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So, one of the first things that we
talked about when we met is how I hire
people in the Philippines and I know
that you’re pretty intrigued because
you’ve got an awesome video studio and
when I told you that all my editing gets
done in the Philippines. You were like,
“Well, tell me about this.” And so, we’re
going to make a video together on why I
hire people specifically in the
Philippines. I want to say that when I
say Philippines, I’m not talking about a
foreign country or a third world or a
developing country. I’m really talking
just about the Philippines. So not India,
not China, not Bangladesh. I’ve hired many
people in those countries for projects
and there’s great great people in those
countries but specifically for
outsourcing the way that I’m going to
share, when you want to hire a full-time
employee,
when you want to get the right… The right
price that you can really bless their
lives and it’s a blessing to us. It’s a
lot of reasons why you need to hire
people in the Philippines. That’s why
we’re making this video. -Good to know. -All
right. Check this out: This is when I went
and visited my team for the first time
last November. So, I’ve been hiring in the
Philippines for 9 years by this point.
Never been there. Never met them. And at
the time I had ten full-time employees.
Now, I have 14. -Wow. -This is… This is the
group of 10. This is a fancy restaurant
buffet that I took them to and then we
did an excursion the next night. So this
guy right here, he’s been with me 9
and a half years. -And you’ve just met him?
-Yeah, first time meeting him. -What an
experience. Was it great? -So, yeah. So, the
cool thing I love just about
showing a photo like this is one, they’re
just amazing people but they’re real
people. Like when you hire so many
foreign countries and you’re dealing
with them through a computer. -Yeah. -You
can think of them like a robot but that
these are… This is my team. Okay, so now
let’s talk about “why”. Why did I hire them
in the Philippines? One, from that picture
when I saw that like, “You know what? It is
cool that I’ve hired them all in the
same place so that I can do that.”
There are a lot of islands in the
Philippines and a few my team members, I
flew into the Manila area so that we
could all gather together. But imagine, if
I had them spread out all over the globe,
something like that would be a lot harder. -Right. -So,
that… That’s great. The Philippines has an
amazing culture of honesty. You can
really trust them with things and not
have them steal it from you. Now, there
are those exceptions to that and you
don’t want to go crazy and do something
that you feel uncomfortable with. I mean
it took me a year or sort of really get
comfortable with giving my team
passwords to things. But my team has
logins to my email which they could have
access to anything and I’ve never been
hurt by that. -Wow.
-They have access to you know, my Adobe
accounts and my Dropbox accounts and
they they really do manage everything.
But I built trust with them over times.
And they learned to trust me, I
learned to trust them and I did that in
stages.
Another point to this is that I was
really worried about in the beginning. I
was hesitant to share all my secrets
and share everything. Because I thought,
well if I trained them how to do
everything, what will stop them from
becoming my competitor? -Mm-hmm. -Because
that… That does happen in the USA. -Yes, it
does. -It happens when you hire people in
India. Nothing again… I love people in
India. Have so many good friends there.
There’s no reason it doesn’t happen in
the Philippines. There… Another point that
I’ve listed here is they’re very
loyal but they… They aren’t interested in
becoming competition. They really love
security and they they want to be a part
of your company… -To support you in turn.
-So, and you know… And I’ve encouraged
different entrepreneurial things. It’s
not that I that I’m opposed to that but
I’ve… Like one one thing that’s extremely
valuable is if I can dedicate a lot of
training and attention to building
somebody up that’s on my team. I know
that they’re going to be with me for years
and years to come. So, I can really invest a lot in them.
I can take time to go to the Philippines
and meet with them and build…. Build the
team and strengthen the team. And
also, when people on my team are
struggling, I can stick
them. Because I know that they’ve… That
they’ve committed themselves so much to
my company. Sorry… -That’s awesome. What a
great support system. -Yeah. I’m really
really appreciative of my team. Their
focus is to please me, to make me happy.
And when I can recognize and just give
them that recognition that, “Wow,
you’ve really done a good job. I really
appreciate your work.” It goes a really
long way. I mean it does for anybody.
-Mm-hmm. -But it’s definitely a part that
I’ve learned of the Filipino culture is
they just they love getting that praise
and knowing that they’re appreciated
because what they’re trying to do is
just as please us. And with if they feel
like we’re disappointed with them,
they’ll… They kind of do close up and get
quiet because they’re like… You know… In
the beginning, I’d hire somebody and I’d
have somebody go silent because they
they felt like, “Oh, I don’t know how to
do this.
