contribute determines the amount of benefits they're eligible for. The bigger the contributions, the more money they'll get for things like their maternity benefit, disability benefits, or pension. - They can keep track of their contributions, apply for benefits and get loans through the SSS member portal or through the SSS mobile app. - We have instructions for how your OFS pays their SSS. We provide this to them in their account on OnlineJobs.ph John PS. More info coming on other potential benefits in future emails |
I get asked this question a lot. Recently, I got an email from Karen and I wanted to share my response for people who have the same question. My business partner is concerned about hiring an OFS directly instead of using an agency out of concerns that this is going to be classification as employee vs independent contractor. Is there a service that we can use as the main employer instead of hiring someone as an employee? We don't offer this service, but here's what I can tell you. The Philippines doesn't have a treaty with the US to make this person an employee. I've talked with probably 5 different accountants about this over the years. Not one of them has found a case for making them an employee. I've had hundreds (thousands?) of customers come to me with this question. Not one of them has ever returned to me saying "here...look at this...it makes them an employee." There's just no way to consider this person an employee causing US employee requirements. What would you do with them? Submit a W2? You can't even submit a 1099 for them. They don't have any US tax ID numbers. THEY ARE INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS! I cover this at www.OnlineJobs.ph/taxes. Now, on the Philippine side, you can’t make a person an employee unless you have a legal entity in the Philippines. This means your business has to be registered in the Philippines for you to hire an employee. Your business isn't registered in the Philippines so they HAVE TO BE CONSIDERED INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS. They pay taxes as independent contractors, which means they don’t need to declare an employer when they file. Even if you offer them benefits like SSS or Philhealth, their contributions would be considered voluntary. They can’t be employee contributions because you must be a registered business in the Philippines to be considered an employer. If you've been putting off hiring someone because you were worried about them being an employee, now you know the real situation. Get started hiring at www.OneVAAway.com. John |
The 13th month payment is coming up in December. Below are some of the most frequently asked questions. Is the 13th month required? For you, it is optional. You don’t have to give this. BUT it’s best if you do because it’s a really effective motivator for Filipino workers. It encourages loyalty. Filipinos are more likely to stay with businesses that offer 13th month because it tells them that the business is stable and they care for their workers. Plus, Filipinos often depend on the 13th month. They'll use it for planned large expenses, home repairs, and to buy gifts for family for the holidays. For companies with a registered business in the Philippines, the 13th month is not optional. When is the best time to pay the 13th month? The 13th month is to be paid in December. The earlier in the month, the better. Are the 13th month and the Christmas bonus the same thing? No, the 13th month is NOT considered a Christmas bonus. It’s just part of their annual salary (they budget for it). If you want to give a Christmas bonus, that’s separate and always very much appreciated. How do you compute for the 13th month? It's 1 months salary as extra pay. If they didn't work for you the whole year, add up the total amount you paid them through the year and divide by 12. “I hired my VA in September and she just finished her training period. Do I start counting the months to compute her 13th month? When I hired her or when she finished her training?” It’s mostly up to you. You can start on her hire date or when the training period has ended. The important thing is that both of you know when you started counting. Typically though, it starts when training is finished. Also, someone is eligible for the 13th month if they have worked for you for 3 months or more. “I had to let go of my VA this year. Should I still give her a 13th month bonus?” Because the 13th month is optional, whether or not you give the 13th month when you let a VA go depends on your agreement with your workers. For Philippine companies, they are obligated by law to give the 13th month bonus if the employee has worked for at least a month during the year. “I pay my VA by the hour or on a per-project basis. Do I need to give them a 13th month?” You don’t have to, but it’s still a good idea. You can compute for 13th month by adding up the total you paid them through the year and dividing by 12. For us, we: 1. always pay the 13th month 2. also give a Christmas bonus. $25-$50. John |
I've talked about SSS quite a few times recently because people keep asking. I want to reiterate that this benefit is OPTIONAL. It would be nice if you can give this to your Online Filipino Specialist, but you don’t have to. In this email, I’m going to list what your OFS can get when they sign up for SSS and regularly contribute to the fund. When your OFS signs up to become an SSS member, they get a unique SSS number. When they get their SSS number, they must also get a UMID (Universal Multipurpose ID) from the SSS. UMID is the ID you want to keep in your wallet because you can use it anywhere. It makes it easier for your OFS to open a bank account, apply for a credit card or loan, get a driver’s license or passport, or get verification for payment sites like PayPal or Payoneer. When your OFS contributes regularly to the SSS, they’re entitled to the following benefits: - Sickness benefit - A daily cash allowance paid for every day that your OFS cannot work due to sickness or injury. - Maternity benefit - A cash allowance paid to your OFS when they give birth or have a miscarriage. This is equivalent to 2 and half months' salary - Disability benefit - It’s a cash benefit they can get as a monthly pension or lump sum if your OFS suffers a permanent (partial or total) disability. - Retirement benefit - This is their pension fund. Your OFS can get this as a monthly pension or lump sum. - Death benefit - The beneficiaries of your OFS (parents/spouse/children) can get this cash benefit as a monthly allowance or lump sum. - Funeral benefit - It’s a cash grant of around Php20,000 (~$350) to help with funeral costs. - Unemployment benefit - This won’t apply to your OFS (because they're considered independent contractors), but it’s one of the benefits that they can get if a Philippine company hires them. Being an SSS member also gives your OFS access to short-term loans called “salary loans.” They’re low-interest loans that need to be repaid within the year. They call it a salary loan because they base how much they can borrow on their monthly salary. The first time you can take out a short-term loan, you can only borrow the equivalent of one month’s salary. The next time you take out a loan, you can borrow twice your monthly salary, and so on and so forth. All the information your OFS needs to get these benefits is available on the SSS member portal and SSS mobile app. We’ll also release a guide for your OFS to show them how to sign up and pay for these benefits themselves. This will be in their account on OnlineJobs.ph. John On my ride the other day we saw the first signs of fall. Beautiful. |
What's preventing you from hiring your first OFS? Why haven't you taken the leap yet? I get an overwhelming amount of positive feedback from employers around the world working with OFS. Every day someone says to me: I love my OFS... My OFS has worked for me for 3 years and it's amazing... I couldn't run my company without them... And so I write my newsletter to help these people be more efficient. But sometimes, regularly, often even! I get a response to my newsletter: "I need to hire someone to do [insert any skill here...lead generation, cold calling, video editing, programming, social media...]. Can they do that? Where do I get started?" Have you ever hired someone in the Philippines? "No" (in my brain) HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE!?! And yet, I know it's my fault! I haven't done a good enough job of convincing you that you can find amazing, hard working, talented, loyal, honest people. So I have 2 questions: 1. What's preventing you from hiring your first OFS? Why haven't you taken the leap yet? 2. If you have hired someone, and are struggling with something, what are you struggling with? Simply REPLY (yes, it comes to me). I want to know what's holding you back. Then I want to give you what you need to move forward. John |
First, let me start with what NOT to tell your friends. Don't tell them the name of your OFS...unless you want your OFS to get another job. People are lazy. Nobody wants to do the work of finding an OFS. If you go raving about your OFS to your friends and then you tell them the name of your OFS, they're going to go look them up on FB and offer them a job. I've had it happen to me. Fortunately for you, Filipinos are super loyal, so even if they take a job with your friend they're not going to quit working for you. But...offering a second job to your OFS is never great. So don't tell names. So what DO you say? Rant. Rave. Tell them what they do for you. Tell them about specific tasks they're doing and how good they are. Tell them about the time they're saving you. Tell them where to find an OFS: OnlineJobs.ph Tell them about help finding a great OFS: OneVAAway.com Join the affiliate program for OneVAAway.com and give them your affiliate link. We pay out a 90% commission. No, that's not a typo. 90% I didn't create OneVAAway.com to make money. I created it to get the word out. OFS are amazing. You know it. I know it. Your friends don't know it... Yet. John PS. You already have an affiliate link for OnlineJobs.ph. It's in your OnlineJobs.ph account. Just login and scroll down. It's in green. 40% recurring commission. |
After last week's email about banking in the Philippines, I got comments on social media about how others handle payments. The great thing about these comments is they came from guys who have been outsourcing for years, so they know what they’re talking about. Reading these comments, I know some of you might feel overwhelmed by choice. Which system is best for paying your OFS? PayPal, EasyPay, Wise, Remitly? Short answer: IT DOESN'T MATTER You can pay them through whatever system works best for you. It won’t matter much to your OFS because their online banking and e-wallet apps (Gcash, PayMaya, and bank apps) will allow them to receive whatever payment system you use. For e-wallets that allow direct-to-bank transfers (such as Gusto, Remitly, and Wise), they can easily create a bank account online to receive the payment. No need to overcomplicate things. For those of you looking for a slightly more complicated answer. For newly hired Filipino workers, use a payment system like EasyPay, Paypal, or Wise. As mentioned in my previous newsletter, Filipino workers have learned to avoid direct bank transfers because that’s how they’re usually scammed. Also, EasyPay, Paypal, Wise, and Remitly can send money directly to Gcash. This makes it easier for your worker to get their money quickly. Once trust is established for you and your OFS, you can pay them through whatever system works best for you. Again, not that complicated. I just want to clarify something about the previous email. Gusto is just another e-wallet system designed specifically as a payroll system. The only difference between Gusto and the other systems is that Gusto sends the money directly to their bank account. Gusto also requires that you have a “domestic contractor” added to your Gusto payroll before you can add an international contractor. So to those just starting out and looking for an OFS for their first “employee,” that may not be an option for you. John PS. I mentioned Paypal here a few times because it's easy. Especially if it's your first time paying someone. But it's also crappy for them for receiving salary month after month. Paypal's exchange rate is so much lower than EasyPay or Wise that the amount they receive is significantly different. |
I’m sorry that this email is really late. I was out for an entire week and didn’t have internet. So I just found out about Typhoon Karding and how devastating it was when I got back. With it happening around the same time as Hurricane Ian, last week was a pretty bad week for the Filipinos and business owners affected by these natural disasters. Karding was a really strong storm that affected a big part of Central Luzon (check out my post about the basics of Philippine geography to know where that is). It destroyed thousands of homes and caused millions of pesos in damage. It was so bad that five rescuers died while they were saving people. Here at home, Hurricane Ian caused power outages and flooding in Florida and Puerto Rico. People losing their homes and their livelihoods. I know it seems bleak, but this is one of those times when the best of humanity shines. Let’s just help each other. Help your neighbors. Help your friends. Help your Filipino team. When we help each other, that’s how we can get through anything. John |
