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

Nino is what most people would associate with a highly skilled, very technical, rockstar "virtual assistant". But is he really a "virtual assistant"? He does data and marketing analytics for a T-shirt company. He holds a COPC certification and is a Six Sigma Black...

So, you wrote a job post over the holidays and posted it on OnlineJobs.ph. You listened to my advice, kept it simple, focused on what was important to you, and offered a fair (or even generous) rate, but you’re not getting any applications. Nada. Zero. Zilch. What...

Who thought a war in Iran would affect Filipino VAs. How?  Oil prices. One of the bad things that Filipino workers don’t tell you about commuting is public transportation strikes. When there’s a significant spike in gas prices or a policy change that affects public...

If I look at my calendar it feels like we (in the USA) have about one holiday per month. It used to feel like the Philippines had one per week. But...a few years ago the Philippines government started cutting back on holidays.  They changed regular holidays (bank...

Did you know that buying electronics and computers in the Philippines can be more expensive than buying them here in the US? Just how expensive is it? Let me give you an example. One of my OFS, Jam, is considering getting the MacBook Neo for his daughter. In the US,...

The thing most people won’t tell you (even the 4-Hour Work Week books don’t really talk about this) is that getting to that lifestyle, where you can take off any time you want, is not easy. The reason why so many people might never get to the 4-Hour Work Week is that...

Getting poor work back from my team has been one of the pitfalls of turning tasks 100% over to my OFS. At times it has been really frustrating. When something gets left undone and it seems so obvious to me, I get frustrated. It has taken me years to figure out how to...

“How much should I pay my Filipino VA?” The short answer is that it depends on the skill and experience. Then I (or Julia, if you sent me an email) would direct you to our salary guide. It’s the short answer, but I know it’s not the most helpful answer. Here's what...

Last week I answered questions 1-5: 1. Is there good talent? 2. How do you know if you can trust someone? 3. How much time will it take to find someone good? 4. Will you find someone for me? 5. How much should I pay? Today, questions 6-9: 6. What tax implications are...

The top questions I get asked: 1. Are there actually talented people who can do good work? The short answer: YES! I've hired talented programmers, designers, content writers, SEO, people to do lead generation, data entry, make phone calls, customer service, social...

I get messages from business owners telling me that it seems like Filipino VAs only want part-time work now, or that they’re only looking for multiple clients. I know there are people like this. Not just Filipino VAs. There are entire sites (Upwork, Fiverr) dedicated...

One of my college roommates and I saw things differently. Me: I think I can run my own business and make my own schedule and work a lot less. Him: "Don't you know small business owners work more than anyone else!" Haha...who's laughing now! This roommate grew up to be...

We climbed up into a whiteout today. It was too cold and windy to take a pic. The day started out nice at the trailhead. 3.5 miles in we got to an old mine. But the higher we went the stronger the wind blew and the more it snowed. To the point where something was...

I have a neighbor who just bought a mountain bike. He calls me and says "Hey, we need to go riding!  I got a bike!" I'm like, No...we can't ride right now, the trails are all snowed over or muddy. Now's not the right time. When is the right time to hire a VA or OFS?...

Do you ever think about buying something but you're not sure what it costs so it makes you hesitate? I don't like feeling embarrassed or ripped off, so the combination sometimes makes me not buy something. It's the same with talented Filipino workers. If you don't...

Hands down, the most common concern I hear from OnlineJobs.ph users is, “John, how can I know for sure that I’m hiring the right person?” Some even go as far as asking, “Can’t you just hire someone for me?” Honestly, I wish I could. It kills me that such a simple...

After yesterday's shocking discovery... If you missed it, the subject was: My shocking discovery with OFS: "I didn't want to waste your time"? Go back and read it. ...I posted a message to my team explaining what I had just learned and how I felt. More of what I...

"I didn't want to cost you more money" was the VA's response to why she posted a bad video. What??? Ok, take a step back. This was shockingly insightful to me. 2 weeks ago I sent an email about a terrible video my OFS published. Mary responded to me with her own...

Look, this is basic management advice... ...but it's ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT in the Philippines. Your VAs (OFS) want to be appreciated. They want to know that you're happy with their work. They want to make you happy. They want to feel useful. They want to contribute. If...

Merry Christmas. I'm going to take some time off this newsletter over the holidays. So is my team. Just a short note. Tomorrow (Dec 24) you're likely to get an email from your OFS: "Merry Christmas Ma'am [or Sir]" They're thinking of you on Christmas morning. They're...

The Philippines is a very "Christian" culture. Actually, they're very Catholic christian. And, they're not even necessarily practicing Catholic, but it's still a huge part of their culture. They're also more family focused than work focused (this is the opposite of...

The Philippines had a rough 2025. The back-to-back earthquakes and typhoons have taken a toll on the country. Julia even told me that she was starting to experience “disaster fatigue”, being bombarded with news about another disaster almost every day. Because of that,...

I don’t talk about Christmas bonuses much, but I know some of you are interested in giving this to your VA instead of or in addition to the 13th month. So I’m going to answer some of the most common questions I get about this, plus a few things you need to know. 1. Is...

tl;dr The worst time to hire: December The best time to hire: Whenever NOW is Full story: Hiring close to the holiday season is one of the worst times to hire a Filipino virtual assistant. More on this lower down. It’s not all bad news. Finding a great VA is easy most...

One of the things I’m super thankful for this year is our AI matching tool. (https://www.onlinejobs.ph/tellmewhotohire) It works really well and we’ve got a lot of good feedback about it. - AI is amazing - DON'T use it for everything (don't have it think for you) - AI...

