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

We all have little things in our house to make it homey and comfortable. It can be pictures on the wall or a nice comfy rug. In the Philippines, one of those things is the banig. The banig is a traditional handwoven mat. It’s usually made from dried palm leaves or...

You found an Online Filipino Specialist who’s really good. You like their work. You’re getting along great. You’re just about to hire them when they tell you, “By the way, I have another job. Is that okay?” It's not ideal, but sometimes hiring someone already working...

When I hired my first full-time Filipino worker, it scared me a little, not going to lie. Can I afford this? Can they actually do good work for me? Can I keep them busy full-time? How will I create tasks for them to do? How will I have the time to train them? I'm...

"My Filipino worker just disappeared!" I've heard this quite a few times from other business owners, especially those just starting out. This usually happens in these 3 situations: 1. You just hired a new person, gave them their first task, and then they tell you they...

Here’s a quick lesson on Philippine Geography to make it easier for you to identify what part of the country your OFS is located in. The Philippines is subdivided into 17 political regions, Regions 1 to 13, plus four regions that don’t have numbers in their name....

I mentioned briefly about paying attention to the exchange rate when I talked about inflation a few weeks back. When I first started outsourcing to the Philippines in 2005, I had no idea what the exchange rate was.  I just paid this agency $750/month and I had a...

One of the things I regularly outsource to my OFS is writing. It’s not that I can’t write. It's that I hate it. And it's super time consuming. When I started my online business, one of the things I did was regularly write articles and submit them to article...

I started using Basecamp to manage projects in like 2005. It was just me. I didn't have anyone working for me.  It was my organization and task list. Things to get done soon and ideas for later. Since then I've gotten super comfortable with how project management...

I'm not a big movie guy. I'm also not a big superhero guy or superhero movie guy.  I haven't seen the latest [insert any superhero movie name here] movie. But Julia (and most of the world it seems) is.  So here are some Filipino superheros according to Julia my OFS:...

Just giving you guys a head’s up that Aug 29, 2022 (Monday) is a regular holiday in the Philippines. A "regular" holiday is like a bank holiday in the US. The holiday is National Heroes Day in the Philippines. It’s celebrated every last Monday of August and was...

Tropical storm Florita is the 6th typhoon that entered the Philippines this year. I'm letting you know about this storm because it’s really strong. It’s causing a lot of rainfall in most of Luzon, increasing the risk for landslides and flooding. In case you don't know...

I hate FB...but you already know that.  I've said it multiple times. I don't have it on my phone. I don't login to the website. I didn't see the news that blah blah blah... So how do we run so many FB ads? To be completely honest, I don’t know. I mean, I know in...

Many of you have been asking how much I pay in benefits per year per person to my team. I did some back-of-the-napkin math, and here’s what it looks like. Your OFS can pay more to their SSS (since they are paying as voluntary members, not under a company). The bigger...

The best (and fastest) way to succeed with outsourcing is to get stuff off your plate and outsource the things you know how to do. That way, you know what to look for. You know what looks good and what looks terrible. If your OFS needs help, you know how to help them....

Jonathan emailed me an interesting question that I think is relevant to everyone hiring OFS. It will give us some good insight into what banking is like in the Philippines. Hey - do you have a post on banking? One my OFS doesn’t have a bank account and says there...

I’ve mentioned how Filipino homes are small, how they clean their homes, and how they use tsinelas. All these topics revolve around Filipino homes, and I just realized I haven’t talked about the actual houses yet. I will fix that today. The most iconic architectural...

When it comes to outsourcing your business (or yourself!) to the Philippines, there’s definitely a learning curve. Here are 6 ways you can guarantee failure for yourself : (Hint: Don’t do these things!) 1. Try To Hire Someone To Do Everything Here’s an example of an...

We have superstitions here in the US. - Don't walk past a black cat - The number 13 is bad luck (Friday the 13th, most high rise buildings don't have a 13th floor...) - Don't walk under a ladder There's more of this in the Philippines. Julia (my content OFS) writes:...

You’re ready to hire another OFS for your team. Should you delegate that process to your OFS? That’s the question Corey asked in his email. John, Gotta confess - most of the time I can't stand people's weekly emails and usually unsubscribe. Your emails haven't met...

What I'm about to say is totally optional for you. But it's also really good. I give my workers at Onlinejobs.ph additional pay for insurance premiums. I pay for their PhilHealth, health insurance, and SSS. Because I don’t have a business entity in the Philippines, I...

I have a friend who lives in Chile. The other day he sent me a photo of his kids: Everywhere else in the world it's HOT! (at least...it seems that way) Here are a few typical Filipino cold desserts according to Julia: Halo-halo. This beloved dessert is now known...

Everyone wants to hire experienced workers. I get it. An experienced OFS can get to work right away. They require less training and onboarding, giving you a faster investment return. ...in theory. But you know what? Some of the best people I've hired were newbies....

Security is one of the biggest concerns people have when working with an OFS. What if my OFS gets hacked? How secure is the internet in the Philippines? I understand these concerns. We often see it in the news and in movies about how hackers can steal your...

