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This Thursday begins Holy Week in the Philippines. For detailed info, see the wikipedia article on holy week in the Philippines. For you, it means time off for your VA's. They'll take at least Thursday and Friday off (plus the weekend). They might want to take Wednesday off. Let them know it's ok for them to have it off. It builds goodwill. |
Having started and run lots of businesses online, here's my advice on starting your own online business. First: The Don'ts Before you go making a bunch of mistakes… Don't Try To Re-invent The Wheel - Lots of other people have started businesses. Lots of them are willing to tell you how they did it. Find a blueprint for what works and follow it. Below I'll give recommendations for business models I believe are the easiest/best to follow.Don't Get Caught Up In Bright, Shiny Objects - As you begin learning, you'll find that everyone has something to sell you. Almost every one of them is "THE BEST, MOST AWESOMEST, 100% GUARANTEED, IF YOU DON'T DO IT YOU'RE STUPID WAY TO MAKE MONEY ANYWHERE EVER!!!" My experience is: the more you jump from one thing to another, even if the other thing looks better, the less likely you are to succeed.Don't Get A Merchant Account - Lots of people will tell you "you need a merchant account in order to process credit cards!" Don't fall for it. It's expensive. Plus, there are lots of other ways to collect money. Try Paypal, Google Checkout, or Intuit Payment Network. Any of them will make it super easy to collect money (just copy and paste the code they'll give you).Don't set up an LLC - At least…not until you're making money. You'll find tons of people wanting to set you up a Nevada LLC because of all it's "benefits." It's all a bunch of crap.Don't do "paid surveys" - Worst idea ever! You'll NEVER make any money from this, no matter how easy they make it look. I've seen too many people make these mistakes before the ever even get started. Next: The Do's Now for my advice on what to do when starting an internet business. Most sites will give you a bunch of generic advice like "find stuff to sell" or "clean out your garage and sell it on ebay". What a bunch of garbage. Learn To Sell- When I read "Learn how to sell" in "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" I thought: "Nah…I don't want to and I don't like it. I'll get other people to sell for me". Wrong! Not only will you be selling online, knowing how to sell online will make all the difference in the world for your confidence as you begin any venture. Learn to write sales copy. I'm not saying you need to write your own copy (I usually don't), but knowing it will give you power. When you don't know how to sell, don't know how to write sales copy, you'll do everything else except the important part, MAKE SALES! You'll beat around the bush doing tasks that won't ever make you money. Learning to sell will give you a TON of confidence and will take you like 2 hours. Here are two pretty good copywriting courses: http://www.sherus.com/business/copywriting/ and http://www.copyblogger.com/copywriting-101/.Recognize: This Is A Business! - I see too many people who try to start an online business who treat it like a hobby or a get-rich-quick scheme. If you don't want a "get-rich-quick" scheme, don't treat it like one. You're not going to make a bazillion dollars overnight. IT WILL TAKE TIME! Implement what you learn and learn from your failures. Also, recognize that as a business, IT WON'T BE FREE! (but I'll tell you the best, most economical places to get started…at least…according to my 7 years experience)Get A Practical Education - When you know how to sell it's time to learn what works online. This involves learning tacticsand implementing them! The best way I know of to get this education is at NicheProfitClassroom.com. I've seen hundreds of people go through the training at NPC. It's the best in the world. The best part of it is that it helps you implement the tactics you're learning. Adam makes "making money" sound much easier than it is, and maybe it is for him, but the fact his, his training inside NicheProfitClassroom is the best in the world and will definitely propel you forward in your online business. Another place you can get a really good education is at Challenge.co. Both offer step-by-step training and implementation. Implementation is Key! If you don't implement what you learn, you guarantee failure! Learn To Outsource - The reason you're starting a business online is to that business can run itself for you, right? A brick-and-mortar store can't run itself for you. A website can… My experience is that a website must be updated and maintained or it will die. So how do you live the lifestyle you want? Outsourcing! It's amazing what you can outsource nowadays. You just have to know how. In my not-so-humble opinion, here' the best place to learn to outsource Follow A System That Works - I already told you about 2 systems (NPC and Challenge.co) which will give you the best education. However, in my opinion, the best way to make money online is as a consultant doing online work for offline businesses. It's easy to learn, it's easy to understand, and I see success story after success story of people doing it using all kinds of systems. It's not what you would consider a "normal online business", but it's the quickest way to see profits. In my experience, the best place to get started is at OfflineBiz.com. It's cheap, has a huge community behind it (super easy to get help), and the guys who run it are honest, smart, and know what they're teaching, and, the best part…people who use it are succeeding! Last: Pay Attention Get An Education (an online education)Follow A SystemImplement What You Learn I see too many people skipping steps. They don't want to learn, or they JUST want to learn and never implement. Or, worse, they learn, and implement, but never stick with anything and just jump from one program to another. If you don't stick with something you'll never succeed. |
One of my GUYS sent this to me because it was funny. I love that: 1. it's from the Philippines 2. it's from 1 billion people Funny. |
I know this post is going to cause controversy...but... This is a common problem: My Filipino employee works, but it's like he's only working 2 hours/day instead of 8.What do I do? First let me say I struggle with this too! Second: This post is not intended at any of my current employees...even though some are currently struggling with this. It's not always the case that they're being dishonest with you or working for someone else. Often the problem is with me. I haven't given clear instructions. I haven't paid enough attention to what they're working on. I haven't given enough direction for them to do what I want them to do. So how do I deal with it? Tough question. The first step is to look inward. ;Make sure you're blaming yourself first. You're taking the responsibility of not having done enough training, spent enough time, given correct instruction. If that doesn't work... Some things I've done include: Ask them if they're struggling with something.Mention times when they were very productive vs. times they're not very productive (now). Ask what's going on.Ask who else they're working for.We both know this is happening sometimes. I hate it. But it's good to get it out there.Ask what they're struggling with.Tell the importance of the daily email. If I don't get the daily email, my business falls apart. Sometimes they forget this. I need the daily email to track what's going on. Sometimes just getting the daily email is enough to get them (and me) back on track so that work quality goes up.Have a frank conversation. "Look, I know the difference when you're working well and when you're not. It's pretty obvious to me."Use more carefully.Ask why things are taking so long. What do they need more instructions on. There is no perfect solution to this! Ask lots of questions It's amazing what you might find out (like they're pregnant and didn't want to tell you because they thought they might lose their job…so instead of telling you, they just worked less and hoped…) I try really hard not to let people go. This situation has put me really close. I'd love to hear your experience and how you deal with this situation. |
Every year there are numerous typhoons in the Philippines. It's always sad. Recently there have been numerous typhoons back to back. It's a good time to check on your GUYS and make sure they're ok. Here's an email I had forwarded to me today. It originated in the Philippines. One of my customers forwarded me an email from one of her GUYS."Dear sir and ma'am, this is the daughter of [NAME]. sorry for no updates lately. i am now at the city just to email you. there is a calamity happen to our place HINAPLANON ILIGAN CITY. there is a huge flood happen to our place. Thanks God that we are all alive in our family and there is no one in harm. right now, there is no electricty and internet in our place. and our was was damaged until to our 2nd floor. we will send you some pictures and videos to what happen to our place. it was very horrible. we stayed all night until morning at the roof looking at the rising water. all our things were damaged except for our computer and laptop, we saved it so that my mother can still work on you ma'am. maybe this will be the last email until we haven't recover yet. we will just email if have recovered sir and ma'am. we need your help and consideration sir and ma'am. until now, our house was full of mud because of the flood. and some of our neighbors and close friends died. thanks to God sir and ma'am that we are safe¦ thank you sir and ma'am. just see the news at our place HINAPLANON, ILIGAN CITY, it is the one of the major destructed place." The most important thing to save was their LAPTOP! If you don't have Filipino's working for you, you're missing the boat! |
After I lost my gmail account then recovered my gmail account I became much more security conscious. Yesterday @Mat Honan lost everything.Please read his story I write this just in hopes that it will save a few people some headache. 7 Simple Ways To Protect Your Digital Life USE DIFFERENT PASSWORDS! - I use different passwords for my email, facebook, twitter, apple, amazon, bank, and lastpass. Anything which would cause me pain if hacked...I use a different password. SUPER IMPORTANT Why? It's becoming more and more common for a hacker to hack a database and pull all the email addresses and passwords. Then they use software to try every email/password they just got on gmail/facebook/twitter/yahoo/msn... 2. Use Different Emails - I don't use my main email address for setting up accounts online. My "accounts" email address forwards to my main email. It's easy for a hacker to get a hold of your primary email address. Not as easy to guess a separate account email. 3. Use a different recovery email address - My account recovery email address is not with a common email provider. It's on it's own. Just one more layer. 4. Use Gmail's 2 Factor Authentication - No, seriously. This is not a joke. It's not hard. It adds peace of mind. It makes hacking your account SUPER difficult. DO IT NOW! 5. Use Lastpass - Nobody wants to remember the different passwords for different accounts. Use Lastpass . Everything's encrypted. Use Google Authenticator for 2 factor authentication on Lastpass. 6. Stop using your mother’s maiden name - Don't tell websites your pet's name. Don't tell them what elementary school you went to. Create a system for security answers. If you don't, you might end up like Sara Palin. 7. MAKE BACKUPS EVERYWHERE!- I like backups. They make me feel good. I use Syncback to backup my computer to an external hard drive inside my house. Carbonite to make automatic backups online. Backupify.com to backup the data I create online (google data, Facebook, Blogger, Wordpress, Picasa, Flickr, Twitter). Crashplan to make online backups of all my data from all my computers. Fantastic automatic backup service! Flickr to backup photos. One of my GUYS uploads my photos to Flickr for me. Now my photos are on my computer, the external hard drive, mozy, crashplan, and flickr. I don't intend to lose memories of my children! Zoho Mail to pop all my gmail so I have an accessible copy of all my email somewhere NOT on google's servers. If you're not backing up your data, you're begging to lose it. Don't give out personal information - DUH! Yet so many people happily give it out. Godaddy called me the other day and the conversation went like this: Godaddy: Hi, can I speak with John? Me: This is John Godaddy: Hi John, can you please verify your account by telling me the last 4 digits of your credit card? Me: HECK NO! You called me! How about you give me the last 4 of your credit card to prove you're actually Godaddy! END OF CONVERSATION Godaddy wouldn't do it that way if people didn't give it to them all the time! Be careful with your info. Nobody EVER asks for passwords, don't send money via western union, don't give out your social security number or your birthday, Google and Facebook don't send out emails saying "Your account has been compromised." I'm not a security expert But doing some simple things can go a long way towards protecting your digital life. I'd love to learn more from you in the comments. |
Today I got an email from Phil: John, you nailed me, I am doing nothing while trying to learn everything. I can't build an auto-responder, I found out me web-site is a template that I can't change only add. I started a blog and found out it's only a facebook page, I spent a great deal of time advertising on Plenty of Fish, over 200,000 views to get 25 clicks and no conversions.I know that I need help but I believe you that I need to out source right now but I am afraid that I don't know how to tell them what I need done, and what is it I need done?I think I need a landing page, but why shouldn't I out source it? I want a blog, outsource? I think I need a new web site but I don't know how to abandon the old, damn this is hard.I am aware that I need to dumb it down and get things done one at a time, I have clickbank, I have adf.ly, I have advertising money but what should I do to start the cash flow so that I can tackle the WHOLE? I need to produce leads for an insurance project how? Woah!!! A bit overwhelmed...no? So, here's some advice for anyone who is overwhelmed in starting their internet business. While I can't answer all your questions (it would take me all day and would be an entire training course), I can give you some advice.It sounds like you're all over the place trying to implement a bunch of different things you've heard about.It doesn't sound like you have a cohesive strategy.Map Out Your BusinessI suggest you sit down and map out your business plan. Draw it out on a napkin or a piece of paper.Figure out your traffic sourcewhere the people will gowhy they'll go therewhat they'll do when they get to your sitewhy they'll do it (you're crafting your "offer" here)what action they'll takewhat they'll do after they take the action Don't skip any of these pieces. Skipping them means you're going to fail.Understand Your Customers. Add Value.During the whole process, make sure you think about and understand "Why is someone going to do this?" Why is someone going to click on my ad? (saying "just because if I get 100,000 views SOMEBODY'S got to click!" isn't good enough)Why is someone going to buy from my website (saying "if I get enough visitors SOMEBODY'S got to buy!!!" isn't good enough)Why would someone opt-in here?Do I really need someone to opt-in here? (saying "because so-and-so guru says I need to" isn't good enough)Why would someone buy this product?Is it what the person really wants?Am I giving them a reason to buy which would make ME buy?Am I trying to fool people here? Am I tricking people here? (if so, it's NOT going to work)Why am I outsourcing? What exactly am I outsourcing?Does someone else know how to do what I want done?Do I know how to tell them how to do it? If not, you're asking for trouble. If you're not adding value to people, you're likely to fail.If you're trying to fool people, you're likely to fail.If you don't understand why someone is going to buy, you're likely to fail. Understand The End From The Beginning As you go through things, make sure you understand the end from the beginning.Make sure you understand every step of the process. If you don't, go figure it out NOW. Otherwise, when you get to that step you'll get bogged down, you'll skip it, and your business is very likely to fail. Succeeding There are lots of ways to succeed in this business. There's no "right" answer.When you fail at something, try that thing again. DON'T move on to the next thing and say "Well, that didn't work the first time, so it must not work at all." One of my favorite quotes: If you want to succeed, double your failure rate!-Thomas Watson Success in this business is a matter of understanding why you're doing what you're doing, doing it, and then doing it again. |
At ReplaceMyself, where we teach people to outsource to the Philippines, we just released 2 new trainings: Digital Publishing Training - Teaches your Filipino VA how to publish books to Kindle, Nook, and iBooksContent Curation - Teaches your Filipino VA how and why to curate content onto blogs to generate traffic. Both modules are very well done and will save anyone who uses them tons of time. How Can We Help You??? We're considering adding a couple live training sessions each month where we would have someone get on a webinar with YOUR FILIPINO VA'S and teach them different traffic strategies or business building strategies. Would live training for your VA be of interest to you? What kinds of training would you like to see? Please reply in the comments. |
A couple of the products available in this $19 charity WSO, are products we use, and which we paid $97 for. It's a great way to get access to some really good tools to help your local marketing business. |
My team created this trailer video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUSKOasIZHI ;They're pretty amazing.You can get really great video work done. We found this guy at OnlineJobs.ph. Our PR Process At their suggestion, when we get something which is PR worthy our process is: write a press release about the event (interview, story, blog post, news, ...)create a video about the event (this trailer video)submit the release through PRweb's highest tier distribution with the video attachedpost it to social media accounts It all happens basically without me, although I am involved a little (like in telling them the initial video was 2x to long). |
The Philippines has a LOT of "Regular" holidays ("regular" is the word they use for "You have to give us the day off") Here's a color coded list with my experience of days you must give them off, days you should give them off, and days you might give them off, if you're really nice.The reality is, they won't take all these days off. January - 01 - New Year's DayJanuary - 23 - Chinese New YearFebruary - 25 - People Power DayApril - 05 - Maundy ThursdayApril - 06 - Good FridayApril - 07 - Black SaturdayApril - 09 - Day of ValorMay - 01 - Labor DayJune - 12 - Independence DayAugust - 20 - Eidul FitrAugust - 21 - Ninoy Aquino DayAugust - 27 - National Heroes' DayOctober - 26 - Eidul AdhaNovember - 01 - All Saints DayNovember - 02 - Special Non-working HolidayNovember - 30 - Bonifacio DayDecember - 24 - Special Non-working HolidayDecember - 25 - Christmas DayDecember - 30 - Rizal DayDecember - 31 - New Year's Eve In addition, from Christmas to New Years, I always give my guys off. They say that most people take that entire week off work (maybe they do, maybe they don't, but I don't want to work during that time so I don't make them work either).However, I ask them to check their email in case I need something done. |
I learned an AMAZINGLY powerful lesson in 1991. It changed the way I approach business (and virtually every important aspect of my life). Flash back to the days of Boyz II Men and the original Super Mario Brothers... It was the unbearably painful 3rd hour of church (yes, I go to church for 3 hours every Sunday). I was sitting in Sunday school, fidgeting in my chair and wondering what I was going to eat for dinner. I had just gotten my braces off and couldn't stop moving my lips over the sliminess of my newly straightened teeth when my ears perked up at something my teacher said... He told our entire class of awkward, naive 13 year-olds that if we wrote our goals down on a piece of paper, he would buy us a spanking-new-Franklin-Covey-genuine-leather planner, worth $80. I didn't care about my goals.I cared less about the planner.But the fact that my teacher was going to spend $80 on me, that meant something. So I Wrote My Goals Down... Later that week (the deadline he gave us was fast approaching), I pulled a tithing slip out of my Sunday school bag and got to work: (So I've always been a little obsessed with making and saving money. Don't hate.) I had no idea that he was teaching us a seriously valuable lesson. I carelessly stuffed the paper into my scriptures, too anxious and eager about the new planner to care about my scribbled goals. The Afterword... I pulled this paper out of an obscure place in my scripture bag a couple of years later. Shocked, I realized that I had accomplished every one of those goals: I had been struggling in a class at school. I ended up getting all A'sI had gotten a job and for the age, I probably made a lot of money. I had saved basically all of it.Yep, I read my scriptures more.Church more often...check!Beach more often...check (really??? this was a goal???) I gained much more than a new day planner from my Sunday school teacher: His lesson taught me the power of writing down goals. You can listen to Tony Robbins or Bob Proctor or whoever your favorite motivational speaker is until you're blue in the face. You WON'T understand the power of WRITING goals down until you do it. I haven't accomplished every single goal I've ever written down; but I've come close. It works. Try it. |
Trying to outsource without knowing how to recruit Filipino employees is like sending your bank account information to that guy in Nigeria who emailed you yesterday to tell you you've inherited your distant cousin's estate. It's a bad idea. Watching this video so you can learn the right way to recruit Filipino employees...That's a good idea. ; File Download: MP4 Video, ~8.64 KB jwplayer("initial-recruiting-steps").setup({ flashplayer: "/wp-content/plugins/mediacaster/mediaplayer-5.7/player.swf", controlbar: "bottom", width: 605, height: 379, skin: "/wp-content/plugins/mediacaster/player/snel.swf", file: "http://media.jonasblog.com/jonasblog-videos/recruiting/recruiting-initial-steps.mp4", image: "http://media.jonasblog.com/jonasblog-videos/recruiting/recruiting-initial-steps.jpg"}); " Main points to take away: Specify a few skills you MUST have and be flexible about everything else. There's no such thing as hiring a perfect VA. That's what training is for, and I can teach you how to do that, too. Make a list of a few indispensable skills (English speaking is #1 on most people's lists), and consider any other skills an added bonus.Be aware of other qualifications, like years of experience, desired salary, and check out their website if they have one. A serious applicant will make an effort to give out as much information as possible.Send multiple inquiries. It's okay to contact several people for a single job post. It's very unlikely to find a candidate that's perfect, affordable AND available on your first try. I usually contact around 20 candidates for a single position. Then I narrow the field from there.Spend time on interviews. After you get a response, make an effort to talk to the person before hiring them. You can learn a LOT about a person when you meet them (use skype or facetime) You might learn about some of their new skills, get a better feel for their English skills and get to know their personalities (are they go-getters?). In the interview: Don't expect your interviewing candidate to volunteer information. Filipino candidates are much more modest and timid than American candidates- it's just a part of their culture. If you want to know something- ask specific questions. |