I got this really interesting email from Jared after I sent out the disaster-proofing email. Can you provide more details on your emergency fund? How is it set up? how they 'apply' for it? I also heard of some employers providing generators or other means of backup. is this something you tell them you'll reimburse them and they provide receipts? My OFS has 2 ISPs, but can they get more? Things are going great, but sometimes it'll be silent for half a day and I'm not sure if there is some service interruption or personal emergency or just checked out without telling me. WOuld love to hear more on these topics or point me to any articles if you've covered it in the past. I'll try to answer all of his questions here. Can you provide more details on your emergency fund? How is it set up? How do they 'apply' for it? The emergency fund is just an account I’ve set aside if they need to borrow money quickly. If there’s an emergency, my OFS will email me to ask to borrow a certain amount and tell me why they need it. They would also tell me how they plan to pay it back in that email. Like last year when one of my OFS borrowed $600 (one month’s salary) to help pay for their parent’s funeral expenses. He asked to take $100 away from his monthly salary until the $600 was paid off. Sometimes, we don’t ask them to pay it back if it’s a serious emergency. Like when one of my developers lost their home in Cebu. I knew it was bad because I saw it in the news, my team in the Philippines was talking about it, and I knew they were directly affected by it. My business partner, Dan, and I saw that he really needed it, so we sent him some money as soon as possible. He didn’t ask for help, and we didn’t wait for him to ask. We also told him he didn’t need to pay us back because I knew it would be a long recovery process. I also heard of some employers providing generators or other means of backup. Is this something you tell them you'll reimburse them and they provide receipts? My OFS has 2 ISPs, but can they get more? A generator is something that we have considered before but my team has never asked for it. You can consider it, but blackouts in the Philippines are less of a problem now than they were a few years ago. Regarding having your OFS get another ISP, that is a good idea BUT it would depend on where they live. Some areas in the Philippines have access to only one ISP provider; some have access to all four. I wrote about the different ISP here: /what-internet-options-exist-in-the-philippines/ If they have access to good mobile internet (and they can work using that), giving them an internet data allowance can be an option. My OFS (Jam) told me that when they’re having issues with their primary ISP, he has a prepaid internet account that he just reloads when needed. Sometimes it'll be silent for half a day and I'm not sure if there is some service interruption or personal emergency or just checked out without telling me. - Service interruption or personal emergency. This is possible. One way to get around that is to give them many ways to reach you. My team has email, Basecamp, and Slack. They can also contact each other. In case they don’t have internet, they can text their teammates. My project manager has my number, so even if they can’t contact me directly, they can reach out to Joven and relay that information to me. Either way, a few hours or half a day just isn't uncommon. - They checked out. When I sense that this is the case, this is what I do: /my-filipino-worker-just-disappeared/ John PS. Backpacking in Glacier National Park last week and we had a small glacier right next to our camp site. We went inside! |
One of the benefits you COULD give to your OFS which I mention in my emails, videos, and blog posts is the Pag-IBIG fund. The Pag-IBIG fund, also known as the Home Development Mutual Fund, is a government-owned and controlled corporation mandated to help Filipinos get affordable home financing and set up a savings fund. Filipinos who want to buy their own homes contribute to this fund because it offers lower rates, longer payment periods, and access to their catalog of houses from people who defaulted on their loans. You don’t need to be a Pag-IBIG member to buy a home. Some residential property developers don’t even accept financing through Pag-IBIG. But, many Filipinos still contribute to the fund because the fund also offers home improvement loans, short-term loans, and a savings fund that offers a higher interest rate than banks. Being a Pag-IBIG member also entitles you to have a Pag-IBIG ID that you can present as a government-issued ID. They can also use that ID as a discount card for a lot of places like restaurants, salons, grocery stores, etc. That same ID is also an ATM card where the loaned amount is deposited and can be used as a personal bank account**. **While the banks that issue these ID/ATMs are connected to SWIFT, we CANNOT confirm as of this time if they accept SWIFT transfers to these accounts. How much does a Pag-IBIG contribution cost? The minimum required contribution is around Php 100 (USD ~$2) per month. Philippine companies are required by law to remit this contribution with an additional Php 100 employer’s share per employee to Pag-IBIG as a benefit. That's a total of USD ~$4/month. If the worker wants to contribute more, they would do it on their own. Like with all benefits I talk about, this is optional. You don't have to pay it. I didn't pay it for years after having VAs and OFS work for me. But, it's also a super simple and affordable benefit to give. How? Just tell them you want them to contribute to Pag-IBIG. Tell them how much. Then add that to their salary and ask them to provide you a receipt of their contribution. That's it. John PS. It's fall, and in my mountains the fall colors are out. It's beautiful! Yesterday I rode ~38 miles with 4000ft of elevation in my local mountains. I just can't help but keep riding because of the colors. |
I found this comment on my benefits newsletter from Jacqui Hi there, I went back and re-discovered this blog post because I want to offer my OFS healthcare. My OFS is expecting twins in March next year and I would like to provide her with the best (but most affordable/good value) that there is out there. I don’t have a big agency so it will be a very large commitment for me, but Lea has been exceptional in the time we’ve worked together. I sent the email to my OFS (online Filipino Specialist), Jamie, and this is her answer: ---------- Regarding finding the best healthcare for Jacqui's OFS, it would depend on: 1. where she lives 2. what hospital/doctors she has access to. Jacqui will need her OFS's help with this as she will be the one who'll be benefiting from it. I suggest that Jacqui instructs her OFS to ask her doctor and the hospital administration what health insurance providers they're currently accepting. The OFS can then go to this website: https://www.mariahealth.ph/, ( a directory for all the health insurance providers in the Philippines) search for the health insurance providers, find the plans available, and show you the ones that best suit her needs AND your budget. The OFS can also download this guide to help them figure out which plan(s) would best suit their needs: https://www.mariahealth.ph/contact_us/?reason=health-basics-guide Regarding the cost, the cheapest we found around that time would cost around $150 a year, but we're not sure if it would cover maternity expenses. But for more information about overall cost, John wrote about that here: /whats-the-ballpark-cost-for-ofs-benefits/ I think the best option for the OFS (and Jacqui, the employer) , given how close her due date is, would be to make sure that the OFS is up to date with her SSS and Philhealth benefits (if she has them). SSS covers maternity benefits (2 and 1/2 month's salary) if she's paid at least 3 contributions. /the-sss-benefit-for-your-ofs-explained/ /what-can-your-ofs-get-with-their-sss/ Philhealth covers hospitalization for the mother and the baby if she has paid at least 9 contributions https://ph.theasianparent.com/philhealth-maternity-benefits /philhealth-vs-health-insurance-whats-the-difference/ Health insurance could take weeks to process and might not offer maternity benefits immediately after signing up. The OFS can sign up for SSS and PhilHealth within the week and catch up on her contributions within the year. She'll be able to avail of them by the time she gives birth. ----------------- Jamie (my OFS) is so smart! John |
Here's a fun piece of Philippines culture. What comes to mind when most people talk about convenience stores are places like 7-11. They have 7-11s in the Philippines too, but the purest version of a convenience store looks nothing like a 7-11. In the Philippines, a convenience store is a sari-sari store. The store gets its name from the Tagalog word sari-sari, which means "variety" or "sundry". You can buy anything in a sari-sari store, from canned food to mobile data and everything in between, in small convenient packs. You also buy things per piece, like candy, gum, razor, and female hygiene products. Another reason a sari-sari store is more convenient than your typical 7-11 is that you’ll find a sari-sari store anywhere in the Philippines. Whether you’re staying in a crowded metropolis or a remote island, you can always count on the fact that there will always be sari-sari within a few blocks. You can find sari-sari stores everywhere in the Philippines because they’re so cheap and easy to set up. You don’t need a lot of capital to start, and most of what you need to sell can be bought in large groceries or big box stores. You don’t even need to build a store to have a sari-sari store. Just set a table in front of your house, display your items, and boom, you have a store. Sari-sari stores hold a lot of social and economic importance in Filipino culture. It’s where most people gather and get their basic needs like food, first aid, and even banking. It’s also something people can rely on when times are hard, thanks to its low prices and most store owners' willingness to let people buy on credit. The sari-sari store is also the most common type of business in the Philippines. Sari-sari stores account for 70% of sales of manufactured consumer food products. It also contributes Php 1.3 trillion to the Philippine GDP. Many successful business owners in the Philippines learned how to run a business by opening a sari-sari store. Technically, you’re supposed to register your sari-sari store as a business with the government. Still, they often tolerate unregistered sari-sari stores because they contribute greatly to the local economy. A successful sari-sari store can encourage competition from neighbors to build their own stores, or they can build other businesses that complement the store, like barbershops or food stalls. In some cases, it can even transform the neighborhood into a commercial area, forcing the existing businesses to register and pay taxes to the local government. This isn't unique to Philippines culture, but it's different than most places in the USA. John |
Next Monday (Oct 31) is my second most dreaded day of the year: Halloween. The worst day of the year of course is April 15. Tax day. But this isn't about Halloween, it's about All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, two Philippines holidays coming up next week. November 1 (All Saints’ Day) is a special non-working holiday. November 2 (All Souls’ Day) is a special working holiday in the Philippines. I know the special holiday thing in the Philippines is kind of confusing. They got rid of the special non-working holiday for the 2023 calendar, but it’s still in the 2022 calendar. Just think of special holidays as school holidays to make things easier to remember. All Saints and All Souls (collectively referred to as Undasin Filipino) are the days when Filipinos honor their dead loved ones by going to the cemetery. Most schools schedule a break around this time, so students and teachers can participate in the tradition. I talked about this in greater detail in this blog post: /upcoming-all-saints-and-all-souls-day-holidays/ This year, travel restrictions have been lifted. This means most Filipinos, including your OFS, might ask to take a leave of absence on these days. With November 1 being a Tuesday, they might ask to also take their leave on October 31, which falls on a Monday. That way, they have a four-day weekend to join the tradition. **Update: A few days after we wrote this newsletter, the Philippine government just declared October 31 as a special holiday. They decided to add this as a holiday because they knew people will ask to take a leave on that day anyway. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1186390 Whether you approve of this leave or not, it’s up to you. Only November 1 is recognized by the Philippine government as a special non-working holiday. But if you can afford to give them days off around this time, they’ll really appreciate it. Part of the All Saints and All Souls Day tradition is caring for the graves of their loved ones. They clean up the gravestones and do some light gardening. The pandemic has put this tradition on hold for two years, and I’m sure many of them are eager to do this for their loved ones again. I wish we celebrated Halloween like Filipinos celebrate All Saints' Day. Honoring the dead is so much better than begging for candy. John |
Last time I asked about how I don't like Halloween. What I do like is Thanksgiving -> New Years. Everyone is nicer. People are giving. The world is a more enjoyable place when people are looking to help each other. I know it's still October, but let's talk about the holiday period. My business partner, Dan, and I let our team take paid time off over the holidays and unlimited leave because our business doesn’t have a lot of time-sensitive tasks. This system works for us, but I know a LOT of businesses where this won’t work at all. I know the holidays are some of the busiest times for dropshipping, e-commerce, and freight businesses. Some of you might have hired seasonal workers to cover that extra work. In the Philippines, most holidays are at the end of the year. Starting at the end of November, there’s a holiday practically every week. Because of that, most of your Filipino workers might ask to take their days off during this time, which makes this problematic, especially if this is the time you need them the most. So, what can you do to ensure that your business is covered even during the holidays? Here are some things you can do: 1. You can create a “leave” calendar where you mark the days they CAN’T take their leave. Let your OFS know they can take their leave on any other day except those days. Make sure to label the calendar with the correct time zone to avoid missed work schedules. 2. One thing that call centers do in the Philippines is alternate holiday scheduling. Half the team can take Christmas eve and Christmas off. The other half can take their New Year’s Eve and New Year off. It’s not a perfect solution, but it ensures that you have people working and your team can still enjoy the holidays. 3. For our customer support team, we offer half shifts during the holidays. Instead of 8 hours, they only need to do 4 hours on those days. We usually have two people per 8-hour shift, so they talk amongst themselves about what hours they would cover. This way, there’s always someone online for email support. 4. Our dev team and site administrator don't work on any new projects during the holidays but are on call and monitoring to ensure that the websites are working properly. There are no rules or standard practices here. It's whatever you want to do with your business. Just because we give everyone Dec 24 - Jan 2 off doesn't mean you need to. Do you have other ways of covering holiday shifts with your OFS? Let me know by emailing me at [email protected]. John |
