Helping to Promote a Local Brand of 'I Love Cebu' T-Shirts!
Location: Company HQ – Reading Time: 5-6mins
Number of Days in the Office: 19, Total Number of Employees: 186
So, another month passes, and I am now officially just 7 months away from my target of becoming a Full-Time Virtual CEO. Will I hit it? You bet your ass I will…! I don’t set targets to not hit them, guys…!
Amongst other things this past month, a local company wanted me to help promote their new ‘I Love Cebu’ t-shirt range, via billboards, mall banners and newspaper ad’s (as above!), which I was happy to do – as I whole-heartedly DO love this great little city! The rest of the month wasn’t as busy as past ones, mainly because it wasn’t meant to be. Let me explain…
May 2010 was very much my ‘sit back and see how things are going so far’ month. And that’s exactly what I did. I contemplated. I thought. I planned, and actually re-planned certain parts of the next 7 months ahead of me. And I came to one big conclusion – although I have excellent local management around me (some of the best in the business, I believe), I am going to have to hire a full-time expat to come and work for me here in the Philippines, at my company’s HQ.
Anyone Want a Job…?!
Ideally – this person will be American (as much of my client base in from the US) and should have a minimum of 3 years call center operations management experience. Starting to sound like a job advert, right!? Good. It is – if you’re interested, let me know via the Contact Page. There’s a good US salary and a chance to make profit share in the business for the right candidate.
Another thing that I realized was that the interest in our Virtual Assistant service has gotten more and more intense. And I mean, REALLY intense. The problem is that although there are a lot of people showing interest, they either a) don’t have the budget, or b) want to pay the service fee we, as a company charge, for our full-time VA service. They obviously need to go the freelancer route. (Find out more about these two different routes in my free eBook)
However, a lot of people are a little dubious of taking this journey because of all the research, interviewing and other time consuming tasks required to try and find a VA that can a) do the work you need done to a competent level, and b) have the relevant experience and can be trusted to get the job done.
It’s rare to find the ‘right fit’ the first time around…
Launching a New Service
So, May 2010 turned out to not be so much of a quite month after all, as for the later part of the month, I was busy putting together a spin-off service from both my outsourcing company and this blog, where we intend to bridge the gap for entrepreneurs in finding the best Virtual Assistants that the Philippines has to offer.
Utilizing our corporate set-up (which will include setting up a second office in Manila), top quality people, second-to-none local business contacts and the years and years of experience in the outsourcing industry, the new service will be the perfect conduit between the ‘service provider and freelancer’ routes, I promise!
Hope you enjoyed this month’s round-up, and stay tuned for more details!
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19 days! I’m excited to see that number continue to drop.
Creating a service that helps entrepreneurs find the best VA fit is an awesome idea.
If someone is wanting to try out using a VA what are some of the best ways to test the waters without doing too much right in the beginning. Obviously this would depend on what is needed but just in general.
Great to see things are going well!
Hi Jonathan
Thanks for the feedback and words of encouragement.
I’m hoping to lift the lid on things in the next few weeks. Stay tuned, my man!
Chris
Nice monthly round-up. 19 days, not bad at all. Your goal of being a virtual CEO is just over the horizon. Awesome man!
Hey Tony
Thanks for the words of encouragement, bud.
Yes, here at the half-way point, so to speak, i do feel pretty comfortable on the overall ‘action’ of the first 6 months of the year. However, like I said, I have one MAJOR hire in front of me, and I need to make it happen soon – then I can start breathing a little more.
Cheers for stopping by, as always.
Chris
Hi Chris and hi everybody. I’m truly fascinated by all these usefull informations and can’t wait till I start my own vitrual business lifestyle.
Wish you all the best. Keep rocking. Best regards. Valerio – Rome- Italy
Hi Valerio
Thank you for the comment, and welcome to the VBL Blog…!
Lets us know when you begin your quest towards life and business freedom. We’d love to hear from you.
Regards,
Chris
You look seriously cool in that ad.
Dude, I am seriously cool… You know that!!!
Ambitious goal, Chris, and I know you are going to reach it. I can see the determination in your eyes
Good luck with finding the right person for hire !
BTW: Cool cool photo. What’s your next ad ? Hugo Boss ? ,)
Hey Mars, thanks for the words of encouragement, buddy.
Hugo Boss – nah… Too cheap!!!
Is that Jason Statham on the cover? No..?