Chances are, you’ve seen this page ---> I see it every time I install a new, $38 ink cartridge into my HP 2610 printer. I’ve had this printer for almost a decade. And without fail, every time I install a new cartridge, it regurgitates one of these things...as if to say, “thank you for feeding me.” The first time I saw it, I was somewhat enchanted by the idea of the tiny little bird down at the bottom. There’s an image of him ‘pre-alignment,’ where his colors don’t line up. And then there’s a giant black arrow pointing to another image of him, ‘post-alignment:’ His colors line up. The cartridges are 'aligned.' You’re both happy. But dozens of cartridges and alignment pages later, I’ve come to realize: It's all bogus. A hoax. The EXACT same page is programmedto print every time you install a new cartridge. It's not actually doing anything. HP is giving you a false sense of confidence in their product, and they do it by wasting your time, your money, and your ink. It seriously ticks me off. It’s dishonest. I don’t trust HP anymore. They’re pretending that they did something good when they didn't. Moral of the story: don’t be a pretender. In business, don’t pretend to solve a problem or fix an issue that you sincerely can’t. You’ll just make people angry and lose their trust. |
I’ve made tons of materials about how to live a 4, or 17 hour week. I have e-books, videos, presentations, blog posts and webinars on the what’s and how’s of the business. But let’s face it, in the internet, it’s easy to get lazy, or get lost. Recently, I found a way to fix that through Udemy.com. So this site is an online learning platform that allows instructors to host courses. I’ve launched my first course there. I've combined the best trainings I've done over the years and put them into one place where it's easy to learn everything. In this course, apart from the usual e-book format, I’ve made power point presentations, together with my videos, webinar, and even made supplementary materials for you to download all available in a single course. One of the things I like on Udemy is that students can ask questions on specific right there on the lecture area, so it’s like a webinar that you can take whenever or wherever you’re free. To start learning, here's my course on udemy.com Oh, and it's FREE. |
Remember back in the day when we used to play video games all day as teens until our parents scolded us? And then when cheat codes became a more common thing, all the more we weren't stopping at 10pm to sleep. My sister used to play Tony Hawk's Pro Skater on Nintendo's Game Boy Color. Just a couple buttons copying some code we found and you get infinite time, a couple more and you unlock all levels, and some more, you get unlimited money. It was a fun game and a fun time.; That's the same as how I envisioned my;One VA Away Challenge. It's your cheat code to hiring the right virtual assistants for your needs when you follow the steps. It won't give you infinite time to hire, or unlimited money to invest, but it will make the process easier and actionable so you get the perfect VA the first try. I guarantee it. (literally...if you don't find a great VA I give your money back) If you haven't already gone through the One VA Away Challenge, now's the time to start. http://www.OneVAAway.com John |
One of my family's favorite hobbies is going out to ride our bikes. We do it daily as a way to also hang out and spend time together.; Earlier today, my daughter, Addie, and I were riding our bikes as usual and came to an area with a broken trail. I went ahead to cross that section but saw my daughter getting off her bike ready to walk it off in fear she couldn't make it through biking. I didn't mind that, but I also knew that if she doesn't do it now, she'll just get off her bike and walk every single time she's in the same situation. I nudged her with some encouragement. It's a good thing that she grew up listening to me. And she also knows that I won't push her to do anything that I know she couldn't do. And more importantly, that I was there for her when she does it. That made her get back on her bike to try.. failing and crashing, only to get back up, crashing, and trying again. She crashed at least 4 times, but that didn't stop her. And she managed to ride through. It was a feat. It was a good day. Thinking about it now, I realized that this may be a common scenario for some employers with their VAs. When the virtual assistants encounter a problem, there are instances where they either stop trying or they take the easy way like asking us what exactly they should do next. And that's not a bad thing.; But I don't want my VAs to stop trying, let alone not try at all. No employer wants that. But it's also our job as the employer to be the support system for them when they're stuck. You want to trust them just as much as they trust you to maintain a relationship. And when you do that, they become more loyal and go beyond expectations.; All my current part-time and full-time VAs know that they have access to me when they really need support. All I had to do was to find the right virtual assistants fit for what I need and give them the necessary nudge, help, and guidance. Now I'm running my business almost hands-free. You can also find your own perfect-fit VA that fits your lifestyle and company dynamics :www.onlinejobs.ph John |
I get emailed almost every day by people telling me how they got more free time by hiring a virtual assistant from OnlineJobs.PH.Super often they say "I just wish I had done this sooner!" or "Why didn't someone tell me this would be so good!". I tried!!! One notable email and successs story I remember clearly. Starting a business is difficult. Building anything from scratch is difficult. ;Working on all the different pieces of your business is difficult. But once you build the momentum, you don't want to stop. COO of Human Proof Designs (HPD),;Brad Vanderberg, shared his story with us. In less than 18 months, they grew the company he works with from 15 to 200 staff members, offering even more services to their clients, because now they can.; Scaling takes a lot of effort. If you involve yourself with every little thing it takes time away from you working ON the business.Sometimes you need to take a step back and think of the tasks that you can delegate to people who can do it the same way or even better than you. "..being involved in Operations I have to say my job has been made much easier by the diligent, ambitious staff we’ve recruited through Onlinejobs.ph." he mentions. Read Brad full story > Getting a VA (or lots of VAs) to help you with your business will make your schedule more flexible, give you extra hours to spend with your family, and lets you focus on the more important things. Because they are also affordable yet highly skilled, you won't need to worry about wasting money paying them, because you won't. I'd like to help you make that time for yourself. That's why I'm offering a FREE book,;The Outsourcing Lever, to help you get the VA that you need in actionable steps that work for you. Get your copy :www.outsourcinglever.com John |
My teenage son has a girlfriend, and today my wife and I suggested that he should take his younger brother with them on their date. They were getting smoothies from Roxberry. And his 6-year old brother would love to go with them. Of course, that did not sound amusing to him.; "Why would I do that?" "It's gonna be fun and different.""No. I don't think so."; "We still think you should."; He left irritated. Didn't take his brother. Didn't say a word to us. When kids are little, they generally obey what an adult tells them. Often they don't question their parents and just do as told. They take us as their role models and even copy us. When they become teenagers, they suddenly know more than you. Telling you things like "they can take care of themselves" and "stop telling me what to do."; But when these same kids turn to their 20's, they realize parents aren't as dumb as they thought. Oftentimes, this is the time they go to college and get more responsibilities. Parents know what they're talking about most of the time.; 10 minutes after my son left, he texted me. "I'm coming back to get my brother."; My younger son got very excited.; That may be him thinking it can be fun. Or that he should be obeying his parents. Or him realizing that my wife and I know what we're talking about when we recommended it.He came back. Took his brother with them. My younger son left excitedly but came back even more ecstatic to be included in that trip. My wife and I thought it was an interesting experience for all of them. And it's gonna be a memorable "remember when you took your little brother with you to get smoothies?" story that they'll have growing up. The whole thing got better, because he listened to us.; I often feel like if people would follow directions from those with more experience, people who know what they're talking about, then there will be fewer mistakes in the process and it's gonna be easier. I have gone through the journey of outsourcing, far more than a lot of other people. I've made the mistakes, learned from them, and gotten more experience with dealing with them for over a decade. I'd like to share with you the same knowledge so you can hire the virtual assistants you and your business needs with less mistakes. I'm offering this information for free in my book,;The Outsourcing Lever.; Get it :www.outsourcinglever.com John |
Often people will say to me in the middle of a conversation"Tell us how you really feel"because I'm not one to hold back. ; I'm "passionate" they say. And halloween is one of those things (notice not a capital 'H' - it's NOT a holiday!!!) I know most of you reading this love halloween and that I'm being a grinch (last year I actually bought a grinch costume. Yes, I'm the halloween grinch). ;You love dressing your kids up in blood and gore and then sugaring them up so they stay up late and are terrors the next day.; I don't. And...imagine if we mimic'd halloween with VAs from the Philippines! "Sure, just this one day a year you can create a fake profile.Then, apply for every job you can get to with your fake profile.Insist they give you money for doing nothing.If they don't, do something to scam them." Trick-or-Treat! That's what we teach our kids! ;"But it's just one day a year!" you say. Oh, sure, just one day..that teaches kids panhandling for sugar is "normal". Yes, I buy my kids costumes every year.No, I don't spend hours (or more than 5 minutes) making them.Yes, I take my kids trick-or-treating every year. ;I'd be massacred if I didn't.Yes, I scream and throw a fit every single year about this.Yes, my wife tells me to chill out and go away.Yes, we hand out full-size candy bars.But one of these years I'm going to hand out pencils just to protest! In the Philippines they don't do Halloween like we do. ;They do it the right way!They celebrate "All Souls Day" and they go to the cemetery and remember those who have passed on. Maybe now's a good time to learn about all the holidays in the Philippines that are different from where you live? https://blog.onlinejobs.ph/holidays-and-pto or even;add them to your calendar so you know when they're coming John |
Typhoons are a part of life in the Philippines.; Every year they get hit by some major storms that wipe out cities. ;It's terrible destruction. Right now Typhoon Goni is bearing down on the northern central part of the Philippines. BBC:;https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54759868 Its a good idea to ask your people if they're going to be ok and then check on them after the storm is over. Here's a crazy image of the storm:https://www.goes.noaa.gov/sohemi/sohemiloops/shirgmsw.html After a storm like this we usually have someone who has lost their house and most of their belongings. ;We usually help them rebuild. ;What you do is up to you. John |
One of the misconceptions of people when hiring virtual assistants is that either it has to be perfect, or it's gonna be perfect. But that's not always the case. Let me give you an example of how I work with my team: I recently hired a virtual assistant to write emails for me, this email included. She did pretty well for the trial pieces so I got her to work on more of them. She's doing well, but as she sends more emails to me, I start to notice some things... like emails being too short, or the story needs further development, or.... I gave her feedback and she addressed them. But on the next ones, I still notice some things that can still be improved- maybe paying more attention to some details, highlighting certain points, articulating the story better, etc. So I give her even more direction, she continues to build her rapport and improve to every email she writes. The more we work together, the better she gets. ;I almost don't have to edit her emails anymore.;She wrote this email. ;I only edited a little (<-- this line was added by John). I do my best to hire the best people, so I know I will receive the best work.;But at the end of the day, it won't always come out perfect. And that is completely fine. Things get done, they may not be perfect but they are still pretty good work. It's okay if things aren't perfect on the first try. You won't always get the right VA every time, nor will everything be perfect in your business once you do. If things get done, and things improve - that's what matters.; Finding a suitable VA that can work with you is easy if you know how to look for them. That's why I enumerated actionable steps that can guide you to finding and hiring the right VA :www.OneVAaway.com. This is available for a limited time at a discounted rate of $49 from $679! Get your guide now! John |
Hey - it’s John again. Wherever you are on your outsourcing journey, I’ve been there. In fact, I bet we have a lot in common. I can understand what you may be feeling as you weigh the risks against the possibilities of outsourcing. Whether it’s curiosity, hesitation, desperation or hope that’s brought you to this point, I get it. And whether you’re an outsourcing beginner fueled by curiosity or a veteran looking for new ways to hire and train your workers, I can help you get to the next level. And since you’re already an entrepreneur, you’re probably more prepared than you realize. Entrepreneurialism to me is synonymous with grit.And smarts.And guts.And resilience.And creativity.If you’re an entrepreneur, you embody all of those things, and you have a story to go with them. I want to share my story with you.Over the next few days, I’m going to take you on the rollercoaster experience that revealed the incredible potential of outsourcing in my own business. It was a nutty ride, and it includes face-smashing failures, a serious threat to my wife’s life, and a mind-blowing epiphany.; Stay tuned for my next email; I’ll spill everything. See you tomorrow, John Jonas PS - When’s the last time you checked the job board :OnlineJobs.ph? Your ideal VA might already be waiting for you... |
This is a story about a painful failure, and a different failure, and yet another excruciating failure…you get the idea.;And then, finally, incredible success. I attempted my first online business back in 2003, back when making money on the internet was still a relatively novel affair. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. At the same time, I was learning the ropes as a new husband and father, renting a tiny house on the rougher side of town, driving a beat-up Toyota Tercel and working long hours as a programmer to (barely) make ends meet. But I was determined to give my wife and kids a radically different lifestyle than the way I was raised. And I was ready to work my butt off to do exactly that. Fun fact about me: I hate being an employee.I mean, really, truly, mortifyingly hate it.;And to put the icing on the cake, I was absolutely terrible at it. The threat of someone breathing down my neck, demanding deadlines and controlling my time did not match my vision of an ideal life.;That’s why I started my own business.;That’s probably one of the reasons you started your business too, right? So I conceptualized this ‘brilliant’ online business plan. My goal was to automate its processes so that ultimately, I could work minimal hours and the business would run itself. This ‘automated’ business would create the freedom and opportunities for me to live as an engaged and present father and husband while providing generously for my family’s needs. It was everything I’d ever wanted. The idea was perfection.;The execution was a total failure.; Once I got my business up and running, I ended up working MORE hours instead of less to keep the business actually; functioning. It left me burnt out, frustrated, and borderline defeated.; The exact opposite of what I’d dreamed about. After weeks of burn-out I realized that in order to truly automate my online business processes, I needed to hire someone to help. I needed an employee (even though I could barely afford one). So I found and hired someone locally who was bright, eager to learn and qualified.;I just knew - this was the answer.;This was going to solve all of the problems. I was wrong. Again. I spent hours teaching my new employee the ropes of my online business. I drilled them tirelessly until they understood every objective, every process, and how it all worked together. Things were getting good.;The business was stabilizing.;I was cutting back on my hours.;The automation process was working... Then my lone employee quit;and started an online business of their own, using all of my techniques and ideas that I’d so diligently taught them. That sucked. And to make things worse, I was back at square one, working 65 hours a week to keep this ‘automated business’ afloat by myself. But if you could describe me as anything, it would be “determined” (my high school teachers likely used another word for it). I had a clear vision of the life I wanted to live, the life I wanted to provide for my family. And I was going to get there, road blocks and two-timing employees be damned. I just needed to find another route...and I would. Stay tuned for my next email to learn about my biggest outsourcing blunder yet - so you can avoid it yourself! See you soon, John; PS - have you had the chance to order my FREE book,;The Outsourcing Lever? If not, be sure to check out this comprehensive guide to outsourcing to the Philippines. It will guide you through everything you need to know! |
Welcome back to my crazy outsourcing origin story. Let me catch you up to speed. At the end of my last email, I - was working as a computer programmer;- was moonlighting as an online entrepreneur- just got double-crossed by my first employee- was desperately struggling to juggle two jobs;-;was attempting to create the ideal life for my new family;(Phew!) Sound familiar to anyone??? At this point, I was exhausted. And the most crushing blunder was yet to come. Some time after my first employee went rogue, Tim Ferriss wrote and released The 4-Hour Workweek. In his book, he introduced the idea of outsourcing. He preached that outsourcing would create boundless free-time and business growth. I was riveted - this was the kind of automation I’d imagined.This book was proof that it could work! I knew I needed help.Tim suggested India so that *must* be correct.So I hired someone based in India. It was a disaster. For whatever reason, we both struggled with the communication and cultural barriers. I tried hiring other workers from India (maybe it was just not a good fit the first time?). Nope. I continued to run into the same problems with each new hire.; I almost gave up.But Tim Ferriss’ voice played over and over in the back of my head.Maybe I could find another way to make outsourcing work... Then one day, I discovered eLance (now UpWork). I hired someone to write articles for me. Article writing and submission was a huge part of my online business marketing plan. I knew article submissions were super effective, I knew the strategy was working great, but I hated doing it. I hated the writing. I hated the posting. I hated the whole thing. Not only did I hate it, it ate up so much of my valuable time. So I hired this guy from eLance to write 50 articles for me. I thought I’d won the lottery. I could pay someone such a reasonable amount to get so much work done. “Yes!” I thought, “I figured out how to hire people and do this outsourcing thing!” And then he sent the articles back, and it hit me: I’d created another face-smashing failure.The biggest one yet. He did complete and send me 50 articles and they were decent. But then I realized I had to do the rest of the work. Argh!I had to review the articles’ content,I had to edit them,I had to make sure they weren't plagiarized(turns out, some of them were plagiarized).I had to come up with great headers for them.I had to submit them.I had to create links for them andI had to post them on a list of different sites. Not only did I hate doing all of those things (for one article, let alone 50!), I did not have the time or mental capacity for them. I just couldn't do it. Instead of handing things off and creating freedom for myself, once again, I’d made more work for myself. That sucked. I was so disappointed. I was so let down.Outsourcing had;NOT;worked the way I wanted it to. Sometimes, I feel like that’s the point that most people reach in their outsourcing attempt before they quit. They come to believe that it’s a headache, it causes more problems than solutions, and it’s basically terrible. That’s where I had landed. But I kept hearing stories about people who’d made it big with outsourcing. I knew that logically, it should be the solution to so many challenges. It worked for other people and it worked in my head. I just needed to make it work for my business.; Little did I know, I was about to have an encounter with an enormously successful entrepreneur. It would change everything. I’ll share that pivotal experience in my next email -; and you’ll learn the same thing he taught me which changed my life. Until then, John PS - Keep up your efforts. You’re doing great. Outsourcing the right way takes time and hard work right out of the gate. But I promise you can do this, and I promise it will be SO worth it. |
One day while attending a local networking meetup I had a conversation with the late John Bresee, the creative mind behind backcountry.com. I was airing out some of my frustrations and failures. As the conversation proceeded he said:When you’re ready to start outsourcing, make sure you go to the Philippines with it.What?!?!!;He explained why the Philippines was different.No, I had NOT tried outsourcing specifically to the Philippines. Could it really be that simple?The idea gave me hope.John Bresee was incredibly successful and clearly knew what he was talking about. In the remainder of our short conversation, he gave me some encouragement and told me where to find and hire someone from the Philippines....and I DIDN’T DO IT.That’s right.I’d been burned.I was tired.I was wary of more risk.;I didn’t know if there was really someone talented enough to meet my business needs.I didn’t know if I could afford it.I just didn’t know.So I didn’t do anything.It took me two months to finally come to terms with the fact that I just needed to try it. What I was doing wasn’t working. I needed HELP; I couldn’t keep drowning in my own business. I’d hit the point of desperation.So using John’s referral, I began the search for my ideal Filipino virtual worker. Little did I know that another face-smashing lesson was waiting for me…I’ll share that lesson soon, JohnPS - Obviously at this point in my story,;OnlineJobs.ph;wasn’t around. I wouldn’t create it for years to come. Even though John Bresee’s advice was totally life-changing, it was harder to find great Filipino VAs back then. Today, all it takes is a quick visit to;OnlineJobs.ph. ;We get thousands of;new resumes every day... |
