HUSBAND. FATHER. DISCIPLE OF JESUS CHRIST.
ENTREPRENEUR. MEDIOCRE GOLFER.

Covid is super polarizing...I get it. Volunteering and helping is not. Here's what Julia says:---------------The good thing about working at home, unlike other workers, we've been able to minimize our exposure to the virus. We still have to go out from time to time...

I just spent the last 6 weeks on vacation. Yes. 6 weeks in a row on 6 different vacations back to back. 1. Glacier national parkHome for 1 day2. Camping with my brothers in St George.Home for a few days3. Boating at Lake PowellHome for 2 days4. Rafting the Colorado...

From Julia:------------------Maternity leave is a long established employee benefit here in the Philippines. Lately, we've been getting questions on how this system works and how it's applied to their VAs.  How long does maternity leave in the Philippines last?...

Tropical Storm Fabian entered the Philippines yesterday. The storm intensified as it entered the Philippines…there was little warning. I got this warning late, so this email is a little late to let you know. Winds were expected to uproot trees, but not tear down...

I love when people share their processes with me. Getting a different perspective on how others manage OFS is so helpful. Maximilian F. sent this to me a few weeks ago about how they handle pay raises.Its different than how we do it, but works well for them....

In building an online business there are 2 kinds of people who are going to struggle: "I don't really know what to sell and I'm not sure what to have my OFS do" Yeah…if you don't know what to have someone do, you probably shouldn't be hiring an OFS.  They're not...

Last week I told you about Elijah who dubbed himself the "Hip, new, young" OFS. Today I want to tell you a different kind of story.  Meet Danny. He struggled with life.  Finding a job through OnlineJobs.ph changed everything for him. He doesn't work for us,...

From Julia Yesterday, I was chatting with one of my VA friends. She casually mentioned that she just received her salary from her employer. That salary was already 3 WEEKS late. That means in a week, she'll be invoicing her boss for the next month's salary. She's been...

I get emailed almost every day by people telling me how they got more free time by hiring an Online Filipino Specialist 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've tried!!!...

After I sent Julias message yesterday, I decided I'd implement it.  Here's how. I posted the following message in our Basecamp Message Board-------------------- @Julia  made an interesting suggestion yesterday as she wrote an email for my newsletter. She...

It's always interesting to me to see what Julia writes about for my newsletter. I rarely give her a topic.  I just ask that she does it once a week.   I had no idea she's using a learning journal.  It's an interesting idea. From Julia, my...

When I hired my first OFS I knew exactly what I wanted them to do. Write and post articles. That was it. I didn't know there were other things I could get them to do and I didn't really have other ideas.  I had no idea that 16 years later I'd think there's almost...

Yesterday was the 4th of July, which in the US is Independence Day. It's the day we celebrate our freedom.  But this isn't about "our freedom", it's about their freedom.   I often talk about how hiring OFS has given me freedom. Financial freedom.Time...

I spent this weekend with my brothers and their sons.  One of my brothers has an 11yr old son who is notorious for doing funny stuff without meaning to. My brother says "Things I never thought I'd have to say" "Josh, why would you stick your head in the...

My family loves to ride our bikes. We do it daily for exercise and also to hang out and spend time together.  A while back, 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...

My family went to Glacier National Park a few weeks ago. Glacier is amazing. We rode our bikes on the "Going To The Sun" road. The road is closed to cars so it's just bicycles until they can clear all the snow off. In the late spring the snow is melting like crazy and...

Nicknames...in the Philippines they're more than just nicknames.   Julia says:--------------One of the odd things you might discover once you hire a Filipino workers is how some of them have nicknames that are completely different from their legal or given name....

I remember the first time someone ever called me "Sir". "Sir, Here's what I worked on today1. ...2. ...3. ... Thanks and God bless you, Joven" It was the first daily report I ever got from someone in the Philippines. I remember my stomach turning over.   I was...

When I was engaged to my future wife (we've now been married for 20 years!) both she and her father made it clear that they wanted someone with a good stable job with good "benefits". Someone who would go to work every day, work hard, and bring home a stable paycheck....

Before learning about disappearing traditions...Covid has been really rough on the Philippines.  Parts of the country are still in lockdown. Might be good to ask your OFS how they're doing. Julia (my OFS) writes:---------------Now that more people are...

Yesterday was the summer solstice (and Fathers day...Happy Fathers day to the dads).Days are long. Nights are short.  Kids are home from school. When I was in the Philippines I was surprised at how different the days were from home (I'm in Utah, USA). Their days...

One of the reasons I encourage my kids to ride and race their bikes is that it doesn't have a dead end.  When you finish high school, your cycling just continues. It doesn't matter at what level.  Recreational, just for exercise, racing, competitive...

All growing up (and into adulthood) I remember seeing ads from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about families.  The ads always show families spending time together.  It's not always happy time. It's not always productive time, but they're...

Julia (my OFS - Online Filipino Specialist) writes: In the past few years, there's been an increase in the number of virtual assistant (VA) training programs provided by the government and private individuals/groups. They're being advertised here in the Philippines as...

We're a pretty adventurous family.  Not that we skydive or bungee jump or do crazy things...We just like to get out and we're willing to take our kids. Now...take our kids needs an explanation.   I have 3 big kids (college freshman, HS junior, HS freshman)...

