Toogit

Toogit, which stands for Top Online Gurus for Instant Technology and Other Work (I can see why they use an acronym!) is an online freelance community platform.

The company is headquartered in India. Toogit helps connect freelancers with clients all over the globe and currently has more than 400,000 freelancers signed up for their platform ready to tackle any kind of project.

About Toogit

The company started operations in 2015 and was founded by Nishant Agarwal. Nishant started Toogit to help “with the intent of helping people find more success and satisfaction in their businesses or freelance careers.”

Toggit is an online platform where you can post a job and receive bids from freelancers that specialize in that specific area of work. There is some AI working in the background to try and match jobs with freelancers, and Toogit also offers 24/7 live support should you run into any problems.

If you have one-off tasks you regularly need to be completed, or even if you have a one-time job, you may find using Toggit easier than going through a virtual assistant company.

This is because you can set a price for your job, not buy a bundle of hours. Giving you more flexibility and control over exactly how much you’re paying for your tasks to be completed.

How Toogit Works

To get started as either a freelancer or a client, you need to sign up for a free account. As a client looking for a freelancer, you can then start posting projects. Or, if you’re a freelancer you can fill out your profile and start browsing jobs.

If we look at this from the client-side, there is a simple form to fill out asking for the information you’d expect to share when looking for a freelancer. Details like describing the job you want to be done, what your budget is, what category it comes under, and so on.

When posting a job you have the option to enable ‘Toogit Instant Connect’. This is essentially a way to boost the exposure of your job for an additional fee.

For this, you get a premium listing. Your job details are also instantly emailed to freelancers with the skills required to complete your job. If your job is urgent, this is the fastest way to reach all of the freelancers with the skill sets that match up with your requirements.

Toogit Services

Toogit is a platform that helps connect freelancers with clients in need of certain skills and experience to complete jobs.

There is no real limit to the types of tasks you can request. As long as the work can be completed remotely, you can post a job and see what bids you receive.

To give you a general idea, Toogit lists the following as their ‘best freelance services’:

  • Graphics and design
  • Digital marketing
  • Writing and translation
  • Audio and video
  • Customer service
  • IT and programming
  • Social media
  • Finance and accounting

For me, one of the main benefits of using a platform like Toogit is knowing you have some payment protection.

This works for both the client and the freelancer. As a client, you’re required to put the funds for your job into an Escrow account. On successful completion of the work, the funds are then released to the freelancer.

This gives you peace of mind that you’re going to receive completed work before paying. While the freelancer also has the security of knowing the funds are there when they’ve completed the work.

Toogit Plans and Pricing

Toogit has a simple pricing structure; clients pay a flat 8% on each invoice to Toogit.

You get to set the budget for your projects, so you can calculate your fees beforehand and factor them into your jobs.

Toogit also has some add-on services. Using Toogit Connect costs around $5.20 per listing, and you can also pay around $8.60 to give your job posting featured status.

Toogit Alternatives

For alternatives to Toogit I recommend checking out Fiverr and FreeUp. Generally speaking, Fiverr is better for smaller or one-off jobs. While FreeUp is better for finding team members that you intend to work with on a more regular basis.

Your Turn

Have you used the Toogit platform? If so, please leave a review below to help others with their decision.

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Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Outsource Content Writing to an Agency

Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Outsource Content Writing to an Agency

There’s nothing wrong with doing everything yourself unless the task is too time-consuming so working on it alone becomes unproductive. This is exactly the case with content marketing, and its importance increases all the time. According to statistics, 91% of B2B marketers and 60% of B2C marketers use content marketing to reach their customers. The competition grows so you should create high-quality content and you should do it consistently in order to outperform other companies from the same niche. 

Businesses wish to perform better than their competitors. It’s the reason why content writing agencies appeared, and it also explains why they have become more and more popular. Companies are willing to invest more in content creation. The volume of content produced for marketing purposes grows, search engine algorithms become more sophisticated, and producing content that will stand out gets more and more difficult. One of the main reasons why you should outsource content creation is that this way, you will work with professionals. Besides, no matter what your niche is, the chances are that your competitors already do it.

Benefits of Outsourcing Content Writing

1. Publish more content more frequently

Even if you focus all your efforts on content marketing, there will always be a limit regarding how much content you can produce in a day, month, or quarter. Creating high-quality content that will be appreciated by both your target audience and search engines takes a lot of time. Of course, you might quickly write a short impromptu blog post, but such content is unlikely to help you achieve your business goals.

Effective content takes a lot of time to research, write, edit, and publish. If you’re looking for truly outstanding blog posts, then even a professional full-time writer is unlikely to create more than one or two posts per week. To keep your audience engaged, you should produce content consistently, and outsourcing can help you produce more content without sacrificing its quality. No matter how much fresh content you want to publish daily or weekly, you can get it by just hiring more writers.

2. Work with industry experts

It’s impossible to be an expert at everything. Unless you only need content on some very narrow topic, you will definitely benefit from hiring professionals who are perfectly familiar with various topics related to your industry. Content writing agencies usually hire a vast range of experts so you can always find someone with the necessary knowledge and experience.

3. Outsourcing is cost-effective

Outsourcing costs less than hiring full-time writers. A professional full-time content writer will cost you about $60,000 a year. Along with the salary, you should also keep in mind the cost of training, equipment, and the overhead costs associated with having an additional employee. If you choose to outsource content writing, you will only pay for the content, with no need to worry about providing insurance or buying a new desktop for your writer if the current one breaks.

Check out our top rated content marketing VA companies here.

