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

A while back I emailed about my son doing a pretty good job following instructions with the information he was given. He put the toilet paper in the closet. Here’s a picture of his recent failure to follow instructions, where the instructions were pretty clear. I...

On this Thanksgiving day (at least...in the USA it's our "Thanksgiving" holiday) I'm thankful for a lot of things. My family. My country. My business. Jesus Christ. My home. Snow. My bike. My OFS team. ... ... Are you thankful for your OFS? Have you told them? Letting...

Julia, my OFCS (Online Filipina Content Specialist) wrote this today: ------------------ I’m proud that we have a culture here at Onlinejobs.ph where we find ways to help people. We help Filipinos find work. We help employers find team members. But some of us go...

One of the things I really like about having an OFS work for me is getting rid of the small things off my plate. Today, I got this email from WordPress. WordPress is notifying me when someone follows my blog. And I’m like, “I don’t want this notification.” So I...

My youngest child just had a birthday. Since we were traveling over his birthday he didn't get a party (we're not big on parties anyhow), but he did get some Legos, clothes, other toys and a new bike! He double dipped because the bike wasn't going to be delivered on...

My nieces got a hold of my phone during Sunday dinner.  They thought it was so funny to take pictures: Not very private! VPN's are usually marketed towards giving you more privacy, but there's more use to a VPN than privacy. I recently wanted to watch an event being...

I just got an email from Rosalee asking about holiday pay for her OFS “I've hired an OFS to edit one video a week. She works about 7-10 hours a week for me. I'm wondering about the holiday pay that is often expected/appreciated for this time of year. How does that...

It’s that time of the year when I get a LOT of questions about the 13th month. I’ll try to answer as many as I can fit into this email. But if you want more information, we have a detailed blog post explaining the 13 month at Onlinejobs.ph “Very basic question. Is...

I get lots of questions about how to narrow the field of candidates who respond to a job post on OnlineJobs.ph. I've heard from several of you that the number of responses can feel overwhelming.  We recently did an interview with Paul Staten, who runs the successful...

A couple weeks ago at the bike race, I got a text from the race director. Keep in mind there are thousands of people at the race. The text that I got says: “If you cause any more grief in the feed zone, you’ll be permanently banned from the feed zone.”  (The feed...

So I talked about the State Mountain Bike Championship Race yesterday in my email. I told you about my younger daughter, who took 4th place in her race. My older daughter also took 4th place in the varsity girl’s race, which is a different accomplishment in...

We're a big cycling family...My kids are competitive with racing their bikes. We were at the Utah Mountain Bike State Championships a couple weekends ago where my two teenage daughters raced. Because it's the State Championships not everyone gets to race. Only the top...

This morning, before school, Brigg (my 8yr old) comes to my wife with her phone in his hand and says "You need to buy me this." Ummmmm...I'm pretty sure that's not how it works! In the end, he was on Amazon and wanted us to buy him a book.Ok, yes. I'll buy it.  I...

I remember the first time I hired someone from the Philippines.   "Jake".  (I changed his name to protect myself from you trying to hire him...although he's super loyal to me). I wanted him to do some website work for me but I didn't want to give him access...

Just a reminder that today is a holiday in the Philippines. All Saints' Day Tomorrow is too. All Souls' Day Not everyone will take it off, but many will.  If your OFS doesn't show up today, that's why. Want to know about holidays ahead of time?  We created...

I bought some bamboo toilet paper the other day to try and do something good for the Earth. Just testing.When they showed up, I assigned my 8-year-old son to go and distribute them throughout the house and then to put the extras in the closet. He actually did a pretty...

Someone asked me the other day about enforcing contracts with workers. Here’s my answer.  First, I am not an attorney so I can give you no legal advice on how to write a contract or what is legal. I don’t have any understanding at all. You should not listen to...

This is going to be controversial... I hate Halloween. There.  I said it. Of all days of the year it's my least favorite. In fact, the only costume I've had since I was 13 is my current costume.  The Halloween Grinch! In the US it's a day where we teach our...

I got a lot of great feedback from you guys about the 'I hire the most expensive OFS' email. Tola O. said that he doesn't hire the most expensive VA. He doesn't believe that the salary set on a jobseeker's profile proves anything. What he does instead is to offer...

Health insurance in the USA is so prevalent that often employers are scared to hire because they don't know how to do "benefits". In the Philippines, you can't pay for insurance directly unless you have an entity, and in my last email I explained how difficult having...

Setting up an LLC in the USA is so easy.  Anyone can pay a lawyer $500 and have an LLC up and running in a week (including a minor or a foreign citizen or...whoever).Or you can do it yourself and pay the local state fee of $20-$100.So simple my kids have their...

Karina messaged me on my Facebook page, telling me about the amazing things her OFS (Juvy) has been working on.  So in 2 weeks, Juvy has:- given Karina a bunch of ideas on how to manage her social media- create social media posts every day- makes videos for...

I got quite a bit of feedback about the email about how to improve OFS English. And they were really good. So good that I decided to implement one of them. One of the most popular tips you guys gave me is to use Grammarly. Some of you have mentioned that you have your...

We recently did a case study with Drew Grimm from “The Schoolhouse Life.” He shared his experience with the disappearing VA phenomenon. “Unfortunately, a little while ago, I had to let go of the lady who was doing the blog posts for us. All of the sudden she just kind...