I got this really good question from Debbie about pay raises Hi John, I’m about to do a review with my assistant who has been working for me for 4 months, and would like to reward her work with a pay rise. She still has quite a bit to learn in her role so I want to do it in a way that’s sustainable I don’t want to create unrealistic pay levels that my business may not be able to sustain going forward as her knowledge (and pay) levels increase, as I’d like to keep her as a long term team member. She is part-time (20 hours/week) by her choice, which suits me perfectly at the moment. Is it more beneficial to her to offer to pay her SSS or PhilHealth instead of a weekly pay increase, then do a pay increase at a later review point? Or some other combination? We don’t really have a formula for pay raises. We don’t tell our team how much they can expect for their pay raise. We give raises yearly, but the amount depends on their performance. The amount is also determined by what we feel is sustainable. My OFS team doesn’t know how much of a raise they’ll be getting every year, but they know that they can expect a raise if they perform well. Here are my general thoughts and how I've done raises over the years. - As a standard we give a $25-$50 per month raise each year. - If someone is amazing, we give a $100-$200 per month raise that year. - Sometimes, we start someone lower than what they'd like to be paid. After 3-4 months, if they're good and helping the business grow, we'll put them closer to what they asked for in the beginning. - One time I doubled someone's salary because they were so amazing. - This year, we'll consider inflation. - This year, we'll also consider that USD is super strong so they've already gotten a 15% pay raise throughout the year just with the exchange rate (because we pay almost everyone a set USD amount and the Peso went from 50:1 to 58:1 this year). - We won't use the strong USD as the pay raise. At some point, USD will decline. Then they're taking a pay cut. Regarding benefits, that is something that you can put off until you can afford to give it regularly. Here at Onlinejobs.ph, it took us years before we started offering any sort of benefits. We waited until the business was profitable enough, and we didn’t offer all the benefits at once. We just kept adding them when we were able to afford them. We'll be releasing a complete guide to benefits soon. But I also talk about other things like management and work culture in my free book, The Outsourcing Lever. John |
I’m proud that when there’s a disaster, my team will come together and offer to help right away. When the pandemic started, my team donated and distributed groceries to people who couldn’t leave their homes, mainly seniors and families with babies. They started this project on their own, with their own money. When we saw in the news how dire the situation was in the early days of the pandemic, we sent them funds so they could help more people. But even before that and until now, there’s this sense of camaraderie. They check on each other. They send help to one another and help other people. Some volunteer regularly. I even have an OFS who is a volunteer firefighter. I think this happens because when you help people together, it creates a bond. It strengthens your work relationship. This is not unique to my OFS (Online Filipino Specialist) team. Steven also noticed this when 4 of his OFS were affected by Typhoon Karding. When Karding hit 4 of my 100+ people were affected. So after collecting information on how bad the damages were for each, I sent out a form to all employees. We ask them to donate whatever they would like to help these people out. I front their donations and let them pay it back as deductions from their weekly salary. Often I give them a few different options for that, so they don't have too much of an impact on their daily and weekly expenses. Typically I also match the total donation we as a company raised. This really solidifies our "family" culture and makes people feel good that they were able to help others in need. We have done this for multiple disasters, funerals, etc. Basically, whenever people are in serious need. Disasters are horrible. But the silver lining to this is it does bring people together. When you help your OFS in times of need, it shows them that you care. When the time comes that you’re the one who needs a lot of help, you can count on your team too. John |
I sometimes get comments from people about how much turnover there is in the Philippines. The TLDR of my response is, “turnover is a management issue.” I know that answer is hard for a lot of people to hear. Nobody likes to be told they’re horrible managers. I know that most of us don’t get into outsourcing to be bad bosses. But sometimes, it’s easy to forget to be nice when you don’t see the people you’re working with face-to-face. When we’re so focused on productivity and milestones and getting things done, we forget that the people doing the work aren’t perfect. Sometimes they make mistakes. My OFS (Online Filipino Specialist), Jamie, found this in the Facebook group we manage for jobseekers. This explains perfectly why I think turnover is a management problem AND what you can do to be a better manager. “Hello everyone. I would like to ask your insights and also to seek out more advice. I am thinking to drop my work(full time) that pays me 25-30k/month but my mental health is at risk. It triggers my anxiety. My client doesn't have empathy. She doesn't accept her mistakes and worst she will pass the blame on me. She actually maltreated me. This is pureely based on what I have experienced. I have a second work (part time) that pays me 16-17k per month. I am enjoying my work, my client is very clear with his instructions, the culture of my work is great. He knows how to appreciate my work. I am still confused on what should be my decision since I'm almost the breadwinner of my family, and also the inflation right now is crazy. I also think of the ways if I will drop my first work with high pay, I will continue to upskill, apply again and again.” It’s not that hard to be a good manager. The OFS who wrote this just listed down all you need to do: - Create a good working relationship (you do this by building trust with your OFS) - Give clear instructions (an easy way to do this is to use screen recordings) - Show appreciation (a thank you email or a small bonus goes a long way). Another way you can be a great boss is to give your Filipino worker on-the-job training. You don't need to make that training yourself. You can buy the training you need at VAsMadeEasy.com and give that training to your OFS. John |
At Onlinejobs.ph, we strongly advocate for Filipinos only to have one full-time job. But I know that there are a lot of jobseekers who have multiple jobs on the site. It’s usually one of these scenarios. 1. They’re not making enough money from their part-time job. That’s why they’re looking for more part-time work. 2. They’re not making enough money from their full-time job. Most of these workers would say they’re only available for part-time work. If you want to know what a good starting salary would be for your OFS, check out our salary guide: https://blog.onlinejobs.ph/filipino-virtual-assistants-salary-guide 3. Newbie Filipino workers underestimate how much work it takes to maintain a full-time job. They keep applying for jobs and eventually get overwhelmed by the amount of work. 4. They're maintaining and doing work for multiple clients. In my opinion, #1 and #2 are circumstances you can work with. It is hard to live on a part-time salary. If you’re hiring someone part-time, it’s almost impossible to expect them to work for you exclusively. I think an OFS having a couple of part-time jobs is okay as long as they manage their time, they deliver on their work, and they don’t overwhelm themselves. Issue #3 is usually a result of the cheap or free “VA Training” that’s proliferating in the Philippines right now. It preys on desperate Filipino job seekers and creates unrealistic expectations about online work. That’s why I created VAsMadeEasy.com. It shows your OFS what the work would really be like. It has the added benefit of building trust because the training comes from you. With #4, the best way to figure this out when hiring is to ask in a neutral way. "What other jobs do you currently have? Or, what other clients do you have? What do you do for them?" With that type of question, maybe you're hoping they're doing other work for people? Maybe you're not? It's better if they're honest. If you suspect your OFS has taken on another job after you hired them, talk to them about it. Ask. Ask why. You might find they just need more money to live. Or the work you're giving them isn't filling their time. Filipinos will want to work for you if you create a great working environment. Your OFS will want to stay. John |
I want to share this email from Danielle because I know many of you might be having this issue too. I’ve had my OFS for 10 months and it’s great :) However, I need a little advice. Sometimes grammar or wording can be an issue. Some of her tasks include writing social posts, newsletter drafts and email drafts.…We have tried using grammarly and even had an AI (Jasper subscription) but I’ve noticed it still misses many simple errors.… I want to keep my OFS for a long time and want to invest in her English abilities in writing in particular. What kind of solutions have worked for you and your team? Thank you,Danielle First, I asked my team how to improve English. They gave me nothing. Like, they didn't have anything to say about learning to speak better English. They only had tools and processes to talk about. Here's our experience: Grammarly is a good tool for checking grammar and spelling mistakes. We use it regularly. When I sent this email to my OFS, 2 of them said "Grammarly is really helpful to me in my writing." I also edit and explain to my OFS what’s wrong with their writing on occasion. I did this a lot when I first outsourced writing. But I eventually realized that when I do all the editing, it creates a bottleneck. It becomes my responsibility to spot the mistakes that just doesn’t work for me. It makes it so I have to oversee everything, which I don't want to do. I know my OFS can do better. They have the tools. When the blog post or the caption comes to me, it should be perfect or close to perfect. So we changed some things in our process. Before the output gets to me, it must go through at least two pairs of eyes, checking for spelling, grammar, and content. We adjusted deadlines, so the writer has time to go through what they wrote. This is something they told me has helped them improve. Giving them time to re-read and edit their work. They run it through Grammarly before it reaches the editor. The editor reads through it and makes (or tells the writer to make) changes or corrections. Last, it goes through our QA guys to ensure it’s on brand, the links work, etc. In Danielle’s case, if she only has one OFS this process will be hard to implement. But I think giving your OFS time to edit their work will greatly improve their work and your process. It’s your OFS's responsibility to deliver the best output possible. Provide feedback and point out the mistakes. But make it her responsibility to fix those mistakes. Now...what I think Danielle was actually after...I don't really have an answer to: "How do they improve their English" My thoughts are just your thoughts. Ask them to read English books. Ask them to watch TV in English, not dubbed in Tagalish. Pay them to do these things. I don't really have a better answer. John |
Check this out. It made me cry. EJ replied to my All Saints and All Soul’s newsletter because, like me, he appreciated how Filipinos celebrate these holidays. As we talked, it turns out he also gives his OFS team holidays off and benefits like SSS. In his words, “They all made sense to me and are not very expensive to do. It blew their minds. I'm happy to be able to do it for them.” We take these things for granted here in the US, but in the Philippines, it’s life-changing. Benefits mean you don’t have to worry about getting sick or pregnant. Having holidays off means, you can afford to relax and spend time with your family. When a Filipino worker finds a job that offers these things, they’re happy. They’re content. Even when they’re having problems, they won’t say anything because they’re just thankful they have a great job. This is exactly what happened to one of EJ’s OFS (Alvie). Her computer broke down, and she just kept working. He wouldn’t have noticed anything was wrong until one of his other OFS told him about it. “This was her old desk top. It looks like a power surge damaged it. But it was very old anyway and she was always having problems. She never told me she had an old computer. It was my lead VA that told me and said she was too shy to say anything. So I decided it would be beneficial to both of us to get her a much better computer. Her laptop is better than mine now. LOL. “ He sent her money to buy a new computer, and the look on her face is just priceless. For most of us, buying a new phone or computer isn’t a big deal. But for many Filipinos, it can be a rare and special occasion. That’s why, you can see in the photos Alvie even brought along her family, and she was in tears when she finally got her laptop. It’s the start of a brighter future for her entire family. Yes, you'll change your life when you hire someone. But you'll also change theirs. John |
