Yaro Starak is a fellow blogger and a well know “a-list” blogger at that.  I have know Yaro and corresponded with him from time to time now for many years.  I have even promoted some of his efforts in the past and still highly recommend several of his offerings, like his Blogging Blueprint, one of the absolutely best free blogging resources, bar none.

A day or so ago Yaro release this post promoting a service by an Internet Marketer named John Jonas which claims to provide a source of talent for online web work from the Philippines, training of Philippine staff, online monitoring of project performance, etc.  I’m not yet fully cognizant of everything John’s service is really going to offer … I’m researching that at the present time and you can be sure I’ll write more later.

But when a major online entrepreneurial figure promotes hiring professionals from here in the Philippines, you better believe I am going to be paying attention.

I recommend you go read Yaro’s post and listen to the John Jonas interview first, before you read my comments below.  If you have no time and want a very quick synopsis, my overall view is this service could be a great thing for both people in the Philippines who want work, and people online who want skilled helpers, but I also have a couple serious concerns.  So ….

How John Jonas Outsources To Full Time Staff For As Little As $200 Month

Download the MP3 [ 73 Minutes - 113 MB ]

John Jonas and I spent several months trying to connect to get this interview done, but it was worth the wait.

I was referred to him via Adam Short from Niche Profit Classroom as a guy who has a unique insight into a particular type of outsourcing online – in this case, hiring people specifically from the Philippines.

Why the Philippines? Well there are many reasons, most of which John outlines in this interview, and by the end of it I’m sure you will be rushing to look into this method yourself.

This is a really, really good podcast interview. It’s one of those discussions where the person being interviewed is willing to share the exact steps used to get something done. If you have ever considered doing any outsourcing online to help grow your business, listen to this call…..  (Again, I recommend you read both Yaro’s thoughts on Philippine outsourcing and also listen to the interview … there is a lot of value in both)

My thoughts?  Let me do a brief list of pros and cons in this post, since there is no doubt I’ll be writing more, especially after I am able to review John’s service in detail.

Pro:

• As an internet professional as well as a full-time resident of the Philippines I am particularly happy to note good publicity regarding the Philippines and also the outstanding skill level of professional expertise that is available here.
• Both gentlemen point out the difference in cost of living/wage expectations here in the Philippines compared with most developed countries.  Although a few of their estimates seem on the low side to me, the prices quoted are certainly possible.
• The government of the Philippines (in my opinion only of course) has been focusing way to much effort in pushing Philippine professionals out of the Philippines (in various Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) schemes) and way, way to little emphasis in helping people work anywhere in the world from here in the Philippines, using the power of the Internet. (The exact strategy I continuously have advocated for foreigners who wish to earn a living while living in the Philippines).  Efforts like this new service can only help.
• The majority of people I know of who try to run their own business, on line or off, fail, often because the amount of work  becomes just overwhelming.  Any program that helps teach people to empower themselves by multiplying their efforts and providing employment at the same time can surely not be all bad.

Cons

• As a person who works on a daily basis with various technical professionals in the Philippines, I feel that Mr. Jonas is perhaps “overselling” the skill levels readily available here.  In spite of the resumes he points us to online the reality is that finding a writer/Internet business promoter and decision maker is not nearly as simple as he makes it seem to be.
• Philippine labor laws are significantly different to labor laws in the US and perhaps many other developed nations.  In particular the concept of “work at will” and independent contractor relationships virtually do not exists here.  Especially as Mr. Jonas himself frequently refers to the folks he has helping him as his “full time employees”, I perceive some potentially serious employment law liabilities.  I could be wrong, of course, I’m not a lawyer, but I certainly would not employ anyone here in the Philippines.  A foreigner friend who does use Philippine labor resources regularly tipped me off long ago to a known, safe, source.  Using a licensed SEC-registered Philippine company to provide staff.  This is the only route I would take, myself, even though costs and flexibilities may not be as desirable.
• The cost estimates and overall expense discussions seem to completely ignore foreign exchange issues.  Numerous times the podcast goes into converting Philippine Pesos to US dollars, yet never once seems to consider a very real fact of life about living here in the Philippines … foreign exchange.  Just in the four years I have lived here the rate of the Peso to the US Dollar has swung fr0om a low of 40 to a high of very nearly 50.  That’s a swing of over 20% and must certainly be factored in, one way or another.  There are also significant obstacles to moving money between the Philippines and other countries that would have to be addresses as part of the process of having ‘full time employees” in the Philippines for a foreigner.
• During the podcast Mr. Jonas displays, again in my opinion, a disturbing naiveté in doing business (trusting total control of his company’s finance to others, allowing others to take potentially libelous or legally detrimental actions using Mt. Jonas’ own online credentials, etc.)  He explains this away rather dismissively, by ascribing a level of perfection to Philippine employee trustworthiness which belies, by far, realities of doing business here in the Philippines.  What Mr. Jonas feels comfortable in doing personally is, of course, his business, but to recommend this level of employee trust leaves me wondering just how authoritative his advice would be in other aspects of business.

Well, those are my initial impressions.  As I mentioned above, I’m going to make an effort to give a forthright and honest review of Mr, Jonas’ new service at my earliest opportunity.

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