Picking up where I left off -- John Bresee from backcountry.com told me to go to the Philippines with my outsourcing.This was a new idea...at least to me.He referred me to a hiring agency in the Philippines.;They promised to match me with a Filipino VA who met all of my requirements.And they did.To protect his privacy (and mine...I never tell the names of my VAs, people always try to hire them when I do), we’ll call my first Filipino VA Jake. Jake was perfect.;Hiring him was the most liberating experience of my life.He worked 8 hours per day and worked ONLY for me!I had tons of ideas and processes I wanted to implement in my business and I did NOT have enough hours in the day to do them.;But Jake did! It blew my mind that his full-time job was to do anything I asked him and taught him to do.Jake was incredibly intelligent and intuitive too. He followed directions and read between the lines. If I left out a step in my instructions, he would use his problem solving and deductive logic skills and figure it out. It was amazing.; The Revelation I was paying the Filipino hiring agency;$750;a month to employ Jake full-time. It was more affordable than local alternatives, and he earned every penny. But through a turn of events, I learned something that really ticked me off.Come to find out, the agency was siphoning $500 of what I thought I was paying Jake every month.;My VA was only getting $250;of my intended compensation! I flipped a brick. I had no idea that would be the arrangement when I hired Jake.Neither did he.When we realized what was happening, we were both upset. We both felt taken advantage of. (Later on, I learned that it’s pretty standard for an agency to take a huge cut of their workers’ pay. I understand that it’s just business. To me, it’s bad business and I will never do it again.)The day after we recognized the discrepancy, I got an email from Jake. “Sir, I quit. I walked into the agency off, quit, and walked out.”I didn’t know what to do except celebrate. I directly offered him a full-time job, increased his salary considerably (and he got to keep all of it), and we got back to work. Was I Finally Getting Outsourcing Right?? Remember my article-marketing nightmare from a couple emails ago? Jake forever freed me of it.;I taught him the whole process - how to structure and write articles, create headings, resource boxes, links, seo, and where to submit the articles when he was done. He did EVERYTHING!It was all automated (by him) -- which was the entire reason I’d started my online business in the first place! I was in heaven.Eventually, I hired someone else from the Philippines to add to our team. He was a programmer and he did great work. But I still hoarded the bulk of the programming to do myself. I didn’t trust that he could do as good a job as me.The story doesn’t end here. Even though I thought I was outsourcing the right way, I still hadn’t uncovered the true potential of these Filipino VAs.They soon had the chance to prove themselves, even though it came as a total fluke. A total fluke that involved me almost losing my wife and our unborn baby girl.In my next email, you’ll learn about the scariest and most challenging trial of my adult life -- and how my VAs helped me through it.John |
I don't have much time right now to write this, but I've had numerous people ask me how they can help with donating to the relief effort in the Philippines. They estimate over 10,000 deaths after one of the largest typhoons (hurricanes) in recorded history. If you want to donate, please do. ;I'll make a sizeable donation and make sure 100% of the donations go straight to the Philippines (not to administrators pockets). " Thanks for your generous donations.I'll personally make sure every penny goes where it should. I just had a friend tell me this is a part of how he's donating. Here's the email he sent to his GUYS in the Philippines: "I want you to do whatever you need to do to help yourself, your family, and your neighbors for the next week. I will pay you your regular wage for this plus bonus." I think it's a great way to donate. |
Yes, absolutely. Because hiring Filipino online workers still makes a lot of business sense. I know with Typhoon Yolanda a lot of people have become hesitant about hiring Filipino workers. The recent disaster raised a lot of questions that nobody wants to bring up because they’re afraid of sounding selfish or uncaring. I’m going to absolve you guys of all guilt by putting these questions out there, questions like: What if my programmer happens to live in the affected area, what would happen to my business?My Filipino designer lost his laptop in the flood, now all the work we did together is lost. What do I do?How long will I have to wait for my VA to come back? Or should I even wait?How much help should I give to my link builder? And for how long?Would it be okay if I hire someone while waiting for my VA to come back?I can’t afford to hire more people to cover the work while my designer is away Let Me Tell You This Outsourcing, in general, carries certain risks. Even big companies that outsource to countries like China, India, or the Philippines have facilities that get affected by natural calamities. We just don’t hear those stories often in the news because it’s bad press. The last typhoon did cause a lot of damage to the affected areas but the Philippines does experience around 20 typhoons per year. These typhoons pass through different areas of the country and vary in intensity. Most of the Philippines are prepared for these typhoons; it’s just that the last one was really a super typhoon and it was unlikely that anyone could have gone through that unscathed. There's More To The Philippines I also want to point out that this country has roughly 7,000 islands. There are ways to significantly reduce the risk of having workers that are often affected by natural calamities. Most Filipinos were not in the areas affected by the typhoon. There are a lot of places in the Philippines that aren’t hit by disasters as often as Leyte, for example. ;There are a lot of places in the Philippines that are better prepared to deal with disasters than Tacloban. Hiring Filipino workers from areas that are less affected and better prepared for natural disasters would help ensure that you get continuous work all year round. Hiring Filipino workers for charitable reasons is admirable. But that shouldn’t be the only reason for you to hire them. Despite everything you see on the news, the Philippines is still a great place to hire good workers. Filipino workers are still some of the best workers in the world. Don’t let the headlines stop you from finding talented, reliable, and cost-efficient workers for your business. If you want your business to grow, the Philippines IS STILL the place to go. |
Typhoon Yolanda was a big wake up call for business owners who have virtual assistants in the Philippines. Filipino virtual assistants are great workers but the 20 typhoons that hit their country every year can make anyone nervous. The good news is that most of the Philippines are prepared in dealing with these disasters. But in the event of another super typhoon, there are ways to disaster proof the work your Filipino worker has done. Disaster proofing your VA and their work would help protect your business (and their job) so they can focus on saving themselves and they have a job they can come back to once the dust settles. Here are 5 Things That Can Help 1. Hire from places that are better prepared and less likely to be affected by typhoons. There are reasons why companies flock in places like Manila, Cebu, Baguio and Davao. In addition to having the infrastructure and work force needed; these areas, historically, are less affected by typhoons. In a lot of ways, they are also more prepared for natural calamities than smaller towns and cities. 2. Insist on workers having laptops and portable hard drives. If ever your VA’s home gets flooded, a laptop is definitely easier to carry and save than a desktop. But if your Filipino worker uses a desktop, (most developers, essay writers and designers would probably use a desktop for work), then insist that they have portable hard drives where they can back up their work on a regular basis. 3. Invest in cloud storage. Another way to ensure that none of the work your virtual assistant gets lost to natural disasters is to invest in cloud storage. Having most of their work stored in it would also make it easier to pass on that work to someone else in the event that your VA is unable to come back to work. 4. Get their emergency contacts to ensure continued communication. Ask your Filipino virtual assistant for emergency contacts that you can call in the event that 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 your VA. This is especially helpful in the event that your VA can’t go online or can’t get to a phone. 5. Have an emergency protocol and enforce this in your employment contract. One of the biggest things Filipino workers worry about is if they have a job waiting for them after a disaster. You, on the other hand, want assurance that your VA can get back to work as soon as they have recovered. You can help allay these fears and protect your business in the process by setting an emergency protocol and putting this in your employment contract.; Emergency protocols vary on how much detail you want to put in it but these protocols should contain the following information: How soon should they contact you after a natural disaster so you’ll know whether they’ve been affected or not? (When they don’t contact you right away, this is where #4 would come in handy)How much time you’ll be giving them to get back on their feet? (This can be set beforehand or change depending on the situation).How much help you would be willing to give? (a month’s salary in advance? A loan? Relief fund?)References and recommendations if ever they are unable to come back to work. Protecting your business is not selfish, especially if it can help give more jobs to people who need them. Disaster proofing your Filipino VA allows you to protect your business and protect those who work for you, allowing you to continue providing for them at the time they need it the most. |
Behind the devastating headlines, what most people don’t know about is the silver lining of how jobs outsourced to the Philippines have helped hundreds on online workers in the affected areas rebuild their lives. Tacloban City, one of the most affected places by Typhoon Haiyan, is also home to roughly a thousand online workers and relatives of Filipino online workers. Though they may have lost their homes, these workers have still something to look forward to because they know they have jobs waiting for them as soon as they recover. And even before that, employers of Filipino workers from all over the world have been looking for ways to help the Philippines, even if their workers were not directly affected by the tragedy. From Paul Woodall of PaulWoodall.com I told my first;Philippine;employee that she was hired the day before the Typhoon hit on the 8th of November.; I told her she would start on the 11th of November (a Monday).; Obviously that was impossible;after;the storm hit, not only because of the lack of resources (power, water, etc.), but also because of missing family members (later located) and just because of the massive devastation that was caused.; So we postponed her start date until the 18th to give her time to recover (somewhat) from the storm.I was told that some of her family had lost shelter and income because of the storm.; It was not said in a pleading way, but because I had asked how she and her family had fared.; Turns out they did better than a lot of people, but her Grandfather lost his home (and was missing for a while).; This is not intended to be a long story, but some background was necessary.My wife and I decided we wanted to help and thought the best way to do that was to backdate our young lady's start date to the 1st of November.; We paid her half a months salary on the 15th, even though she had not actually started to work, and we were blown away by the grateful response we got.; She and her whole family were (and still are) extremely grateful.;; We felt like it was just the right thing to do.; It was not a lot of money to us, but to them it meant a great deal. From Richard Mathias, President and CEO of Rich Mathias Enterprises, LLC I have three guys working for me and they were pretty close to the hit zone in Tanjay City.; While they sustained wind and water damage, they are all ok.; As part of our effort to bring some hope to the survivors, I gave my three guys a week paid time off to organize relief missions to the hardest hit small islands where they delivered food, water, and medical supplies.; It was a great way for us to do a little something for folks who were really just totally decimated.; The island they helped the most was home to 300 families and the storm took out all but 2 buildings.; The entire island population was essentially left homeless.; Here is a link to the Facebook Page that my manager made of the relief missions.;;;https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.321434181331305.1073741825.168526866622038&type=1&l=c7cb23da22The experience brought us closer together and allowed them to realize that although virtual in miles apart, we are spiritually connected closely as one. The other side of this amazing story is how dedicated these Filipino workers can be despite of tragedy. JR, a worker from Leyte, saved his hard drive with his loved ones, to make sure that the tasks he has done for his employer is saved and can be retrieved once they have access to electricity. CJ MacDaniel of Adazing Design I have a worker in Tacloban that I found through;onlinejobs.ph. While at the same time worrying about him I have been rushing around trying to meet deadlines by recreating projects that took him 2 months to build. As I saw the;pictures;online I had resigned myself to the fact that I had probably lost months of work of client's projects and was hoping that everyone was safe.;After;a week of reading the horror stories and wondering if my worker and friend were alive, I finally received an email. He described that first week as bittersweet since all of his family are safe but a close friend had died. He recounted fleeing the city with his wife and two daughters on a C130 with nothing but an extra shirt and the computer hard drive with my work files on it. He told me that he had been worried that he wouldn't have a job waiting for him when finally got back online. He was super grateful that I had paid him for the week he couldn't work plus some extra for urgent needs. He said that I would never be able to understand how much it meant to him to still have employment because of the long road ahead of him to begin rebuilding their life. He and his extended family about 25 people are all at his brothers small apartment in Cebu. He doesn't yet have access to a work station where he can plug-in the hard drive but it is a major relief to know that we won't be rebuilding 6 months worth of client projects. Donna, a virtual assistant from Tacloban, was one of the lucky ones to be first relocated to Metro Manila. Her first concern as soon as she had internet access, was to email her employer that she’s okay and that she can go back to work in a week, after she has her family settled in. In light of criticism of how outsourcing to developing countries like the Philippines, stories like these show that these jobs have been lifesavers for Filipinos. They may not have the same pay as their Western counterparts, but they are earning well enough that would allow them to rebuild. If you're looking to help the victims of typhoon Haiyan (or looking to hire staff members from the Philippines), try;www.onlinejobs.ph;which has the largest database of online Filipino workers. |
"This story comes from a virtual assistant in the Philippines who used to work in a call center, and now works from home as a VA. When you hire Filipino virtual assistants, it's amazing how both of your lives change." Hi! My name is B and I used to work for a call center. The call center industry is thriving here in the Philippines and there are plenty of jobs available. But what most people don’t tell you is that it can be a very stressful and demanding job. They don’t tell you that there are ;times when you’ll have to work more than 8 hours a day (on average I work 10 hours, 6 days a week), you’re always tired because of the changing shift schedules, and you’re constantly on your toes because you can easily be fired over the slightest infraction. This didn’t really bother me much before when I was still single and back when it was still just me and my wife. But when my wife got pregnant, the work started to take its toll. She had a difficult pregnancy, so it was stressful for me to be away from her, especially at night when I knew she could go into labor anytime. And after she gave birth, I was basically a zombie because I couldn’t get enough sleep. It got better as our baby got bigger but I wasn’t enjoying fatherhood as much as I wanted because I was always asleep whenever I’m home. I could only spend time with my daughter on the weekends. It bothered me but I accepted it because I thought that was my only option. Then a few months ago, I lost my job when the call center I was working for lost our account. I immediately went to job hunting mode but I knew it would be a while before I got any calls (there weren’t a lot of openings in my position). Then my wife, who is a VA, suggested that I try working from home as a call center agent. It would be something that would keep me busy while waiting for job responses and to make up for the income lost in my previous job. I tried it out, put on a profile at onlinejobs.ph and in less than 2 weeks I got a job as a home-based CSR. To be quite honest, when I first started I thought I wouldn’t like it. But now I love my job. In fact, I like my job so much I’m reluctant to go back to a regular call center job. And here are the reasons why: 1. I have a really good employer. He doesn’t pay me as much as my old job but he pays me well for the work I’m doing. And when I did the math it turns out I’m taking home just a little less than what I used to take home after taxes now that I have fewer work-related expenses to deal with. So when you think about it moneywise, it’s not a bad deal. 2. It is not as physically taxing as a regular call center job. In a regular call center, my work schedule changed every week or so and because of that I got sick a lot. I still work the graveyard shift but the work schedule never changes, so my body was able to adapt better. And the best part is that my employer never asks me to work more than 8 hours a day or more than 5 days a week (unless I want to) so I’m able to really relax during the weekend. 3. It is much more comfortable working from home. I literally work from my couch! I can work lying down if I wanted. I can wear anything I want. I can eat in front of my computer and go to the restroom anytime I wanted (which is impossible to do in a call center). 4. I can take time off when needed without any problems. A few days ago my daughter got sick and she’s a daddy’ girl. She wouldn’t allow my wife to take care of her so I was the one who had to feed her, bathe her and keep her company until she fell asleep, which meant I didn’t get as much sleep as needed. Back in my old job, I wasn’t allowed to take any days off, even when I was sick. And when I was allowed to file a leave I had a lot of paperwork to deal with. With my current employer, all I needed to do was email him as soon as I could that I had to take a sick leave because I wasn’t able to able to sleep taking care of my daughter. And that was it, all I need to do is to email and I had my valid (paid) leave. 5. I have more time with my family now. I’m healthier now because I sleep more and have less stress. ;I’m now able to spend more time with my family. I’m the one who gets my daughter ready for school. I take my daughter to school and pick her up after classes and we bond during our commutes. I do all that and still have time to get 7 hours of sleep before my shift starts. I’m now able to make plans to go on trips on the weekends like go to the beach or fly kites in the park, something we rarely got to do when I was still in the call center. I’m active in my church again because I don’t have to work on Sundays anymore. It’s not all perfect. I miss socializing with co-workers. I have nice virtual co-workers but it’s really not the same as having someone to talk to at work. And it feels uncomfortable that some of my former co-workers pity me because they think I don’t have a real job and I don’t have the title. But I also see how they envy me because I’ve lost weight. I have more pictures with my daughter now on my social media. I know they envy the fact that I now have time with my daughter to build playhouses made of cardboard boxes, harvest our mango tree, build Lego cars, or just walk around our subdivision and talk about nonsense. I’m not saying I would never go back to a regular call center job. But it has to be a really good job to take me away from all of this. I’m earning well, I have my health, and I have my family. Really, what else can a man ask for? To get started, you'll need to learn to hire workers from the Philippines so you'll know what to look for before you browse the database of Filipino virtual assistants and start hiring. |