At this time of Thanksgiving (in the US) I'm thankful for the flexibility my OFS provide me. In our house it's a time of puzzles and Legos and being together. I hope your OFS provide you this flexibility too. I got an email about being flexible recently from a long time subscriber: One of my valued OFS sent me a formal resignation letter a few months ago, out of left field! He had to suddenly take over his family business, even though he didn't like the business and he loved working for me. I wasn't ready to lose him, because he is fantastic at his job, and great at communicating! So here's what I wrote to him: “This is very sad news! Is there any chance we can hop on a Zoom call? I'd like to propose some flexible part-time options and I am also open to suggestions. If you don't just don't have any bandwidth, at the very least it would be nice to chat one more time in person (kind of, with Zoom, I guess).” I think he might not have considered that part-time would be an option. Also, he was pretty overwhelmed with his new situation and he was worried about letting me down. Anyhow -- it turned out great! He was very excited to work part-time and we were back on track within a few days. He has been his usual superstar self ever since. He gets so much work done, at such high quality, less hours are not an issue to me. (I probably have more room for flexibility than some employers, since my team has always worked their preferred hours, Monday to Friday.) I experienced something similar years back when one of my developers got this super lucrative job offer in Singapore. It was an opportunity of a lifetime, not just for him but for his entire family. He wanted to take it because it meant better schools for his kids and a chance for his wife to pursue higher education. But he was really reluctant to take it because he had been working for me for years and he loved his job. So he emailed me, explained the situation, and asked if he could keep working part-time. He didn’t ask for a pay raise. Didn’t use the job as leverage. All he asked was the same hourly rate and the opportunity to keep working. I was flexible and kept him. It was great for me. Flexibility can often prevent turnover. John |
My kids are pretty entrepreneurial (at least some of them are). They run a pretty successful local business. They make more than their teachers make. They've also invented all kinds of contracts. Contracts buyers sign. Contracts anyone working for the business sign. If only they weren't so messy and didn't leave their piles of contracts on my workbench! People ask me all the time for an NDA they can use with their OFS. Along with this they ask "Can you enforce an NDA?" The short answer is no. Any contract that involves people outside of US jurisdiction can be hard or impossible to enforce. That includes an NDA or a non-disclosure agreement. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still have an NDA if you want your OFS to sign one. Nor should it put you off from hiring an OFS. If your business has proprietary information, getting your OFS to sign an NDA would be a good idea, even if the NDA isn’t easily enforceable in the Philippines. For your OFS, signing an NDA means a lot to them because of their culture. The Philippines has a very high power-distance index (/why-your-ofs-sometimes-work-mindlessly-power-distance-index/). They respect authority and contracts with their authority figures. Signing a contract means they’re giving you their word that they will abide by that agreement and they will do whatever it takes to keep that contract. Enforcing is difficult, but just signing the NDA will likely have the effect you want. Also, enforcing a contract in the Philippines is difficult but not impossible. If you hired your OFS through Onlinejobs.ph and there’s proof that they broke the contract, you can contact us for mediation. If they stole information (which is rare), you could contact the Philippines’ Department of Justice. Theft of information counts as a cybercrime that falls under their jurisdiction. We can't give legal advice, but you can pretty easily hire a lawyer in the Philippines from OnlineJobs.ph. You could use them to draft a contract that’s enforceable in the Philippines while following how the law is interpreted in your country. Or use them in prosecuting if someone breaks the contract. Or we have contracts available here: www.OnlineJobs.ph/hiringdocs John |
I like to keep things simple. Simple = efficiency. I try to do this in all aspects of my life. If you've watched any of my videos you'll notice I only wear single color t-shirts. No logos. Nothing fancy (except for my one green/gray striped shirt...that's my "fun" shirt). They're all the same style, same brand, same length. It's my way of keeping my clothes simple. Efficiency. Simplicity is especially important when you're just starting with anything, including hiring an OFS. I know some of you have looked at my newsletters, my book, my videos, etc. At first glance, it seems complicated. Taxes, Employee vs contract worker, PTO, holidays, benefits, hourly vs salary... But the more you pay attention, it gets simpler. Here's the thing, if you focus on every little thing that can go wrong without even trying to hire a Filipino worker, you'll never do it. The safest thing to do, to avoid making mistakes, would be to do nothing. This also means that nothing changes. You're always going to be too busy. You're always going to be overwhelmed. You're always going to have so much to do. Now's the time to take the leap. Keep it simple. It doesn't have to be hard or complicated. That's what I aim to achieve with OneVAAway. It's my step by step way of cutting the complexity from hiring to make it simple for you. Are you going to make mistakes? Maybe. You can do better. At least attempting to hire someone brings progress. And it brings progress towards simplifying your life. John |
I recently stumbled upon this blog post by one of our customers, Ziv Raviv, the CEO, and founder of Kivi Media & Daily Cookie. https://dailycookie.co/get-faster-results-for-your-business-with-an-ofs/ I’m really happy about the endorsement but what I love about this blog post is he also shares his process for hiring and interviewing his own OFS (Online Filipino Specialist) team. I like learning new things and posts like this help make hiring better for everyone. This is the ideal result, what I want to see after people learn how to hire an OFS. I want them to take what they learned, adapt it to suit their business and management style, and share it with the world so people can learn about it. What I teach at OneVAAway.com is your foundation. It’s what will give you the confidence to hire an amazing OFS. But if you modify it to make it better and more efficient for you, go for it! For me, what matters most is that you hire your first OFS and start changing your business today. What do you guys think of Ziv’s process? Do you have something similar or something better? Let me know! Email me at [email protected] John PS. I came across this while hiking with my wife the other day. I almost never use the word "cute"...but that's what came to my mind. Cute. |
If you have a team in the Philippines and they live close to each other, I’m willing to bet this is something they would do as a form of team building. My OFS Julia writes ------- The holidays are here! Now that the Philippines has reinstated face-to-face classes and work, Christmas party planning is back in full swing. In addition to family gifts, we exchange Christmas gifts with friends from work and school. We pick a name from a hat and get that person a gift. We always keep that name a secret until the Christmas party. But buying and getting presents isn’t fun enough. To make the practice even more fun for parties, we needed to add our spin. We call our gift-giving practice “Monito-Monita”. The word monito (or the feminine monita) refers to the person you have to buy a gift for. Monito-Monita is that moment during the Christmas party when you finally exchange gifts. But you can’t just approach your monito/monita and give them their present. You can’t exchange gifts at the same time. The gift exchange is done, one person at a time, while everybody sings a silly song. The song I’m most familiar with has these lyrics: I love my Monito (or Monita)Yes, I do!I love my Monito (or Monita)Yes, I do!I love my Monito (or Monita)Yes, I do!I love my Monito (or Monita)But I won’t tell you! The Monito-Monita is the highlight of a Christmas party and is usually done just before the party ends. I always found it odd that we have to sing this song when giving gifts because people will find out who my monito/monita anyway, even if I tell them. Anyway, to make Monito-Monita more playful (and have an excuse to get/buy more presents), sometimes we would get several mini gifts every week before the Christmas party and secretly give them to our monito/monita. The mini gifts would have to be cheap and follow a silly theme like “White Christmas” or “Something Green.” It’s like an Advent calendar that counts toward the Christmas party instead of Christmas. ------- I'm not a very good gift giver, but how about a gift for my subscribers. I'm looking for video testimonials about OFS and OnlineJobs.ph If you've used OnlineJobs.ph to hire someone you love, send me a video testimonial. It can be a simple phone selfie style video. Just tell me how hiring an OFS has changed things for you. I probably won't give a free month's access to OnlineJobs.ph to every single video that comes in because some won't be usable for me, but most of them will get a free month of OnlineJobs.ph Premium to use whenever you're ready to hire. Reply with your video or with questions. John |
A few weeks ago, I talked about how EJ helped his OFS get a new PC. If your OFS is thinking of buying a computer (or you’re thinking of buying a computer for your OFS), we just updated our computer buying guide: https://blog.onlinejobs.ph/pc-buying-guide-for-virtual-assistants We started this guide around 2019. My OFS team pitched me the idea of writing this because November and December are usually the best months to buy a computer in the Philippines. They can get good rates on old inventory that stores want to get rid of, and stores offer big discounts and promotions because they know this is when the 13th-month pay starts coming in. To make sure that they get the right computer for the job and they get the best deal, send your Filipino team this guide. You might be tempted to buy your OFS a computer in the US, thinking it’s cheaper to buy one and just send it through courier. But we’d advise you against doing that for the following reasons: - Private couriers are expensive and might cost more than the computer itself. - Philippine postal is very slow (think several months of waiting with a barely functional parcel tracking system). - Risk of damage or loss during shipment. - Expensive customs fees for incoming parcels (even those marked as gifts). - Warranty may not be honored. - Theft...My team has told me "NO! Don't send it through the postal service, it will get stolen!" You can also use this guide as a reference if you'd like to know what kind of equipment your OFS should have to do their job. John |
Winter is in full swing for me in Utah. Here's what it looks like: In the Philippines, it's the holiday season, which means it's time for you to pay your OFS the 13th month. If you don't know, here's a full explanation of the 13th month. If you already know about it and just want to know how to compute for it, the simplest method is to add all the money you've paid them through the year and divide by 12. Super simple. If you're going to include a Christmas bonus, now's a good time to send it. We sent both the 13th month and a Christmas bonus a week ago, but I forgot to remind you. John |
I get asked "How do OFS make phone calls to the US?" all the time! Recently, I got this email: Can you put out something on how to allow Filipino VA to make calls to the US and to answer calls from the US (without incurring calling fees ideally)? Jason To answer that question, the first thing you need to do is figure out why you need phone service to begin with. Do you need a phone service so your OFS can make and receive calls for you or just make calls? Do you want these calls to come from your number? Or do you need a phone service for your customer support or outbound cold-calling team? These questions are important because they will determine the phone service you’ll need. If you are looking to have your OFS make calls, there are simple services like Skype and Viber. Skype provides a very simple solution as it provides two services: Skype to Phone and Skype Number. Skype to Phone allows a Skype account to call cellphone and landline numbers. For US-only subscriptions (calling US and US Territory numbers), it’s priced at $2.99 per month. There's also a North American subscription that can call US and Canadian numbers, as well as subscriptions for making calls to other countries (rates vary). Skype allows you to also get a local phone number, which can be set as the Caller ID number. Skype Number can also receive calls from regular phones. Skype Number has a separate fee from Skype to Phone. Viber has a cheap Viber Out feature that allows a Viber account to make calls. The downside is, unlike Skype, you cannot get a different number than the one registered. When making Viber Out calls, the call recipient will see the phone number associated with the Viber account or “Private Caller.” This means a phone call from a Philippine-registered Viber account may get blocked for being an international call or because it’s a private caller. For customer support, you'd want a more robust phone service with some of these features: Voicemail Multiple users IVR (interactive voice response) Custom Greetings Call Forwarding Call Transfers Simultaneous call handling Business Texting (SMS) Virtual Fax We searched for phone services with some of these features and polled our Facebook jobseeker group to know what phone services would work in the Philippines. These are the ones they recommended, but you still need to do your own research to figure out which one best suits your needs. RingCentral - https://www.ringcentral.com/office/plansandpricing.html#office Vonage - https://www.vonage.com.ph/unified-communications/ OpenPhone - https://www.openphone.com/product/calling GoTo - https://www.goto.com/pricing/connect Linkedphone - https://linkedphone.com/pricing/ Zoom Phone - https://explore.zoom.us/en/products/zoom-phone/ Cloud Talk - https://www.cloudtalk.io/call-center-software Google Voice - voice.google.com Grasshopper - https://signup.grasshopper.com/plans Because these are all business phones; they will have fees. People often ask me for a free phone service. I don't have one and you don't want one. Free (in this case) probably means unreliable. What phone service are you using with your OFS? Is there something you recommend or don't recommend? Let me know. John |