Vacation!!! Such a happy topic. But not so much in the Philippines. It comes with stress there. We’re pretty generous when it comes to giving paid time off here at Onlinejobs.ph. We tell our people they can take as much time off as they want. But I have always felt...

Our lead generation isn't the same as your lead gen. My business is different than yours. But lead generation is still critical to almost all businesses, so here are some ideas for you from ways my team does it for me. - participating in forums - they regularly make...

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit Luzon, with Abra, a province in Northern Luzon, as its epicenter, last Tuesday (July 26). This earthquake was so strong that the effects were felt all the way in Manila, which is 270 miles away. This has reminded a lot of people of the...

Mistakes are a part of life. There are a lot of things in my life that I wish I could change. But the one thing I’ve never regretted is doing something and failing at it. Most of my regrets are things that I didn’t do or started too late. Like with my business, I made...

I've always found foreign currencies interesting. I'm so used to the green USD that when I first saw other money I thought it was strange. Now I often use foreign currency as a bookmark souvenir of where I've been. Most of the world uses paper and linen for their...

Remember back when we used to think that in the future, we’d finally be rid of COVID and get back to normal? Those were the good old days. Now, we look at COVID like it’s the flu or the common cold. You don’t want to get it, but you’ll get it sooner or later. When you...

I'm the type of person who asks for forgiveness rather than for permission. I tend to jump in, before I know exactly how to make it work. I rarely read instructions. These were all good things helping me figure out how to outsource to OFS. There was no manual when I...

A few of you will remember this photo: It's from when my 3rd baby was born.  The baby who gave my wife pre-eclampsia and caused "strict bedrest" for my wife. The baby who set me on a path to work 17 hours/week for the past 12 years. The baby who forced me to really...

I'm all about family time. And, if I can include family time with friend time, even better. That's one of the reasons I love Lake Powell. I just got back from a week at Lake Powell, where we taught a bunch of little girls how to braid hair, and how to surf: Including...

Wow, I didn’t really expect a lot of people to respond to a newsletter about breakfast. I’m not super passionate about food. For me, food is fuel. I eat to keep myself healthy. My wife says I don't have a "relationship with food".  It's just something necessary for...

One of the hardest things to do when you get back from vacation is putting away everything that you brought with you. There’s also the cleaning and the organizing. It’s so much work that sometimes you feel like you need a vacation after coming home from vacation. We...

Late last year, a typhoon hit Cebu, which affected several of my OFS, mostly our developers. One of the OFS who was affected is Mark, who works as a web designer and front-end developer for us. Cebu is 2nd largest IT hub in the Philippines. A lot of people move there...

“John, can you just recruit for me? The fact that you made OneVAAway tells me you have it down to a science. I really don’t have the time to do it myself. Let me just pay you to recruit people for me.” I get a version of that message in my email and social media at...

While on our bike trip I heard about inflation all over the place. Gas is $8-9/gallon! Inflation is affecting everybody, including your OFS. I got this email from Tiffany. Hi John, Sorry to bother you on your holiday, but I got a rather urgent note from my VAs today...

This email contains free training to give to your OFS. I'm sending this out because it has been requested so many times. Training an OFS sucks. I know you don't want to do it. I don't want to do it. It's not fun. It takes time. It requires you to think. It's 1000%...

Today is Independence Day in the USA. I'm at Lake Powell. I've often found that holiday mornings are some of the most productive times for me. Nobody expects normal work. It's a good time to spend an hour working on your business rather than in. Spending 10 minutes...

I just got back from cycling across Europe for a month. No laptop. That's right. I didn't take my laptop with me. "But John...I've been getting your emails 4 times per week for the past month.  I've seen your ads on Facebook and Youtube. How?" Guess. Yep...OFS....

A few years ago my grandparents (my dad's side) died at 99 and 100 years old.  They died a few months apart, both of them still at home.  They never went to a care facility. I don't hope to live that long, but I certainly have some long living genetics. This is...

Brett sent me this email in response to the previous email about having regular meetings with your OFS. Hey John! I meet with my VA every 6 to 8 weeks. These meetings are not particularly productive, but that is not the point. Systems and quick communication will...

Voting brings a lot of emotion. During the last election cycle my wife and I had some different views.  We had a number of heated conversations. Nothing ever got out of control...but it wasn't our normal. We ended up coming really close together and having really...

I get emails like this from a lot of people. But I’m featuring Mitchell’s email here because it also gave a great suggestion. Hey John! I've listened to every podcast episode you have, I love them, short and sweet and to the point which I appreciate it. I would love...

The Philippines has a long history and understanding some of it helps understand the people. Before the Spanish colonized the Philippines in the 1500s, it already had a rich history of writing using an indigenous alphabet called baybayin. If you want to learn more...

After reaching the pass the other day we had a long fun decent. At the bottom was an amazing river which we followed uphill for a long ways. Maybe 20 miles. The end miles were steep…just like the beginning miles were steep. Hard. After sleeping we didn’t really know...

On our bike trip, we could only bring a small bag for our clothes. It’s called a saddle bag and fits under the bike seat. Here’s my wife’s bike fully packed: The rest of the bags are for food or gear or other essentials. The saddle bag is about 18” long and 6-8” in...