You can achieve a lot of things with hard work. Ask anyone successful and they will tell you that one of the foundations of success is hard work. People love this advice because it makes sense; the harder you work, the bigger the reward. There’s a sense of justice to it, when you know that at the end of the day everyone gets what they deserve based on how hard they’ve worked. I’ve tried that route and it is true. There was a time when I dedicated most of my day to working on my business. There’s no bigger satisfaction than seeing your business grow from the sweat of your brow. I loved working on my business because it provided for my family and gave me purpose. Then, my wife had a difficult pregnancy and everything changed. That experience made me realize what mattered the most. I had to work less in order to take care of my family. And in the process it made me realize what I should be doing as a business owner. I was so busy working on my business I didn’t have time to do anything else. That was when I realized that in order to get what I really wanted, time for my family and a thriving business, I had to work smarter, not harder. In short, I had to outsource. I had to outsource my business In order to spend more time with my family. With 5 kids, 10 to 12 hour workdays just doesn’t cut it.Because there was so much more that I needed to do and I couldn’t do it all alone. I have a ton of sites running and software development on the side. I don’t want to lose my businesses simply because I don’t have the time for all of them.Because I know what my skill sets are. It’s more cost-efficient to just outsource the stuff that I don’t want to do it to people who do want to do it and can do it better than I can. I’ve said it time and time again how the 4 hour work week by Tim Feriss has changed my life. It resonated with me because it made me realize that working less isn’t about being lazy. If you can do certain jobs a lot faster, and better, than anyone else that doesn’t diminish the value of the work that you do. In fact, it makes you more valuable. And doing anything that’s not worth your time just diminishes the value of you time. Be The Boss Being a business owner, being the boss and CEO of your own company, your time is better spent running your business than working in your business. This means making important decisions about operations, marketing, customer service, etc. It’s your responsibility as a CEO to focus on making your business grow. That means you have to focus on running your business from above where you can see everything and not in the trenches working. If you want your business to grow, if you want to earn more with each hour you work, you have to let go of the things that diminish the value of your work. The only way to do that is by getting others to do the work for you. ;This can either be local employees or outsourced workers...it doesn't really matter which one. Working 17 hours a week doesn’t make you lazy? it just shows that you’re smart enough to focus on running your business and working less is just one of the rewards. I can show you how outsourcing to the Philippines can help you achieve the 17 hour work week with my book: Outsourcing Lever. There I’ll show you where to hire, how to track your employees, how to make them stay, and so much more. |
Wage is a very hot button topic because of the on-going debate on whether or not the minimum wage should be raised in the United States. And when people hear how I built my business by paying my Filipino workers less than minimum wage, they paint me as some sort of monster. How could I stomach paying these people slave wages, after all they’ve done for me? After all the money they made for me? And why oh why do I take advantage of people so desperate for work that I pay them a lot less of what they’re worth? Let me make it clear that once and for all that I am not paying minimum wage. In fact, I pay a lot more than minimum wage and I give my workers raises on a regular basis. You can barely survive on $300/month in the US. But in the Philippines, you can buy a lot with a starting salary of $300. The standard of living here is completely different from the standard living in the Philippines. Everything there is cheaper and it’s easier for them to get more for less. For example, the starting salary of a public school teacher, call center agent, and most office workers in the Philippines is P12,000 which is roughly equivalent to $300. So for an entry level position, $300 is more than fair; in fact, it’s expected. Minimum Wage In The Philippines Unlike the US, the Philippines has to raise their minimum wage every few years. They also have different wage rates depending on what industry they work in and where they work. If you hire a Filipino worker from Manila where the standard of living is much higher, then you’re expected to give a higher wage. If you hire someone from the provinces, the minimum wage there is lower. Another thing I want to point out is I don’t keep my guys on "minimum" wage for long. In fact, we encourage our clients to raise salaries as soon as the worker has proven their work, as soon as they can afford to. We encourage employers to give 13th month bonuses, performance bonuses, gifts, paid leaves, etc. The only thing we don’t encourage is pre-paid work and I explained that in detail here. If you just look at the numbers, you would think outsourcing is cruel to Filipinos. But when you dig deeper and look at the context, you’ll see how much outsourcing has improved the lives of a lot of people. Outsourcing to the Philippines to help make your business grow may look selfish at first, but when you look at how many people you can hire and help, how can you not give it a try? If you want to learn more on how to outsource to the Philippines ethically, we have resources to help you with that at Onlinejobs.ph. Visit us today and start outsourcing your business to efficient, trustworthy and hard working Filipino workers. |
A couple of years ago I had a series of blog posts from my Filipino staff. I’ve gotten some flak for that because some people think that the posts are biased. They’re my employees, after all. As my employees, they’re terrified of me and they’re just writing stuff they know I want to hear, things they know would please me. I admit I did ask them to write that guest post. But that part where they’re so terrified of me that they’re written those things just to kiss my ass is just wrong. My guys and I disagree on a LOT of things. They won’t say bad things about me in public out of loyalty but if you could see some of the emails I exchange with them, you’ll see a lot of: I don’t think it’s a good ideaI don’t think I can do [task]I don’t want to do [task]I think it would be better is we do this or that… I know disagreeing with your Filipino staff isn’t something a lot of people would want to hear but this is a good thing. Once you’ve established respect, trust and communication with your team, disagreements are bound to come up. The key is having disagreements about work without letting it affect their work and your business It all boils down to communication, respect, and trust. Communicating With Your Filipino Staff I tell my guys time and time again that they have nothing to fear about their jobs. As long they do their jobs and they act in a professional manner when they do want to talk to me about the things we don’t agree on, they should feel free to talk to me about anything, even have a few disagreements. I do this until now because it’s important for me that they have a work environment that allows them to be creative and keeps them motivated to work. I want them to be comfortable enough to talk to me about anything, even about problems at work, so we can communicate and work better with one another. I know that if my guys are afraid of me, most of them would probably just disappear. And those that would stay probably wouldn’t be able to tell me of work challenges until they turn into big problems that could cost me my businesses. These are people I trust my business with. If they feel like they can’t talk to me, then what’s the point in me outsourcing. If I can’t deal with disagreements and bad news, I might as well do everything myself. Respecting Your Filipino Staff They respect the fact that I’m the boss and my final say is what gets done. But I also respect the fact that my Filipino virtual assistants are smart guys. I’ve given them training and until now they go out and continue to learn new things on their own. So if they say something, I listen to them and take their opinions and suggestions seriously. When running a business, it has to be about the business. Your Filipino virtual assistant isn’t there to stroke your ego. He or she is there to do a job and you have to give them every opportunity to do that job and do that job well. I know that I don’t know everything. I don’t have the time to study everything and know everything. I don’t want to do that. That’s why I outsource a lot of my business. That’s why they get the training for the things that they do. They’re bound to be better at a lot of things than me. And if they can tell me why their idea is better than mine, I have no problems with conceding to their better judgement. Trusting You Filipino Virtual Assistant At some point, when you’re outsourcing, you have to let go of certain fears in order to move on to bigger things. You have to let go of your fear of your VA not working, of them leaving you, of things going wrong when you’re not there to watch over them. If they’ve worked for you for a long time and they’ve proven to be trustworthy, don’t you think it’s about time to really trust them? Replacemyself.com is all about replacing yourself in your business by having someone you’ve trained enough to do all the work you need to do to run your business. But training is only one aspect. To achieve the 4 hour work week and financial freedom, you have to teach your Filipino VA to make some decisions himself. You have to trust that fact that your VA is looking out for your business, for your welfare. If you won’t trust your VA, if you can’t trust your VA, you will never experience that kind of freedom. If you keep fixating on the small things, you’ll never see the big picture. Letting My Filipino VAs Take Care of Me When you think about it, friends and family fight when because they want what’s best for one another. I’ve seen how dedicated my guys are to my business and I know that we sometimes disagree with one another because we’re just looking for one another. This is why I can afford to work only 17 hours a week, because I can know they’re there in the background watching over my business. |
I was sick. I was completely out of my mind. The swelling in my throat began to sabotage my breath. I blinked back the moisture that threatened my eyes.I grabbed for something stable as the room spun and my vision closed in. There’s a good chance that nobody in the all-white, sterile office noticed what was happening to my body. They couldn’t hear the blood pounding in my hot ears or feel the sides of my throat stick together as I swallowed repeatedly. I looked from the doctor to my wife, Kim.She didn’t see my legs turn to jelly.She was probably spiraling in the same way. I shook my head to clear the tunnel vision that threatened to set in. I couldn’t black out. I had to be present, I needed to hear what the doctor had to say. And I knew that with this new information, my priorities had to change. This was in early 2007. We’d left for the doctor’s office that morning totally unsuspecting. My wife was seven months pregnant with our third child - a baby girl. After running the routine prenatal tests, the doctor came in with a solemn look.“You have preeclampsia. You need to immediately observe strict bedrest. If you don’t, you may have a seizure and lose the baby, or possibly die yourself.”“My wife is going to die. And we're going to lose our baby.”I kept thinking to myself on our way home.Have you ever experienced this kind of abrupt disruption in your daily routine?Most days are normal.The world turns.Life moves.Everything is fine.And then one day, you get the kind of news that snaps you out of your routine coma. Your perspective transforms into a kind of tunnel vision. Your feet slam onto the ground of reality, and the air is knocked from your chest. It hurts, and you’re scared.But at the same time, you experience a sort of redemption. When that ‘tunnel vision’ hits, there’s only enough room and light at the end of the tunnel to see the things that are truly the most important to you. The faces that bring meaning to your life, the ideals that you strive to become and achieve…those things consciously become your entire world.All I knew is that we had two other young kids, I was working full-time and there was no way I could keep working.I was not about to lose a baby over money.So I committed then and there, I was going to take care of my wife, two rambunctious toddlers and my unborn baby girl, whatever the sacrifice.I wrote an email to my two Filipino VAs to explain what was happening. I let them know I couldn’t work and that they wouldn’t be hearing from me much. I asked them to continue to do what I’d taught them and try to keep the business afloat. I asked them to take over things I was currently doing in the business. I asked them to do their best.And then I got to work on my new full-time job as caregiver.You won’t believe what happened next. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow. This is where Filipino VAs get really really good for both you and me. John |
In my last email, I started telling you about the time I totally abandoned my online business.; My wife was on bedrest with life-threatening pregnancy complications. She needed constant care. There was no way I was going to risk losing her or the baby. So I handed all of the day-to-day operations over to my VAs and held my breath. It turned out to be the pivotal experience of my both my professional and personal life. For the next three weeks, I was completely preoccupied with caring for my wife and two toddlers. I barely thought about work. In fact I probably clocked one hour of work, TOTAL. At the end of those three weeks, my wife went into early labor and delivered a beautiful, healthy baby girl without further complications. We were beyond grateful that the baby arrived safely. But I still couldn’t return to work in full capacity. My wife struggled through post-natal recovery. Any energy she had went to meet the demands of our newborn. I continued to man the household duties and keep our two oldest alive and in check. (Which, by the way, is exhausting work!); Over the next two months, I worked about one hour per week. Which means that over three months, I’d worked on my business for a rough total of nine hours. That’s it.; When my wife finally recovered and I came back to work in full capacity, I was prepared for the worst. I had a lot of faith in the VAs I’d worked so hard to train. But at the same time, I was at defcon 1, ready to clean up the potential mess. I just hoped there was something left to salvage... Then when I began to analyze the damage caused by my absence, I almost went into shock.; The business hadn’t imploded without me. The workers I’d hired and trained so well had kept it fully functional. In fact, not only was it functional, it was profitable and it had grown. I was floored. I couldn’t believe how much I’d underestimated these guys! Up to that point, I’d had no idea what my VAs were capable of. Quick, clarifying side note: This was not a ‘miraculous hire-and-hand-off’ ordeal. Prior to my hiatus, I’d put; lots of work into the business and my VAs. When I left, it was fully functional and semi-automated. My two VAs had been working for me for 18+ months and I’d trained them well. They knew the ins and outs of my business and its automated processes (because I’d spent time teaching them). When I stopped working, they were set up to keep the business alive. But my oversight and expectations were nominal. Their hard work and dedication during those three months blew me out of the water. Like most people, I thought they were only capable of doing menial work.Now, they were doing the work I had previously been doing.; I just couldn’t believe it. I was living beyond Tim Ferriss’ 4-hour workweek -- I was living the one-hour workweek. My business was thriving. And it all happened because I had no choice but to let my VAs step up and reveal their true potential. That was my outsourcing wake up call. I realized entrepreneurialism boils down to this: there’s always work to be done in a business - it’s just a matter of who’s doing the work. So this is the question I want you to ask yourself: who’s doing the work in your business? Is it you or someone else? And if it’s still ‘you,’ are you willing to take a chance and let go? Think on it, John |
Many conventional outsourcing experts will tell you that you can only delegate mindless and repetitive tasks to VAs. My experience proves that Filipino VAs are capable of so much more. After the revelation I had with my first two VAs when I realized just how capable they were (see my last email), I wanted to try an experiment. I wanted to know how much and what kinds of work I could delegate to my VAs.;Exactly how far could I push this outsourcing thing?? So I hired a third Filipino VA for the sole purpose of testing how much he could do independently. But I didn’t tell him that. I wanted to see if, under my guidance, he could build, market and operate a profitable website on his own. The prospect was intriguing. For his first training, I recorded myself talking for 45 minutes about the new business model. In that recording, I explained:- How the website would work- Why it should work- How it would make money- How to drive traffic to the site- The overlying objectives of the whole business Next, I trained him on the basics of WordPress using voice recording and screen captures. After that, I bought a domain and asked him to figure out how to set up WordPress on it. He set up the theme according to how I’d described it in the audio. Kind of. His first attempt was actually terrible; I’m not going to lie.; But I worked with him. I sent him descriptions of what I wanted changed, and he tried again. Then I sent him another video with more fine-tuned instructions and he tried again. And we continued the process over a week or two and tweaked everything until it was perfect. Then I had him write a content piece for the website. It was awful. So we repeated the same process of training and tweaking, training and tweaking. Once he got it right, I never had to write that kind of content piece again. Then we repeated the same training process with SEO.Then Google Adwords.Then with affiliate programs.Social media,RSS feeds,forum posting… All of the marketing elements that I knew we should be implementing (but I had no time to do them on my own) were now implemented and kept up by this VA!; Once he completed all of the training, I decided to test his ability to maintain the website and all of its moving parts. I let go of the business (almost) completely and let him run it. We communicated daily. I was always there to answer his questions and give additional training when he needed it. I also kept a close eye on everything he was doing and required him to send me regular updates.; But he ran all of the day-to-day processes; I didn’t have to touch the website or marketing. I taught him what to do, stuck with him until he really nailed it down, and I’ve never had to do those things myself again. In the first month, this experimental business made $200. Within three months, it was making about $1,000/mo. At the 6th month mark, it was making roughly $5K. By the end of the year it was making close to $15k/month. The experiment was a success.; It was a major time investment for me initially. All of the teaching and training wasn’t roses. But it worked! Tip for the day: You rarely get it right the first time with your VA. ;It almost always takes training then feedback then training then feedback then...you get it.But once you get it right, you never have to deal with it again. You get the right people doing the right things, you train them and you work with them, and then you train them some more. That’s it.;That’s the magic.; After they’ve been thoroughly trained, all you have to do is manage and oversee their work. You can create your own freedom with help from a Filipino VA. Take time and think about it - what else could you be outsourcing? Then go and make it happen. John |
Short and sweet today. Typhoon Vamco just hit the Philippines. https://apnews.com/article/typhoons-philippines-storms-typhoon-goni-manila-fbbcbba92c2f5f6eed8047c6a0ec07c4 Ask your VAs if they're ok. Typhoons hitting the Philippines is normal. ;2 typhoons in one week is not. FYI (because I didn't know this for a long time) - a typhoon is the same thing as a hurricane. ;They use different words in different parts of the world. ;I don't know why. John |
You have to be the CEO of the company - you have to know the what and the why and the how… AND THEN DON’T DO IT.; This is where our stupid culture of over-work and “the grind” is so messed up. You shouldn’t be doing all the work. You should teach someone ELSE how to do it, and manage them. You have to do the hard work of recruiting someone and teaching them how to do it (which is hard work, but it’s way more effective and efficient work than trying to execute every business process solo. Work smarter! Not harder. So from there, the rest is ;history - I hire more people (36 currently), We do more. And that’s the end of the story...but not really. THIS IS HOW YOU LIVE THE LIFESTYLE. I was forced into it in my circumstances, so I had to do it. Most people are never forced to do it. So they don’t. It may feel risky or they may feel reluctant to sign on to something that’s hard work in the beginning (which it is)...but the reward in the end is indescribable. The freedom you build as you grow your online team can’t be replicated, and the best place to do that is the Philippines. Because I wanted to share my success with any business owner who would take advantage of it. And I wanted to give back to the incredible working class of the Philippines, so I created OnlineJobs.ph - the virtual job board where Entrepreneurs can go to find incredible, capable FIlipino virtual workers, and those workers can go to find stable, well-paying virtual jobs with foreign employers. ; ;; And now that I’ve been outsourcing online for a decade and a half, I’m on a mission, through these emails and other resources I’ll share with you, to give you the best outsourcing experience possible. Tip;- When you sign up for;OnlineJobs.ph;you can cancel as soon as you hire your VA.OnlineJobs.ph is a monthly subscription that you only need to pay when you’re recruiting.Consider it a recruiting fee.Sign up. Post a job. ;Interview workers.When you’ve found your VA - cancel your subscription. ;You don’t need to pay for OnlineJobs.ph after you’ve hired your worker. ; And, you can still use EasyPay and TimeProof - free. John JonasCreator of OnlineJobs.ph |
I recently spent 6 days in Northern Minnesota boundary waters- the northern border between US and Canada- canoeing. Everyday we would canoe, paddle across the lake, carry our canoe and all our gears to another lake, and canoe... and get out, and another lake. Repeat that for 6 days. Weather was cold.It was hard work.The hiking from lake to lake is hard.Carrying the canoe and all our stuff is tiring.For 6 days. During that experience.. I was thinking about my family at home.Then I was worried about my family at home. I was thinking about a bike race.Then I was worried about the bike race. I was thinking if I can last 6 days like this.Then I was worried if I can last 6 days like this. I was concerned with my fingers and toes because it was cold.I was cold for so long.Then I got worried about permanent damage to my fingers and toes because it was cold for so long. But what I wasn't worried about was my business. Because I had so many great people in my team that do their jobs so well. Tip - Find a task in your business you're currently involved in that you think you could maybe teach someone else to do.; Then teach it. Work with your VA for 2 weeks so they get it right.; Then go out of town for a week and DON'T CHECK YOUR PHONE! See what happens to that task. ;Does it still get done? ;Does it disappear from your todo list? John PS. I'm about to go out of town again. ;White Rim.https://www.nps.gov/cany/planyourvisit/whiterimroad.htm |
I have mercury poisoning. ; Tests came back that I was in the 99th percentile of mercury poisoning. Too much tuna. Silly mercury fillings. No wonder I can't remember anything.No wonder I don't concentrate well.No wonder my body is freaking out. I found out about 2 years ago and have made significant changes since. No grains.;No dairy.No sugar.Lots of avocados.Chelation (to remove the mercury).LDA. It's crazy, but it's what I have to do to make my brain work better. What's LDA you ask?; "Low Dose Allergy" Immunotherapy. Doctor says it should help my body to stop freaking out about things (food, chemicals, scents, pollens...) and help my brain to function well. ; I sure hope so because the special "LDA diet" is even crazier. ;For 3 days I'm only allowed- carrots- cabbage- celery- potatoes- sweet potatoes- tapioca- salt That's it. ;It's hard. But not as hard as hiring the wrong person. Pro Tip from;Marcela“People who work in retail, work in retail. They don’t usually have skills with social media, image editing, managing social media campaigns and such. You’re asking for a skill set that’s more commonly found in office workers, and you can find a really great retail employee that doesn’t have that skill set.” Don't try to combine all the skills you want into one person. Jack of all, master of none. John |