I'm not a morning person. I'm not a night person either. I'm a solid 11-7:30 sleeper. If I don't get 8+ hours of sleep my skills (mental, physical, relationship...) go downhill. Last week we went to an in the dark Christmas lights experience with like 10 million lights: It was cold. I made sure we were home by 9pm so I could get my kids in bed on time and I could get to bed on time. Not everyone is like me, but everyone needs to sleep. I’ve mentioned in my previous emails and podcast how it’s not healthy for your OFS to work nights if they’re not used to it. But sometimes, you need your OFS to work nights, and some Filipinos prefer working that schedule. The health risks of shift work are known. They’re at risk for insomnia, hypertension, diabetes, etc. But there are ways to help keep your night shift OFS healthy. I asked my OFS, Jam, who has been working the night shift for years, for advice. He left the call center industry years ago because he was starting to have health problems. But when he started working for me (and working from home), he was able to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Here are Jam’s suggestions on what you, as an employer, can do to help keep your OFS healthy during the night shift. - Avoid changing your OFS shift schedule too often. Staying awake at night isn’t the thing that causes serious damage to the body; it’s the rapid changes in sleep schedule. If your OFS has a different sleep schedule every day or week or two weeks, it’s harder for them to fall asleep, get a full 8 hours of rest, and wake up. - Give them time to adjust to the night shift by giving them at least three days to adjust to a new work schedule. If you need to change their work schedule, keep the changes to a minimum (like once a month). - Encourage your OFS to take exercise breaks. This helps me stay awake during my shift and gives me the exercise I need since I can’t exercise during the day. I have an elliptical bike at home that I use for at least 10 minutes daily when I’m working. - If you can afford it, give your OFS health insurance or Philhealth. Medical emergencies are unavoidable. Sometimes it can happen while working, which is scary because we know it will be harder to get to a hospital at night. Having Philhealth or health insurance gives us one less thing to worry about. If you don't NEED your OFS to work at night, consider letting them work normal Philippines hours. If you need them available on your time zone, and that means them working at night, be respectful of the difficulties this can cause. John |
You can now send your OFS gifts from Amazon! The Philippines has been able to order from Amazon for decades, but my OFS has never recommended it before because shipping is expensive, and the options are limited. But Amazon recently commissioned several local courier companies for their last mile, lowering shipping costs. Amazon now offers free shipping to the Philippines for orders of more than $49 on selected items. Another reason why sending something from Amazon is better now is that the Philippines’ Bureau of Customs (BoC) is more transparent about its rules regarding Amazon packages. They’ve been sending this information out on the news and on social media to encourage Filipinos to order from Amazon. This move from the BoC also helps to “clean up” their image. The Bureau of Customs guidelines regarding Amazon deliveries is that you won’t run into any taxes or fees as long as the total cost of your package is less than 10,000 Philippine pesos. If the item costs more than 10,000 pesos, you must pay taxes and duties. This video interview explains the process in greater detail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiUyw0fqgYA If you want to know how much the customs duties, taxes and fees will be, Amazon will give you an estimate and add it to your cost but this doesn't apply to all items. You still shouldn't send anything considered regulated or restricted, like CDs, electronics or medication, or anything perishable. We’re still unsure how fast these delivery times will be or if certain shipments will still pass through the Philippine Postal system. One of my OFS bought something on Black Friday. His purchase was shipped under AmazonGlobal Standard Shipping, and it arrived on December 8, which is fast. However, when his package arrived, there was a suspiciously large tear on the box. He bought a bunch of books, which might be why whoever was looking into his package lost interest. So if you're going to do this, don't send your OFS anything that looks expensive or easy to sell. It's probably too late for something to arrive before Christmas, but even if it arrives in January, your OFS will still appreciate it. John |
Just before Thanksgiving, I got this email from Austin. It was in response to the newsletter I sent about EJ buying his OFS (Online Filipino Specialist) a laptop. John, I've read most of the emails you've sent since I first used OnlineJobs.ph in January 2021. One of the VAs I hired is still with me. I've come to rely on her, and I continue to be surprised by how little she asks for. I've had to encourage her to ask for raises, and I brought up the idea of benefits multiple times before she finally agreed. We've got all that squared away now, and we figured out how to make various back payments so she'd even be eligible. All that to say, I didn't realize how acclimated I'd become to the entitlement of local or U.S.-based contractors until I started working with people who are so modest, humble, grateful, and reticent. There are exceptions to the rule in the U.S. (i.e., not entitled), and there must be in the Philippines too. Yet, I keep telling entrepreneur friends: "You're not compromising by hiring in the Philippines. It's not just about the arbitrage of paying less for team members in a country with a lower cost of living. It's about hiring great people who happen to live in the Philippines." Anyway, keep the good stuff coming. Hope you have a beautiful Thanksgiving with your family. Austin That’s how I see my OFS team, great people who just happen to live in the Philippines. When you think of your team this way, it’s easier to communicate with them, train them, manage them, and give them good feedback. It's easier to see them as humans who want to contribute and help your business grow. If you haven't hire someone yet, but you've considered it, go hire a great person! They just happen to live in the Philippines! When you know you have a good hiring system, like OneVAAway.com, you can trust that you hired great people. Once you start working with them, you’ll see that you don’t need complicated systems or go-betweens. Treat your team well and they’ll always do their best for you. Merry Christmas. John PS. My kids "Christmas Sing". Listening to 3rd graders (and 1st and 2nd and 4th and 5th and 6th...) sing and try to follow the moves. My kids are always a half a step behind. We're not very musically talented. |
I hope you have something fun/great/spirit filled for Christmas and New Years. I just want to remind you that the last week of December will be crammed with Philippine holidays. Even though December 24 (New Year’s Eve) and December 25 (Christmas Day) fall on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, expect people to start asking for leaves even before that for travel. Today isn't a holiday...but they're likely to either have asked for it off, or to do little work today. December 30 and 31, 2022, and January 1, 2023, are all regular holidays. December 30, Rizal Day, falls on a Friday, so it will be a long weekend for most of them. If you can afford to do it and you don’t have anything essential tasks that need to be done over the holidays, consider giving them the week between Christmas and New Year off. They’ll appreciate it. If you need them to work over the holidays, talk to them about it ASAP. Even better, iron out holiday scheduling as soon as you hire. Also, FYI, Now isn't a great time to hire someone. They're scared to start during the holidays. I know telling you this isn't very good for my business...but wait until after Jan 2. You'll get a better response to your job post. John |
Merry Christmas. I'm going to keep this short. Right now I find very little expectation in my business. There's little demand from customers and workers. I find I have a bunch of "couch time", which I don't get a lot of during the year. I find this down time to be the perfect time to write up a job post for hiring a new OFS. To me, posting a job is one of the most effective uses of time. It's growing your business, doing important but not urgent work. It gives me a head start for the new year. I find once a job is posted, the ball is rolling and I can't stop it until I hire someone to push my business forward. And it's easy, not thinking about the internal workings of my business, time. https://www.onlinejobs.ph/employers/postjob I'll post a job this week because it's an amazing feeling in an otherwise unproductive week. If I don't get a great response, I'll post it again in early January. John PS. I said this last week. Don't try to hire someone before the new year. You can post the job and start interviewing, but expect very little response between Dec 30 and Jan 2. Again, I know this hurts my business to tell you not to hire, but it's better for you. |
I was interviewed by Starter Story, and I shared a lot of stuff there that most people don't know about me or Onlinejobs.ph. https://www.starterstory.com/stories/onlinejobs Most people don’t know I started Onlinejobs.ph with just $5,000. It was just me, Dan, and two Filipino workers when we started. I know I talked about this before, but I think most people don’t really understand how much of a fluke Onlinejobs.ph is. I didn’t build it thinking it would get this big (we’ll be breaking 8 figures in revenue this year, we passed 2,000,000 worker profiles this year, we'll pass 500,000 employers next year). I built it for myself. I just wanted a place where I could recruit someone from the Philippines on my own. I remember a while back, one of my O.F.S. suggested that instead of sharing all this content for free, we should monetize it. Put it behind a paywall. At first glance, it makes sense. Why share all this valuable information we gained from years of outsourcing and our research for free? Because I don’t want to add to the problems that most business owners have to deal with. We have enough problems. We can do the most good by providing solutions. I want to show people how amazing it feels to have an extra pair of hands and a capable mind working in your business. Want to know what an extra pair of hands and a capable mind can do for your business? Check out https://www.ofstasks.com/ John PS. It has been an amazing ski year for me. Best start to the season I've ever experienced. This: leads to this: |
Christmas in the Philippines starts on September 1. Yeah, it's early. But...for a lot of Filipinos, the New Year celebration is the more awaited day. New Year in the Philippines is a loud, bright celebration that everybody looks forward to, regardless of religion or location. While most Filipinos still choose to celebrate New Year’s at home, more people are going to malls, parks, hotels, and beaches all over the country to party and celebrate. With pandemic restrictions lifted, more people are even determined to go out after being stranded at home for two years. If you look at Filipino New Years traditions, you’ll see that it’s heavily influenced by Chinese traditions. They follow a lot of practices that are supposed to attract wealth and ward off evil spirits. To attract wealth in the coming year, you’ll see Filipinos wear polka dots because dots symbolize money. Round fruits are in high demand as part of their Media Noche (New Year’s Feast) table centerpieces because they represent money. To ward off evil spirits, they make a lot of noise. Hence the parties, paper trumpets, videoke sessions, and fireworks. They party hard on New Year and they use a lot of fireworks. Lots and lots of fireworks. The hard-partying also means most hospitals would be on high alert around this time. December to January is when they have the highest incidence of heart diseases like stroke and heart attacks because of all the fatty holiday food like lechon. There’s also a spike in alcohol-related and firecracker injuries during this time. Here’s an anecdote from one of my OFS, Jam: When I was a Red Cross volunteer in my early 20s, we’d ride around the neighborhood every New Year’s Eve and New Year. There’s always someone getting hurt. It’s more convenient for us to just go around to treat minor injuries and transport serious injuries to the hospital. And for this reason, most of your OFS won't work on Jan 2. They'll start back on Jan 3. |