4. Have more time for strategic planning and other important activities

Perhaps, the main reason why businesses decide to outsource their content writing is that it takes a lot of time. When it comes to content marketing, businesses have a lot in common with students who get too many assignments. Students often realize that they need help so they visit writing service review websites and choose top essay writing companies. When businesses realize how much time content writing takes, they outsource it.

It’s impossible for businesses to focus on content creation only. If you own a business, you should also deal with many other important tasks that you cannot delegate to anyone else. Besides, you should not only write content but also optimize it for search engines, promote it on social media, etc. By delegating all these tasks to professionals, you can dedicate more time to various crucial aspects of your business. This way, you’ll get high-quality content and focus your efforts on areas where your skills are most needed.

6. Increase your ROI

You can easily track and measure the ROI of your outsourced content. For instance, you can measure the number of clicks, conversions, an increase in social media following, and an increase in sales. Content marketing agencies know that their customers need effective content that will help them achieve their business goals. Therefore, when you order content from reliable content writing agencies, you can be sure that this content will be properly optimized to drive conversions and engagement.

7. Benefit from different perspectives and fresh ideas

You may use your content to tell your story and communicate your brand values. This way, you’ll be able to strengthen your brand image and be more authentic. However, your content marketing efforts can be more effective if you also introduce some fresh ideas and add content from writers who may consider your topics from a unique perspective.

Content marketing agencies enable you to work with experts who have already created lots of content for different companies. These experts can use their knowledge and experience to produce content that will give you a competitive advantage. Besides, professional writers keep up with all the latest trends in the industry so they can help you make your content more relevant.

10. Reach a wider audience

Some content writing agencies can publish your content on their blogs and social media. Therefore, you can expand your reach and attract a completely new audience of people who otherwise wouldn’t learn about your brand. Besides, such companies often have specialists who can research your industry and suggest relevant blogs where you can publish your content to get more views.

11. Agencies know their audience

It’s not enough to just know your topic. To create successful content, you should also know your audience so that you can tailor the content to their needs and preferences. When producing content yourself, you may use a lot of industry-specific jargon or forget about some topics that might be interesting to beginners. Professional writers can analyze your audience and make sure that your content is relevant and easy to understand.

12. Flexibility

One of the main advantages of hiring a content marketing agency is that such companies have many writers familiar with different niches and topics. Therefore, you can get more diverse content, attracting new types of readers, and making your blog more interesting to read.

13. Improve your marketing strategy

Not only can content marketing agencies write a few posts for your blog, but they can also help you improve your overall marketing strategy or help you create one if you don’t have it yet. Such companies know their industry so they can suggest what types of content are most beneficial for your business, what topics you should address, and how frequently new content should be created.

Conclusion

Content creation is a challenging task that involves not only writing but also planning, research, SEO optimization, promotion, etc. Thanks to content marketing agencies, you can save your time and focus your efforts on the most important aspects of your business while professionals work on your content. Outsourcing content writing can help you increase the ROI of your content strategy, and it can also help you produce more content faster. Besides, experienced professionals can make your content more effective and diverse. A great company to work with is Copywriter Today.

 

Author: Frank Hamilton

Frank Hamilton is a blogger and translator from Manchester. He is a professional writing expert in such topics as blogging, digital marketing and SEO. He also loves traveling and speaks Spanish, French, German and English.

 

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The Biggest Challenges Faced by VAs

The Biggest Challenges Faced by VAs

Virtual assistants have completely transformed the way companies conduct their businesses. As more and more organizations shift to remote work, VA jobs have tremendously increased as well. The ability to work from home is just one of the many perks that this job offers.

However, being a virtual assistant comes with many challenges too. Thankfully, there are ways to overcome such obstacles, thrive in this profession and  be more effective and satisfied at work.

Communication Problems

There’s no form of communication better than direct, face-to-face interactions.

Surely, working from home has so many benefits. But unless you’re prepared for the daily communication issues, you might find this job overwhelming. 

Virtual teams completely rely on communication channels like chats, video conferences, and emails. Unfortunately, many factors can get in the way, such as delayed messages, internet connectivity issues, client emails going into the “spam” folder, unread messages, conflicting time zones, etc. The list is endless.

The best way to prevent delays and misunderstandings and to increase productivity is by devising a plan or process to ensure that all instructions are understood by both parties (client and VA). Many virtual teams are using communication platforms like Slack where messages and interactions are easily managed and supervised to ensure that team members don’t miss any important message or information.

A Different Way of Working

If you have never worked as a VA or freelancer before, it can get very overwhelming in the beginning. Working remotely is far different from working in an office. 

While it’s true that you have more control over your schedule, if you don’t manage your time well, you might end up not getting anything done, missing deadlines, and worse – getting kicked out from the team.

It takes a lot of adjustment to become a successful virtual assistant. Aside from learning to work independently or with minimal supervision, you have to learn how to adapt to a new environment, deal with people from different cultures, and get acquainted with every work-related process of the company.

It’s important to openly and honestly communicate with your client or virtual team manager about your struggles in transitioning to remote work. It does take some time to get used to a different way of working but as long as you’re open to learning and willing to adjust, you’ll get there.

Time Management

Virtual assistant jobs can be very fulfilling for self-motivated people, so long as you manage your time effectively. There are many time tracking softwares or websites available to help you manage!

Here are some time management strategies to stay productive when working from home:

  • Use time blocking. 

Divide your day into blocks of time, each is dedicated to accomplishing a specific task. For example, you can try to schedule all your meetings in a day so they don’t get in the way of your other tasks, dedicate Monday for deep work and Friday for wrapping up any loose ends.