You know how sometimes you just need a little nudge... For months now I've been meaning to hire someone but I've just been stuck in this loop procrastinating it because hiring is hard. Then the other day I got this email from Dan S. "I’ve been thinking about...

Pay raises...the first time I did it I had no clue what I was doing.   I just thought my OFS was doing such a great job with work that I randomly gave him a $50/month raise. Actually...before that raise happened I had given him a $50 bonus one time because of...

When I started college at BYU I wanted to go to law school. My 3rd semester in I took the pre-law class and decided "what the heck am I doing??? Attorneys all hate their jobs!" I graduated in computer science.  I don't do programming anymore (I hire developers in...

When my OFS "Twinkle" got sick last year, our first reaction was to encourage her to get better. Her first reaction was  "OH no! I'm going to lose my job!" I had no idea that was her big worry...she's just now telling us. Here's what she says---------One of the...

In 2010 I went to the Philippines and spent a month on the beach with my family. I also met my team.   On the second day with them I lined them all up and had them give tips to employers. They were so embarrassed.The video quality is poor, but it's...

School is out.   I have 5 kids.  Without school they think staying up late is a right.Getting up late is just part of it.Hanging out with friend is a must! I've worked from home for 15+ years, so this isn't my first summer…but I feel like I've lost my...

Ben works on our social media team. He helps with the social media schedule, with posting, and with engagement.  He was hired by Julia (one of my OFS) who needed more help. Ben is also a volunteer firefighter.  Here's what he says---------------Hi! My...

Letting an OFS go is never fun.Having one quit is just as bad. I've rarely let someone go. And I've only ever had one quit. Holly's OFS had worked for her for a couple years.  She had suspicions of him not being honest for a while. I like how she handled the...

Nature is close to my heart. Mountain biking, hiking, trail running, backcountry skiing, camping… But since I live in a desert, trees don't grow naturally.  They require a lot of work. At my home I have a big cherry tree in front. Two years ago, we noticed...

My wife is in Zion National Park today, riding her bike through the park and then hiking the famous Angels Landing. With her gone, I'm in charge at home. Make breakfast.Make lunches.Get the kids to school. Work.Work out.Get the kids home from school.After school...

I don't like the term VA. People think a virtual assistant is a secretary. They're not skilled. They can only follow basic directions.They can't really help my business grow. That's why I hire OFS. An OFS is skilled.They want to, and are capable of, helping your...

We're about to release a new product: Fundamental Training for Virtual Assistants It's a training that you hand off to your VA (probably not to a specialist) to get them up to speed with VA tasks and get them started. It helps you not have to teach them every single...

Yesterday my son went to mow a neighbors lawn who can't do it themself.  When he got there, our lawn mower died and wouldn't start. I stopped what I was doing and went and helped. We got it working. 5 minutes after I got home the lawn mower ran out of gas. ...

A couple years ago I had an OFS who was super productive.  She's really smart, perfect English, willing to come to me with suggestions. Just really great. Then over a couple month period I noticed her productivity dropped.  I didn't say anything for a while,...

My daughter got her drivers license last week. This week she thinks everything in life has changed.  She doesn't have to come home from school.She doesn't have to tell us where she's going.She doesn't have to check in. We just had a good conversation about...

You never know when you're having an affect on someone more than you can see. Yesterday I got a letter (yes, a snail-mail letter) from a 17 yr old boy who is using OnlineJobs.ph to hire OFS. He has struggled with depression. Something I wrote caused him to change...

Recently, I had a Jr. High kid in my neighborhood text me to ask if he can interview me for his Entrepreneurship class.  Ok. Sure. He comes over. And then asks me questions.Questions that you would expect from someone with an academic background in...

On Tuesday my email was about protecting yourself from your OFS. What if your OFS needs protecting from themselves? I have someone who runs our advertising.  She has done it for a few years for us.  Facebook adsInsta adsGoogle adsLinkedin ads She sticks to...

Sometimes I wear knee pads when I ride my mountain bike. Crashing is just part of riding a mountain bike.  So, I wear protection (sometimes). This week I got an email asking about how to protect yourself with your sensitive information and your OFS: "I'd like to...

Training doesn't have to be that hard. Just putting a little effort in makes a big difference. Julia:-----------Homeschooling my daughter has forced me to teach her a lot of things I know nothing about. One of the things she learned how to do, even though I had...

Over the past few months my copywriter has been really slow with doing work. I finally said to him Hey, are you able to do this work or do I need to get someone else? He replied and let me know "I'm dealing with some really serious health stuff.  I can't do...

My best friends sister died last week from Covid. 35 years old, mother of 5.  It has been terrible.Her kids have been swimming at my house multiple times in an effort just to occupy them.  Crying.  At least I got to go to the funeral. About the same...

I'm currently an hour into seeing the 9th Star Wars movie for the first time. I watched the original 3 when I was young. Then I hadn't seen any of the newer ones until a few months ago when my youngest son wanted Star Wars Legos.  I figured he should actually...

It's the last day of the Alta ski season for us and my family is skiing. I had a minor setback so I'm not skiing. Just sitting in the parking lot enjoying the sun and snow and mountains.  I didn't have to come, but I came to help.To help them get packed.To help...

My kids are just not good at performing arts. It's uncanny how similar they all are with this.In elementary school when they do their singing performances or dance performances, my kids were always half a step behind. Every one of my kids! How is that possible? ...