Chris Ducker

Expert Business Growth, Virtual Staffing & Personal Branding

Why I Want to be a Virtual CEO (Part 3 of 3)

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Location: The Beach, Cebu – Reading / Viewing Time: 4mins

First up, thank you so much for all the great comments and feedback on this short video series. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all the blog comments, tweets and emails I’ve been getting all week long. I genuinely didn’t think they were going to be this popular, but, it just goes to show you – never underestimate the power of peoples feelings, and true fans and friends. Thanks again, guys.

Today I wrap up the series, which I shot at a local beach resort here in Cebu, Philippines, when I was on a little getaway with my family last week. In this clip you’ll get to find out the single most important part of wanting to become a Full-Time Virtual CEO – simply being able to ‘be there’ more, for my family. Such a simple thing, but in todays hustle and bustle of business life, its sometimes tough to get around to it.

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Why I Want to be a Virtual CEO (Part 2 of 3)

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Location: The Beach, Cebu – Reading / Viewing Time: 4mins

So, here we are with the second part in my short, but sweet three-part series of videos on why I want to be a Virtual CEO. In the last clip I discussed being location independent, which basically means I will be able to work from anywhere, any time I like. The goal here is to make it as seamless as possible, however, so nobody even knows I’m traveling, etc.

In this clip I talk about something that, as a true entrepreneur, I do definitely struggle with. And thats being able to act on some of the ideas and plans I put down on paper, be able to expand my business portfolio, and diversify my earning potential as a business owner. So many ideas, so little time…!

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Why I Want to be a Virtual CEO (Part 1 of 3)

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Location: The Beach, Cebu – Reading / Viewing Time: 4mins

Last week I pulled my family out of the city and escaped to one of the many fantastic beach resorts we are blessed with, here in Cebu City, Philippines – getting a taste of the Virtual CEO life, shall we say! Whilst there, we stayed three nights and completely ‘let go’ of everything. I worked seamlessly (about 5 hours a day) throughout the trip – even to the point where one of my managers sent me an email to ask if ‘he could come to my office to discuss a few things when I had time’. He had no idea I wasn’t in the building! Now, THAT’S what I’m talking about!

As I’m at the half-way point on my quest to become a Full-Time Virtual CEO, a goal I set for myself at the beginning of the year, I thought it might be nice to shoot a little series of videos, whilst on this latest little getaway, to give you an insight as to the three main reasons that are spurring me on to accomplishing this year long mission!

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What’s it Like to Live and Work in the Philippines?

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hafasJg0VZ8

Location: Company HQ – Reading / Viewing Time: 10mins

One of the questions I get asked a lot is the title of this post – What’s it like to live and work in the Philippines? As someone who has lived in the Philippines for the last 10 years, I have many stories to tell, of course – anyone would! But, I believe that when people ask a question like that, they are more interested in the what, where and why – rather than stories.

So, I decided to shoot this quick video to give you a bit of an insight into the country, its people and how things get done here. Please, do not expect an all encompassing guide on the subject (its only a short clip!), and remember these are just my own personal opinions and ‘take’ on living and working here.

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May 2010 “Virtual CEO Goal” Monthly Report

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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.

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Archimedes Would Have Liked Outsourcing – Seriously!

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Location: Company HQ – Reading Time: 8mins

This is a Guest Post by Adrian Swinscoe of AdrianSwinscoe.com, where he writes excellent articles all focused on Growing Your Business and making it as an entrepreneur – I sincerely suggest you check him out at his blog, after you’re done reading this one and commented here!

“Give me a lever big enough and I’ll move the world” – Archimedes

Entrepreneurs tend to be visionary in that they are able to spot an opportunity to solve a particular problem and find a market for that solution.

Entrepreneurs are known to be the ones who do whatever it takes to get something done and they don’t give up.

However, there is more to business than having a good idea and being determined.

In building a business, very little of the hard work involves coming up with the idea. Most of the effort goes into developing the key systems and processes that go into delivering the entrepreneur’s vision and making a business successful. Marketing, finance, project management, new product development, customer service and customer relationship management, all of these things are key to the entrepreneur’s ability to scale and replicate the business.

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Virtual Staff Teams Are On The Increase – Ready to Join In…?