  • Make a list and prioritize. 

Create a timeline of your activities for the week, placing the most important and urgent ones first.

  • Have a dedicated office or workstation in your home.

Find a quiet and organized space where you can focus on work and block distractions.

Language Barriers

Serving international clients can be challenging. VAs need to be highly fluent in English, or it is better when a VAs are bilingual and can easily communicate with people of different nationalities. A good way to enhance your English speaking and writing skills is to join a language class. 

Do note that different cultures may speak the same language differently. For example, American English is different from British English. Understanding language barriers is key to effective communications.

Fear and Overwhelm

It’s normal to get anxious about your tasks as a virtual assistant, especially if you have the fear of communicating with others.

Language and culture barriers, along with task-specific challenges can feel overwhelming. Luckily, there are excellent training programs that will equip you with the skills and knowledge to become confident with your new role.

Conflicting Time Zones

Working with clients in different time zones is extremely challenging. Conflicting time zones can cause communication delays and project delays, which can be very frustrating for you and your client.

When you start working with a new client, be sure to discuss your time zone concerns. For example, when setting deadlines, meetings, and other time-sensitive correspondence, will you be using their local time or yours? Since you want to make it easy for your client, you want to always offer to use their local time. 

Try to find an ideal time that will work on your schedule too. For example, see if anytime between 4 pm and 7 pm in your time is suitable for correspondence on your client’s time (preferably, it should be between 9 am and 5 pm in their time.)

Routine

Setting a daily routine is important to be a successful virtual assistant. It creates structure, helps you reach your goals, and reduces procrastination.

Here’s an example of a routine that you can try:

  • Start each day with some exercise. Physical activity energizes your mind and body, preparing you for a productive day ahead.
  • Have a hearty breakfast. 
  • Schedule difficult tasks in the morning. If you do the easiest tasks first, chances are, you won’t have enough energy to tackle more difficult tasks in the afternoon.
  • Take a break. Schedule your breaks. Get up from your desk once in a while to do a few stretches.
  • Follow a work schedule. Practice life-work balance by setting a daily schedule. 
  • Have a rest day. Make sure you enjoy the weekend too.

Conclusion

Being a virtual assistant can be a fulfilling career. However, to succeed in this profession, you have to take time to master your communication and task-specific skills. At the same time, you have to establish a healthy routine and time management to get things done and serve your clients well.

Looking to hire a Virtual Assistant?

Our partners at ClearDesk are able to help you build your business and give you back more of your most valuable asset – time! With no setup fees or contracts, they are offering 3 different packages that include a 7 day trial period! Schedule a call directly with their team to get started or read my review for more information.

Meggie is an HR Manager at AMGtime and a passionate Freelance Writer with ongoing curiosity to learn new things. She is deeply convinced that valuable experience sharing is key to business success. Meggie believes in a win-win formula and utilizes it on a daily basis in staff management.

 

 

 

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LongerDays

LongerDays is a team-based virtual assistant company located in Michigan. LongerDays’ business clients communicate with a Team Lead who delegates tasks seamlessly with specialist VAs on the team. LongerDays unique model allows them to deliver a broader array of services than a solo VA. Their structure ensures that clients always have access to a person who can assist them, even if the Team Lead is out for the day. Additionally, all LongerDays VAs are W2 employees, not contractors.

LongerDays was founded in 2007 and has grown to become one of the most sought after virtual assistant companies in the US. Demand for LongerDays can be high, particularly in January, so new clients may face a short waiting list for a spot as a LongerDays client.

How it Works

LongerDays virtual business assistants work as a team, so you get the benefit of a dedicated assistant as well as an entire office worth of experience and specialization. LongerDays VAs are capable of much more than just administrative tasks, including CRM configuration, business process consulting, writing/editing, graphic design, and task automation.

LongerDays makes significant investments in helping their clients document their business processes. The resulting process documentation belongs to the client and is useful even if a business ends up growing and hiring in-house staff. 

LongerDays is picky about who they work with. You have to apply to become a client. Upon acceptance, clients are assigned a Team Lead who writes detailed task processes, delegates work to the in-house VA team, and oversees productivity and quality control.

As a Better Business Bureau accredited business, they are held accountable for delivering on their promises.

LongerDays Services

LongerDays provides assistance in five main areas:

  1. Business process documentation
  2. Admin & Invoicing 
  3. Graphic Design
  4. WordPress and Web
  5. Content writing and book editing

Much like an in-house employee, they can be trained to accomplish just about anything you need done.

LongerDays Review

A LongerDays Virtual Assistant is not for everyone. They aim to provide a premium service for business clients with premium standards. They’re best suited for business owners who are looking for a wide variety of skills from a single source.

If you are looking for a personal assistant as a luxury service, this company is probably not for you.

LongerDays Plans and Pricing

LongerDays virtual assistant plans start around $90 per week — an 8-hour monthly plan is $375 ($46.88/hr).

As you might expect, as you commit to more hours, the rates get better. Their 16-hour a month plan is $675 ($42.19/hr) and the 32-hour plan is $1,275 ($39.84/hour).

A LongerDays Team Lead is assigned based on a brief interview that you complete shortly after signing up. The LongerDays Team Lead reaches out to the client to get started on building processes and executing tasks within one business day.

Of course, these rates are significantly higher than what you’ll find in India or elsewhere overseas. The rates are on par with what you’ll find at other VA companies in the US.