It’s January 2 and I’m sure gyms across the world were packed this morning with people who’ve decided to get in shape as their “New Years Resolution”. I spent the day in the mountains backcountry skiing with my wife. It’s not part of any “resolution”, it’s part of my lifestyle. Here’s why most new years resolutions don’t work. If it’s not strong enough for you to decide to do it December 15th, or October 3, or July 22, why is Jan 2 any different? It’s not. If the desire to change isn’t strong enough TODAY, then a new year isn’t going to give you that desire. BUT THAT’S NOT US! We're entrepreneurs. We push through hard things. We figure out solutions that work. We don’t make “resolutions”, we make lifestyle changes and those things stick for us. My wife got back off sugar this year on December 21. Before the holidays. That’s a winner. That’s a lifestyle change. Here’s a lifestyle change from Ryan Smith: “You don’t have to be an expert in every area of your business. If you aren’t an expert in a specific area or it isn’t the best use of your time, find someone who is. Hire someone who already is an expert and pay them to build it for you. You concentrate on the high dollar activities that will move the needle in your business.” So many entrepreneurs think “I’m the only one who can do this”. They’re wrong. Make a lifestyle change this year and hire an OFS to help you focus on the high dollar activities that move the needle in your business. My One VA Away Challenge is designed to help you – hire the right person – in a short amount of time – with the least amount of effort – so you can move the needle Get it. Make a lifestyle change rather than another “resolution”. |
"Hey John, you should create a job board like OnlineJobs.ph in...." I get a lot of requests from people asking me to replicate Onlinejobs.ph in their country. No. Why? Because employers have a better experience in the Philippines than anywhere else in the world. Not always. But usually. There's a specific set of cultural differences in the Philippines that I haven't seen anywhere else. They're - honest - loyal - hard working - pleasing - not entrepreneurial - looking for long-term work Obviously not everyone is like this...but generally this is what you find in the Philippines. Yes, there are exceptions. Yes, you might find someone great in India or Mexico or Brazil or Indonesia or Ghana... ...but your chances are just higher in the Philippines. Usually a lot higher. I created OneVAAway.com so you can consistently hire hard-working, talented, and loyal people. They just happen to live in the Philippines. I think it’s better if people who are passionate about other countries should be the ones to build their job platforms. But you haven't seen that yet. Why? Because it's all about employers having a good experience. And that good experience happens consistently in the Philippines. John PS. It helps that I consistently create content around this. To me, content is king on the internet. But...even that comes back to people having a good experience. I always have something to talk about because there are so many stories of people loving their OFS. |
My OFS, Julia, is in the process of getting her driver’s license. She’s in her forties, so I was surprised to learn that she’s only started learning how to drive. She tried learning to drive when she was younger. But she crashed the car, which scared her from driving ever since. But since she and her husband bought a car, she was finally motivated to learn how to drive again. She wanted to enjoy the car for herself and not be a passenger all the time. I realized that her story is a great analogy for those who tried to hire Filipino workers in the past. If it doesn't work out for you, it makes you scared of hiring again. But just as Julia has to drive her car, you have to drive your business. And part of driving a business is getting the right help. Being a business owner can be fun and rewarding if you have smart and capable people helping you. If you’ve had a poor hiring experience in the past, it can be different this time. You can hire a great Filipino worker and avoid the mistakes. I can show you how to do it right this time with OneVAAway.com Drive your business. Stop being a passenger. |
In 2022, many Philippine holidays fell on the weekend. But in 2023, you may have noticed that many of those holidays now land on a Monday or Friday. If your OFS doesn’t work on the weekends, they can expect around 9 “long weekends” if we count regular and special holidays. If your business is affected by this, make sure you talk to your OFS to work on their schedules as soon as possible. These are Philippine holidays that will result in long weekends. Regular Holidays - April 6 - 10, 2023 (Th,F,M) - Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Day of Valor. - May 1, 2023(Monday) - Labor Day - June 12, 2023(Monday) - Philippine Independence Day - August 28, 2023 (Monday) - National Heroes Day - November 27, 2023(Monday) - Bonifacio Day - December 25, 2023(Monday) - Christmas Day Special Holidays - August 21, 2023 (Monday) - Ninoy Aquino Jr. Day - November 1 - 2, 2023 (Wednesday and Thursday) - All Saints and All Souls’ day. Expect your OFS to ask for a leave on October 31st (Tuesday) for travel to the province and Nov 3rd (Friday) to complete their long weekend. - December 8, 2023(Friday) - Feast of the Immaculate Conception. To make sure you’re updated on Philippine holidays, make sure you subscribe to our Google Calendar. It will put the Philippines holidays on your calendar so you're aware of them. PS. My family recently went on holiday to Southern California. It's amazing to me how fast the kids grow. One of my 5 is already out of the house, and another is about to leave. So sad. |
Chat GPT is everywhere. People keep asking me if it is replacing VAs. Yes and No. Yes, in a sense that it can help get rid of a lot of busy work that your VA is doing. If you need your VA to write ten articles daily for your content marketing, an AI can do that faster. But once your AI has generated those articles, somebody’s got to read through them and check if they’re good and on topic. They need to be checked for plagiarism. They need to be uploaded. Those articles would need links and images. You need to create social media posts to promote those articles. An AI can’t do all that for you automatically. Not yet. Here’s the thing, these are also jobs that not all VAs can do. If you want to make sure that the content generated by that AI is on brand and up to par with your standards, you need someone who really knows your business. A VA can't do that. If you want to make sure that your AI-generated content is promoted in a way that maximizes exposure to the right audience, you need someone who really understands your market. A VA can't do that. If you want to ensure that after you’ve promoted your content, your audience can interact with someone who can anticipate their needs, you’ll need someone who knows your customers. A VA can't do that. An Online Filipino Specialist CAN! Even better, you can find an Online Filipino Specialist who can help you build and understand AI! Will AI replace your virtual assistant? Probably. But for every other job that an AI and a virtual assistant can’t do, you’ll need an OFS. We've been playing with it for content creation. It's amazing, but not up to our standards (or voice, or tone). We're also in early stages of seeing if we can provide better customer support with it. Not replacing our customer support, but providing better customer support. We'll see. John |
After I released that newsletter on phone services, I got a lot of responses on phone services that are not on the list. So here's an update based on what subscribers told me: Unitel Dialpad Ooma Office Twilio WhatsApp ZegoCloud DialDesk Not a phone service but a subscriber also recommended HeyMarket, which is an SMS/text messaging service. This service is good if you use SMS a lot for marketing and customer support. Here’s another option that I got that I just had to share in verbatim: Any phone provider that provides IP phone services should be able to set up an overseas OFS with a soft phone app either a cell phone or computer. I pay $25 a month for her line and my ofs can make unlimited calls to and from the United States. And since her phone is tied into my phone system, she has an extension. I can dial her extension and talk to her. In addition, when people call my business phone number, she has an extension which people could just punch in and get through straight to her. She can also call other countries for the same rates that I pay. Note: setting up a soft phone is what most of the companies we've mentioned will do. Here’s another solution that’s not applicable to everybody but can work if you’re in Australia. You don’t need to know how to set up a PBX (although I do), just need to know to ask your local ISP for a virtual PBX and VoIP phones. Then describe to the ISP how you want it set up and they will do the rest. I use Spintel for my services but that is of no use to anyone outside Australia. They also have to think of using the ISP for business not just getting an Internet connection like at home. I find the smaller boutique ISPs are easier to work with, than the bigger Telcos. Armed with this information, you should be ready to hire an experienced online Filipino customer service representative. Thank you to everybody who replied with their suggestions. If you guys have anything more to add or if you have any other questions or topics you want me to cover, email me at [email protected] My point in sending this is to make it very clear that it's super reasonable to hire an OFS to make phone calls. Here are searches on OnlineJobs.ph for: call center phone support cold calling telemarketing Thousands of experienced people looking for work. John |
"John - How do I know if I can trust them?" It's one of the first questions people ask me. Humans are hardwired to be suspicious of things we don’t know or understand. That’s how we protect ourselves. So I understand why you’d be reluctant to trust a stranger halfway across the world to help with your business. What most people don’t know is that fear runs both ways. Filipinos also have this fear when they apply for online work. They are afraid because most people know someone scammed with online work at least once. Many have personally experienced it. https://mb.com.ph/2022/05/30/cybercriminals-continue-preying-on-filipino-job-seekers-report/ In fact, for most Filipinos, their feelings of fear towards you are stronger than your fear towards them! Taking on a job is a leap of faith for them. They’re choosing to commit all that time to a job where they might not get paid. That’s time they could have spent pursuing other options. They can work for established companies in the Philippines that guarantee a paid job. A paid job means they can pay their rent, utilities, and groceries this month. The worst that could happen when you don't hire an OFS because you don’t trust them is that you’re not growing your business. You can afford to take that risk. But Filipino workers take that risk if they want to feed their families. That’s why I often say that you need to earn their trust just as much as they need to earn yours. The stakes are higher for your OFS. You can find someone trustworthy when you follow the steps I lay out at OneVAAway.com. But when an OFS puts their trust in the wrong employer and they’re scammed, there’s not much they can do. They can’t get that time back. It’s a painful learning experience that will make them more cautious. It's a lesson that leaves them worse off because it doesn't help pay the bills. If you're worried about finding someone you can trust here's something interesting; we deal with more problematic employers than we do problematic workers. Filipinos (generally) are trustworthy. But you won't know until you try it yourself. John PS. Here are Jody and Brian from https://atozbuildingblocks.com/. They recognized me at a restaurant last Friday night and came and introduced themselves. I'm so glad they did. They have 2 OFS who they trust their business to. Those 2 OFS also trust them. They're good employers. |
Here's a VA I know who is available to hire. Notice I didn't call him an OFS. He's not. And...I don't actually KNOW him. Here's the story... My oldest son is serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The "Mormons". Yes, I'm an active member of this church and an active disciple of Jesus Christ. We try to follow. My son got assigned to the Philippines. This is crazy because when you go on a mission, you don't choose where you go. You apply to go, send your application in, and the church assigns you somewhere. It's not "random", but there was nothing on his application about any connection to the Philippines. When we found out I had no words. So, he gets there and then gets assigned to this little island: Marinduque. You've never heard of it. And, actually, it's not a little island, but the population is small and it's super remote. Like, it takes him 2 days to get to meetings on the main land, which is only like 30 miles away. He has been there for a few months now and has gotten to know a lot of people quite well. He tells me he meets people all the time who are either looking for work or have found work on OnlineJobs.ph. He doesn't often tell people that his dad owns OnlineJobs.ph. But last Sunday he brought someone to me for the first time. He said this guy (VA) needs a job or he's going to have to leave his wife and 2 kids, move to Manila, find a job so he can send home a little money to his family. I was like... "Well...I'm not likely to find him a job. I don't know anything about him." The my son started telling me about him. He's honest, super hard working, and super smart. He's not super talented because he has grown up on this island and hasn't had many opportunities, but he graduated from university and is looking for work. He speaks English, has done some customer support, and likes to do design work and is somewhat talented at it. My son, who before leaving the country as a 19yr old missionary was running a $300k/year business that he started at 11 and grew while going to high school, said he would hire this guy in an instant. He's so confident in this guy that he's the first person in 4 months he has brought to me...and he meets people every day who are out of work. I've emailed with the VA. His English is great. Not perfect. His internet speed is good (145mbps down, 21mbps up). His laptop is good. He's super affordable. He needs full-time work. You'd hire him because you want a general VA. Not an OFS. Someone who doesn't know much but who will grow with you and learn and work really hard to do good work. Someone you can trust. Someone like my first hire, Joven, who I hired in 2005 and who now runs OnlineJobs.ph. I'm sending this email to 100,000 people. 25,000 will read it. One will hire him. If you're interested, reply. John PS. Doing this isn't my favorite. I don't make any money from it. It's not scaleable. It's not automated. And it requires my time. Yuck. But depending on the response I could do more of it. |