And I don’t want to make him feel bad so
I’ll just not say anything.” That’s kind
of… It’s kind of interesting to learn
that. But I… Once you learned that, I
definitely see that as a strength
because they’re… They’re very loyal. -Have
you been able to work with them then and
teach them as well how to respond to you and even take the feedback?
-Oh, definitely. So, one thing that is
important to learn when you’re hiring
somebody in the Philippines is it’s good
to hire somebody long-term not just for
a project. I mean it’s also good to
hire somebody full-time, not part-time.
Because if they’re full-time, they’re
dedicated to you. And if they’re
long-term, they say… What was your
question? So, this is a case where I lost
my thought. And I can’t remember what
I was saying. So, we’re going to move on to
the next amazing point. And if that
question comes back then I’ll answer it
better. And they’re very intelligent
people. All humans are, right? They’re very
highly educated. Anything that is related
to the computer, they all have
computers in their home, they all have
internet access, they all have mobile
devices. Even though I’ve learned that
they don’t appreciate when we call them
a third world country.
So, Filipinos love it when we call it a
developing country or developing nation.
Okay. And then definitely, I mean I’ve
been there and I see a lot of progress.
And I see a lot of development and I
see that and they have computers,
they have technology. They will have
power outages. Sometimes there’s power
shortages and so they rotate and we’ll
have different neighborhoods on timed
and power outages. They have hurricane
seasons and typhoons and stuff like that,
that you just got a plan for and
understand that when their internet is
out, it really is out. You know, so
emotional in this video. In the beginning,
I had questions when they would tell me
all my powers out. Kind of like in
America and we call in, “Sick for work.” And
we end up going hiking, go to… Go to
Disneyland. I’d trust my team. My
assistant, Ringo sent me a photo of water
up to his knees in his house. Their house
flooded. Their neighborhood had
supposedly the drainage and whatnot
system had been fixed so it wouldn’t
flood again. And 5 years ago, I thought
“Oh, yeah we haven’t had a flood again.”
Well, they flooded and the problem hadn’t
been fixed. And they still had power and
Internet up on their second floor of
their home. And he was still working and
when I saw the photo, I’m like, “Ringo,
how is this possible? How are you
communicating with me?” Is it
battery power off your phone? You still
have charge?” And he’s like, “Oh, no. We have
we have power on the second floor.” And
just working through. Their houses
flooded. -You’re thinking get downstairs
and bucket that out? -Yeah. So… Well, it’s…
The whole water level outside and
in. It’s not that water came out but it’s
just the whole neighborhood was
under a couple feet of water. And so you
have issues like that. But when… When my
team tells me that they’re out of power,
I trust them because I know that it’s
real and they… They really do good work
for me so it’s… It’s really neat that
it’s such a strong culture of trust that
I have been able to trust them like that.
So, we’re talking about computers and
equipment and internet access. Do you
have another question on that? -I
remembered my question. -Okay, cool. -So,
I wanted to ask if you have been able to
train them to take criticism. -Okay. And
now my answer has come back. So, the best
way to hire somebody in the
Philippines is not to hire them to like
do all these things like, “Oh, I need to
hire somebody to do SEO marketing for me.
Alright. You’re my SEO person. Go figure
it out.” Now, you need to have a system in
place. What is that… What does that mean?
So, if we’re talking about hiring a video
editor, what software are they going to use
and do you… Have you been editing videos
before? Do you kind of have a benchmark?”
Can you show them this is how I want you
to edit. And then when they edit a video,
they’ll send it back to you and
according to your instructions, it might
be 80% of the way to what you asked
them to do. And then you’re like, “Okay. You
did this right, you did this right, you
did this right. On this part, if you could
you know, shorten that a little bit. Right
here we need some color correction. And
right here you get great on this but on
that… On the ending, we actually want to
use this audio clip.” Okay, so you just
give them that feedback. They’ll go back.
They’ll edit. You know a second
version and you’re going to have to go
through that several rounds. Okay, on the
next episode they’re going to do it maybe
85 percent episode. After that 87%.
Second episode after that 92%.
Eventually it’s worth putting in that
time. Because eventually you send that to
them and they know exactly what you want
to your… To your liking. They know your
editing style but you can’t just hire a
video editor and say, “Alright. I film some
footage. Here you go. Edit it.” Because they
don’t know what you want. You’ve got to
have clear instructions of what you want
them to create. -Yeah. -So, let’s just give
another example of like… You know what?
I’ve been hearing how effective
marketing on Instagram, I need to be
posting and making memes on Instagram. So,
I’m going to hire an Instagram marketer.
“Alright, have you done Instagram before?