LongerDays Alternatives

For American virtual assistants, you might consider Virtual Assist USA or RemSource. Time Etc has earned plenty of positive feedback lately.

Your Turn

For those with experience working with LongerDays, please feel free to share a quick review of the service below.

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Should your eCommerce Business hire a Virtual Assistant?

Should your eCommerce Business hire a Virtual Assistant?

We understand that e-commerce virtual assistants are in high demand in the market. But have you tried to find out the reason behind it?

As a business owner or even a user, you know there are mundane and tedious tasks for an e-commerce business. These tasks consume a lot of time. Instead, save this time and spend it on improving the growth of the company. Here, the concept of getting a virtual assistant for e-commerce stores seems feasible. 

What are the e-commerce tasks you can assign to virtual assistant services?

  •     Enter and upload product data
  •     Write product descriptions
  •     Analyze the price and discounts
  •     Edit and optimize images
  •     Manage promotional offers
  •     Handle social media marketing
  •     Website development
  •     Adding products in the relevant category
  •     Manage inventory
  •     Optimize product and service pages
  •     Gather relevant information
  •     Design and send email newsletters
  •     Design banners, landing page, and other marketing content

What are the advantages of having an e-commerce virtual assistant?

Cost-Effective

Suppose you want to perform some tasks in a budget-friendly manner or are looking for ways to reduce costs. When you get virtual assistant support services, you do not have to deal with any allowance. All you need to do is discuss the requirements and ask for expected delivery.  

Save time

Virtual assistants will save up to 40% of your time, which can be invested in planning the growth of your business. Obviously, you must spend hours monitoring customer actions, data entry, updating product databases, writing product descriptions, or handling accounting.

As a business owner, your target is to aim for growth. You can easily assign these mundane tasks to virtual assistants. This will help to clear the cluster from your routine and put your business performance first.

Data management

This is an essential feature for e-commerce businesses to run smoothly. Businesses which support virtual assistants are taking the benefits of working smoothly. They are the experts in multiple tasks. They can manage your data and also prepare reports if needed. Data is the most complicated thing and also an essential task for the e-commerce business.

Fewer Risks

Many e-commerce companies feel hesitant to hire someone for their business. This might be a lack of trust or budget, or resources. Well, a virtual assistant can handle your tasks by considering all the factors. They are a one-stop solution for limited resources, budget crisis, time, and knowledge. Hiring a virtual assistant means getting an employee that works around the clock and has experience in multiple sectors.

Increase Productivity

Virtual assistants have the right skills to handle every tedious task of your business. By handling these tasks, they save the hassle of performing such tasks and provide you adequate time to focus on the core segments of the business.  

What tasks can you assign to your virtual assistant for e-commerce stores?

1.    Order Processing

A trained virtual assistant could easily handle the entire process of order and shipment. Some duties that you can assign them are:

  •     Compile orders
  •     Add data into reports
  •     Update order details
  •     Track orders
  •     Set up shipment
  •     Send customers  invoices

This means a skilled e-commerce virtual assistant can track the progress of the orders and fulfil any customers’ requirements.

2.    Manage inventory and stocks

This is critical to run an e-commerce business smoothly in the digital world. You need to maintain a balance between both to ensure customer satisfaction. Some tasks for virtual assistants are:

  •     Check inventory to ensure you have enough stocks
  •     Update product lists
  •     Add new inventory
  •     Manage product categories
  •     Handle errors to ensure all the information is updated and correct
  •     Keep track of orders
  •     Reminder for restocking when stocks are lower

3.    Manage Exchanges and Returns

Your work isn’t completed even after the order has been delivered to the customer. In some cases, customers might not be happy with the product, or it might have been damaged during the delivery processes. This means you need to provide them with a seamless exchange or returns of the products. The virtual assistant has the skills to handle the below tasks:

  •     Great communication skills
  •     Expertise in customer services to resolve disputes
  •     The organized flow of handling issues
  •     Pays attention to each detail

This ensures a customer-friendly environment in your e-commerce store.

Virtual assistants can also integrate advanced solutions like delivery management software to enhance logistics and customer satisfaction. Employing such tools helps streamline processes and significantly improve delivery efficiency, minimizing errors during exchanges or returns. By using the best delivery management softwares available in 2024, e-commerce businesses stand to benefit from automated route planning, real-time tracking, and dynamic updates that elevate their operational capabilities.

4.    Customer Services

To deliver the best services, your virtual assistant will be available 24/7 for the customers. Some virtual assistant support services can help to handle challenges like:

  •   Sending quick responses to the customers through different mediums like phone, social media, email, and phone.
  •     Handle unsatisfied customers and resolve complaints
  •     Spot opportunities to upsell and cross-sell your products
  •     Manage customer interactions
  •     Increase user engagement with your store
  •     Take follow-up with potential customers
  •     Respond to positive and negative feedbacks

5.    Create Press releases and Newsletters

You can take help from virtual assistants to submit press releases and newsletters related to your business. A virtual assistant newsletter will be more effective in the market. As they have relevant information and know the interests of the target audience. Some tasks where they can excel are:

  •     Build a strong brand reputation
  •     Earn backlinks from authoritative websites or businesses
  •     Attain public attention
  •     Handle media coverage

This will help in taking a step further to promote your e-commerce business in the digital market.