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virtual staff

Location: Company HQ – Reading Time: 4mins

Its seems as if there are more and more companies ‘going global’ and merging / reorganizing than ever before right now. A lot of this hustle includes getting virtual staff involved, sometimes for the first time ever in the history of the company. A lot of the staff that will work for companies that are now taking a more virtual approach to doing business may never actually meet face-to-face, or at least not on a regular schedule – unless its via the web.

One question that I’m starting to get asked more and more regularly at the moment is can these virtual staff / teams perform to the same standard of their more ‘local’ counterparts. You know, the more bog-standard office set-up – conference rooms, water cooler, etc..!

One thing that I’ve found in talking with several businesses and entrepreneurs that are already engaging a virtual business set-up in some way, is that they all have one common, and quite surprising point to throw into the mix. They believe that their virtual staff actually have a better collection of skills, both individually and collectively, as a ‘group’, so to speak.

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Want Success in Business? Get Some GREAT Support, NOW!

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Location: Home Office – Reading Time: 8mins

Pictured with me above is my Personal Assistant, Stephanie (she’ll kill me for posting this photo, but – too late!). Steph helps me with my day-to-day business tasks, and definitely plays a big part in me achieving what I achieve every day – whether I’m working from the company’s HQ, or home (like today), or anywhere else for that matter!

Judging by the amount of visitors I get each day to the blog, which is growing every single day – and the 700+ people that have downloaded my free eBook on working with Virtual Assistants, I figure a lot of you, for whatever reason, haven’t gotten around to grabbing your copy yet. So, this post is actually a sneak peek at part of a chapter from the eBook, along with some new material (labeled clearly for the VBL devotee’s out there that have already read it).

This stuff is NEW: Most companies and individuals who have been working with virtual assistants with great success have one thing in common: they are pleased to have somebody else handle their time-consuming, repetitive, mundane, administrative tasks that get in the way of spending quality time with their family, or focusing on more important business issues, such as planning and growth.

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4 Ways to Manage Your Healthy Lifestyle Like a Virtual CEO

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Location: Company HQ – Reading Time: 5mins

I’m very happy to post this excellent Guest Post by Matt Gartland of HealthyLifestyleDesign.com. Matt comes to the VBL table with some great concepts and ideas on embracing lifestyle design, with the focus on health, more then anything else.

Many people believe that business is boring. These are the same folks that work gloomy 9-5 jobs, believe that meetings are sacred, and are addicted to bureaucratic procedures. Haunting images of Dilbert, Office Space, and The Office come to mind.

These same people believe that health is boring. They are apathetic about their food choices, believe that exercise is stressful, and are surprisingly “too busy” to get healthy. Of course, they think that “healthy” is a straight-jacket restraining personal freedom, indulgence, and fun.

But that’s not you. That’s not me. We don’t settle for conventional wisdom’s. We think and act differently. We design our lives the way we want them. And in so doing, we’ve come to learn that one aspect of our life profoundly influences the next.

And so it is with business and health. The same mindset applies to optimizing both. This may not be obvious on the surface. But half-truths live at the surface. True meaning lies deeper. So let’s dive in and discover the ways you can manage your healthy life just like your virtual business.

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What is Outsourcing and How Does it Actually Work, Anyway..?

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what-is-outsourcing

Following on from the last post that I did on outsourcing, I received quite a few emails on the subject, as well as having a TON of visitors signup for my free bootcamp course (make sure you also do this if you haven’t already, at the bottom of this post, or on the top-right side of the site!)…

I thought a quick breakdown on the subject might be welcomed. So, here it is…

Outsourcing is also known as Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). This is the process of hiring another individual or company, either domestically or internationally, to handle business activities for you. It has become a common business practice that allows small and medium-sized businesses to gain services and skills they would usually find hard to develop, because of either financial or manpower restrictions, or possibly a combination of both. Meaning, you can grow your business as and when you need to, without any major investment.

It also allows your business to focus on core competencies and, more importantly, cut costs and improve efficiency, all very much hassle-free. As time has gone by over the last decade or so, business owners now realize that there are many reasons that companies, both big and small, outsource various jobs, but the most prominent advantage seems to be the fact that it saves money.

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