Okay, cool. Alright. Here’s my logins. Do
it.” They’re going to try but they’re not
getting it, “I don’t know if I’m doing
this right. And I get a Google quiet.” But
if you say, “Okay. Every Monday, I want you
to create a graphic that looks like this.
We’re going to put a quote out. You know, and
then every Tuesday, we’re going to do this.
And you’re going to pull photos from here.
Here’s the Dropbox. Hold it has all these
assets.” And then when they do it, it’s
like, “Yeah, you did great on this one. Make
the text a little bit bolder, a little
bit larger font so that we can read it a
little bit easier.” So, if you give them
specific guidelines of what to do,
they’ll their
background and what they’ve done and
known in the past. They’ll take your
input and they’ll improve upon it. And
eventually, you ask them to do this much.
They’ll figure it out and
they’ll go beyond it. But it takes that
time. I like that you’ve been able to see
that progress in them and have
measurable results each time. And I think
that that’s pretty typical what you’d
expect with anybody you train them to
adapt your style so that you can
outsource, right? So, if they’re able to do
it… -I mean most people that start
out hiring people in the Philippines are
solopreneurs or small business owners.
And they’ve not had the experience. I
never did. I never hired an employee that
I took through a training process and
had a training manual and had a few days
of hands-on training. These people are on
the other side of the planet. And I send
them a project and say, “Okay, go.” And so,
they… They want that training. They want
to really contribute. They want to serve
and then they want to please you and do
a good job. But they’ll need that… Well
let’s call it hand-holding. Not… Not in
any negative way but.. -They
need that support. They need that they
need clarity and and guidance and
they’ll definitely become valuable
assets. And I’ll talk about Ringo
again. I hired Ringo to do different
tasks than he does now. And it’s really
cool that as he learned those tests, did
those tests really well. I began seeing
other strengths in him and I was able to
say, “You know what? I’ve got another job
that I think you might be a really good
fit for and we could have angel take
over this task.” That’s his sister. She works
for me as well. And so, like… (Saying their names in the
video) because I don’t want people to
come and poach them away.
And so, as I’ve learned their strengths
and found that Ringo really did excel in
other areas for me. And when his sister
came and started doing this other task,
he actually did it better than him. The
test that he was doing before but yet he
was now excelling. It’s just… This is
really cool to really get to know them
and find their niche. And I’ve moved
people around to find where they’re…
They’re better suited. It’s really, really
fun to be able to do that. To find their…
To get to another strengths well enough
that not only can you train them and get
them experience and growth in the
company and become more and more
valuable to company but then you can
find a better niche and… -Yeah. I think
that’s a great quality of a leader
though too. To be able to figure out what
they are good at and and be willing to
be flexible and put them in a nice spot if
necessary.
-I count myself very, very blessed to have
the team that I do and and just talking
about Ringo. Huge, huge blessing. Because
he’s a leader in my company too.
He’s helped me do that with other team
members and finding… “You know what I
think? She would be better as a thumbnail
designer if we had these 2 people
switch positions.” And it’s really worked. -Awesome.
-Yeah. Okay, this one is really cool. In the
Philippines, you can hire people directly.
You don’t have to go through a service. A
service typically will double or triple
the price. So, when I hire somebody in the
Philippines, my typical starting amount is
$450 per month per month for full-time
work. And so, “Yeah, if I’m paying 14
or 15 hundred dollars u.s., that’s
still pretty cheap but to know that, you
know, 2/3 of that is going to
accompany, a service. So, that’s why in a
lot of… A lot of places a lot of agencies
will be paying a lot more than just
hiring the person directly. So, that’s how
I hire people in the Philippines. There’s
a website virtual assistant tool. You can
go and just find people directly. Okay,
here’s another cool one. The culture
is actually very Americanized and I
don’t mean that in any demeaning way. But
they actually like Americans. Not too
many countries around the world you can
say that about. But they like Americans.
And it’s actually a cultural status
symbol to work for an American boss.
-Okay. -So they’re working for me. They can say,
“Yeah, my boss is in America.” And tell
them about their job like, “Oh, wow.” You
know… And it’s kind of a fascinating
thing to people to learn about. -So, you
feel a little bit like you’re benefiting
them as well and elevating their ability
to have a career. -And a big question
that comes up is language. English
is taught in all the schools. Yeah,
English is a second language but it’s a
very strong second. All the signage, when
I went there, I was really impressed.
Everything was in English. There,
everyone’s taught English in school. And
people have accents to different levels
or not. If you… You know, some tasks, you
might want to check for that. In a future
episode, I’ll talk about how I have
them apply and I have them send a video
to me. And they’ll talk to me in English
and it’s very understandable. -Okay,
this next one, I hadn’t thought of
because I’m a man.