6.    Maintain your e-commerce store

Building e-commerce is just the starting of the journey in the online world. It is essential to meet customers’ expectations at each phase. A virtual assistant has e-commerce skills and training that comes handy in multiple things like:

  •     Update price details on product pages
  •     Change or modify product descriptions
  •     Find and replace broken links
  •     Keep track of the latest trends in the industry
  •     Upload relevant content
  •     Optimize page loading speed
  •     Add, modify, or update product lists
  •     Make sure the copyright information is updated
  •     Polish your website elements
  •     Optimize images on the website

7.    Perform market research

Engage e-commerce virtual assistants to perform market research and give valuable insights which are beneficial for your business. They can handle:

  •     Product research
  •     Target Customer
  •     Competitors Research
  •     Keywords Research
  •     Recent trends research

Performing extensive market research and compiling them into systematic reports makes your work seamless.

Wrapping it up!

We have given you pointers to handle your time-consuming work with the help of an e-commerce virtual assistant. We assume that you would hire the right virtual assistant who has experience in the market and fits your budget. This process will save your time and resources that can be applied in the business growth. 

Author

Billy Brown is a published content creator and digital marketer. Being a skilled and passionate person he has applied the best efforts to stay with the marketing trends. Virtual Assistant management is one of his  biggest strengths. As an SEO expert, I believe in providing the best digital marketing solutions with my glorious experience in multiple sectors. EcomVA is one such platform where you can get ecommerce virtual assistant services.

 

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JH Virtual Assistant

JH Virtual Assistant is a UK-Based virtual assistant company that provides virtual PAs and administrative support to companies across the UK.

The company is headquartered in Fife, Scotland, and their assistants work remotely all over the UK.

About JH Virtual Assistant

The company started operations in 2013 and is headed up by founder Jeanette Hunter (hence the name ‘JH’ Virtual Assistant). Jeanette has a wealth of industry experience, she worked as a PA and in various administrative roles for a number of years before starting the company.

She started JH Virtual assistant to use all the skills she’s accumulated over the years and offer a service to companies all over the UK. As her client base has grown, Jeanette has added members to her team.

The best part is that Jeanette is still very hands-on with the business. She works as a virtual assistant and handles tasks for clients along with the rest of her team.

JH Virtual assistant says that whatever size the task is, they can tailor a package to suit your requirements and have the assistants with the necessary skills to carry out the work.

How JH Virtual Assistant Works

To get started working with JH Virtual assistant, simply choose one of their pricing plans. You’ll be taken to a form where you can leave your contact details, and a member of their team will respond to you within 24 hours.

After discussing your requirements in more detail, Jeanette will assign the best-suited assistant to start handling your tasks.

She will let you know how you can best communicate with your assistant, and you can start working with them right away.

JH Virtual Assistant Services

JH Virtual assistant’s assistants are able to take on just about any tasks that can be completed remotely.

To give you a general idea, JH Virtual assistant group some of their core services as follows:

  • Admin support
  • Call answering/secretarial services
  • Social media management
  • Data entry and processing
  • Event management
  • Word processing
  • Diary management
  • Personal assistant services
  • Digital marketing

JH Virtual Assistant Plans and Pricing

JH Virtual assistant currently has 5 different pricing plans and a pay-as-you-go option. Hourly rates range from approx $23.20/hr for their largest plan to $34/hr for their pay-as-you-go plan.

A complete list of their prices at the time of publishing was:

  1. Package 1 – £420 for 20 hours (approx $570 or $28.5/hr)
  2. Package 2 – £500 for 25 hours (approx $680 or $27.20/hr).
  3. Package 3 – £570 for 30 hours (approx $780 or $26/hr).
  4. Package 4 – £700 for 40 hours (approx $950 or $23.75/hr).
  5. Package 5 – £850 for 50 hours (approx $1,160 or $23.20/hr).
  6. Pay-as-you-go – £25/hr (approx $34/hr)

JH Virtual assistant do point out that these rates are for general administrative and PA services. If you want to outsource accountancy, social media, content writing, or marketing, you’ll have to contact them for a bespoke quote.

It’s also important to note that you must use all of the hours you purchase within one calendar month.

JH Virtual Assistant Alternatives

For alternative UK-based virtual assistant companies, we recommend checking out Virtalent and Time ETC. Both offer a similar range of services and pricing.

Your Turn

Have you worked with JH Virtual Assistant? If so, please leave a review below to help others with their decision.

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3 Ways a Virtual Assistant Will Help You to Improve Google Rankings

3 Ways a Virtual Assistant Will Help You to Improve Google Rankings

To boost website on Google, you need a team of professionals. There has to be someone to analyze your current ranking situation, detect issues to be fixed, fix them, etc. You can do it yourself, but is it worth it? You can lose control over the business, website content, web design, and many other things if you only focus on SEO.

It’s crucial to hire a team or at least one SEO virtual assistant to do the job. This is a person working for you remotely from their own home or office. They get assignments from you or your managers and do them in the best way they can.

You can hire a freelancer or a service that will:

  • Improve SEO
  • Build links
  • Create content
  • Much more

There are hundreds of things a virtual assistant can do for you. Let’s group them into three main activities to trust to remote experts. After finishing this article, you’ll want to hire a remote team as well!