Last week I told you about my son in the Philippines and how he had a friend there who needed a job. My son had vetted Marc for me. Marc was trustworthy and hard working, just not super skilled. His option was to travel to Manila for work and leave his wife and 2 kids home, or try to find online work. His plight is common. The Philippines doesn't export many things but they import a lot. That leads to a difficult economic situation (more to come about this in the future). So, they turn to exporting people. They send their people overseas to work and send money home. Families get ripped apart. Children are raised by their grandparents. Communities suffer. That's "just how it is". But not for Marc. One of you hired Marc. He now makes $4/hour. More than enough to support his family on his remote island. His kids will grow up with him at home. They'll know their dad. I get tears just thinking about it as I write this. I had over 100 responses from people asking to hire Marc. Not because he's a super talented OFS. He's not. But because you knew he was trustworthy. Because I had vetted him and said "You can trust this person." So I spent this past week working on more of this. On finding more people you can trust. With Marc I just trusted my son. With these people we put them through the wringer. We've talked to past employers, we've gathered government clearances (it's like the background check of the Philippines), we've verified skills. Some are "VAs". They're not super skilled. Others are OFS: Bookkeepers Accountants Social media managers SEO experts Sales people Customer support Property Management Graphic design Because we have to do a lot of work to vet these people, we're charging to hire them. But we're charging half of what we normally would because of the response last week. If you're looking for a vetted VA/OFS: www.OnlineJobs.ph/vetted-workers First come, first served. John |
You want to hire an OFS (or maybe even a VA!) but you've been putting it off because you're afraid you don’t know how to do it right? There’s one thing you can do to help you get over your fear of hiring AND help you learn how to hire someone faster. Write and post a job today! Just do it. It's just not that hard. You can write your job post from scratch or use a template. It doesn’t have to be perfect. As soon as you’re done, just post it. It's free! What’s the worst that could happen? If you realize that there’s something wrong with the job post, you can easily edit it. Do you need more responses? - Maybe the salary’s too low. - Maybe you listed down too many skills. - Maybe it’s too specific. Edit and post the job again! Not getting the quality of jobseekers that you want? - Maybe the job post isn’t specific enough. - Maybe you didn’t put any instructions that can help weed out unqualified people. - Maybe the timing was off (this happened to me a week ago) Edit and post the job again! Want more help? - Use my step-by-step guide at OneVAAway.com. - email our support: [email protected] Posting the job is the hardest part because it seems daunting. Take the leap. John |
It may be winter where you live (it certainly is where I live), but most Filipinos are preparing for the summer heat. If you sent your OFS 13th-month pay, some of them probably spent that money to buy new fans and air conditioners or upgrade the ones they already have. Some employers are aware of this and have even given their OFS air conditioners as part of their 13th month. we paid the 13th month pay on the 15th. and my personal assistant got a new aircon (only cost us $435 total, but her loyalty and hard work are priceless) Ziv There’s also Bob H., who bought his OFS air coolers a few years back. It can get scorching hot in the Philippines. In 2022, the highest heat index reached as high as 127 degrees (54 degrees Celcius). Most days, it’s around 86 degrees, but it feels much hotter because it’s humid. It’s the kind of heat that can make you dizzy if you’re not used to it. This is why most homes in the Philippines have at least one electric fan. Many would have at least one per room. If you go into the slum areas, you’ll see few houses with air conditioning. This is one of the reasons why the siesta(Spanish word for an afternoon rest or nap) is a common practice for Filipinos. They sleep when it’s too hot and return to work when the temperature becomes more tolerable. They’ve done it long before they adopted the Spanish term for it. If you’re like Ziv and want to give your OFS something they can use to help them be more productive, you can help them buy something to improve their work conditions. Fans, air coolers, and air conditioners aren’t that expensive in the Philippines. A desk fan in the Philippines starts at around $7. $30 can buy you an air cooler for a small room. Small air conditioners, on the other hand, start at $140. Still not that much. John PS. It's cold where I live and I love it! Watching the snow is one of my favorite things to do. |
I got this email from one of my newsletter subscribers asking about how I organize my video training library. I love your emails and am extremely grateful for what you've created with OnlineJobs. I hired a wonderful person a little over a year ago through your site and has helped me tremendously; I don't know how I would have continued to do all the things I needed to do without her. I read your newsletter everyday (which, is also very helpful) and was hoping you might be able to talk a little bit about how you organize your "library" of Snagit training videos for your VAs? Snagit works great, but I'm wondering if there is an easier way to organize the videos as you make them besides just naming and dating them and dropping them in a Google Drive or Dropbox folder. Maybe you could write one of your daily posts about this? This is going to be ... questionable. My OFS wrote a whole response about how I organize my videos. All about spreadsheets and columns and dates... I deleted the whole thing because that's not actually what I do. It's what someone else does. I'm going to give you exactly what I do. It's stupid simple, less "organized" than you think, yet it's permanent. 1. I use Snagit to create screen capture images and videos. This is key. Snagit! You can use Loom or TinyTake or Screencast-o-matic...but I don't know if any of them do what Snagit does that makes this work so well for me. 2. I set Snagit up to upload to MY OWN HOSTING ACCOUNT. I do NOT use their auto upload service. Since it's my own web hosting account (you could use google drive or dropbox or...) I control when things get deleted...which is NEVER! This is really important. You need to upload to somewhere where you know it will not be deleted. 3. I add the URL of that video to an email or a task or a training document. 4. If that email/task/training document is a long term thing, we'll refer back to it regularly and no matter how far in the future it is, my video is still there. If that email/task/training document is a short term thing, we'll stop looking at it and we'll stop looking at that video I created. Either way, the training I created never goes away. It's a big deal when things you create don't go away. Here's a video of me explaining this, created with Snagit: http://www.quickvideolearning.com/daily/2023-01-26_14-09-38.mp4 Some of you may have gotten a video like this from me in the past. Search your email for "quickvideolearning.com" and I bet whatever I sent you is still there, no matter how long ago I sent it. You don't have to buy your own domain (like "quickvideolearning.com" which is what I bought) but for $10/year to make sure your trainings are always accessible in the same place...it's worth it. John PS. I record videos and take images every day. If you really wanted to spend the time, you could probably find all the trainings I've given my team by guessing every second of every minute of every day on my server until you find them individually. You'd have to sift through a lot of crap to find something relevant (probably not worth it). |
I’ve mentioned a few times that “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” is one of those books that shaped the course of my life. It kept me out of debt. It taught me to take appropriate risks. It taught me to buy assets before liabilities. There’s a line in that book that, I think, perfectly illustrates the potential of hiring an OFS: Online Filipino Specialist. "‘I can’t afford it’ shuts down your brain. ‘How can I afford it?’ open up possibilities, excitement and dreams." If you think you can't afford to hire any help, you're limiting yourself. - You can't take on new clients because you don't have help. - You can't grow your business because you don't have help. - You can't go on a vacation or take a break because you don't have help. But when you think about how you can afford to hire an OFS, your brain starts to look for opportunities. "I want to give my OFS this task to get this thing off my plate. With that free time, I can look for more clients." "I've always wanted to improve our customer service. I'll give this task to my OFS so I'll have more time to do something else." "If I delegate one more task to my OFS, I'll be working 1 hour less per week. I can use that time to sleep more." When you don't have an OFS, you can only see what you can't do. When you have an OFS, you start seeing everything you can do. Open yourself up to possibilities, excitement, and dreams. You can start by posting a job at Onlinejobs.ph John |
People always tell me "How can I trust this person?" Their minds immediately go to “What if my OFS steals from me?” With a local hire, you know you can go to the police. But what if your OFS steals your financial information or client list or destroys your website, database, or cloud? What can you do? The good thing about hiring an OFS is that this rarely happens. Digital theft is rare in the Philippines! Three reasons: 1. because your OFS doesn’t want to steal from you. 2. there’s no incentive to steal. 3. if and when they’re caught, the punishment is really steep. Even though it’s really rare, I understand wanting to know what you can do if this unlikely event happens to you. We've seen hundreds of thousands of people get hired through OnlineJobs.ph. We've seen theft happen...but it's so unbelievably rare I only talk about it because you want to hear about it. So my team took it upon themselves to research. They emailed the Philippine Department of Justice - Office of the Cybercrime to ask what’s the protocol regarding reporting cybercrime committed by Philippine citizens against someone who is not in the Philippines. This is the email my OFS sent. Because many employers are concerned about the safety of their data, they are concerned that some Filipinos they hire as off-shore contractors may breach their trust, data, and information security, we'd like to know: Since the employers do not have any entity in the Philippines, can they report Philippine based Filipino workers to the Philippines' DOJ for cybercrime if they steal, sell, or destroy data? The DOJ responded with: The normal course of action, therefore, is for them to file a report to their local law enforcement so that they can coordinate with their Philippine counterparts. They may also file a complaint to the nearest Philippine Consular Office by executing a consularized affidavit and sending it to the Chief of National Bureau of Investigation - Cybercrime Division, 5th Floor, VTEC Tower, 1257 Gregorio Araneta Avenue cor. Maria Clara St., Quezon City, Philippines or to the Director of the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group, Camp Crame, Quezon City. For their contact details, they may visit the following links: http://nbi.gov.ph/transparency-seal/nbi-divisions and https://acg.pnp.gov.ph/main/contacts. That’s pretty straightforward. If ever a Filipino worker commits a cybercrime against you, you can first contact your local law enforcement to file a formal complaint. Your local law enforcement will coordinate with their Philippine counterparts, and the ball will start rolling. You can also file a complaint with the Philippine consulate if you live close to one. The Philippines government takes theft seriously. They don't tolerate it. There is no "$950 California theft law" in the Philippines. If you steal and are caught, you're going to jail. Everyone in the Philippines knows this and it's almost always enough to deter people. It’s not worth losing your reputation and future opportunities just for a bit of extra money. I want to remind you that I am not a lawyer. Nobody on my team is a lawyer. Listen to your lawyer. Consult your lawyer. But you won’t be needing this information if you have a solid hiring process that consistently gets you good, trustworthy, reliable Filipino workers. That’s what I teach at OneVAAway.com. John |
You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world…but it requires people to make the dream a reality. - Walt Disney I don't think I can say it better than him. Your business requires people. Ready to take the leap? Start with www.OFSGuide.com. <-- Answers the top 9 questions I get asked Then use www.OneVAAway.com <-- Guides you through hiring an amazing OFS Or, just post a job at www.OnlineJobs.ph <-- It's just a job board kind-of like Indeed.com. You post a job, people apply. You interview and hire however you want. There are no commitments or requirements of full-time or how you pay or benefits or ... John |