Looking great Chris! I really love the new service idea (actually, you have a question about that kind of service at “my end”). A outsourcing service that would combine the trust of a solution provider route AND the hiring a freelancer budget, that will be a HUGE SUCCESS for your company. I’m certain of it. Where’s the opt-in form for that service Chris? Don’t seem to find it..
Great work with these monthly reports by the way. It’s really fun to read these and see what’s happening on your end. I’ve been thinking about starting reporting myself. Quite many cool things have been happening lately! The heck with it, let’s do it!
Ha! The Transporter himself, yes indeed!
There is no opt-in for the new service quite yet. We are working on the set-up, package and website as we speak. It will launch in July sometime. But, yes, hopefully it will bridge that gap between Service Provider and Freelancer, as much as possible.
Glad you enjoy the reports. Yes, go for it – if nothing else, its a great way to keep yourself motivated!
Thanks for dropping by, buddy. Hope to see you here more often.
Chris
Dude, I need to pick up one of those shirts! My mom is from Cebu actually.
Great write-up, and I can’t wait until I just see a big fat goose egg (zero), on the number of days in the office. Woot!
Hey Pat!
Yeah, I remember you mentioning to me via email that your Mom is originally from Cebu. Small world.
You’ll be one of the first people I tell when I reach that goal, believe me, brother…
Thanks for dropping by, man.
Chris
Can’t wait to see you reach your goal …
btw Thanks for creating an awesome blog!
I am pretty sure I know what your new service is, but your secret is safe with me
Its a fantastic idea!
Hi John
Being inquisitive in nature, I’d love to think what you think the service is. If you guess it right, I will send you a special gift.
Just use the form on the Contact page to let me know!
Thanks for dropping by, submitting your first comment and the great feedback. Hope all is good at RWM and the new Davao branch!
Best,
Chris
Hey Chris,
Love the T-Shirt! When I saw that picture I thought you were one of the judges for “So You Think you can dance” judges – (The young dude who also starred in Bootmen)
What do you think? http://www.ebroadcast.com.au/e-news/uploads/1/dance5.jpg
I think you might be right, Tyrone.
However, you’d never catch me in a hat like that, I can assure you…!!!
Chris
Hey Chris,
Great going and keep the momentum. I’m sure you’ll hit your goals with plenty of time to spare. So, what all do you plan on doing once you begin living your virtual lifestyle?
Hi Brandon
Thanks for the kind words, buddy. Coming from someone who is very nicely starting to seriously Crush It, I appreciate them!
As for the things I’m gonna do when I do eventually start living my full-time (I’m doing it 50% of the week already!!!) virtual business lifestyle…? Simple. Continue to build my own business empire……!
Chat soon, man.
Chris
Chris,
How did you score a modeling job for the t-shirt company? Did they pay you decent? I am a virtual entrepreneur who has recently taken an interest in Modeling and Acting. Only because my wife and I have given birth to two exceptionally good looking kids with a lot of personality. I also love the Philippines. Are there opportunities for us white skinned Americans there? What other business ventures is it advantageous to go into in PI?
Hi Jessee
A model, I am certainly NOT. I was asked to do the ad’s because of the popularity of my Soul and Blues band here. My face has ‘been around’ a little, so I guess I was an easy ‘target’..!!!
Congrats on being virtual. And congrats on the family, too! Nothing better, nor more important than family. Plenty of opportunities here in the Philippines. As long as you know the right people!
Thanks for dropping by and commenting, much appreciated!
Best,
Chris
Chris, you’re absolutely right. What’s the point of setting goals if you don’t intend to hit them?! No point at all.
Isn’t it ironic that as you become more virtual you need to employ someone?
Sounds like you’ve got a lot on my friend. There’s been a stack load of interest.
I really do think you should consider offering limited service plans of say 10,20,30,40 hours a month for entrepreneurs.
Hi Matt
Yes, I was taken a little off-guard by requiring another foreign figure to be involved in the business, for me to take myself out of it. But, when looking into it properly this is more to be able to make clients feeling comfortable and confident than anything else. Its not that my Filipino management staff cant or couldnt run the company on their own. They could – hell, they DO, pretty regularly. But, it is required nonetheless.
Yes, relatively busy right now… But, a ‘good’ busy… Not a bad one.
On the limited service plans, we’ve looked at them on-and-off and even tried them out before. I simply chose to go with full-time VA set-up’s because they tend to be more productive in the long run, but hey – if there REALLY is a lot of demand for the watered-down version, then perhaps we can revisit the idea of part-time packages. Not to mention my new service, which will be launched in July… (related).
Thanks for the comment, mate.
Best,
Chris