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Craig Goodliffe sits down with me for an interview, but we’re not alone. Jen, his personal Cyberbacker, or virtual assistant, joins on Goodliffe’s laptop screen. Jen is half a world away in the Philippines and one day ahead, but she’s fielding Goodliffe’s calls, answering texts, responding to emails, and updating his to-do list. At one point, I ask Goodliffe to spell the name of a yellow flower he mentions during the interview. Before his fingers even touch the keyboard to Google the answer, Jen has the correct spelling in Zoom’s chat.
“A Cyberbacker is someone who has your back,” Goodliffe explains. “My Cyberbacker, Jen, is phenomenal. I can go an entire day without touching a keyboard. If I tell you I’ll do something for you, she puts it on my to-do list, and it gets done 100% of the time. She’s my promise keeper.”
The first Cyberbacker
In 2012, Craig Goodliffe placed an ad for an assistant to help with real estate work. Even though Goodliffe sold homes in Utah, he ended up hiring a candidate from the Philippines.
Over time, Goodliffe began to learn more about his new hire. Daphne was a single mother with a strong will to survive. With her new job, she provided a home for her baby and was even able to add on to her parents’ house.
In 2018 a friend asked Goodliffe for his secret. “You’re running a business that sells 200 homes a year, and you have nights and weekends off. I’m doing the same job, but I work from the time I wake up till the time I go to bed.”
Goodliffe said the only secret was a fantastic assistant. When his friend asked how to find someone, Goodliffe knew where to look.
Cyberbacker expands to a full-time startup
Goodliffe’s “secret” wasn’t secret anymore. Friends, acquaintances, and colleagues steadily approached him for the same help. During 2018, he placed 100 remote assistants. “After that, it just grew,” Goodliffe marvels. “Today, we’ve created 2,074 jobs.”
Cyberbackers can handle any task not requiring licensing, certification, or a physical presence. Thousands of Cyberbackers are currently taking care of SEO, social media, graphic design, video editing, phone calls, accounts receivable, accounts payable, transaction processing, transaction coordinating, sales lead management, and appointment setting.
The standard of work offered by Cyberbackers is impressive, and there’s a hefty cost savings as well. The most recent gross national income per capita in the US was reported to be $65,000 in 2019. The gross national income per capita in the Philippines is less than $3800. “When you look at the great people you can hire over in the Philippines,” Goodliffe observes, “the savings are astounding. You can hire a professional for $1,500 to $2000 a month.”
Craig Goodliffe’s profit-sharing dream becomes reality
Over the years, Goodliffe has deepened his commitment to helping the people of the Philippines. “The first time I visited, I learned about street children. It’s exactly what it sounds like—millions of children living on the streets. I saw people making their homes in garbage dumps and rummaging for things to sell.”
The nation’s poverty struck Goodliffe intensely as he battled PayPal during a 2019 lawsuit. Because Cyberbacker billed clients through PayPal and then sent money overseas, his company was being flagged for money laundering. “PayPal froze $136,000, and we still had to make payroll,” Recalls Goodliffe. “I flew over there to get our people paid, but I was certain the company was going down. Then I saw one of the street children—a little girl around seven years old selling a yellow sampaguita flower. I didn’t know her story, but I knew I was going to stay in a hotel and have my dinner. Despite everything that was happening to me, I was going to be OK. I wanted to offer something for this girl’s future.”
As a person of faith, Goodliffe prayed. He promised if Cyberbacker came through the lawsuit, they would build a profit share and send the money back to the Philippines. “We were on the brink of shutting down, but I had this dream,” Goodliffe remembers.
The following year, Cyberbacker profit shared $226,644.05. Our goal was to profit-share a half-million dollars, and we crossed that threshold in September,” says Goodliffe. “This means our Cyberbackers have the opportunity to retire. Cyberbackers receive a part in the profit share every month after five years, and they receive it for the rest of their lives.”
Like so many other great companies, Cyberbacker uses profit-sharing to solve a problem. The employees who contribute most to the solution reap the biggest rewards.
As a remote company, Cyberbacker’s most significant challenge is recruiting and training employees. “We have billboards flashing “Apply at Cyberbacker,” but the biggest way we grow is word of mouth,” says Goodliffe. “People love their job, we take great care of them, and they tell everybody about it.”
After six months with the company, Cyberbackers can become Headbackers and train new employees. They lead two training classes a month on topics of expertise and expand the company’s training curriculum. Cyberbacker offers 300 classes each month and 5000 hours of training videos. If a new Cyberbacker needs to figure out a task, such as creating an automated email drip campaign for their client, they can almost always find instructions in the training videos or classes.
Goodliffe’s mission is to hire 15,000 Cyberbackers by 2025. “In doing that, we will be able to profit-share five million dollars, which translates to an average of $333.33 per Cyberbacker each month,” he says. “If you’re in the Philippines and making $333.33, you can be self-sufficient.”
After almost a decade, Goodliffe still finds joy in improving the lives of his employees. “I meet people every day that amaze me. Highly intelligent, hardworking, and honest people are born all over the planet. When you find them, you can change the world.”
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This content is brought to you by Scott Bartnick.
Photo provided by Craig Goodliffe