But John who taught me all about how to
hire people in the Philippines. He
mentioned that there’s no problem
for Filipinos for working for a female
boss. There is that issue in some
countries. There’s just that prejudice
for the sexism that’s in
there. Their culture and how the position
that women should be in so this would be
a great place for you to hire
people. -I have experience that in other
countries. So, it makes sense.
-I appreciate hearing that
feedback. You know, here’s where it’s a
real blessing for them in the
Philippines. Because it’s really hard to
find a job especially a job that is long
term. And that doesn’t require a commute.
I actually made another episode and I’ll
link to it right up there. Because when I
was there I asked each of my team
members when we went on a hike to this
volcano and as we were hiking back down
the trail, I just asked them each. “Do you
think I’m taking advantage of you?
Just be open. What is it like? Do you… Do
you feel that that I’m taking advantage
of you because of you know how much I
pay you and how much I’d have to pay
people in the United States?” And all of
them, they responded in a very similar
way. They used the word opportunity. I see
this as a good opportunity and they use
the word blessing. So, those are very
similar. And then they talked about
they’re so glad that they don’t have to
commute.
-Oh, because they can work from home. -Yeah,
they work from home. They get to control
their schedule. A couple of them were
mothers and and talked about how they
could be a mom and work. The traffic is
awful,
I learned. The traffic is terrible.
Especially in Manila.
So, getting anywhere takes so much time
and either have to pay for gas if you
have a car. We have to pay for public
transportation which is crazy and just
the time just to get somewhere. So, it
costs more and it’s the time. So, even if
they… Like one of my team members said,
“You know if I got a job in the city, I
could probably make a little bit more
than what you’re paying me. But I’m
saving so much money from not having to
commute and the time. I definitely am
much better off working from home.” -Yeah.
It outweighs in the end. -When I
met my team for the first time, I was
kind of nervous that our first meeting
was at that restaurant. And I thought, “Is
this going to be awkward? Is people going to be
sitting there like, this is weird.” But it
was really neat. I actually felt really
humbled and I just felt all this warmth
from them. I remember like half of them
where there have him on this side. And I
just felt like all this love. I didn’t
expect that. I mean, I talked about
influence. You know that… That’s what my
career is. We build influencers for
YouTubers and whatnot. But when I is in
that setting with them, I just thought,
“Man, I have a big influence over their
lives.” And they’re showing me so much
appreciation one of my team members, the
the amount that I paid him a little bit
more than the 450. Worked for you for me
for years and I given him some raises. He
was able with that income to put his
brother through college. And I remember
another story of a woman. She doesn’t
work for me anymore.
She decided to dedicate herself
full-time as a mom as she had a couple
children. But she worked for me for about
I’d say 16 or 18 months. And as she was
finishing her employment with me, she
said, “I just wanted to let you know. Thank
you so much for this job. My husband
and I have been a
to buy a house up on a hill and we don’t
have to worry about flooding anymore. and
it’s all thanks to you and being able to
have this consistent job.” And I
just I looked at in her case, I believe… I
was paying her about $500
a month and it’s has… Just like
so touched. -Yeah. -And… -You can change their
lives so simply while at the same time
blessing yours. -Yeah. -And I’m able to
offer services. I’m able to do things in
my company that are a great benefit
to other businesses. I can create
services at a very low cost with much
higher profit margins. So, I have a
successful business offering services
that wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for
them and to know that it is a blessing
for them. I love it. And I think about
like there’s a lot of charitable causes
that… And some that I contribute to and
some that I felt guilty. Like, well how
come i I don’t contribute to this into
this? And this and then I look at, “Well, I
actually… I have created a company that
provides a livelihood for 14. -Yes.
I got 14 employees in the
Philippines that I’m paying their
salaries, their livelihood for. I
like that. -It’s rewarding. And it’s
rewarding. And the irony of the fact of
you know, you wanting to to have an
impact on all these other lives and
these are the lives that you’re
impacting just by building businesses.
And I think it will impact my life too. I
mean, this is a piece of the puzzle that
I’ve been trying to find and put
together for a long time. So for you to
have to get that out and be sharing with
me, it’s awesome. So, definitely excited
to be able to share that with you. And
hopefully you found it helpful as well.
To find more information about the website
that I use, I’ll put a link below. It’s
virtualassistanttool.com. You can go
in and search and… There’s like 200,000 Filipinos on there
wanting to work for Americans so you can
narrow it down. It’s really cool. -So great.
-And in fact, I’m going to
demonstrate that in the next episode.