Virtual Assistant Blog

Codeable

Posted by Mica Harvey / Freelance Virtual Assistants, Project-Based Virtual Assistants, Technical Assistants

Codeable (codeable.io) is the only WordPress exclusive freelancer marketplace. The Denmark-based company was founded in 2013 and employs more than 530 WordPress experts from around the world to solve WordPress problems for customers.

Their community only deals with WordPress-related projects — they’re not going to be running your social media campaigns or making dinner reservations for you.

Their community of highly vetted developers completes over 2,000+ projects each month, with nearly 99% rated 5 stars out of 5. They have a laser-sharp focus on quality and have the reputation to prove it. They are partnered with hundreds of leading WordPress companies (hosts, themes, plugins, agencies, etc.) who utilize the talent at Codeable to help their own customers.

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Codeable Services

So what can Codeable’s virtual army of WordPress experts get done for you?

Pretty much anything related to your WordPress site; full site builds, fixing bugs, making design customizations, developing a custom plugin, modifying your theme, migrating your site to a new host, speed optimization, security cleanup tasks, or even providing one-on-one training.

Each of the developers they let onto their platform goes through a thorough screening process including an interview and review of their portfolio and work history.

You can post your project for a free estimate with no obligation to hire. The Codeable platform operates 24/7 and several users report getting initial estimates back within minutes of posting their jobs.

Codeable Review

How Codeable Works

With Codeable, you create your own task brief — the more detailed and well-thought-out the better. The more specific you can be in terms of what you want to be done, the better results you get, and the better understanding the coders will have of your project.

You’ll begin collecting estimates almost immediately, but the bids are averaged out — removing price from the equation. You can pick the developer you feel is the best fit based on their feedback, recent work history, or their areas of specialization.

In either case, Codeable explains you can pick confidently because they only allow top-notch technical talent to join their ranks.

Codeable Plans and Pricing

Codeable developer rates range from $70-120/hr, and estimates are based on the scope/complexity/urgency of the project. Consultations start at just $69 to speak with an expert about your project.

The way their pricing works is the different WordPress pros submit bids, but unlike Elance, Codeable takes the average of those bids to create your estimated price. (Codeable adds a fixed service fee of 17.5% on top of that price. You can learn more on their pricing page here.)

The theory is this prevents their marketplace from turning into a “race to the bottom” on price, but still allows you access to top WordPress talent at reasonable rates. It also saves you the trouble of sorting through a dozen different quotes and trying to discern the difference!

You might end up paying more on a per-job basis because they focus on offering the highest quality development services (not the lowest bid). When you think about the extra hours and money that is often spent to fix a cheaper developer’s hack job, Codeable could end up being a money saver.

VAA Exclusive: Get $10 off your first project when you sign-up through this link.

Each job has a 28-day satisfaction guarantee.

I haven’t had a chance to test the service personally yet but will be sure to report back here and update this post once I do.

Codeable Alternatives

When I first saw Codeable, a couple of competitors came to mind. The first is Elto (formerly Tweaky), which offers website “tweaks” and other services starting from just $39. (Read about how I’ve been using Fiverr instead.)

The second service I thought of was WP Curve, which offers “unlimited” WordPress support for just $69 per month. They’ve seen some crazy growth over the past year and are doing very well.

Have you worked with Codeable? If so, please be sure to share a quick review of your experience below to help others with their decision.

Craigslist

Posted by Mica Harvey / Freelance Virtual Assistants

Craigslist is not on of the most reliable sources for outsourcing. Please consider one of these alternatives to ensure the success of your project.

Several entrepreneurs have discovered an opportunity using Craiglist to find virtual assistants. They simply go to the Craiglist site for where they hope to find a reliable but affordable assistant, and post a help wanted ad detailing their job requirements. Manila in the Philippines is a particularly popular location.

