Podcast episode by John Jonas (Episode 9) arguing that instead of hiring general virtual assistants (VAs) — perceived as secretaries — business owners should hire online Filipino specialists (OFS) with domain-specific skills (e.g., lead generation, SEO, social media, media buying). The host clarifies that some tasks may suit a general VA, but for business needs he recommends specialists and will use the term OFS going forward.
Chapters
Hello and welcome to the Secret Sauce of Outsourcing Podcast, the podcast that's dedicated to making you better at outsourcing your work. My name is John Jonas and this is episode nine. Don't hire a va, Hire an ofs. One of the big issues that people have with hiring a virtual assistant in the Philippines is nobody really wants someone that's unskilled. You don't want a secretary. And that's what a VA generally means. A virtual assistant is a secretary. That's what people think. And to me, that's not who I hire and that's not who you want to hire. You don't want a secretary. Now, that's not necessarily true. Some of you may want a secretary, and it's not bad to have a secretary to hire someone that is just generally going to do appointment setting or going to order your kid's birthday presents, that's fine. But typically what people want is a specialist. And that's who I hire. And so I say don't hire a va, a virtual assistant. Hire an ofs, an online Filipino specialist. Someone who is good at lead generation, someone who's good at SEO, someone who's good at social media marketing, someone who's good at generating leads for a real estate agent, using for sale by owner stuff. Whatever it is, whatever your business is, hire a specialist. So in this podcast, as we move forward, I'm going to refer to OFS all the time online Filipino specialists, because my programmers are not virtual assistants. My user interface designer is not a general va. My social media people are really dang good at social media. They're not VAs, they're specialists. My media buyer is a specialist at buying ads. They're really good at it. They're not a secretary. So as you move forward with this, think about how you can hire a specialist, an online Filipino specialist. Ofs. My name is John Jonas and I will catch you in the next episode.