Over the past year or so my wife and I have felt more and more frustrated with needing to nag our kids about doing their chores. With Covid-19 in the mix, that became more obvious since the kids are home all the time and the house is messier and messier. I attended a lesson with Russ Fletcher, an expert with Agile Methodology. Applying it to my family through this "chore chart" has been going well so far. Sat down with my kids on Sunday and started with everyone writing down the chores they know they should be doing. This method lets us immediately see who's doing what with Post It notes. To further incentivize their efforts, if everyone does their parts after a full week, each of them gets $5. But if something is left undone, then they can't go out for the week. So far it has been going well. Not only does it distribute the chores at home, but it also teaches them accountability.; The agile methodology is something that can be applied even to your VAs. It promotes responsibility among the team, and you as their employer will get visibility to what is happening in your business. Applying this method of watching over your company makes it easy for you and your VA to see the bigger picture, making it easier to track progress and watch over goals.; Pro Tip - Use a project management system with you VAs.We use;Basecamp.You could use Trello, Asana, Teamwork, Hive, ...Whatever it is...doesn't matter.;Just give your VAs some organization and direction. John PS. Find your own virtual assistants and complete your team with people whom you can depend on. Post your listings :www.onlinejobs.ph;today and apply this methodology so you can free up your time, but still have complete visibility. |
The;White Rim Trail;outside Moab, Utah is a good metaphor for life. It's beautiful. It changes unexpectedly. It has high highs and low lows. And sometimes you're on the edge of a cliff where little changes make a big difference. Everyone starts off super excited when you're at mile 1, 6, 17, 29...But when you get into the real thick of it...mile 40 and you have a huge hill to climb, you're tired, and the sun has set, it gets really difficult to keep spirits up. ; But you have to keep pushing. For most, there is no other option. It's kind-of like hiring a VA.; You're so excited to get the help you need.They do their first task and it's amazing.Then you have them do something else and it gets done too! Then, some work comes back that's not very good. ; What do you do? ; You push through! Teach, give feedback, train, repeat. If you can make the first task work with the person you hired, the rest of it just requires pushing through.Push through the difficult times (which...there WILL be difficult times). ;Most of the time will be great.;;But when difficult times come, if you push through, both of you will come out better on the other end. Pro Tip from Traci:"I ended up hiring my first virtual assistant within two days of starting on of starting my membership on OnlineJobs.ph.And we started the training process.I made her training videos.And, you know, of course there’s going to be mistakes when someone’s learning something new. But what I noticed about working with her is that she would make a mistake and I would let know what I corrected in the listings that she created for me. And then the next batch of listings there would still be some mistakes but they wouldn’t be the same mistakes repeated as from the last time, so that was really important to me to find someone who is teachable." John PS. I can make the part about finding your VA easier :www.OneVAAway.com. ;The pushing through part...you have to do it on your own. |
As thanksgiving approaches our thoughts turn to gratitude (as they should...more often). Yesterday I texted a post for social media to one of my VAs. ;I don't make any social media posts. ;I send raw photos/videos/text to her and she pretties it up and posts it. As I sent it, I was grateful for her. ;Grateful for the work she does. Grateful for all of my VAs and the hard work they do. ;Some of it makes my life easier. Some of it builds my business. ;Some of it makes YOUR life easier. ; I'm grateful for them. All of them. ; Grateful that I was lead to hiring in the Philippines which is so different than anywhere else in the world. Grateful that I was led to teaching other to do the same. It's amazing watching people hire Filipino workers and then magically their business starts to grow. ;I've seen it thousands of times. ; Which brings me to Thanksgiving in the Philippines.; They don't celebrate Thanksgiving.They celebrate Bonifacio Day. ; It's not this coming Thursday, it's next Monday. They'll want to work this Thursday/Friday but not next Monday. ;Something to be aware of. Andres Bonifacio is not the official national hero but he got his own holiday because so many people relate to him. He was born poor. He educated himself. He supported his siblings by building small businesses when he was growing up. He has so much charisma that during the revolution (1896), most people thought of him as the de facto leader. Some would even say he was the first president. People loved him because he didn't talk down to them. He explained complicated concepts like the French revolution and the Enlightenment by relating it to Filipino lives and he wrote in Filipino. But the rich elites in the revolution were so threatened by him they had him assassinated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9s_Bonifacio Want more holiday info? ;Here's a post made by my VAs;all about holidays and PTO in the Philippines. John |
No, seriously...is there anything good that has come out of COVID for you? For me there has.; - My kids have spent a ton of time at home. ;I love it. - We've gotten to go camping together a ton. - We've been able to ride our bikes almost every day.; - Church at home with my family has been awesome! - Exercising in our community doubled overnight.; - We've provided more jobs in the Philippines than ever before. Look, I know COVID is hard.I definitely want it to end. Lots of people are struggling (If you're not, go look for ways to help).We have to wear masks (it's not that bad!).The danger is real.; But there are still things to be grateful for. Find them. TIP - Ask your Filipino team how things are going in their area.Ask about quarantine. ;How's the food situation?;How are the people around them doing?Do they know people who are really struggling? You might just find a situation you can help.And it might make you a little more grateful for your own situation. A couple times this year we've asked our team these questions. ;Then answers were surprising. ;We sent money to our team to help those around them. ; We didn't ask for any reporting or accountability. Just anonymous giving.Then the photos starting coming back. Dozens of them just like these: It doesn't take a lot to make a difference. John |
A couple weeks ago, my wife went out of town. I was left alone managing everything at home, including tending to my 5 kids.; I got the kids to school, did some yoga, and took care of morning chores.At 3pm, I rushed home from the bike shop and started to make dinner because that's the only time I had.;At 4pm I went out to coach my son's soccer practice. When I got home from his practice I realized that I left our broccoli dinner steaming on the stove.;We didn't want to waste food, so we had the overcooked dinner at our usual 5pm even though it was gross. After that, I went to my daughters' mountain bike team practice. Unfortunately, all the (great) coaches were out of town so I had to step in and lead two different groups. Before heading home, I had to pick up my other daughter from dance class and came home to a complaining kid for the mushy broccoli.;Put the little kids to bed afterward before I could proceed with cleaning the kitchen. I was beat! I've worked from home for a long time (since 2005) so I know the home routine really well. ;When she leaves, it's not usually that bad. This time it was. I'm so grateful for an amazing wife and for our long-term contract (marriage) together. 20 years with her have been amazing. TIP: If you're struggling with hiring a VA, Sara Crisp recommends a fixed-term contract."When hiring a VA, I recommend that you start with fixed-term contracts. This isn’t just for your benefit. It is for the benefit of both of you. This way, you can see if you both like working together. If you both like working together, then you can talk about moving to a permanent, ongoing position."This isn't the way I usually do it, but it works for a lot of people. John PS. Post that job advertisement today :www.onlinejobs.ph;and hire the perfect VA to join your team to free up your schedule. |
Someone asked me today "how much time do you spend riding your bike each week...or, how much time in the sun?" If I had to guess...I'd guess 8-10 hours/week. Last week it was more like 25 hours. Between riding bikes, running, skiing, or maybe things that aren't in the sun like yoga or lifting weights, I'd say 8-10 hours is correct. And I love it. ; Being in the sun does something to you. The vitamin D.The wind.The cold.The heat.The sweat.The descent!The climb... Then there's the beauty of it all. ; The beauty of the earth. ;The variety. Nature. I've never met someone who didn't think they were better off because they spend a lot of time outside. I'm thankful for the beauties of the earth...and for the time I have to enjoy them. ; Part of the reason I have the time is because I recruit VAs well. TIP: Here's what Dennis Yu does in his recruiting process:"Here's our super-effective process for how we quickly and accurately narrowed the list down to just 15 and then down to the final group? In short, we put a ton of detail in our postings, including a codeword for them to use in the subject line of their initial response.RABBIT is the one for our VA and SQUIRREL is for the designer.We ask them to include a 1 minute video about themselves. Gmail sorts by threads and by subject lines, so they automatically group responses. 50% get knocked out instantly [because they didn't include the keyword], but sometimes I’ll make an exception. Of the initial cut, we look to see if they have personalized their response. Another 50% of that gets knocked out. Of the most promising remainder, we look at:--Did they include a one minute video?--How good is their English?--How strong is their portfolio and profile?--Do they have a cheerful, positive personality? Then we provide one sentence of personalization, not just to show we care, but to ask them follow-up clarification questions. And then we paste in our next set of questions and give more content to consume and ask for another video to make. Of the 5% that pass this filter (which is still 15 people out of 300), we are reasonably certain they would be great employees." John PS. My recruiting process is described in detail at www.OneVAAway.com where I'll give step by step instructions and walk you through a lot of what Dennis says. It will make finding a VA easy so you can get outside. |
In 2007 when I found the right screen recording software, it changed VAs for me. See, with screen recording software, there are a couple small things which make all the difference on how much you'll use it. 1. It needs to do both video captures and image captures2. It needs to always be open on your computer so that capturing is one click (or...preferably just a keyboard shortcut)3. It needs to have the ability to annotate images (add arrows, lines, and text to the image)4. It needs to upload the images and videos automatically and give you the URL automatically.; For me, none of these are negotiable at this point.; Why?; Because in 2006 and 2005 (the two years I had VA's working for me before finding the magic software) I was using Camtasia Studio to make video trainings for my VAs. ;It always entailed recording the video, rendering the video, using FTP to upload it to a server, and figuring out the URL of the video.; It took so much work I would only do it for really important things. ; Then, it all changed with Snagit. Snagit meets all the criteria listed above...but it's just easier to show you exactly how it works.http://www.quickvideolearning.com/daily/snagit-demo.mp4 You can't see the snagit controls in the video because the screen recording didn't record the screen recording controls. ;But...it just works. And it's amazing! I create training, feedback, SOPs, corrections, ...anything! ;This is how I manage my VAs. ;When I found the right software I went from being able to manage 5 VAs to being able to manage 20 VAs. ;It saves that much time. Snagit;is the best. ;It's $49.Free alternatives include-;Techsmith Capture-;Tinytake- there are lots of others...but I don't bother with them. ;Snagit is better. I'm thankful for amazing pieces of software which increase my abilities and make my life so much easier. ;Snagit is my #1. John |
Sometimes a good retail consumer... other times I'm a really bad retail consumer. Once I went to a doctor because I heard he was a good doctor, even though I wasn't feeling anything wrong with me. I wanted to support. Good retail consumer. Recently I bought some bike parts because their marketing pitch was so good. ;I don't necessarily need the parts...but the company had worked hard. ;I like that. But other times.. I can be a bad retail consumer... I buy a lot of stuff from BackCountry.com. But..... I also return A LOT of it. A few weeks ago as I was preparing to go canoeing in the Boundary Waters, I bought a couple of drybags, a tent, some shirts, multiple down pants, the works. I was excited.; When I got them, I tested them.. and realized almost immediately that I didn't like any of the things I got. I decided to return all of it.; And what I like best about backcountry.com is that they let me return all of it, every time I do this, no questions asked.; That's not the point. While I was setting up my return, their live chat popped up and something clicked for me. ; I've seen the live chat dozens of times. I always close it. ;But this time, I wanted some help. Instantly, someone was there. They give advice.Recommendations.Cautions. It was awesome. It was convenient. It was a dream consumer experience. And then it clicked! I realized that our customer service can do even better tan they're doing. So I set the wheels in motion so we can provide better customer service at OnlineJobs.PH, One VA Away and Outsourcing Lever. I know our customer service is good, but I also know we can do better.; Now we have 24/7 customer service in double covered shifts. We respond within 5 minutes usually.; All because sometimes I'm a bad consumer, but I pay attention to how other people do their business. And learn from it. It's so easy to find customer service help on OnlineJobs.ph John |
I need design or video editing work, there's Elijah or Mark. I need social media posts, there's Julia. I need customer support to attend to concerns, there's Jess or Jocelyn. I need programming, there's Vincent or Nino or Raymond.; I need ads, there's Louis. I need content, there's Jessica. I need help with ANYTHING, there's Joven or Jun. The list goes on.. Virtual assistants are more than just your secretary or admin to help you with paper work or sort your emails. You can find seriously talented people. And not only that, you can pass on things you don't know how to do or don't like doing and have your VAs do it for you. I personally want more free time and I hate monotonous and routine tasks, so to get that freedom and to remove repetitive tasks from my everyday, I hired virtual assistants who have the skills to do it. I give them employment, they give me their service. I get my free time to do what I want, they get income to support their families. It's a win-win. I want to help you hire the perfect VA for your needs, and not just someone who can do secretarial tasks. Rather, those who can do the work for you the same way or even better, so you can run your business the way you want. Take the 7-day challenge :www.onevaaway.com;and I'll take you step by step to hire the virtual assistant you need the first time. I guarantee it. John |
Whenever my kids come home from school, I ask them "How was school?"; My 3 older kids, they're all teens, always say "BORING", while my 2 younger ones in elementary school always answer with "Good" or.... "BORING." It's the same thing every time. Today, my younger ones came home and I had the same conversation and it went like this:; "So, how was school?" "Good.."; "What did you do at recess?"; "Nothing.. just walked around."; "...at recess?" "Well, actually, these boys were hitting on us an--" I stopped her mid-sentence.She's only in third grade, so of course, I had to pry. "Hitting on you? You're in third grade"; "Well, one of them has a crush on one of my friends so they were following us around."; My teenage girl heard and butted in.; "Ah.. I remember the days when you liked someone and you chase them around.."; Honestly, I thought throughout the whole conversation that it was pretty exciting... but they didn't. And I can admit that when I was in school, I thought things were pretty boring, repetitive, and monotonous.; But even as employers, most days are gonna be boring. The grind of getting things done takes up most of the day. Magic doesn't happen every single day. You won't always get that huge sale, or that big opportunity every single day. And really, that's fine. Because it means everything is running smoothly. All you need is to get a stable thing that accomplishes your day-to-day and you're all set.; But, what if you accelerate the pace of boring and exciting? ; To me, getting an email saying "I finished this project..." is exciting! And I didn't do the work.To me, hiring someone new is exciting. ;It means I'm going to get more emails saying "I finished this project..." Some work is still boring, but to me, handing work off to others turns boring work into exciting work. I can help you do that with One VA Away. It's now on sale for only $49. You'll learn the ins and outs of hiring the perfect VA for your business at an affordable rate. Get it :www.onevaaway.com. When that "not-boring" thing happens, it'll be a big thing. For now, make the daily grind more exciting. John |
Oh wouldn't it be nice to hire someone and just say "Hey, go do my SEO for me." Generally, that's not how it works. So let me tell you how I usually do this. I've been working on a new project for you. I'm creating SOPs and trainings which you can hand off to your VAs. I create the trainings (VAsMadeEasy.com) , filter it so it’s intended for a VA, then you give my training to your VA. That's the concept. In order to make it work I found that I need to hire experts to create the training, then I just make sure the training is super well done, as well as make sure it's appropriate for a VA. Most training on the internet is intended for the CEO to be the one implementing...dumb. At first I tried explaining this process to a VA and having them find the expert. First try...nothing happened. So I tried adding a VA to the process. Second try...nothing happened. Like, they tried and tried and got nothing done.At this point, I've done this enough to recognize that I need to be involved. So I went and created a job post myself. "I'm looking for a person to create SEO training which will be given to a VA..." I got applicants and interviewed them. During the process I realized my job post needed refining. I also realized that some instructions I had given my VAs didn't work.I refined the whole process. When I found the right person I got them started. Then I went back and did it again. The second time I did it, it worked perfectly. Now was the time to hand it off to a VA. Third try...MEDIOCRITY...with some help needed. My VA posted my job post, interviewed the candidates, picked the best one, made sure they knew what they were doing, negotiated pay, and got them started. She included me in the whole process and I made a bunch of corrections along the way. Fourth try...PERFECTION! I barely had to do anything. She did it all. Fifth try...perfect. Sixth try...perfect. I have successfully handed off this process to a VA who has now worked through 8 SOPs and training modules and still working on 4 more. Getting work off your plate isn't magic.Filipino VAs aren't magic. But if you're willing to be patient, try it yourself once or twice, and then hand it off to someone else, usually you can work through it and get it done right. And now...I'll never need to do this process myself again. John |
To complement our family's active cycling lifestyle, we throw in weights workouts twice a week. Today's session was a mix of Bulgarian Split Squats and Russian Twists but there are days where we alternate Turkish Get Ups and Romanian Deadlifts into the sessions. A lot of weight lifting has significant eastern Europe influence. Have you ever stopped to think why? Maybe it's because they invented it? ;Maybe because they're good at it? There are tons of things like this. There's also China and Pingpong.France and their decadent food.USA, politics.Canada and maple syrup.Argentina and football.Spain, salsa.Germany and their beer.Philippines and virtual workers. I mention this in many of my online videos.;Filipino virtual workers are just better than most other places. Employers can run a business hands-free, and all you need are qualified virtual assistants to do the work for you. I still stand by it when I say that VAs from the Philippines are not like any other. They're resilient, eager, and diligent learners. Let me help you find your own perfect-fit Filipino :www.onevaaway.com. John |
7 years ago my son started selling dirt bikes.; He imports them from china (I helped him initially) and sells them locally. He doesn't do a lot of sales. ;It's small. But last year it wasn't as small. ;Early this year it wasn't as small. But then he got distracted. ;He thought writing a book was a great idea. ;He was going to make so much from this other "thing". Everyone thinks their next idea is going to go HUGE! Most are having a little success with something, but they have this "OTHER" idea which is way better and is going to make so much! So they stop focusing on the current system and put all the fun time into the new system.; It's fun to create something new.It's fun to dream up solutions.It's fun to start a new project.It's fun to build something.It's fun to move on from something that's working to something you think will be HUGE. You know what's not fun? Writing the sales copy needed to sell the darn thing.Finishing the project.Pushing through when your dreamed up solution doesn't work.Sticking with something long-term. And yet, what most people will find is that the longer they stick with something, the better they'll get at it, and the more money they'll make from it. ; It's not easy. ;It's not always fun. But sticking with your current small thing is what builds a business. Don't give in to the bright shiny object. ;Don't give in to the idea that your NEXT project is going to be huge.Don't give up on what's currently working. My son pushed through all kinds of issues this year with his dirt bikes because I made him. He stuck with it.; He's on track to do over $100,000 this year. He's 17. Stick with what's working. ;Find someone to give you good advice.Good advice like the advice in my book:The Outsourcing Lever Which I'll ship you free if you'll just pay the shipping. John |