Task #1. On-Site: Content Optimization, Website Layout, Metadata, Security

The first set of activities a virtual assistant can be really useful for is on-site work. This includes:

  • Web design.
    The design of your site determines how both readers and search engines will react to it at first sight. Trusting the process to a professional will ensure the result is worth your money and meets your expectations.
  • Website layout.
    Making it easier for visitors to navigate the website will leave most of them for a longer time. During that time, they may reach your blog and become regular readers or even purchase the products and services you offer.
  • Loading speed improvement.
    A large part of your traffic will leave if the website is loading for over 5 seconds. In this case, every second matters. Having a fast loading speed without losses in the design quality of the site is pure art.
  • SEO optimization in code and content.
    SEO must be a responsibility of a professional. It includes so many tactics: code optimization, keyword analysis, proper blog posting, landings, reports, improvements, and much more. Besides, the trends change every couple of months, so it’s crucial to adapt your strategy to the updates.
  • Metadata.
    It’s not too important, but proper metadata can improve the traffic flow to your website. As a result, the rating will also increase. Meta title and description will give users a taste of what they’re going to find on the page. A wisely written description will bring many more people to the site.
  • Security
    According to Fromdev, there are many ways website security affects Google rating. And it’s logical. One of the requirements to be deemed a credible website is to add SSL protocols and increase site security.

That’s a lot of work. So, how to manage your SEO virtual assistant or a team?

Use tools for virtual team management to always be in control of the processes going on remotely. If you hire true professionals, there will be no need for additional control.

Task #2. Off-Site: Content Distribution, Backlinks, SEO

Off-site SEO and other processes are also essential for a better rating. To get the top in Google, you have to optimize backlinking, clean the link profile of all poor-quality, redundant mentions, choose proper anchors, hold negotiations, and more.

Article distribution is also a major task when it comes to off-page SEO. You can see this page to find out more about this fundamental step. Virtual assistant SEO services will save you time, money, and effort, achieving the best results.

If you don’t realize the scale, look at some of the backlinking tasks a team or one professional will have to do:

  • Research proper keywords to create efficient anchors
  • Find websites that will agree to put a backlink as a native advertisement on their page
  • Find websites that can post a guest publication on your behalf
  • Find a professional copywriter to write those guest posts not to tarnish your credibility
  • Negotiate to link the unlinked mentions of your brand, website, or industry-related terms
  • Negotiate to put your link in places with broken links from your competitors
  • And more

A great expert or team should be fluent in link-building, keyword research, and have great communication and negotiation skills. It will be difficult to do it all yourself, given you have hundreds of other tasks to do. So, a virtual assistant is an essential addition to your team.

They don’t require a spot in the office. They work from home or their own offices. All they need is an Internet connection and a laptop or even a phone. It’s convenient cooperation for both sides.

Besides, if it’s an expert, they know all the types of backlinks and how to get them. Every type (editorial, guest-posting, badge, ‘recommended post’ links, etc.) can be acquired in a number of ways. The more options you have, the better the outcome will be.

Task #3. Analysis: Google Analytics, Domain Authority, Etc.

Analysis has to be done before, during, and after every process. Whether it’s a new SEO strategy implementation or a digital marketing campaign, or even a launch of a blog, you need to know where your website’s at.

Things to analyze:

  • Keywords
  • SEO tactics
  • Current rating
  • Domain Authority
  • Competitors

The latter is very important. Taking a few competitors that rank higher and analyzing their strategies is a must-do. You can find gaps in yours and fix them with the help of that data. This won’t hurt other projects unless your virtual assistant copies their material, which an expert would never do.

This brings us to the topic of the choice of such a remote assistant. Always check their resumes, ask for test assignments or portfolios, and only look at decent job-seeking and similar services.

They have to know all digital tools crucial for the success of their mission, starting with the basics like Google Analytics and Google Search Console. A professional must be fluent in all kinds of software connected to their occupation since each one provides slightly different benefits.

Conclusion

Having virtual assistants takes a large load off your shoulders. Such a tactic is especially useful for startups where one person has many responsibilities. In order to achieve success, you need to focus on on-si and off-site optimization, as well as analysis.

As a result, you will always know how the website is doing, what ranking your pages have at the moment, and what improvements have to be made to level up. Hiring a virtual assistant for that is one of the best ideas. You’ll have more time to focus on the core business or digital marketing for further improvement.

 

 

Author: Frank Hamilton

Frank Hamilton is a blogger and translator from Manchester. He is a professional writing expert in such topics as blogging, digital marketing and SEO. He also loves traveling and speaks Spanish, French, German and English.

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Abby Connect

Abby Connect is a family-owned virtual receptionist service provider based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company was founded in 2005 by Nathan Strum who remains with Abby Connect as their CEO.

Using a virtual receptionist service allows business owners to free up more time by not answering calls, as well as giving a more professional first impression to customers and clients calling in.

About Abby Connect

There is no denying that having a friendly, helpful person on the end of a call is good for business.

Abby Connect says that 67% of callers hang up if they are not met with a real person, and 85% who reach a voicemail don’t leave a message.

Virtual receptionist services solve these problems and are ideal for businesses and entrepreneurs without the budget for their own full-time receptionist, or anyone looking for a cost effective solution to covering inbound calls.

Abby Connect’s virtual receptionists can answer your calls with a script you provide, or you can just leave it in their hands to handle your calls in a professional manner.

They assign a team of five dedicated receptionists to each account, this means your regular customers will become familiar with their assistants.

That might be something worth noting if you want to give the impression that you have your own team of receptionists as not all providers use dedicated staff per account.

Abby Connect Area’s of Specialization

  • Law Firms and Legal Services
  • Accountants
  • Professional Services
  • Home Services
  • Health Care

Abby Connect – How it Works

Abby Connect Services

Abby Connect provides virtual receptionist services to law firms, accounting firms, small businesses, medical practices, dental offices, and more.

If you receive inbound calls and have a good idea of how many minutes per month you need, their services are worth taking a closer look at.