When I hired my first VA it was through an agency. They asked: "Do you want him to work on your timezone?" I was like, "Sure!" I didn't know any better.  A few weeks in he emailed me and said: "Sir, working at night is really affecting my health. I'm not sleeping...

For a long time, I had a 100 Mbps connection through Comcast at my house.  It was good, but one day I was talking to them to try and sort out some billing issues and they suggested that I could upgrade my internet. The support person said, “It’s actually cheaper if...

This is just a different take on hiring overseas. A while back we did a case study with Matt Leitz. He said something interesting. Some people want to hire the lowest rate they can find. Matt doesn’t do that. In fact, Matt doesn't hire in the Philippines to save...

I remember the first time I learned to write with block letters. It was the beginning of my 9th grade year. I drew my name in big block letters on the front of my notebook. Today I was reminded of that as my 9th grader drew her sister’s name on her lunch bag in block...

The first time I had an OFS ask me for a Certificate of Employment (COE) I was hesitant.   I wasn't sure if I should give it.What liabilities would it pose for me?They're technically independent contractors, not employees.Would this put me on the hook for something?...

I spent most of last week bikepacking in Wisconsin with a couple of friends. It was amazing.  (my bike fully loaded) Then when I came home, I just had overnight. And we immediately left for Moab, which is an amazing biking destination here in Utah. My kids had a...

A lot of Filipino workers are great at customer service. But the problem with doing customer service at home is that you'll always hear something noisy in the background. I’m talking about the unholy trio of chickens, dogs, motorcycles. These noises used to stop a lot...

Charlie P sent me an email asking what an OFS can use if they can’t access certain sites or tools because of their IP addresses. Years ago I used to love solving problems like this. I'd research it, try things myself, then have my OFS try things.  I loved solving...

When my daughter first started learning to solve the 3 x 3 Rubik's cube, she asked a lot of questions and watched a lot of YouTube videos. It took her 2 weeks to figure things out. It frustrated her that it took so much time to understand how it worked. Fast forward...

Growing up in Southern California, we always bought our pumpkins in the grocery store because it was cheaper. But we always wanted to go to a pumpkin patch cuz it was super cool. At least, we thought it was super cool.  Well, my wife just told me she’s on her way...

So everyday, it's the same thing with my kids. They get home and I ask, “How was school today?”. And they say, “Good.” So instead of asking, “How was school today?” I started asking them, “What did you do at recess today?”.  Or, “Who did you eat lunch...

I got an email the other day from an expat in the Philippines who had a conversation on a forum about personal trainers. Someone is asking about how to find a personal trainer but she’s moving. And someone else suggests that she find a virtual personal trainer at...

Jon D. emailed me this question. I've noticed many Filipinos are at about 90-95% with their grammar, which is usually great.The customers of one of my businesses can be a bit ... jingoistic (they tend to be older and more conservative). I'm wondering if you have any...

From my OFS, Julia. Close family ties are a good thing. But it has caused us problems in some cases. In the Philippines, family takes precedence over everything. The family has influence over every important life decision. Even deeply personal decisions. Deciding what...

We have chickens at my house for 3 reasons:1. I like the eggs they produce. Definitely not cheaper than store bought, but much higher quality.2. I like the feeling of producing something at home.3. I like that it gives my kids a responsibility. At first it was hard...

We’re trying to build an exterior detached garage right now. We met with a designer today and he said, “Well, what do you want with this?” “Well, we want this much space. We want *this thing*. We want *this thing*.” And he said, “Well, what are your needs here?” I...

This week I needed to make some changes in my business for a number of reasons:  We need better content editing. The OFS doing my social media is getting burned out with social media. I need help writing this newsletter.  So I turned to one of my...

As we gathered for Sunday dinner the other night, everybody in the family was there. This is my wife's extended family. And there are like, 20 grandkids from 6 kids, all of whom are married. The dinner was partly to celebrate my son, Austin, going away to college,...

One of my OFS, Kiel (the one who visited me in 2019), emailed me this morning asking to take the week off. His mother died. Our answer to that is, "Of course! Take as much time off as you want." I gave him paid leave so he can focus on grieving and settle whatever...

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 my daughter) is WAY behind everyone else.   It may...

You should at least understand what the Philippine SSS is. Julia explains:-----------------The Philippine SSS (Social Security System) is a social insurance program created by the government to cover every Filipino over the age of 15. It was intended to be a safety...

As I write this I'm in pain. My mouth is swollen. My sinuses are swollen. My tongue is swollen. I had a bone graft done in my mouth because I had 2 root canals next to each other both of which failed.  When I was a kid I didn't take care of my teeth.  My...

My daughters had their first high school bike race last Saturday.  Addie won the Varsity Girls race.  No surprise. She's won every high school race she's been in except for State Championships (2nd place, twice). She works her butt off. (At the finish line....

As I rode today with Lila the wind was howling from the north. It was a cross wind (which is better than a head wind) that makes riding no handed really hard. As soon as you take your hands off the bars the wind grabs the front tire and turns it sideways. I kept...

He's not Batman...but he thinks he is: He's wearing one piece Batman pajamas and flip flops riding this demo bike I got. The bike weighs just 16 pounds and rolls like a dream.It's like Batman trying out a new high tech device. The bike has made riding his default...

From Julia, my OFcS (Online Filipino Content Specialist): --------------------I was reading the news this morning and I came across this sad local news story:  Rizal town slammed for offering low pay to registered nurses (msn.com) This town is offering their...