When my wife got put on strict bedrest and I was forced into the 1 hour work week I learned that Tim Ferris' 4HWW was reality. ; Since then (~2008), I've worked about 17 hours/week. ;17 because 4 isn't enough to keep me sane. My extended family makes fun of me for it:"Oh, John's way too busy for that...""You're probably way too busy at work..." No...I'm not too busy at work. I make sure of that. ; So what do I do in my 17 hours? 1. I write these emails. ;About 5 emails per week x 20 minutes each. 2. I'm a guest on a podcast about once per week. ;1 hour. 3. I create ads, record videos, create social media posts. ;A couple hours. 4. I give feedback, training, instructions to my team. ;Usually 1-2 hours/day. 5. I think through and create solutions. 6. I average working 3.5 days in a week. The rest of the time is spent with my wife and kids. That's about it. ; When something comes up that requires a bunch of my time, my first thought is "How can I get someone else to do this?" I find that most entrepreneurs will cut their workload down if they do the hard work of working with someone else to get that other person to do the work. ;Helping someone else do the work is harder than doing it yourself. ;But it's way more efficient. John |
When I was 1 year old, I learned how not to pee in my pants. When I was 5, I could say when I was hungry or thirsty, and I learned how to eat with a spoon and fork, even though it takes an hour to finish a meal. I had a lot of time on my hands. When I was 15, I discovered video games and played all day until my mom scolds at me at 3am. I had a lot of time on my hands. When I was 20, I thought I knew what I wanted. Almost finished with my degree. Eager to conquer come what may, though still seen as a child by many. I had some time on my hands. When I was 30, I knew a little more than when I was 20. Got a little wiser, smarter, more experienced. I knew the career path that I wanted long term. I had little time on my hands. Every time I got a little older, I was also a little more mature, a little less silly, and moved a step to be a little more responsible. ;I also had less and less time on my hands. I find aging interesting.; As a society we try so hard not to show that we're aging. We pretend, we cover up, we have surgery, we primp, we lie about our ages.. But sometimes we forget that growing old means getting a little smarter, wiser, more experienced... often wealthier too. I find the whole charade silly. Look at my grandparents. Died at 99 and 100. They look great, fulfilled, full of love, happy, content. Now in my 40s, I likely make fewer mistakes, make bigger decisions that affect not only me but my wife and 5 kids. Maybe got a little more respectable too. I have a lot more time on my hands than I used to. I work around 17 hours/week...have for the past ~10 years. With hiring virtual assistants, I got time back. Freed it up to spend doing things I thought I won't have time to do anymore- vacation, spending time with kids, travel, and so on. Time freedom is amazing. ;Simply by delegating your day-to-day business to skilled yet affordable VAs. And my first advice is to post that hiring ad on;www.onlinejobs.ph;today and watch the applications roll in. Here's to aging, with time on your hands. John |
My mom was always a stickler for vocabulary.; "It's hhhhwah, not WAT!" (what)"His name is Stephen! Not Steve!""It's ManhaTTan, not Manha'an""Don't say 'moun'en', it's 'mounTain'" She did it all the time. ;So much so that I say a lot of things poorly just because she did it so much.; "FebRUary" isn't one of them. She always corrected us when we said "FebUary". It's 'Feb-RU-ary' she'd say. However you say that second month,;right now is time to pay the 13th month to your Filipino VAs. If you didn't know about the 13th month, it's basically an end of year bonus (not a Christmas bonus) that is required by Philippines law (if you're an employer in the Philippines). Your VAs are counting on this month.;They depend on it. ;They plan their entire December/Christmas/culture around receiving the 13th month. Here's the 13th month fully explained. John |
I have a VA in the Philippines who writes these emails. ;She does a great job... except the titles were boring and generic. I wanted it bolder, more controversial, more of how I would say it- exactly as what's in my mind at the time. I'd send her topics and include somewhat of a subject and she would dumb it down thinking that my topic was too controversial or too edgy. I called her out on it and told her what I wanted her to revise, explained to her not only why I wanted it that way but also why it's more effective to do. No fluff. No sugarcoating with the titles. No boring. The same way you should communicate with your VA, straightforward but still professional. It gets the point across, the direction becomes clearer, and the same concern can now be avoided moving forward. We're still working on it. ;Working on making subjects tell what's in the email rather than being misleading.Working on having subjects be edgy but correct.;Working on refining the process. This is how working with VAs works (at least for me it is).; I assign.I refine.I give feedback.I refine.I correct.I refine.I improve. She does the work. Hiring the right VA to do tasks for you makes things easy, but for them to understand what you need or how you want things done, it must also be communicated properly.; Find the VA you need now to run your business :www.onlinejobs.ph John |
When I went to the Philippines in 2010 with my family, it was eye opening. ; It was my first time there.;I had had VAs working for me since 2005. ;Meeting them was AMAZING!But seeing the culture and feeling the warmth of the people was the real win for me. ; People always assume that I travel there all the time.; Nope. I'm a home body. ;Traveling away from my family...I don't like it. So there's a lot of culture and tradition in the Philippines I only know about because my VAs have told me. ;I haven't personally experienced it.; In the coming days I'm going to educate you about Christmas and New Years and the time in between and how the Philippines experiences it. ; It's important because it's different than where you live. Here's what one of my VAs wrote (un-edited).It's interesting that she feels like "All I Want For Christmas Is You" is overplayed. I think it is...but how does she know that? ------------- I know in the US, the song that gets overplayed during the season is "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey. Here in the Philippines, it's Jose Mari Chan's "Christmas In Our Hearts". Jose Mari Chan's career as a singer/songwriter is actually an interesting one. He's a businessman, first and foremost. He knew what people really liked. So when he started writing songs, they were mainly commercial jingles. He rose in popularity in the 90s when pop songs and adult contemporary dominated the airwaves. It waned in the 2000's but his career never really died because his songs, his Christmas album especially, was really timeless and classic. In the past 5 years, his career experienced a resurgence because people started creating memes about him. He started doing commercials and concerts again. Christmas isn't complete without Jose Mari Chan. And you know it's Christmas when you hear a Jose Mari Chan song. https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/370644/jose-mari-chan-on-his-songs-the-memes-and-why-he-doesnt-think-he-should-be-mr-christmas/ ----------- More to come. John |
I asked one of my VAs about Christmas and New Years and the work expectations for the holidays. ;Here's what she wrote. ------ You want my honest thoughts? Christmas gives me anxiety.; The never ending obligations to attend one party after another. The stress of braving the crowds to buy presents. The excessive overeating that I can't seem to avoid over the holidays. But as bad as the pandemic is, I'm actually okay with it happening over the holidays. Because of the pandemic, I can see people slowing down and celebrating the Christmas for what it actually is, love. I don't have to go to parties suffering through small talk with strangers and acquaintances. I can just have a small together with the people I love. I don't need to buy presents for people I barely know. I'm giving my family the best gift, my time. And for friends, I'm giving them gifts that I learned to make myself during quarantine. We don't need a table overflowing with food to feel the magic of Christmas.;The best way to do that is to show our love for our neighbors and share what we have to those in need. Yeah, Christmas this year doesn't have the usual sparkle and cheer. But in some ways it's better now. It's more meaningful. Now, to answer your question. How Filipinos feel about the holidays at the end of December? Then and now. If you asked me when I was around 15 years ago (before BPOs existed in the Philippines) how I feel about the holidays, I'd say that they're sacred. You have to be home for the holidays and spend time with them. On Dec 24, 25, Dec 31 and Jan 1. You're hurting your family if you don't spend the holidays with them! But now, to be honest, my feelings have changed. Same with a lot of Filipinos. When it was just our family members who are overseas Filipino workers who were away during the holidays, it felt imperative to spend Christmas and New Years together. It was our way of honoring those who can't be there. And it was easier to call our OFW family members when we were all under one roof at the same time. But now that we have other family members who also work during the holidays (call center employees), the pull of that tradition is isn't as strong anymore. I have friends and family who have no choice but to work over the holidays. What's more important for us now is finding time to be together rather than being together on on exactly Dec 25 or Jan 1. I guess that's why most Filipinos would prefer to have the week between Christmas and New Years off. So they can spend time with their loved ones who can't be there. Doesn't matter if you open presents on Dec 27 or do the New Year's countdown on Jan 2. What matters we can be together in this magical season. ------ Her words...not mine.(she's so darn good!) John |
If you read my email yesterday you now know that Filipinos consider the time from Christmas Eve to New Years Day "sacred". It's not as sacred as it used to be (thanks in part because you hiring them keeps them from leaving their families and going and working overseas), but it's still really important to them. So DON'T hire someone right now! Right now if you're recruiting someone they're worried you're going to ask them to start work before the new year. ;And they know they need to be with their families during that time. Over the years I've seen too many people hire a VA in mid December only to have that VA disappear in their second week. Wait to hire until early January. ; You'll have a better experience.They'll have a better experience. And you can hit the ground running in the new year. ; Spend the next 2 weeks preparing to hire that person. ;Get some training in place. ;Get processes in place. ;Get prepared to offload a task. Go to;OnlineJobs.ph, scroll down on the homepage, and find this section: Find a skill you're interested in and then look at a bunch of the resumes of the workers. ;See if anyone stands out to you. If they do, contact them but make sure to tell them you don't expect work to start until January 2021. Then RUN in 2021 with a new VA. John |
"It's not even that slippery!" I said to my girls as we descended the canyon road the other day. Famous last words. 200 yards down the road, going 20mph, the road turned icy and I got stuck in a tractor tire rut which had an icy lip in the middle. I knew I was going to hit the lip. I knew I was going to crash. One...last...effort... OOOOOOOUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCHHHHHHHH!!! I slid 40 feet on rough ice and asphalt. When my daughter pulled up her first words were "Wait...don't move, I need a picture!" She learned those words from me rolling up on her crashes over the years. It hurts. I have a massive bruise on my left hip. You can prevent the pain of hiring and losing a good VA when you hire them by understanding that they're scared to start working for you. They're scared they're not going to understand you.They're scared they're not going to do good work for you.They're scared you're not going to be happy with their work. They probably won't do great work for you until they begin to trust you. You can start gaining their trust by1. providing them training (VAsMadeEasy.com)2. giving them feedback. When I do this on the very first task with someone I like to give them the training with the instruction to go through the training and to summarize what I want them to do.I don't actually ask them to do the task! I want to give them a way to give me feedback on my training. If what they tell me is exactly what I want them to do, GREAT! I ask them to get started. But if what they tell me is different than what I want them to do, I go back and redo my training. It's an easy way to help them ensure that you're going to be happy with their work before they even start doing the work. It builds trust.It prevents problems.It keeps you from crashing with your new VA. John |
I try to make a difference in the community where I live. ; It's not always easy, but when something hits you in the face you help out. The other day I went to meet with the local coordinator of Venezuelan refugees. ;I sat in her house talking with her and her husband about the situation. ;As we got further into the conversation, it became more and more clear that SHE was in need as much as others. She showed me the 10 boxes in her garage which were full of rice, beans, toiletries, diapers, and clothes that she wanted to send to a Venezuelan orphanage and women's shelter but she had no means of sending any of it. ;At $100/box for shipping...yeah... Here she was, serving others like crazy, while she herself was struggling under tremendous burdens. I don't know how she does it.; So I helped out the best I knew how.; The biggest reason I helped? ; Because I know if I help her, she'll turn around and help dozens of others. ; It's the same with hiring Filipino VAs. If I help you hire someone, you'll help the person you hire.And you'll help their kids.And you'll help their parents.And they'll help you grow your business.Then you'll pass that along and help someone in need. It's a big circle of helping. So I want to give you my book "The Outsourcing Lever" all about hiring Filipino VAs. I bought 1000 copies 2 weeks ago. ;I'm giving them away free if you'll just pay the shipping. Get it now so that come Jan 2 you're ready to hit the new year running with a new VA. www.OutsourcingLever.com John |
“Business! Mankind was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The deals of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!” Jacob Marley yells this at Ebenezer Scrooge in the play "A Christmas Carol".; My wife has seen it every year of her life since she was 4 and she involved me in it the year we met. ;It's quite a tradition for her family. We saw it last week. Masks were worn. To be honest, it has changed my life and so much of it rings true for me. The spirits coming back from the other side and warning him "Hey! you're messing everything up by just seeking money! You need to be helping other people!" I have a lot to learn about charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, but those are the pieces that matter in life. It's one of the reasons;we offer a money back guarantee on everything we sell.; If something doesn't work for you, we want to have mercy. We don't deserve your money if we can't make it work. Find a way to make mankind your business this Christmas season. John |
The Philippines is interesting when looking at it from a western, outsider perspective. They have a lot of asian culture which is different than a lot of western culture.; BUT...they have so much western culture that they make amazing employees. The combination of asian culture + western culture + unique Filipino culture makes them some of the best people in the world. So much so that my 91 yr old grandma asked me the other day "If I need in home help, can you help me find someone from the Philippines to come live with me?" Their culture is warm, loving, caring.They are a pleasing culture (they want to make you happy).They're non confrontational.They're gentile.They're intelligent.They're honest, loyal, and hard working. ;Once they trust you, they're willing to speak up and tell you what they think and what you can do to improve. When I stumbled into this in 2005 I was amazed at how much I liked working with them. And the culture didn't create a barrier for doing great work. So when my VA wrote this about the Filipino Parol and some having Christmas trees, I wasn't surprised. ---------The "Parol" Not every Filipino household would have a Christmas tree for the holidays. But every house would probably have a "parol". A parol is an ornamental lantern, usually star-shaped, hung outside of homes. It can be made of paper and bamboo or seashells. The tradition started when the Philippines was colonized by the Spaniards. The name itself actually comes from the Spanish word, "farol" which means lantern. Parol - Wikipedia <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parol> Hanging a lantern during Christmas isn't unique to the Philippines but the design of the lantern is. It's usually large, elaborate and very colorful. There are competitions all over the country on who can make the biggest, most creative, unusual, etc. There would be parades in every town to show off these creations. The practice is so ubiquitous and so well loved that Filipinos worldwide continue to practice it.;--------- Ask your Filipino worker what their Christmas traditions are. It will build their trust in you. John |
I'm a religious person. ;I go to church every week. ;I read my scriptures every day. I say morning and night prayers.; But when I asked one of my VAs about Christmas traditions I didn't expect to hear about midnight mass for 9 days in a row! Here's what she said: -----Midnight Mass You're probably used to hearing roosters or dogs when you call your VA. Prepare to hear something new if you call your virtual assistant over the holidays, a Catholic mass. Simbang Gabi or Night Mass is a devotional nine-day series of Catholic masses practiced by Filipinos in anticipation of Christmas. The masses start on Dec 16 and end on Dec 24. Simbang Gabi - Wikipedia The practice started when the Philippines was colonized by Spain. Spanish friars started holding mass at midnight or at dawn so farmers can attend Christmas devotionals before going to work. The practice continues today because of the superstitious belief that if you complete all 9 masses, your wish would be granted.; This belief is so prevalent, there's even a movie about it:;9 Mornings (2002) - IMDb Because of the pandemic though, some Filipinos may have to resort to attending masses online. So if you hear a Catholic mass playing in the background, don't be surprised. They're just doing that in the hopes that their wishes would come true for the new year. ------ Maybe them working for you helps their wishes come true this next year? ; I guess it might depend on what kind of a boss you are. John |
Winter is in full swing here right now. "And mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again" isn't exactly how I feel.; Yesterday we had an amazing day skiing together.; I love having my kids home for Christmas break...but only because my VAs are so darn talented that they take care of my business for me while I play with my kids. But, Christmas and New Years is an interesting time. ;The Philippines culture almost feels like it's sacred time.; Here's a video of me explaining my experience with this time and how we handle it. https://youtu.be/KfbN846fMqs If you haven't already talked to your VAs about how you want to handle this, today's a good day to do it. Merry Christmas. ;Find someone today to spread some cheer with. John |
Nothing business related today. I understand not everyone celebrates Christmas. ;But in my house it's such a strong holiday and carries strong traditions. At our house, Christmas traditions start the day after Halloween.; Halloween decorations come down and Christmas goes up on November 1. My wife always says it's so much work getting Christmas decorations up that she wants to enjoy it for a while.; Listening to Christmas music starts November 1. ;My 13 year old says she "hates Christmas music!" but we know she secretly likes it. We don't have strong Christmas eve traditions except the rule that YOU CAN'T GET UP BEFORE 7AM TOMORROW!!! When the kids get up they have to come straight to our room and not go through the living room where Santa has come. We turn on the Harry Connick Jr. Christmas album and then open stockings as a free for all. ;Then presents are opened taking turns, youngest to oldest, while everyone watches every one else.; Breakfast. The last 2 years we've gone skiing at about 1. ;A tradition I hope to push further today (fingers crossed). What are your traditions? ;Are traditions important to you?I find they create a sense of identity. I try to wish my team of VAs Merry Christmas on Christmas Day. They're always so good about emailing me on Christmas. Merry Christmas. John |
People always wonder how Santa gets around to millions of houses all in one night. ;I have a secret... He uses ELFs Efficient! ;Loyal! ;Filipinos! How do I know? ; He just used my One VA Away program to hire another ELF. It's amazing how efficient having a loyal worker becomes over time.The short term benefit of hiring someone is fine, but where the real time savings and efficiencies come in is over time as you two work together and you get better and better at automating tasks together. It creates more and more efficiencies the more you work together. That's why Filipino workers are so good. ;They're loyal. ;Almost to a fault. ; And;www.OneVAAway.com;will help you find and hire a great Filipino worker. ;I guarantee it (or I'll give your $49 back). John |
My 2 youngest had their first ski day of the year last week.Actually, they had their first 3 days of the year last week... Oh, they love to complain about skiing. ; I don't want to go!Nooooo!I want to play with my friends! AWESOME! ;YOU'RE GOING! Is it just MY kids who complain about things and then have tons of fun when they do it, but then they complain again next time again? On the last run my 7yr old said to my wife Mom, I want some bumps and jumps on this run. He had fun. ; When we got to the bottom I asked;Who's going to complain the next time we go skiing? NOT ME!!!!;they both said. The "bumps and jumps" made me think of an email one of my VAs wrote me about a "Filipinism": ------ If you regularly exchange business emails or talk to your Filipino virtual assistants, you may notice that there's something odd about their English that you can't quite put your finger on. They have these phrases that sound right grammatically but don't quite feel right. If you've ever encountered that, you've just experienced a;Filipinism. It's another idiosyncrasy of Filipinos when they use English. It usually happens when something is misheard or as a result of transliteration. You may have encountered this with customer service. You know you're talking to a Filipino when they're asking you to hold, they'll say, "For a while.." Or when they ask you to repeat something, they might say, "Can you repeat that for me one more time?"; Or they ask you to "fill up" a form instead of filling out a form. It's one of the things they know they shouldn't be doing. They learn about it in school. But when everybody talks and writes the same way, it's a really hard habit to break. ------ My experience is that if you ask them to not say that thing any more (a gentile correction of their english) they'll correct it and get better. John |
