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

Here's an interesting distinction on work you don't know how to do. Thomas R. separates work he wants to understand before having his team do it, from work he doesn't want to know anything about and doesn't want his team to do. Here are his two descriptions of these...

Sometimes you just need some inspiration. For those of you with clients, here's how Monica H. had her OFS design their client onboarding process.  It's inspiring. Monicas words in an email to me:-----------------Hey John, I always enjoy your emails - and getting...

I hate writing.  It's the worst thing I have to do.  I don't know why…but asking me to write an article about something I know a lot about…yuck! I'm happy to dictate it.  Happy to talk through it. Happy to make corrections to someone elses writing. But...

As we sat at lunch the other day I was getting wet. It was weird. After the driest winter/spring/summer in a long time in the western US, Utah is finally getting rain.   And by rain, I mean 2 days of non-stop rain…which is super weird. As we sat eating the skies...

In 2007 when I found the right screen recording software, it changed OFSs 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....

Where I live in Utah, things are basically back to normal.  School is starting next week...back to normal.Businesses are open...back to normal.We're at Lake Powell this week...back to normal. The Philippines however, is not back to normal. They're still masked up...

I’m at Lake Powell with just adults this week.   Usually we come with our kids but it has been so fun to have just adults… …except this one guy keeps making accounting analogies.   “…eventually there’s going to be a true-up for that”(A true-up I like a...

There's all kinds of discussion among the coaches of my kids mountain bike team about whether or not to cancel practice because of poor air quality. When California (or Oregon) has fires it always seem to attract the right weather pattern to blow the smoke directly...

My brother-in-law set up Crossnet on the grass overlooking the lake last night. I hadn't played before and it was very nuanced.  It takes anticipation, reaction, touch, skill, height (boy this is easier if you're tall).  There were a lot of things which...

This story from Julia doesn't make sense until you understand that having a college degree in the Philippines is a BIG deal.  Like, people in the Philippines say that without a college degree you're only fit to work as a nanny or something equivalent (I think...

I'm writing this sitting on the beach at Pineview Reservoir in Huntsville, UT. I just taught 4 littles to water ski.   I mean...not that I taught them.  We have these learner skis where the rope is attached to the skis and to the handle so the boat (or jet...

On our ride yesterday my two teenage daughters kicked my butt. (as they start to pull away from me) 2 hours of amazing riding with 30 minutes of butt kicking mixed in as I tried to keep up with them during their 10 minute hard intervals.   I can't, they're just...

We remodeled our kitchen 3 years ago and it turned out amazing.  We love it! This story is specifically about the cabinets.  Installing the cabinets and finish work went super smoothly because the cabinet company had a guy who's job was to install, but also...

Sara was drowning with life.   An OFS changed that. Here's what Sara wrote to me a few days ago: ---------I purchased One VA Away back in March and didn’t watch it until about 2 weeks ago when I was just drowning balancing life and trying to grow a few...

When I started hiring people in the Philippines I didn't have the ability to specify a location. It was hard enough just finding talent, I had to take people wherever I could find them. Over the years I considered having an office where all my team would be able to...

One of my favorite adventures is canyoneering. The land becomes different when you're forced to touch it and roll around with it and push against it and use it to move your body.It's hard to explain until you've done it.  But those of you who have done it know...

There wasn't a ton of business talk while we were at Lake Powell a few weeks ago. Sure, my son, who is super obsessed wanted to talk about it non stop.  But how can you blame him?  If you had a super successful entrepreneur available to talk for 8 days and...

Last week I told you about tropical storm Fabian. It wasn't supposed to be a big storm...and it wasn't... ...except that it stuck around all week (which was totally unexpected) and caused flooding all over the main island of Luzon (which is where Manila, Quezon City,...

I have 5 kids ages 7-18.  They're very social kids.  They have friends at my house every. single. day. I make a lot of small talk with them. It's not super easy to do small talk with 7 year olds...except for one of my 7 yr olds friends.  James....

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...