I get a lot of emails from employers and Filipino workers telling me how Onlinejobs.ph changed their lives. But this...is different. Here's a conversation I had last week with my oldest child, Austin. He was sent to the Philippines for his mission with the Church of the Latter-Day Saints and assigned to a remote island in the Philippines. https://youtu.be/_2czGqddhVM Here's what I learned. 1. The Philippines does very little exporting. Individual islands do even less exporting. When you don't export anything, you have no money coming in, just money going out to buy goods. 2. They solve this problem by exporting people. 3. Exporting people destroys families. The Philippines government has actively encouraged workers to go find work overseas and send money home. The problem is it doesn’t account for the emotional and mental toll it takes on a culture that deeply values family ties. It doesn’t consider the strained and broken relationships brought about by distance and neglect. But with every OFS, we know: That’s one family where the mom or dad doesn’t have to leave the island so that they can make enough money to support themselves. That’s one family where the kids can grow up with both parents. They don’t have to go through the pain of homesickness and separation. That’s one family where the grandparents can just enjoy their grandkids. They don’t have the added burden of being full-time parents when they’re old and retired. When you hire an OFS, you’re doing a lot of good. You’re helping families and communities. Be proud of that. And, look. About 98% of the people on OnlineJobs.ph are honest, hard working, loyal people. They just want to find work to support their family. Finding trustworthy people IS NOT HARD! Either post your job today at OnlineJobs.ph or use my www.OneVAAway.com challenge to post your job today. Either way it's a win-win-win-win-win-win. You win. Your family wins. Your business wins. They win. Their family wins. Their community wins. Stop kicking the can. Hire someone. If you have questions about "can I hire THIS kind of person", just respond to this email. It comes to me. John |
I talk a lot about earning your OFS (Online Filipino Specialist) trust and giving them training and benefits. Why? Why be so nice to Filipino workers? They work for you! You’re paying them to do their jobs! You’re paying them to work, right!? Right??? Yes, you’re right. When you hire an OFS and pay them right, they’ll do their jobs. But something amazing happens when you inspire them and boost their self-esteem. Being a good boss is actually good for business. I know that compared to other businesses, I have a low turnover rate. I have Filipino workers messaging me every day, wanting to work for me because they know that Onlinejobs.ph is a great company to work for. When you give your OFS benefits, it boosts their trust in you. They're less likely to leave. More likely to do better. When your OFS gets training, it boosts their confidence. They're confident that they're doing the job correctly. This gives them the confidence to take on more challenging tasks. This isn’t unique to Filipino workers, but it's especially effective with them. When you have all the best people wanting to work for you, all you need to do is have a hiring process that helps you find the people who best fit your business. That’s what I teach with my One VA Away hiring challenge. What kind of OFS do you want to hire? SEO expert? Forex trader? GoHighLevel expert? Anything else? John |
I have a neighbor who sells shoes on eBay. He has like 3,000-5,000 Pairs of shoes...in his basement! He's always wearing some cool new pair of unique shoes. I've mentioned to him a number of times about hiring OFS and he's always like "Oh, there's nothing they could do for me. I have to do it all myself." Ok...I mean...I believe there are some things that he has to do by himself. He’s amazing at finding great deals on shoes that will sell really well. That’s what’s making his business successful. Then I turn around and have an email in my inbox from someone else saying "I run an eBay business selling "___" and I just hired my 6th OFS and they do this and this and this on eBay for me." Guess which eBay business is bigger? Actually, no. Guess which eBay business owner works less? I know every business has a unique selling point, but for the most part, that’s probably the only thing unique about your business. Everything that supports that unique selling point, everything that makes it possible, isn’t unique. To give that unique selling point to your customers, you need: - marketing people to spread the word. - admin people to keep things running smoothly. - customer support to make sure your clients are happy. - technical support so you can automate Getting someone to help you in your business doesn’t make it less special. It actually gives you more time to focus on that special thing, that magic, because you have people taking care of everything else. Check out OFSTasks.com to see what OFS are doing for other businesses in your industry. John |
Riding a bike is so easy...once you know how. Once you know, you can't imagine not knowing how. To a lot of people, a bike adds freedom, opportunity, exercise, competition, transportation... Here's my daughter competing in her last high school race: Hiring an OFS is similar. It seems so daunting. So hard. So..."I can't do this" So...let me outline how easy this actually is. Once you know how, you'll never NOT know how. 1. Search and view some profiles at OnlineJobs.ph - this is always the first step because it requires no commitment by you. Search something like: Amazon FBA expert Google adwords Real estate VA Shopify Developer Look at some profiles. You'll get a really good idea of what's out there. 2. Post a job. Super simple. Don't over complicate this. Post a few sentences. It's free. 3. Interview applicants via email. Ask them some questions. You don't need to do any prep work. No scheduling. No time zones. No video conference links. Just keep asking them questions. ^^^^^ This is my secret to hiring fast, easy, efficiently, and almost always finding someone great! 4. Hire the best fit. If you're still not sure, use the steps at OneVAAway.com Hiring an OFS is easier than learning to ride a bike. And to a lot of employers, it gives MORE freedom than a bike. And to the person you hire, it's life changing. John |
Job titles aren’t that important to me. But in the Philippines, it’s a big deal. An impressive job title is a source of pride. A nice-sounding job title announces to their family and friends how good they are at their job or how much money they’re making without openly bragging about it. This cultural thing is what Lukas used to find himself a great OFS. When he used Executive Assistant in his job post, he wasn’t getting good applicants. But with one small tweak, he started receiving applications from the candidates he wanted. Here’s what he said in his email. I was looking for somewhat of a general VA but with more experience and strong communication skills. I got plenty of applications but very few qualified candidates. A couple of awesome candidates, but none that felt like a home run. I tried changing the job title to CoS (Chief of Staff), reached out to a handful of profiles, and had completed applications, test projects, AND interviews within 12hrs with 2 STELLAR candidates. Interviewing 1 more later today and hiring someone tomorrow. Amazing talent! Just had to look for and advertise the right job title/role! The job title matters. Another thing you can do is browse through the OnlineJobs.ph database and invite promising candidates to apply for your job post. This way, you’ll also reach workers who may not have seen your job post. Last, if you're not getting the quantity or quality of applicants you want, try posting your job again. It's weird and I can't figure it out. One day I'll post a job and get 4 applicants. 2 days later I'll post the same job and get 15 job applicants, with a bunch of really qualified people. It's not something we're doing with our software. It has something to do with timing...but I don't know yet. John |
Every day I get emails from people saying "Do you have X type of worker?" Yes, yes we do. I usually reply with a search result from OnlineJobs.ph. With over 2,000,000 Filipino profiles, we have people who can do almost anything. And, it’s easy to find great applicants at OnlineJobs.ph. BUT...I'm also aware that there are also a lot of poor-quality applicants. People who don't read the job post. People who send a crappy form application. People who are unqualified and don't care. I hate that this is happening because it’s making it harder for you (and me) to find amazing people. It has been eating at me for years...but I didn't know how to fix it. Until a few months ago. Introducing Apply Points. Apply Points is a limited resource all applicants must use when applying to jobs. Because it's limited, those who are careful with it will stand out to you. I could write a bunch about it, but my team did a really good job of explaining how AP helps you find better candidates more easily. I want to clarify that Apply Points isn’t a measure of how qualified they actually are. You still need to interview, ask questions, and do test tasks. Apply Points is just our way of weeding out the ones who put in no effort applying, and pushing forward jobseekers who want to work for you and feel that they can be a great addition to your business. When it went live a few weeks ago I was hiring and it was awesome. I got like 20 applicants. A bunch used 1 Apply Point. I didn't even open their applications. A number use 3 Apply Points. Fine. Then a couple use 8, 12, or even 30 Apply Points. Those were the applications I paid attention to first. Not all the high point ones were great applications, but most were. We’re constantly improving this so let me know what you think. Has it improved your experience? Are you getting better applicants now? Email me at [email protected] John |
Most people aren't going to like hearing this. Working 40 hours/week is overrated. Most people working 40 hours/week fritter away time. They watch funny cat videos on YouTube, they scroll Facebook. They read "news". I don't do any of it. No FB. No news. No Youtube. No, I haven't seen "that video". No meetings. No phone calls. No 40 hours. With my type of business, I can work anywhere. As long as I have a laptop and an internet connection, I can answer emails, give feedback, create content, etc. But I don't. I don’t like bringing my laptop on vacation. I don't want to be thinking about work when I'm home. I don’t like bringing my work with me. When I work, I’m in my home office and I'm super productive. I (most of the time) make sure I finish what I’ve set out to do that day. I’m focused when I’m in that room, and I’m away from any distractions. That’s how I get a lot of work done despite working only 17 hours a week. Well...that and my team of OFS. All the emails get answered. I’m on top of most ongoing projects. My team gets feedback from me regularly. I troubleshoot problems, and I come up with new ideas for the business. I don’t need to work 40 hours a week to get 40 hours of work done. When I’m being super productive, I don’t want to drop what I’m doing simply because I have to attend a meeting. I don’t want to stop working because my OFS needs me to answer their questions ASAP. An OFS working on a different timezone helps you be more productive while you work. There's a time for giving feedback, then there's a time for getting your own work done. Quickly. Without distraction. John PS. The other day while coming back from skiing with my new "Moonbike", this moose was standing on the road. We stood there for 45 minutes waiting for him to go away. 45 minutes from 5:15 - 6pm! Cold! But what a beautiful animal. |
I’ve talked before that setting up shop in the Philippines is really hard, and that’s still the case today. People sometimes want advice on how to set up a legal entity in the Philippines and my advice is DON'T. It's really difficult, and the Philippines government is not trying to make it easier. But if you want to set up shop in the Philippines just because you want your OFS to work in the same place without going through the paperwork and government red tape, you might want to consider renting from a co-working space. Now that most COVID restrictions have been lifted in the Philippines, co-working spaces are opening up again. The great thing about co-working spaces: - It lets your business have an “office space” where your OFS team can work without having to set up shop in the Philippines. - Most co-working spaces in the Philippines have Fiber internet, back-ups, and a generator. Blackouts and internet outages would be less of a problem. - Your OFS will be comfortable because most of these places have air-conditioning and unlimited coffee. We know that some OFS use co-working spaces as back-up offices where they pay by the day. They go there if there’s an internet/power outage at home, or a change of scenery. If your OFS team all live in the same place, having them together in a co-working space makes sense. You don’t have to worry if your OFS can’t get back-up internet or upgrade their internet because their area doesn’t have that service. Despite these advantages, most of our OFS still prefer to work from home for the following reasons: - Most co-working spaces are in big cities, which means commuting through traffic. - Not all co-working spaces are open 24 hours a day. OFS that work at night can’t use it. In most places, it’s also safer for them to just work at home. - It can be expensive. The average cost per desk is around $100 per month, but some offer cheaper rates when you get more desks. It’s more expensive for your OFS too, because they’ll have to spend for fare, outside food, etc. So if you only have a small OFS team or your team is distributed nationwide, it’s cheaper just to give them an internet allowance. - Some co-working spaces will require you to be a registered business in the Philippines if you rent out a bigger office or a lot of seats. Take note that a co-working space will NOT manage or monitor your OFS for you. They just rent out the space. They can’t force your OFS to show up for their shift. They’re not going to watch over your OFS to make sure they’re working. But, if you're looking for office space in the Philippines without the hassle of setting up a legal entity there, this could be a really good option. John |
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