All of their plans include the following services:

  • Guaranteed live call answering
  • A dedicated customer success manager
  • A team of dedicated receptionists
  • Bilingual receptionists
  • Appointment Scheduling
  • Outbound Calling
  • Custom Answering hors up to 24/7/365 (with free extended hours)
  • Calling/Texting from mobile app
  • Voicemail transfer to text or email
  • Real-time call reports with alerts
  • Unlimited voicemail time
  • Unlimited voicemail boxes
  • Unlimited talk time after transfer

Abby Connect Plans and Pricing

Abby Connect has three pricing plans. Their plans are based on the number of minutes you expect to use, with their entry plan working out at $2.79 per/minute and their largest plan being $2.18 per/minute.

Their plans are:

  • Abby 100 – 100 receptionist minutes for $279/month.
  • Abby 200 – 200 receptionist minutes for $499/month.
  • Abby 500 – 500 receptionist minutes for $1089/month.

All of their plans include bilingual virtual receptionists, voicemail transfer to email or text, a dedicated account manager, a dedicated team of receptionists, unlimited talk time after transfer, unlimited voicemail boxes, and unlimited voicemail time.

Extended hours, weekend, and 24/7 answering are also available. Contact them to discuss your needs and a custom quote.

They are currently offering a 14-day free trial for anyone interested in trying their service.

Abby Connect Alternatives

Abby Connect’s largest competitors include Ruby, Nexa, Smith.ai, and GabbyVille. These services have very similar pricing plans if you’re looking for a comparable quote, though GabbyVille offers a lower price point if budget is high on your list of priorities.

The thing that sets Abby Connect apart are custom intake offerings!

Abby Connect, like most virtual receptionist service providers, offers a free trial. If you’re struggling to make a decision take advantage of their free trial period to evaluate their services.

Your Turn

Have you worked with Abby Connect’s virtual receptionists? If so, please leave a review of your experience below to help others with their decision.

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Virtalent

Virtalent is a UK-based virtual assistant company that has been in operation since 2014. Although they are fairly new on the virtual assistant scene, they have grown rapidly and picked up a lot of exposure in the UK.

They specialize in helping small businesses and entrepreneurs across the UK by providing highly skilled virtual assistants.

VAAExclusive: Mention VAA during sign-up and receive 1 hour free for Entrepreneur or Small Business Plan accounts, and 2 hours free for Executive or Ultimate Plan accounts.

About Virtalent

virtalent review

The company employs experienced professional virtual assistants. They have a strict recruitment process to ensure they are hiring highly skilled VAs, and currently, only hire virtual assistants based in the UK.

Virtalent VAs work from their homes (with a few working from coworking spaces) in the UK, and with their clients being based in the UK this means there are no time differences or language barriers to navigate.

If you sign up with Virtalent you will be assigned a dedicated assistant based in the UK. The entire time works remotely from their home offices or coworking spaces.

Their ideal clients are small business owners and entrepreneurs looking to outsource some of their workloads to free up some of their time.

Virtalent Founder Interview

Boldly service at Time Etc prices.”

VAAExclusive: Mention VAA during sign-up and receive 1 hour free for Entrepreneur or Small Business Plan accounts, and 2 hours free for Executive or Ultimate Plan accounts.

Virtalent Services

The services offered by their virtual assistants are generalized into the following categories on their site:

  • Executive Assistance
  • Marketing
  • General VA work
  • Project Management

The full list of Virtual Assistant services they offer can be found on their website. As with any virtual assistant company, there is almost no online task too large or too small, however, Founder Sam Wilson explained, “We focus on QUALITY long-term support from one VA, not on completing one-off individual tasks. Clients typically look to fill a role with a list of responsibilities attached to it, just like they would when hiring an employee.”

He added that when clients sign up, “They’re assigned a dedicated VA with a particular skill set – we focus on hiring experienced administrative and marketing professionals.”

Most Virtalent VAs either come from a senior PA / Office Manager background or from a career spent in senior marketing roles. Less than 2% of applicants get accepted and statistically, each VA has an average of 15 years’ experience.

Many have experience inside big corporations like Deloitte, Barclays, Universal, and others.

The company uses a task management portal which allows clients to log in and view all their activity, including the hours their Virtual Assistant has worked, as well as a list of tasks completed and outstanding, current invoices, and any notes or feedback.

Virtalent Plans and Pricing

Virtalent supply virtual assistants for as low as £23 per hour in 4 different à la carte plans:

  • Entrepreneur – £270 for 10 hours a month
  • Small Business – £520 for 20 hours a month
  • Executive – £1000 for 40 hours a month
  • Ultimate – £1440 for 60 hours a month

All work is billed to the exact second it takes to complete the tasks. If you need more work done, they’ll bill you at the same equivalent hourly rate as your package and unused hours roll over to the next month, so you can use as little or as much VA time as you need.

This makes the service as flexible and cost-effective as possible, which was the company’s directive.

VAAExclusive: Mention VAA during sign-up and receive 1 hour free for Entrepreneur or Small Business Plan accounts, and 2 hours free for Executive or Ultimate Plan accounts.

Before creating an account, clients receive a detailed proposal with an extensive profile of the one VA that Virtalent has ‘matched’ the client with – their Client Engagement Manager handpicks a specific team member, based on the specific skills, experience and personality each individual client is looking for. They then speak directly to that VA to see if they “gel” before committing to a plan.

Virtalent Enterprise Support

The company also offers Enterprise support aimed at larger companies with more bespoke needs, something which is unique to the industry. As a result of the initiative, Virtalent now works with a leading F1 racing team, Lastminute.com, Countrywide properties and other household names.

