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

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? ...

I know, I know…You want to hire someone and pay them hourly.  It's just so much simpler that way.   Paying hourly is low commitment.Paying hourly is an easy out for you.Paying hourly means if they're not working, you're not paying for it. But paying hourly...

My OFS Julia writes: Years ago, John wrote this post about how you can determine your VAs English skills based on what they watched when they were kids. https://johnjonas.com/philippines-outsourcing-tip-sesame-street-vs-batibot-determining-english-skills/ This...

"What are your goals?" I ask it regularly.   My teenager asks "Should I go with friends and do this or should I do my bike training ride?" What are your goals? Do you want to win? Training ride.Do you want to relax?  Social. You can't always have both. My...

One of my kids chores (on Wednesday specifically) is to ask mom for a chore. "Mom, what can I do for you." Ummm…you can wipe the counter down.Ummm…you can break down all the boxes and put them in recycling.Ummm…you can help Brigg find his shoes. We're constantly...

"Sir, I'm coming to Utah in 2 weeks." And then...he actually came! Kiel had worked for me for 9 years when this happened.   He and his family came to the US to tour (he comes from a family of doctors).  They drove from Vegas to Salt Lake in the afternoon,...

I exercise almost every day.   Not every day is a big adventure...but often they turn into adventures. 4, 5, 6 hours in the backcountry skiing or riding our mountain bikes to the mountains, up over the mountains, and then back over to get back home. We do lots of...

When my wife had our third child it was rough. She had spent 3 weeks on bed rest before having the baby. The doctor told us that was necessary. What I didn't expect was how rough it would be for her after she had the baby. For 2 months my wife really struggled. ...

Since 2009 we've provided hundreds of thousands of jobs in the Philippines. It's something we're proud of. Here's why (from Julia, my Online Filipino Content Specialist): -----When I was growing up, coming from a single parent home was actually pretty common. But it's...

Sunday dinner is a big thing at our house. Has been since I got married. My wife's family all lives close. We get together for family dinner almost every Sunday. It's great. We talk.We play games.We ignore the kids.The kids run wild.We share food...

"I'm sorry it's taking so long Sir.  I had to learn a new programming language to accomplish what you wanted.  The way you asked me to do it was impossible." I was shocked. I'm a programmer.  I thought the task I had given him was pretty...

Every year in February/March we get a warm spell. My wife always tells me "How about you put your pants away and pull out your shorts? Because I know better.  It's going to get cold again. Every year during that warm week all the people with Jeeps take the tops...

My son butt dialed me today. A butt dial!!! Who knew that was still a thing in 2021.  Don't we all have passwords on our phones? Apparently his is glitching.  While he rides his bike with his phone in his sweaty jersey pocket, I guess it unlocks and makes...

It's spring.Everything is blooming. Animals are out.Flowers are out. It's warm (at least…sometimes). My wife is in heaven.  She thrives on the warm.  I thrive on the cold.  Snow does something magical to my body and soul. Heat does it to hers....

Writes Julia, my online Filipino content specialist: Summer (more accurately known as the dry and hot season) here in the Philippines usually starts around March and continues up until June or July. Here's to give you some perspective on how hot it can get here in the...

What?  There's another stray cat hanging around our house? Are you serious? No you can't keep it! She did what?  She gave it a rotisserie chicken? And it puked all over the back porch? No you can't keep it! DO NOT GIVE IT A NAME! Get it out of the house...

My kids had a bike race last week. We have to travel to almost all bike races, so messing up is a big deal.  We made 4 mistakes:1. I forgot my race day bag.  Duh!2. We didn't bring any race day nutrition. 3. We forgot chamois cream. It lubricates...

I have a friend (like a brother) who was born on April fools day. I'm not a real fan of April fools day, but... Growing up we thought it was super funny to give him rocks and dirt in a present. He was never super disappointed, he knew what we were doing. But by the...

Sometimes when you have a bad habit you just need something to snap you out of it. I tried it today with my daughter. She has chores, homework, and other responsibilities... Yet she sat in front of the TV. We had a little chat. In the middle of the chat, when I said...

My first grader is obsessed with wall ball. "Wall ball" is a game involving throwing a ball against a wall with a bunch of kids and making up all kinds of silly rules to get people "out".   He walks around with a "wall ball" (racquetball) all the time.He throws...

I have mercury poisoning. Oh, I'm doing a lot better right now than I was. When I was first tested I was in the 99th percentile of people who get tested (yeah, the 99th percentile of people who think they have mercury poisoning. It was bad. I couldn't remember...

Every once in a while something happens that changes your perspective. It gives you insight into something unexpected and it changes your behavior moving forward. Covid was that way for me. 12 days of sick after years of not being sick. I missed the mountains....

Over the years I've used a lot of different ways to pay my OFS team. I started with Xoom.com. Then they freaked out and started telling people they couldn't use Xoom for business transactions.  I can't even tell you how many people I know got stranded because...

My favorite movie of all time is Home Alone. I know... I was in 7th grade and saw it in the theatre. I remember my stomach hurting from laughing so hard.  The pain was so bad I didn't know what to do, but I also couldn't stop laughing.   As an adult, it's...

I knew I had covid within an hour of the symptoms coming on.   No idea where I got it. But the immediate fever and chills were obvious. I don't get sick very often.  I haven't had a fever in years.I live a pretty healthy life. So of course I expected the...

Julia, my OFCS (Online Filipino Content Specialist): As I was checking John's emails for him, I see a lot of questions like: "How can you trust your VA with personal information?""How can you trust your VA with financial information?""How can you trust your VA with...

"How do I know if I can trust them?" <-- the #1 question I get asked "How do I trust them with sensitive information" <-- The #4 question I get asked Last week at the end of an email I asked how other people handle sensitive data.Everyone responded about...

The worst advice I ever heard? "Fake it till you make it." Why?   You'll never make it if you're faking it. If you're faking it, you're deceiving people.  The best business advice I ever got? Add value. Look at what you're doing and think: Am I honestly...

Some of you think I never work. You think I only ski and ride my bike and occasionally write an email. I do all of those things...I just do them in equal amounts to how much I work. Here's proof. It's just that when I work I'm ultra efficient.  I delegate...

My Content Specialist, Julia, sent this to me: The whole world has fallen in love with K-pop groups like BTS and BlackPink. But you know what other Korean cultural export that we Filipinos love and highly recommend to our bosses overseas? Korean TV shows. We have been...

Meeting my team in the Philippines was amazing.  It only happened once, in 2010.I took my family to the Philippines on vacation for a month with the intent of meeting my team while I was there.  If you get a chance to meet the people who work for you, do it....