It's the holiday season in the US. But in the Philippines...it's REALLY the holiday season. Yesterday was Bonifacio day. This is usually a full holiday but the government decided this year not to move holidays that fall on Saturday/Sunday to Friday/Monday.  Your OFS...

With Thanksgiving coming soon, here are a few things I'm thankful for. - My wife - My kids - My relationship with God - My bike/skis Now the work stuff you're interested in: - We have 53 OFS who are amazing. They do great work. I'm so grateful for my team. FYI, my...

I get a lot of questions about the 13th month around this time. Recently I had a number of people tell me how they do it differently: 1. Giving a 13th week instead of a 13th month.  Instead of giving the 13th month at the end of the year, one business owner opted to...

I still see people trying to pay $1 an hour for a Filipino virtual assistant. That’s not “smart business.” That’s unethical. They can’t live on that. No one can. Some want a VA with 5 years of experience, practically experts in their field, but they’re only offering...

TL;DR The worst time to hire: December The best time to hire: Whenever NOW is Full story: Hiring close to the holiday season is one of the worst times to hire a Filipino virtual assistant. More on this lower down. It’s not all bad news. Finding a great VA is easy most...

I'll keep this short. More info to come in a few days. The Philippines is currently being hit with an other really strong typhoon. It's the second "super typhoon" in a week. Usually when a typhoon hits it only hits a specific part of the Philippines. However, the last...

When we think of martial arts, we think of karate, sumo wrestling, and judo from Japan, kung fu from China, and taekwondo from Korea. Many cultures have some form of martial art. We know them because we see them in movies and TV. Once they're popular, people start...

Today, I got this message from Joven (my project manager) on Basecamp. "Hi Sir John and Dan Visayas is currently hit by Typhoon Tino (International name:Kalmaegi).  Cebu is severely flooded. Iloilo has no power and under signal number 4. Paul informed me via chat....

The scenario: You hire a great VA. Things are going super well. Then, it's 3 weeks in, or 3 months in, and you notice they're not doing as much work.  Productivity is down. And they're making more mistakes. You deal with it for a few weeks, then you get frustrated....

It’s time to start preparing for your Filipino VAs’ 13th month. The 13th month is optional, but I highly recommend giving your VA this benefit once you can afford it. It's paid in December, the earlier in the month the better (for them). The 13th month is NOT a...

November 1 and 2 are All Saints and All Souls Days, which are regular holidays in the Philippines. As of a couple days ago, October 31 is a special non-working holiday. They celebrate All Saints and All Souls Day very similarly to the way Mexico celebrates the Day of...

Wondering if VAs apply to your specific business? Even the most unlikely businesses are using Filipino VAs to help them be more efficient or bring in more customers. Dentists. Ryan mainly works as a copywriter for a group of dentists, but he’s capable of doing so much...

I'm late with this news.  Very late. Julia was sick. I just had ACL reconstruction surgery. We're not very timely right now. This is still relevant so you understand what goes on in the Philippines. The Philippines recently experienced back-to-back-to-back...

One of our biggest and hardest-working teams at Onlinejobs.ph is our customer service. That’s because they do a lot. I recently asked them to list everything they’re doing. Here’s what they sent me. ​​Email and chat support for Onlinejobs.ph website and sister...

I know, you're worried about getting scammed. But...what about the people on the other end? Are they worried about it? Scamming workers to get free work is a common problem on every platform. Filipinos are especially scared of it. This is why they see test tasks as...

I’ve talked about Jam, one of my VAs, before. He doesn’t work from home. He carpools his daughter and several other kids to an exclusive school 25km away from his house. Driving that far every day is expensive and exhausting. So instead of going home, he stays at...

My business partner, Dan, and I let our team take paid time off over the holidays and unlimited leave because our business doesn’t have many time-sensitive tasks. This system works for us, but I know many businesses where this arrangement won’t work at all. Holidays...

What do you do when you get “bitten” by too many applicants on your job post? There are 2 ways I sift: my old way and my new way. (hint, the new way is MUCH better) 1. Pause your job post…now! Once you get past 30 or so job applications, it’s hard to sift through...

Maybe you think: "I need to get organized before hiring someone." Or that: You cannot, in good conscience, hire a Filipino VA and bring that person into your chaos. This is wrong. Good business owners hire to buy back their time. You hire someone to organize for you....

I’ve never answered this question publicly before, so I wanted to share it with you. Hi John! I came across your content today, and am glad to have found it. I’m currently trying to figure out if it makes sense to get an EOR for my Filipino worker, as she is working...

Filipinos use familial titles or honorifics when referring to their family members. This isn’t unique to the Philippines. Here in the US, we use honorifics. We call our mothers “mom” and our fathers “dad”. We hear it in Spanish-speaking countries when they call their...

It's going to happen to you: "Sir, I'm really embarrassed but I need to ask for a loan" I've talked about using your judgment when it comes to deciding whether or not you should give your VA a loan.  This isn't easy. Especially when you know that your VA is already in...

Even though most of the Philippines is prepared to deal with natural disasters, knowing that your VA might be affected by the latest typhoon can be stressful. First and foremost, you’re worried about their safety. Secondly, you’re also worried about their work; when...

I've been teaching hiring VAs and OFS for 20 years now. I thought that I had covered everything there is to cover. Then I got this email: My VA's are SOOOOO good, and I admit that I feel sheepish about paying them less than someone in the US, when they are better in...

A month ago I sent a newsletter about  how frustrating it is when Filipinos have multiple jobs. I got a lot of responses. This one from Austin was particularly insightful: ... I’d counter argue that it is an issue of not having clear goals for your employees. If an...