Ep. 271: Case Study - Nurturing A Strong Virtual Work Community

Welcome to the Secret Sauce of outsourcing podcast that's dedicated to making you better at working with OFS online Filipino specialists. This is episode 271, a case study in building a strong virtual work community. So we're going to do something different today. Humans thrive on personal connection and positive feedback and growth opportunities. And a virtual work environment is no different than a normal work environment where these three things are so important. So today, rather than me talking through this, I want to play for you a case study that we recently did with Bibi. And actually, so this case study is done by Shalane, a friend of mine who did the case study with Bibi. And Bibi runs a link building agency and she works with like 30 people from the Philippines who are copywriters and link builders. So when I share this with my newsletter, I got some really, really positive feedback about the case study and about how Bibi, she does a really good job of building a sense of community in among her, the people that work for her. So without, without further from me, let's get into the actual case study.

We are here today with Bebe Raven from Bebe Buzz, the founder of Bebe Buzz. We're so glad to be here, Bebe. Tell us a little bit about BB Buzz, what you do and how you do it.

So I started in social media marketing when I was pregnant because I wanted to stay home for my kids. And that was 13 years ago. And then I was working for a boss, but I wanted to have my own thing going on. So I looked up how to make money online and I got into affiliate sites, building affiliate sites and I made a lot of friends niche and they asked me to build links for them to help their sites, you know, appear higher in Google. And that's the end of it. Actually. I, I started my. Well, kind of fell into my business and now I'm catering to clients all over the world and I have about 30 people working for me. So 30 people.

And are they all online Filipino specialists?

Almost all of them, yeah. So I have a business partner in Florida since a couple of years and he is half Filipino, half Cuban, but he lives in Florida. My sister works for me, she lives in Spain. And the rest is all people in the Philippines.

And where are you located?

I'm in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

So is there something about your link building business that makes you different from the competition? Obviously you're using people to build links. So tell us a little bit more about that.

I think the difference lies in that I do like the human side of link Building and I don't like to automate that much, so I really like to focus on the prospects, what their needs are and what their audience cares about. And that's where I build my link building around it. A lot of people go for massive outreach, but I like to keep it high quality and low scale and basically not spam. So yeah, that's what makes me different.

So when did you first start reaching out to the Philippines to hire? How did that begin?

I don't know how long ago it was a couple of years, I think maybe 2017 or something. And I always was very lucky with getting clients, so that was never a problem. But I'm. I think I have ADHD and I'm super chaotic. So yeah, I said yes to too many clients, so I really needed help. And then I heard about online jobs from people around me. Yeah, and that's where I found my first hire. So that's great.

Okay, so tell us about your first hire.

Geez, I can't even remember who that was because they're not working with me anymore. You know, that happens sometimes. I learned a lot from it because language is very important. So my first hire had okay language, but it wasn't at the level where I needed it to be, which is native. Well, close to native US conversational writing. And a person I hired, I think they came from a university, so they were taught very formal English and that's not what I. What I needed at that point. Yeah, that was my first hire and learned so much from that. So.

So can you tell us about, I mean, 30 people, that is a lot of positions to fill. Can you tell me or what all they are they're doing for you?

I mainly look for copywriters because I believe that those are really good, can be really good link builders. I don't look for outreach specialists or link builders, people that have experience because they often have habits that don't really fit with with my workflow. So I look for, I look for green people that have no experience, but they're have a really good grasp of the language. And then I train them up to become a link builder. I always look for people that have the potential to become a full link builder, but when they start working, they always, how do you say, gravitate to a specific role that they like. So some people, they, they just do the data stuff. Some people only do the templates, some people only do the inbox. Some people do everything because they get bored easily. So I hire somebody with the full potential to become everything, but usually I let people grow into whatever fits them best at that point.

And that flex, so important, that's something we teach at online jobs too, is to give them that opportunity to grow and do what they're best at. So no wonder you've been so successful. Can you tell us about what your hiring process looks like? And I'm especially curious because I just hired a copywriter within the last month for onlinejobs.ph and it was my first chance. I'm a copywriter myself. That's how I started with John. And, and so it was like, you know what, this is a great opportunity for you to get in and really get your hands dirty. Figure this out. It was, it was an exciting process. I mean, there are a lot of really enthusiastic copywriters out there. Can you detail what your process looks like?