Let's go!Come on, we're ready.Everyone's waiting in the car for you. It's not super common...but it definitely happens in my house. ;Probably in yours too. We're getting ready to leave and someone (usually the wife or the slow daughter) is WAY behind everyone else. ; It may or may not make you late (we're rarely late), but it's irritating...and it's just...TIME. It's time sitting around.It's time away from skiing.It's time I coulda... Speaking of time...let's talk about timezones and the Philippines. People always want to know about having VAs work on their timezone. ;Is it possible? ;How do you make it work? Here are Marcella's thoughts: "Our graphics/video guy pretty much has full schedule flexibility as long as he produces the videos and graphics timely.;Our other Virtual Assistant has to overlap our business hours for at least 4 hours of her shift. It works out for her because she can work around time with her family and pick up the other 4 hours earlier or later in the day depending on her schedule.;She also pushes some of her hours over to the weekend so she has more flexibility during the week, with her children and their school hours. So it works." Here are my thoughts on making this work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka2cImM59SA The gist is, yes, they can work on your timezone. But make sure that's the expectation when you hire. And, you'll probably find it easier if you hire someone who is already working the night shift. Of course, if you're in Australia, none of this matters. John |
On Christmas day I went for an afternoon bike ride. ;I hadn't been on my bike since my big crash a few weeks ago. ;We've been skiing instead. ; Skiing is my favorite.; The mountains.The snow.The clean air.The time with people I love.The flow. It's so good. But...I also know that training for the next racing season is about to start happening and my son wanted to ride...so I rode. ;It was a hard ride. It's similar to how I've created freedom in my life.; I focus the hard things that need to get done in my business. The hard things are sometimes creating a video.Sometimes it's working through a sales process. ;Sometimes it's hiring someone else to do a process I'm working on.Sometimes it's just taking the time to train, train, train someone else on a process "only I can do." Anything that needs to happen in the business which doesn't contribute to growth I get someone else to do. Similar to what Ryan Smith said: "If you are lacking the freedom you want, you must change the way you are doing things. Figure out what tasks are going to make huge improvements to your business and concentrate on those tasks. Anything that doesn’t fall within that category, look for a way to hire someone else to do that work." Most people will tell you to focus on the things you love. Don't. Focus on the hard things that grow the business. Get other people to do the rest. John |
From my VA, Julia. --------Being a godparent is an honor and a serious responsibility. It shows that the parents trust you. And once you become a godparent, you're part of that child's life forever. It's the same In the Philippines and they have a special name for godparents. The men are called "ninong" and women are called "ninang". In addition to guiding that child, being a ninong or ninang means you are also obligated to give your godchild a present every birthday and Christmas.; EVERY BIRTHDAY AND CHRISTMAS. Yup, it's a big deal. That's why most people think twice when asked to become a godparent. But it's also considered back luck to refuse to become one when asked. Giving gifts to your godchildren is a serious responsibility. It's tradition for godchildren to go caroling and visit their godparents during the Christmas break to get their presents. It's a tradition so powerful that even the pandemic hasn't stopped it. It's like Halloween but instead of giving all the neighborhood kids candy, you have to give your godchildren cash and/or gifts. ; This tradition is so serious that there are songs, entire movies, sitcoms and memes about this tradition. And the running joke is if you have a lot of godchildren, you may want to hide from them over the holidays.; The generous godparent is the one who gives cash AND gifts every birthday and Christmas. They're the ones who are loved and adored.; * "Nasan kaya sila?" means Where are they? Bad godparents go on vacations or hide indoors to avoid giving gifts to their godchildren. * "Aguinaldo" means Christmas gift The worst ones are the sadistic godparents. The ones that make you solve math problems, answer trivia questions or sing Christmas carols perfectly to win your present.; *"Pamasko" means Christmas money If you were to become a Filipino godparent, which one would you be?--------- I always find it's good to understand the culture of the people you're working with. John |
This morning I waxed my kids skis for the first time ever. It's not that they haven't needed a wax, it's that I'm lazy with things like this. Taking skis to the shop, dropping them off, waiting 4 days to get them back, going to pick them up. ;For someone who doesn't leave the house very often, that's a pain in the butt.Plus, being without skis for 4 days...out of the question. So I did it myself. The second my kids got on their skis today they said They're so slippery. Then later It's easier to turn.Flat sections are so much easier. Sharpen the saw. For me, sharpening the saw takes on a few different forms in my business. One of those is to look at projects my VAs are working on and evaluate how they're going, how they're executing, looking at their work, and then making tweaks. If I can improve their processes, I'm improving my business. Another (more important) sharpening I do is to pick out the one thing that will improve my business the most and I don't work on anything else until I get that thing done. That's what I'm doing now. ; I need to get a sales process done and video recorded. I'll block out everything else until I get it done. Fortunately, my VAs run everything else for me so I can afford to ignore everything else. If your VAs don't run everything for you that's ok. Make a list of the absolutely critical things that have to happen in your business today. These are things which if you don't do them, business will fail. Do those. Then with the rest of the time, do the one thing that will grow your business. Wax your skis. John |
My brother texted me yesterday and said; "Are you in Vegas?" No. Am I supposed to be? "No. Just saw your Instagram post" What post? hahaha. I don't make my instagram posts. I send pics to my VAs and they post it some time in the future. I was in Vegas like a month ago... This is how good VAs can be for you. They make social media posts which my brother doesn't know wasn't me.; They take processes off your plate which you shouldn't be doing. Make 2021 the year you get something off your plate with a VA. What's it going to be?; Social media?Design?Customer support?PHP programming?E-commerce?SEO?... John |
Since my kids are off school on Wednesdays because of Covid, we've decided that together we're going to do big things on that day every week. We're calling it "Wild Wednesdays". I've been talking it up for weeks now building their expectations. We'll have a mountain we want to climb, or a really long bike ride, or a new route we want to try, or...we don't know. ;Something wild and crazy that we can do together. Last week it was exploring up the White Pine drainage in Little Cottonwood Canyon. 3.5 miles up the drainage on skis. ;Further than we had ever been. We'll see what today brings. Speaking of expectations, when you hire a new VA it's a really good idea to set some expectations up front. Things like: - daily reporting- not disappearing- that you're there to help them- that you'll provide feedback and training- work hours and schedule- ... Here's my process:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv_eaMoYbno If you've skipped this step it's hard to change past behavior. But now's a good time. ;Tell them "Hey, it's a new year and I'd like to do something different this year..." John |
It's Monday afternoon as I write this 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 3 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 YOU! You're an entrepreneur.;You push through hard things. That's what we do. ; 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 a VA 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. You'll thank me later for the push to make a lifestyle change rather than another "resolution". John |
It was "Wild Wednesday" for us (the day my kids are off school so we do something crazy outside). While climbing a mountain in the backcountry skiing with my older kids, I was filming a video about "What type of VA you should hire first". Then the notifications started coming in. "Protestors stormed the capital""Congress has been evacuated""Trumps twitter account has been banned""Shots fired" Madness. I couldn't believe it...but on the other hand...I kind of could. ;I mean, given the current state of things I wasn't super surprised. Disappointed.Ashamed.Sad. But not surprised. You know who else wasn't surprised? Your VAs. First, they follow US politics. They know what's happening. They have their own opinions and they take sides...just like people in the US do. Second, the president of the Philippines, Duterte, is similar to Donald Trump. They have experience with a person in power who behaves similarly.; Ask your VAs about what happened on Wednesday. It might just tell you how human they are and how much they know about American culture.; My VAs, for how much they know and care, still didn't miss a beat with work. ;I had 29 answers to "what did you do today" in our project management system (Basecamp) this morning.; I sure do a lot of talking about VAs and how good they are, but you won't know for yourself until you hire someone. ; www.OneVAAway.com John |
The following was written by one of my VAs. She wrote it in first person as if it were me. As if I had all this knowledge about why the Philippines has tons of holidays. I don't. But there are 2 takeaways here:1. they have a lot of holidays. Not all are required to have time off. You should be aware of of those dates when they won't work. I explain it all (well...ok, one of my VAs explains it all) in this post about holidays in the Philippines and PTO 2. you can find really talented writers in the Philippines. ------No, you're not imagining it. The Philippines has a LOT of holidays. In fact, they're #4 in countries with most public holidays. It's intentional. Sometimes, the government even adjusts the holiday calendar to put the holidays closer to the weekends. Because of that, it feels like they have even more holidays than what's listed on the calendar. So why does the Philippine government allow this? Doesn't it hurt their economy to have so many public holidays? Surprisingly, it doesn't. Mainly because when you have a long holiday, you're more likely to travel. This benefits the tourism industry, one of the biggest contributors to their GDP and employs 13% of the population. And if you look at the Philippines, who wouldn't want to go on vacation as often as possible. I have VA who goes mountain biking on the weekends because he lives so close to the mountains. Some of my VAs have talked about bringing their laptops to the beach on weekdays so they can have a change of scenery while working. Even during the pandemic, Filipinos continued to travel because it's sometimes safer to stay in the rural and coastal areas where it's less crowded. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if they have a lot of holidays. As long as they have good internet connection, they can work. And as long as the work gets done, my business just keeps on growing.------ I told you she's a talented writer! We maintain a public calendar of holidays in the Philippines which you can access. I subscribe to it on my personal calendar so I have an idea of when nobody is going to work and I'm not expecting it. John |
I have a neighbor who just bought a mountain bike. ; He calls me and says "Hey, we need to go riding! ;I got a bike!" I'm like,;No...we can't ride right now, the trails are all snowed over or muddy. He bought it. But that's not the real reason why I don't want to take him on a ride. The real reason is he's not ready. ; It's cold outside. Real cold.If I take him on a ride he's not going to be prepared for the cold, he's going to be miserable, then he'll be hesitant to ever ride again. ;He'll be jaded. ;He'll have a negative feeling in his brain all winter and when it's warm out he won't be excited to ride.; So I said no. Now's not the right time. When is the right time to hire a VA? I've always felt there's a key indicator for most people. When you have something in your business th:- you know how to do- its repeatable- you feel like you could teach someone else to do it It's time to hire a VA. If you- don't know what you're doing in your business- aren't sure why you're hiring a VA- aren't sure what they'll do for you- don't really have something that works It's probably not time to hire a VA yet. Here's a more full explanation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSYrWRPK-Bw&list=PLy9dQLOOfkijNFx97oK2bn4j25bIeVigo&index=2&t=0s That key indicator doesn't have to be the thing you're going to outsource...but it's a good indicator that you need help. John |
As I did yoga this morning I was concentrating on my breathing.; In...Out...In...Out... Downward Dog In...Out...In...Out... I needed the breathing to get the "fake vacations" out of my head. Fake vacations? Yesterday someone replied to my newsletter and said;"You send too many fake emails with fake vacation photos. I am unsubscribing.." Fake emails?Fake vacation photos? I mean, I can see how one might think this is fake.;I don't live a "normal" life.I don't work 9-5 (or....8-6 is more like it).I don't constantly find something else to work on.I do have a happy marriage.I do have 5 kids.I do have 7,000+ employers currently subscribed to OnlineJobs.ph.I do go to church each week (well...except with Covid).I do 10-20 minutes of yoga 3-4 times/week.I do ride my bike or ski or run 5-6 times/week. It's not "normal".It's not fake.Does it seem fake to you? ;If so, please reply and let me know. It's my dream life.If it doesn't seem fake to you, I want to help you live your dream life...whatever it is. From what I've seen, the dream life is having- financial independence- time independence- healthy body- healthy mind- healthy relationships I can't really help you with the last 3, but the first 2 I can. Reply and let me know what questions I can answer. Now...I'm going skiing.; (my, my wife, our neighbors who got us into riding bikes) John PS. ;If you reply I'll1. for sure reply to you2. likely write an email answering your questions |
We treat Sundays different than any other day of the week.For us, it's a day of rest. ;A day of worship. A day where we do different things than we do most days of the week.This Sunday we played a bunch of games together, had a Sunday School lesson, and had family dinner together. Sunday is my day to water the plants in our house. As I went;to water the plants, I also looked at the kitchen mess.;I had this internal debate; I need to water the plants...but I should clean the kitchen...but it's the day to water the plants...but the kitchen needs to be cleaned... In the end, I realized that this is no different than the way your business works. Watering the plants is an unseen task that's not urgent."The plants can go one more day if I forget to do it today"It's the kind of task that gets pushed to the back seat because of the more visible, in your face tasks. Like cleaning the kitchen.; The kitchen is going to get cleaned regardless. The dishes are going to get done. It's visible. ;It's "urgent". ;It's not important. So often we put the unimportant "urgent" tasks in front of the critical tasks that are needed to push business forward. ; Every time I do it I get upset with myself. What's the nagging task in your business that would push you forward if you just made time for it? ;Create a sales process (today that's mine)?Create training so you can hand a process off to a VA?Post the job so you can hire a VA?Make the dreaded phone call? Marcin says;"When you create business processes with the intention of delegating most of the tasks, you don’t have to worry about your business falling apart when you need to take a step back." Todays the day to step back and work on that nagging task. John PS. I watered the plants. |
As I climbed the mountain with my kids on Wild Wednesday my mind went back to the podcast interview I did the day before. The host:"So John, my biggest question is what kind of VA should I hire first? ;Like, who should I be looking for so I have the biggest impact?" That's such an easy one to answer. So I pulled out my camera and recorded the video as I skied up the side of this mountain. https://youtu.be/QYxw86yIGWA Hire someone to do something you know how to do and something you can teach them. No, it's not the advice most "gurus" will give you on the internet.But it's the effective way of;1. ensuring you succeed in hiring someone from a different culture2. getting something off your plate so you're better at running the rest of your business3. getting you ready to hire someone to do something you don't know how to do. Yes, you can hire people to do things you don't know how to do.But that's not who you should hire FIRST. John |
The first thing most people want to do when they get a bunch of applicants to their job post is schedule Skype interviews. Don't do it. Here's my experience (and thousands of other people's experience). You have 10 applicants.You ask them to schedule a Skype call.5 of them don't schedule. ;You lose them.5 of them schedule with you.3 of those who schedule don't show up. You lose them.You waste your time waiting for those 3 to show up.2 show up. They're not the best ones for the job, but they're the ones who are most willing to get on a phone call. You lost 80% of applicants for a position which doesn't require them to be on the phone. And, it's not that you "weeded out the bad ones" and ended up with the 2 best. ;You very well may have weeded out the best ones. Why is this the case? There are a number of reasons. 1. A lot of Filipinos are scared of doing a call with a potential foreign boss.2. They're worried you won't understand their english (even if their english is great!).3. They're worried about their internet connect.4. Dogs and chickens! Here's what my VA wrote about dogs and chickens:-----Do all Filipinos have dogs and chickens? No. We don't all have dogs AND chickens. Some of us only have dogs. Some of us only have chickens. Joking aside, I know it seems like every Filipino VA out there has a loud dog or chicken in the background. It's not true. But I can understand why it seems that way. Our pets are really loud. And there's a reason for that. Those that have chickens for pets often also raise fighting cocks. Cockfighting is legal in the Philippines and deeply embedded in our culture. If you're going to have fighting cocks, might as well raise chickens for meat and eggs. And what most people don't know is that roosters crow any time of the day or night. Hens cluck non-stop. So the more chickens you have in your yard, the louder things are going to get. Now, about our dogs. Like in the US, we have dogs for companionship. They're part of the family. But some of us also get them for security. Burglary is a common crime here in the Philippines. A guaranteed deterrent for thieves is when you have a big, loud, angry dog. People would think twice about stealing packages when they know that house has a dog just waiting to attack. Plus, there's the added benefit of being a furry doorbell. So the bigger and louder a pet dog is, the better.; ----- If you don't need the Skype phone call, skip it. This is one of the big mistakes people make when hiring that you'll avoid when you use the;One VA Away Challenge. John |
I've had it happen to me. You hire a new VA. They start out great. Great work.Fast turn-around times.High quality. Then something happens and everything slows down. Quality declines. You know you hired a good person...you went through the process :www.OneVAAway.com;and followed the steps. What went wrong? There are a number of scenarios and usually a simple solution. Scenarios:1. They took on too much in their life. ;Whether this was a second job or a side thing from being a full-time mom, maybe they took on too much and after a few weeks it just caught up with them. 2. They don't understand something. If they're unsure of something, they'll be extra cautious and hesitant. 3. They have a personal problem. Could be sickness. Could be family issues. 4. Their computer is super slow. (this is easily solvable) 5. They took another job. ;(this is not a good situation) 6. They really hate the work they're doing. You don't want to employ someone who hates their job...do something to try to fix it. ;Change their role. ;Hire someone else to do this role. 7. Some outside situation is making things really difficult. ;It could be the weather. ;Sometimes the heat in the Philippines is unbearable. Maybe if they could afford to turn on the air conditioning sometimes it would help. Solution:The solution to all of these is to find out. Ask. It amazes me how many people just make assumptions about the person they hired and just fire them without ever asking "What's going on?" Seriously, I can't tell you how many problems I've solved by just asking. "Hey, what's going on? Your work was so good for a while and then I noticed it slow down. ;What's up?" "Hey, your work has been slower the past few weeks. ;Have I done something wrong? I think you might need help. ;What can I help you with?" "Hey, I noticed the quality of your deliverables has gone down. What's affecting your work?" "Hey, You haven't responded for a few days.;What are you stuck on?" That last one: "What are you stuck on?"; has solved so many problems for me. ;I know it's not magical...but it feels that way to me.; If you do your hiring right, you should be pretty sure you have a good person. Going through the hiring process again is tough. ; Asking them what they're stuck on is the easiest solution. If you're having this problem, ask your VA what they're stuck on. ;Then reply to this email and let me know what happens. If you've done this before, reply and tell me what happened? John |