Sam explained, “Not all companies will fit squarely into our monthly subscription model – they may need a much larger number of hours from a team of VAs working together, rather than a single VA, or require different payment terms, for example.”

Virtalent’s bespoke Enterprise support is ideal for any company looking to resource larger multi-skilled projects that they can’t handle in-house, arrange long-term absence or maternity cover (for a Senior PA role, for example), even if this requires full-time hours, or to offer a pooled admin resource for a remote team (a sales team can have access to a shared remote Sales Administrator, for example).

Virtalent Alternatives

There aren’t a lot of UK-only virtual assistant companies to choose from, but the market is steadily growing. The best-rated is Time Etc, which has similar rates and packages.

Your Turn

Have you worked with Virtalent? If so, please leave a review of your experience below to help others with their decision.

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The Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Receptionist

The Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Receptionist

With much to do and not enough time, businesses are beginning to realize they can outsource many tasks and focus on their core operations. That’s why the popularity of virtual assistants of all kinds is skyrocketing.

Since answering calls and other administrative tasks can be time-consuming, many businesses are taking advantage of virtual receptionist services. Virtual receptionists can do everything in-house receptionists can — answering and directing calls, scheduling, providing customer support, etc. — but they do it remotely.

So why should you hire a virtual receptionist over an in-house one?

Trained Professionals

Virtual receptionists are experienced in their job. They have both the soft skills and the technical knowledge to assist customers in the best possible way and do it efficiently. You can always choose professionals who already have experience in your particular field of work. This way, they won’t even need any training. You’ll just have to brief them about your company and its policies.

On the other hand, no matter whether you choose to perform the receptionist’s duties yourself or hire an in-house employee, you’ll need extensive training and adjusting. A receptionist is often your first line of contact with potential clients, so it’s vital that they know how to handle every situation.

Superior Customer Service

Research has found that 90% of people decide whether they want to work with a business based on their customer service. So the importance of great service can’t be overstated, and it can help your business thrive.

That’s why you can’t afford to have an unqualified person with no phone etiquette training handling your inbound calls. A virtual receptionist will know how to handle every difficult request as well as any disgruntled customer with much care and consideration.

Excellent service can make a world of difference for your business. In fact, even if you make a mistake, people are much more likely to do business with you if you have impeccable customer service.

Available Around the Clock

If you hire an in-house receptionist, they will be available during their work hours. However, if you want to cover all the shifts, you’ll have to hire multiple workers, even if some shifts are significantly slower.

With virtual receptionists, you’ll have someone covering the phone and other contact points 24/7, seven days a week if you want to. You pay for a full service, and the agency provides enough receptionists depending on your call traffic.

What’s more, you can have a digital AI assistant as your receptionist or use it to supplement your human workforce. They can help customers who prefer texts over calls, and they’re also available around the clock.

Cost-Effective

Whether you hire an independent virtual receptionist or an agency, your costs will be much lower than if you had an in-house, in-office employee. You get to save on office space, supplies, and professional training because you’ll have a remote worker who’s fully trained.

What’s more, by working with an agency, you get round-the-clock coverage without having to worry about what to do on your receptionist’s days off and absences.

Moreover, if you outsource to an agency or hire a contractor on a pay-per-use basis, you don’t have to pay a full salary and employee benefits for a full-time employee. This option is great if you don’t need a full-time receptionist all the time.

No Missed Opportunities

Whenever the phone rings and there’s no one to answer, or a person on the other end gives up because they’re put on hold, you miss an opportunity. You never know which call will be a game-changer for your business, and you can’t afford to lose any of them.

With full receptionist coverage at all times, even when you’re on vacation, you won’t miss a single opportunity and won’t have to worry about losing any potential clients.

This kind of customer care also means that your existing clients will be much more satisfied with your service because they can count on your support at all times.

More Time for Core Business

Taking calls, scheduling, handling complaints — these are all menial tasks that take a lot of time and energy, which are the most valuable resources you have in running your business. By outsourcing these repetitive and monotonous tasks to professionals you can trust to handle them with care, you’re free to dedicate more time to your core business.

That’s the main reason outsourcing is so popular these days. Running a business comes with many peripheral tasks that take your attention away from your core business. If you let others handle them, you’ll be much more productive and will get the space you need to explore new ideas and improve your business.

Improved Brand Image

Your customer-facing employees are vital for your brand image. They are the representatives of your business, and as far as customers are concerned, their attitude is your attitude. So if these employees are unpleasant or unhelpful, these negative traits reflect on your business’ image automatically.

By enlisting the help of virtual receptionists, you get front-line workers who will ensure that your image is impeccable. By having trained professionals handle customer relations, you broadcast an image of a professional, exceptionally trustworthy brand that cares about each individual client and is always available.

The good word will spread fast, and before you know it, your online reviews will be great, which will, in turn, lead to more customers.

Peace of Mind

Finally and most importantly, you can have peace of mind, knowing that your customer relations are in good hands at all times. Even when you’re not at the office or you’re on vacation, you can trust your virtual receptionists to handle any requests, issues, and similar.

If you’re not used to taking breaks or you’re somewhat high-strung with a tendency to micromanage, that will soon change. Once you realize how effective and efficient your receptionists are, you’ll be able to relax, let it go, and allow yourself not to think about work every once in a while.

 

Author: Michael Deane

Michael has been working in marketing for almost a decade and has worked with a huge range of clients, which has made him knowledgeable on many different subjects. He has recently rediscovered a passion for writing and hopes to make it a daily habit. You can read more of Michael’s work at Qeedle.

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