Of course. Through hiring and firing people and learning what, you know, how communication works and all that stuff, I started to realize that I have to look at the skills just, just that. Right. So I don't look any at a CV or anything like that. It doesn't mean anything to me. When I, when I post job there, when people apply, there's a test and the test is really close to the work that they're eventually going to do. So I test them on, on what they, what they can do basically. And, and then also test them on, on if they can follow instructions. There's a video there because, you know, I, I like to give people verbal instructions. There are little Easter eggs in there to make sure that they apply in the right way. Yeah. So I look for skills, so the writing skills, so those are in a test. And I also look for little qualities like detail oriented and if they listen well. And I do all of that upfront, so I do it in a filtered way so the people that are not suitable, they won't get through the filter. And I think that's really important too. And no matter how nice somebody is or how much experience they have or, you know, it doesn't really matter to me. I really look for. What can you actually do?

Can you tell us a little bit more about the Easter eggs?

Yeah. So when I post a job, you have of course, standard way of applying, right. In jobs. But I post a video and in the video I actually tell them how they really should apply. And it involves using a specific subject line or using specific words. And in, in the, in the job posting, I say watch this video. So they don't watch the video, they don't do the instructions and they don't get through my filter. And that's really great because sometimes you have a lot of people applying, like 800 people applying. I'm not going to review all those applications, you know, so I rather have those people filter out themselves by, you know, not following the instructions.

You have qualities. You mentioned English speaking, that you look for their quality of English, and you mentioned that you like to hire people who are kind of green, who aren't set in their ways when it comes to link building. Are there any other qualities that have redeemed themselves as really valuable to you as you've hired workers?

Yeah. So if you have a copywriter, a good copywriter can, can think from the perspective of the audience they're writing for, but also from the perspective of the clients. So in my case, a copywriter needs to come up with content ideas that are suitable for any site out there. So in the, in the test that I just, I talked about, I give them a list of all these niches, right. And then they have to pick a niche. So for instance, it's a marketing or, or, or baking bread or whatever. And then they have a, they have to pick a site that's all about that topic and then they have to pitch content to that site in a test. But that shows that they really think about what, what does the site owner care about and what does their audience care about? So being able to put yourself into somebody's perspective in, in their goals and stuff, that's really important. And the other part is creativity. So in a test, I also say, don't copy anything you find online. Don't, you know, I don't want to see anything that I've, I've saw somewhere else. So somebody has to really. Yeah, try and be creative and have their own voice. So creativity and I think empathy are really good skills to have.

How have online Filipino workers changed your business?

So I was able to scale, but it also allowed me a lot of freedom because, you know, if you, if you have good people working for you, then you don't have to be there all the time. So that, that really helped. So I'm Dutch and we're a very individualistic culture. And Filipinos, the culture is way more collective. Right. So they're more community oriented. And I think that that taught me a lot about how to run a business, because if you create a company culture where people really want to help each other and support each other, then that makes you a way more successful business. So it changed my business a lot. So I'm way more about teams now and not Competing or being the best or something, but people really helping each other and making it a team effort.

Do you have any, any specific ways that you've learned are great to motivate or connect with your Filipino specialists?

I try to stimulate an environment where we share other stuff than just the work stuff. Right. So it's a. Everybody's working remote, everybody's in their house. So yeah, you really need to actively try to stimulate the company culture where people treat. We have a channel in Slack called a random channel where people just treat it as a social feed. So they share all this stuff. And, and the other thing that I also started a couple of months ago was the dream Project. It's based on a book called the Dream Manager. I think it's by Matthew Kelly, I'm not quite sure. But anyway, so it was about how in a company there wasn't that much growth and then they wanted to give people more purpose in a job than just growing in your career or getting more money. And they made a small a group with a dream manager and that person coaches everyone to achieve their dreams. So I started a dream project and I have, I had like five people in it and it's growing more. We now call Project Firefly because it's related to one of the dreams that a person had. They wanted to see fireflies. And we listed, for. Everyone listed haunted dreams in all kinds of different areas in their life. So it's like health, appearance, money, you know, learning, spiritual, all that stuff. And then we identified the first steps that they could take to make some of those dreams come true. So a very easy dream or a very long term dream. And that, that has been amazing because people are bringing their dreams to work and they're talking about the dreams and they're, they're, they're stimulating each other to, you know, save up for, for travel or, or, or start a side business even, or whatever. Yeah, so that's the, that really brings everyone more purpose than just doing a job.