One of my college roommates and I saw things differently. Me:;I think I can run my own business and make my own schedule and work a lot less. Him: "Don't you know small business owners work more than anyone else!" Haha...who's laughing now! This roommate grew up to be a Radiation Oncologist. ;He treats cancer every day. ;But along with that comes a bunch of procedural work. He came to me a few weeks ago and said; "How can a VA help me in my business?" What do your days look like? "I review patient notesI see patientsI write notes after seeing the patientsI review patient notesI treat patients" Tell me more about writing notes? We get into it. Turns out most of his time isn't spent treating cancer, most of his time is spent at a desk. I suggested he hire a VA who already has experience in medical transcription. ;Then, record the entire conversation with the patient.After seeing the patient, voice record what you want to write in the note.;Then send the voice recording, along with the entire patient conversation recording to the patient.Have the VA write the note. ;They have the entire conversation plus your thoughts right in front of them.Then review what they wrote and make modifications as necessary. Even if it takes them 4 hours to do what would have taken you 45 minutes...totally worth it! "Really? ;You think that would work?" Yes "Can I really hire someone who already understand medical language?" Yes "And they're talented at writing?" Yes I leveled with him: as a doctor, his most precious asset is his time. This is true for any business-owner as well. Will the notes come out perfect the first time? No. Will it take more work to create the first few notes? Yes. But one of the great things about a Filipino VA is they're loyal.You can afford to spend the extra time to teach them something. We figured my friend could save 6 hours/week. 6 HOURS!!! I don't know if he'll do it or not. ;Some people aren't doers. But you...you're just;One VA Away! John PS. This is your radiation oncologist and his ER doc wife |
I got bit by the dreaded "red snake" yesterday. I took my family up skiing. (good lookin' if I do say so myself) We were supposed to get like 1 inch of snow but we ended up getting 3! It was amazing... ...until we drove home. There was a red snake of tail lights all the way down the canyon. It took 2.5 hours to go 6 miles. Bitten.Painful. What to do you when you get "bitten" by too many applicants to your job post? 1. pause your job post...now! Once you get past 30 or so job applications, it's hard to sift through them. If you're getting a lot, pause your job post inside your OnlineJobs.ph account so they don't keep coming in. 2. Here's the response I send to people:-----Thanks for applying. I appreciate it. Here's where I ask question 1?Here's where I ask question 2?Here's where I ask question 3?------ The questions could be "tell me more about yourself" or "Tell me how you would solve this problem" or "tell me how many years experience you have with X" or...The point is just to ask questions to get a conversation going. The questions change depending on the position I'm hiring for. 3. I send it to everyone who's application looks good. If they didn't follow directions from my job post, I don't reply to them.If they sent me a form letter as an application, I don't reply.If they're clearly not qualified, I don't reply. 4. If I got more than 50 applications, I'll pick the best ~20 or so and reply to them. I'm not super picky about the ones I reply to or not...I just need to narrow it down. 5. Now the weed out process starts. Some will drop out as you keep asking questions.Some you'll drop out as you get their responses.Some won't do a test task.Some will do a test task poorly. I cover my exact recruiting process in One VA Away. In it I show you how to weed out 50% of applications before you ever even look at the application. Then the first set of questions usually weeds out another 25%. John |
*WARNING* - I don't have a weak stomach...but what my VA wrote made me queezy.; Unaltered from my VA:-----------You're eating balut wrong (or the wrong balut) Nothing grosses out the rest of the world like the Filipino delicacy 'balut' or fertilized duck egg. The thought munching on a duckling is so cringe-inducing that some people end up throwing up even before they take a bite. Of course you'd want to throw up. You guys are eating the wrong kind of balut. And you guys are eating balut wrong. That's why it's gross. The balut that's often served in shows like "Fear Factor" and in food challenges seem to be older. Balut is often eaten when the fertilized egg is between 14 to 21 days. If you see a lot of feathers and the beak and bones feel crunchier, you've got the one that's closer to 21 days.; For beginners, we often recommend you start with a 'penoy'. It's an infertile duck egg or a fertile duck egg with a dead embryo. It just looks like a hard boiled egg with hardly any egg white. It tastes gamier compared to a chicken egg and you might see some blood vessels just starting to form. The yolk has a custard-like texture, which makes it a popular treat for kids here. When you're used to the idea of eating a really tiny duck, you can go for the 14 - 16 day egg. That's when you get the optimal chick-to-yolk ratio without the feathers. You can swallow the chick whole, like an oyster. Or you can bite into it if you really want the crunchier texture. If you want to show off to (or gross out) your friends, that's when you go for the older eggs. And don't eat the "bato" or the stone. That's the hard, white part at the bottom of the shell. That part is inedible. Now, here's how you actually eat the balut. You slurp the liquid part first. That's the duck amniotic fluid. Some people drink it as is, some add a bit of salt. Depends on your preference. Once you've finished off all the liquid, you slowly peel off the shell and eat it like you would with a hard boiled egg. You can sprinkle salt or dip it in some spiced vinegar (ketchup if you're really crazy) to taste. If you think balut is gross, wait til you see these Like our Asian neighbors, Filipino street food;is borne out of necessity. You want to get food for the least amount of money and you want to get as much food from what you can get. Chicken and pork is eaten worldwide but here in the Philippines, we've found a way to make use of everything. And I mean, everything. The only thing we don't eat are the feathers and they're still used for something. Once you're done with the breasts, thighs, tenderloins and chops, what do you do with the rest of the chicken and pig? Turn them into street food of course! Here are just some of the chicken and pork based street food you can get here in the Philippines1. Helmet - Grilled marinated chicken heads on a stick.;2. Adidas;-; Grilled marinated chicken feet on a stick3. Sisig - Grilled pork face, finely chopped and seasoned on a sizzling plate4. Betamax - Pig's blood coagulated with vinegar5. Chicharong bulaklak - cracklings made from pork intestines Happy eating!----------------------------------- Maybe this is why your Filipino VAs...hmmm...nope...I've got nothing to say. I almost threw up just sending this email. John |
Look, this is basic management advice... ...but it's ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT in the Philippines. Your VAs want to be appreciated.;They want to know that you're happy with their work.They want to make you happy.They want to feel useful. If they don't, they're not likely to do good work for you. Johannah Barton nailed this on the head when I did a case study with her recently: https://youtu.be/mTG68DWUv2A Tell them they did a good job when they do a good job.Give praise.Tell them what they've done right. And if they do something wrong, assume it was your fault first. ;Then work with them to correct it. ;Show them how to do it better. You'll build;- loyalty- trust- creativity- a willingness to solve problems- a rock star VA John |
I've only been to the Philippines once.; ONCE! It was in 2010. I took my family there on vacation. We sat on a beach on the island of Boracay for 5 weeks. ;It was amazing. ; (they're so little! They're 15, 18, and 13 now!) I'll tell more about the trip another time (including getting robbed).It was amazing. ;Even the robbers were nice. What I didn't expect was that when I met my team, I had this super strong desire to reward them. ; To give gifts.To give money.To help them. I didn't realize how much I loved these people. ;They do such good work, they invest their lives in you and your company. At some point you're going to want to give them gifts. How? Here's what my VA wrote about it. -----Your VA just got married, had a new baby or had a birthday. You want to send them a gift. What would be nice? What would they like? What would be appropriate? A good option would be to choose from their registry. Because of the pandemic, more Filipinos have embraced online shopping. For major life events like weddings and baby showers, we've embraced the convenience of online gift registries. Just ask your VA where they're registered and you can get them a gift from there. If they don't have a registry, you can ask about their wishlist. We do most of our online shopping on apps like;Lazada;or;Shoppee. You can ask your VA to share their wishlist through the app. If they don't have either one, sending them a bit of cash is always appreciated.------ Cash is so easy. ;Add it to their salary and tell them; I included an extra $30 this month because you're awesome.orHere's a $50 bonus. You did such great work.orHappy Birthday. Here's $20. Bonuses go a long way in the Philippines. John |
First, let me start with what NOT to tell your friends. Don't tell them the name of your VA. People are lazy. Nobody wants to do the work of recruiting a VA.If you go raving about your VA to your friends and then you tell them the name of your VA, they're going to go look them up on FB and offer them a job. 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 VA is never great. So don't tell the names of your VAs. So what DO you say? Rant.Rave.Tell them what they do for you.Tell them about the work they're doing and how good they are.Tell them about the time the VA is saving you.Tell them about OnlineJobs.phTell them about 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. Filipino VAs are amazing.;You know it.I know it.Your friends don't know it... Yet. OneVAAway.com affiliate program. 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% commission. |
Growing up I had 2 male role models: My dad and my uncle. We were poor. My dad worked hard, but we were poor. He always had a good stable job, and then at night either he went to law school or after graduating, he did legal work to try and make ends meet.;I love my dad. My uncle was rich. ;He was a lawyer. He had lots of time and lots of money.I wanted to be like him. I decided early on that I didn't want a job, I wanted to be a lawyer. Hahahahaha! It wasn't until college that I realized I don't want to be a lawyer, I want to run a business. What I didn't realize at the time was that my uncle ran a business. Yes, he was a lawyer, he did legal work, but he also had others doing legal work for him. He didn't have to show up to work.He ran a business. Fast forward... Today my idea of a business is something that runs itself.;If you HAVE to show up to work or the business doesn't run, you just have a job. Sure, it might be a high paying job, but it's still a job. It's not passive income. I want you to become the CEO and run a BUSINESS, not a JOB. Here's how. https://youtu.be/NwCEYxAJffc Hiring skilled workers is the best way I know if to start stepping away from your business and building passive income. John |
Most people running a business want help with their website. ; - Maybe you're running Shopify and you want help with it.- Maybe you're building wordpress sites for clients and need someone to manage plugins.- Maybe you're an insurance agent and want your site to be more functional. Whatever it is, hiring a "web developer" is one of the least understood roles out there. Let me shed some light. 1.;a "Webmaster" isn't a role anymore.;;It's not a thing. 2. Most of the time the word "developer" means "programmer". ;Someone writing custom programming code. ;This is not usually someone building a basic website. 3. Most websites today are built using pre-existing software.;WordpressShopifyWixClickfunnels... 4. Usually there isn't a role of "someone who builds a website" anymore. ;It's multiple roles.; If you're looking for "someone to build a website for you", you want someone "skilled with wordpress" <- search this on OnlineJobs.ph. They're going to put up the site, not necessarily make it look pretty. If you want someone to make a site look good, you're looking for a "Web Designer". If you run Shopify, you want someone who is a "shopify expert". If you want to improve your current website, or you want to change things on your site, look for the skills "HTML and CSS". If you're running an agency and want someone to build a website, you probably want multiple roles from above. Here's some advice from Johannah Barton on how she finds "Web Developers" https://youtu.be/exAOq_y8Rag If you have no idea what you're doing, my best advice is, before you hire someone, ask a friend who does know what they're doing "What kind of person am I looking for?" and tell them what you're looking for. |
Do you ever think about buying something but you're not sure what it costs so it makes you hesitate?; I don't like feeling embarrassed or ripped off, so the combination sometimes makes me not go into a store. If I don't trust them I don't know if I'm going to get ripped off and then later embarrassed because I paid way too much.; It's the same with talented Filipino workers. If you don't know how much it should cost, you're hesitant.;You don't want to get ripped off. We put together this;guide to Filipino VA salaries;so you have a good idea of what different types of skills cost. Here's how we created this. We have an algorithm that does a search on OnlineJobs for the specific skill set. Then we sort all the salaries.We throw out the bottom 5% and the top 5%.We find an average salary.Then we figure out low-end and high-end salaries. Keep in mind that these are what people are asking for on their profiles, not necessarily what they're making (I feel like some of it is higher than what's reality). Filipino Virtual Assistants Salary Guide John |
Communication is critical in skiing in the backcountry.;Talking through the current avalanche situation, talking about terrain, and slopes are a constant part of what we do.Each partner needs to know what's going on at all times both to avoid an avalanche and in case one happens. I bought these radios to make communication easier when we're skiing in the backcountry. ;They sit on the shoulder strap so that there's nothing to fiddle with. ;Just push the button and talk to each other. (pic from my backcountry ski tour yesterday) Working with people on the other side of the world is similar. Open communication keeps people on their toes.;It can alert you to problems. Even better, it can foster a relationship where they're willing to tell you when they have better solutions. If they don't get regular communication from you, they're unlikely to speak up when they have a problem or a solution. Miles Beckler says:"Encourage open communication, especially about tasks they do day in and day out. So when they have an idea on how to do things easier or do things better, they can tell you." Here's how I communicate with my VAs. 1. I use Snagit to make videos. ;I do this every day. ;Not to everyone every day (I have 36 full-time people right now), but often enough. 2. We use Basecamp for tracking projects. ;Basecamp has a feature called a "daily check-in". ;It asks everyone on my team "what did you do today" every work day. I can use it to respond easily and quickly. 3. Email.; I personally don't use chat. ;You can, it's totally fine. ;Most Filipino workers will be good with it. I don't because chat feels like an obligation that can't be ignored while I do something more important. I don't do phone calls. You might.; John |
The plan yesterday was for my wife and I to ski in the backcountry in the morning.;Then my 18yr old son was going to bring all the kids up to Alta in the afternoon and we would ski in the resort until it closed. Plans went wrong. In the parking lot before heading into the backcountry my wife's brand new boot broke. ;Buckle: gone. She sent me on my way climbing the mountain while she went to the ski shop to get a new boot. Then my son texted: "I got a flat tire on my bike ride. I'm trying to hitch-hike my way home." By the time he got home it was too late for them to come up to ski. So my wife drove back up the canyon to come get me as I finished my backcountry tour. I had a great day. Everyone else...didn't. When you don't have a great day with your VAs what's your reaction? Is it;"YOU'RE FIRED!" Not a very good reaction. Is it"YOU DID THIS WRONG!!!" Not going to help you build their trust in you. Is it"hmmm....I wonder what I did wrong here???" YES! That's the correct reaction. Or even"Hey, thanks for trying...here's what I need you to do here..." or (maybe this is the 5th time it's not right)"Hey, this isn't working right. What's keeping you from doing it like 'this'" <-- this is where you give examples of what you're looking for. The reaction where you look at the training you gave (or didn't give) as the culprit is the one that builds their trust and will create a rock-star worker. The reaction where you yell will create fear and hesitancy. Few Filipinos will be rock-stars when they worry about being yelled at. I talk about this and a lot of other cultural variances in my book;The Outsourcing Lever. John |
We climbed up into a whiteout today. ;It was too cold and windy to take a pic.; The day started out nice at the trailhead.;I even recorded a 10 minute long video about how to effectively manage a team of workers in the Philippines (coming soon). 3.5 miles in we got to an old mine. But the higher we went the stronger the wind blew and the more it snowed. To the point where something was telling me "Turn around!"Maybe it was the mountains yelling.Maybe it was fear. Sometimes with your Filipino workers something tells you to "Turn Around!" Maybe it's red flags.Maybe it's a gut feeling.Maybe things aren't going right.Maybe they're doing things wrong time after time after time. Whatever it is, sometimes it's ok to part ways. Here are some tips. 1. Try to make it work out. If you did a good job recruiting, you don't want to fire a good recruit when you could solve the problem.2. Recognize they're probably frustrated too.3. If they haven't been with you long (< 3 months) It's probably fine to say "Hey, this just isn't working out. I'll pay you for the work you've done, but this is a 2 week notice.";Or"Hey, this isn't working out. I'll pay you for the next 2 weeks, but you don't need to continue to work. ;Use the next 2 weeks to find another job."4. If they've been with you a while (6+ months) consider some sort of severance.; Chances aren't high they'll try to hurt you unless you don't pay them.; Also, your portion of the 13th month is still a good idea to pay.; The last time we let someone go we said: "Hey, this isn't working out. ;Both of us are frustrated with each other.I'd like you to finish up the task you're working on, but then you can be done working. ;We'll pay you for the next 30 days and we'll pay what we owe you for the 13th month.;Use the next 30 days to try and find another job." It's never fun letting someone go, but sometimes... John |
When eating out there are always 2 awkward moments for me:1. When the server asks "Will these be separate checks or together"?2. When they bring the bill and both of you reach for it. It's weird. ; Money across relationships is weird. Filipinos feel the same. Here's what my content manager said:-----------I don't like talking about money. It makes me really uncomfortable. And I'm not alone. We moderate a Facebook group for Filipinos who are on Onlinejobs.ph and one question that pops up regularly in the community is how to talk about salaries with their employers. It's not just an issue of inexperience. Even experienced VAs don't like talking about money. Not having to talk about money ever again is one of the things we love about having a full-time job. But talk about it we must. I know this must be frustrating for employers. But it doesn't have to be. With a bit of prodding, we will talk and negotiate. We just need a bit of help. If you want to encourage your new hire to talk about salaries, here's what you need to do: 1. You have to initiate the conversation.;In Filipino culture, we think it's impolite to talk about money amongst ourselves. We're afraid it'll make us look greedy. But if someone else (usually foreigners) initiate the conversation, we don't mind because we know that it's normal for American culture to talk about money. So if you start the ball rolling, we'll take it as our cue to participate. 2. Set the starting rate and let us know if you're open to negotiation.;Again, this has something to do with our culture not wanting to appear greedy. It's rare to find a Filipino that would set their rate. Those who do know are experienced freelancers. But most would throw back the question at you, asking you what a fair starting rate would be.; If you're expecting your new hire to give you their rate, it'll be a really long conversation. You can use our;updated salary guide;to give you an idea on what starting rates you can. 3. Iron out the details as soon as possible.;A lot of the disputes we've encountered at Onlinejobs.ph are the results of simple misunderstandings. We hate talking about money so much we want to end the conversation as soon as possible. Because of that, a lot of details remain unresolved. We've seen VAs work unpaid for months without knowing what salary platform they would be using (PayPal?;EasyPay? Transferwise?) or how often they'd be paid (weekly? twice a month? monthly?) because they're too afraid to ask their employers. And the employers were just waiting for their VAs information so they can start sending salaries. Don't wait for your VAs.;Tell them right away what platform you'll be using and how often you'll be sending their salaries. Tell them whether they should be sending an invoice or not. If they're serious about working for you, they'll adapt.; But;if they make excuses about not being able to make an account or that they need to use some else's account, consider these as red flags.;Our verification process at Onlinejobs.ph was designed so that the jobseekers would have the documentation they need to create verified accounts in payment platforms. If they can't (or won't) comply, this means they could be using a rented account or it's a scam operation. Thankfully, John only asked me to write about this topic instead of talking about it. Still don't like it but at least it's tolerable.--------------- I've even gone farther with this after the relationship has begun.;When someone asks us for a loan, or to receive their salary early this month, I'll often talk with them about their financial situation. ;What are your bills?What's fixed and what's variable?What expenses do you have coming up?Rent?Food?What's the total income situation? Then I can better gauge how to help. John |
The first time it happened I had no idea why. My Filipino worker didn't show up on a random Friday. Weird... Later I learned it was Chinese New Year. Still weird... The next year it happened again. hmmm...ok??? Turns out, Chinese New Year is kind of a big deal in the Philippines.Julia, one of my content writers, wrote:--------Some of you may have encountered VAs who asked if they can take Chinese New Year off. It seems weird right. We're Filipinos. Why would we be celebrating Chinese New Year? The reason for this is because a lot of us Filipinos actually have strong Chinese ancestry. If you've seen your VAs in video calls or social media, you'll see that some of us look Chinese. Some of us might even have Chinese names. Some of the richest Filipinos can trace their ancestry all the way to mainland China. Even our national hero, Jose Rizal, is Chinese Filipino. The Chinese have been trading with Filipinos long before the Europeans landed on our shores and a majority of those who emigrated here have assimilated. It's been estimated that 25-30% of Filipinos have Chinese ancestry. And many of them still insist on practicing old traditions for good luck, like Chinese New Year.; (Julias daughter at the mall on on Chinese New Year)-------- It's this Friday, February 12. ;Expect some people to take the day off. John |
Subsets and Splits