Tell us a little bit more about how you train your Filipino workers.

Yeah, so we use ClickUp, which is a project management tool. And we have like a knowledge base and all that stuff and where we record videos, have our SOPs and have our workflows. So when somebody comes in, they watch videos and they do certain tasks and then the manager or me, we review the task and then we give feedback and then they go through these loops right. Until they get it right. And we try to make everything as atomic as possible in the beginning. So it's really like really small, small tasks. So you learn more and more and more. But what I did find out was that in my head, it was okay to have all these videos and SOPs and have people just go through it. And then the. The manager would be there to, how do you say, coach them or, you know, give them some feedback. But then not everybody learns well that way. So some people really like to sit down with somebody that talks them through everything. So we're combining it now and then I also noticed that people who are actually already trained but work for a while, that they sometimes get stuck in the way they're doing things, or they just don't know, you know, how, they just kind of get lost. So we have these per type of role, we have these sessions almost every week, and then we get together all the people who do the same kind of tasks, and then we take one problem that somebody has and we work on that. So I would. I would love to say that for me, training is all like sops and videos and set it and forget it, but it's not. It's a continual process. So, yeah, I don't know if that's the best way, but just that that's how I experience it.

You know, you're the first person I've spoken to who is in this freedom you've created with employing these online Filipino specialists, are there things that you like to pursue or grow? You know, when you're not stuck working in your business and you have that freedom, do you have hobbies? Do you focus that extra time on working more on your business? You know, investing more into your business?

The advantage of the Dream project was that people started asking me as well, what are your dreams then? You know, because. And then there are things that I want to do. I want to get back into music. So I always used to be in bands and choirs and all that stuff. So I want to do that again. I used to be super fit a couple years back, but then the pandemic happened, happened, and I gained a lot of weight. I want to get fit again. I'm working on that with. With the Dream Group, but I also want to get back into affiliate sites because that's where I started. And then I fell into link building. And while it's really great building links for other people's sites, I know that I can gain. I can use all the knowledge I gained over the years for my own projects and dominate those niches. So, yeah, I really want to do that too.

Do you have any tips for entrepreneurs who are considering hiring online Filipino specialists or just haven't quite need that extra push to get there.

Yeah, especially in digital marketing, people have been treated super bad by employers. I hear horrible things about agencies, and I think people should. I love that you also say Filipino specialist. You don't say virtual assistants. And people have started seeing people from the Philippines as a throwaway labor. And, you know, and that's something that really needs to change. So when you, when you hire a person, treat them as if they were an actual team member in your office and give them. Invest a lot of your time and energy in. Into them because in the end it will pay off. So don't think, oh, I'm just hiring this virtual assistant and I'll just tell them what to do and I'll do it. No, you have to treat them as if they're, you know, in your country and as if they're real people.

Is there anything else specific to hiring, working with, training online Filipino specialists that you'd like to share with our viewers when you start.

This is something I learned the hard way. When you start training them and there are some red flags, so somebody might not be as motivated as you want them to be or they are not so good in their communication or anything like that, you have to address it right away and you have to try to fix it right away. And you have to start noting for yourself all those red flags and what you try to do and how to fix it. Because I've had some cases where somebody, yeah, wasn't the right fit, but it took me so long to, you know, finally realize it, that it actually damaged my business. And also you think that you're being nice and you're just letting this situation go on and on and you try to be really considerate, but in the end it will also be at the detriment of that person. So you really need to be. Whenever you have the feeling that something that's not right, immediately take action. You mean you. You don't have to be nasty, but you have to be very clear and open in the communication.

How can our viewers best connect with you and learn more about you and your business?

Oh, you can go to bbbuzz.com so that's. I don't know how to spell it. B I B I b u z z.com and you can look me up on Twitter under bbd link builder. Yeah, that's about it. Just say hi.

Awesome. Thank you so much for your time, for all of your wisdom. And I'm sure that, oh, you're probably about 14 hours different from us. So it's a late night for you. Thank you for being willing to stay up and give us some good advice.

Yeah, thank you so much. And I hope it helps more people find more freedom. Sam.