The benefit of using craigslist to find a virtual assistant is that you can find talented workers for a very low cost, but it is not for the faint of heart. In contrast with the other freelance virtual assistant resources, using Craiglist leaves you no feedback mechanism or avenue for resolution if things don’t go the way you planned. At that point, someone half way around the world has your money and there’s little you can do.

To prevent this worst-case scenario, there are a few steps you can take. First and foremost, you’ll need to interview for the position as if you were hiring an in-house employee. That means reviewing resumes, evaluating both written and oral English language skills, verifying work history, and checking references. It is very possible to find a rock-star virtual assistant on Craigslist, but just be prepared to deal with the unqualified candidates, the spammers, and the scammers.

There are also the issues of data security and tax implications. With someone working from their home in Manila, how secure will your personal and business information be? Also, not being a tax professional, I would be nervous directly hiring someone overseas because I don’t know what kind of paperwork burden that would create for me down the line.

Still, you can’t argue with the allure of Craigslist, and the potential to find great help for as little as $3 an hour. If you’re up for the challenge, you can definitely save some money over other established virtual assistant companies and freelance virtual assistant platforms.

If you’ve had any experience, positive or negative, with a Craigslist virtual assistant, please share it here.

Give the gift of time this Christmas 2020

Posted by Mica Harvey / News

No matter what curveball life has thrown in you, the gift of time is something that will help anybody – no matter the position they are in!

Below are some of our partners that are offering Gift Services for the year of 2020.

Time Etc

This company is based in the UK but would provide you with a US based dedicated assistant in your time zone. The benefit of a dedicated assistant is that you can assign unlimited tasks and share them with other team members.

VAA Exclusive: Click here to claim your free $50 trial credit!

Give the gift of time with Time Etc | Check out our review with Time Etc here!

VA Staffer

Gift someone 20 hours of Virtual Assistant Support from VA Staffer

This Package Includes:

20 Hours that never expire
Built-In Project Management Tools
Project Coordinators to help you out with delegating your tasks

Hours can be used for the following:

Data Entry & Administrative Tasks
Lead Generation & Data Scraping
Graphic Design (Photoshop, Canva, Illustrator)
Video & Audio Editing
Website Development (ClickFunnels, WordPress, SquareSpace)
Executive Assistant Services (Calendar Management, Emails, Personal Errands)
*Inbound/outbound calling, copywriting services, Paid Ads set-up or management, and SEO services NOT INCLUDED*

Price – $298 + $497 set up fee
VAA Exclusive – “VAAGIFT” for $150 off on the set-up fee

Give the give of time with VA Staffer | Check out our review with VA Staffer here!

NS Virtual Services

NS Virtual Services has added the option to purchase a gift card this year! It’s as simple as choosing your amount between $50-$1000 and purchasing as a gift.

Purchase a gift card for a colleague or even for yourself to be used at a later date! Covers all online packages as well as retainer virtual services.

Give the Gift of time with NS Virtual Services | Check our our review with NS Virtual Services here!

Woodbows

WoodBows has a simple 4-step onboarding process, and it takes less than an hour to start working with their team of assistants.

They have a very easy way to purchase a gift – it’s simply through their pricing page. All you need to do is add the name of the person you are gifting the service to on their Thank-you page.

Give the gift of time with Woodbows | Check our our review with Woodbows here!

OkayRelax

OkayRelax operates on kind of a hybrid model between a dedicated virtual assistant service and a task-based approach where any available team member can tackle your assignments.

The service is set-up around tasks, mini-projects up to 30 minutes and you get a dedicated assistant!

Give the gift of time with OkayRelax | Check our our review with OkayRelax here!

Ask Data Entry

AskDataEntry has long lists of the types of data entry they take on. Basically, any tasks that involve the inputting, manipulating, cleaning, or processing of data, they’re willing to do. You can gift a service for as little as $80 for 10 hours a month. The hours not used roll over!

To gift their services, simply let them know in the checkout window.

VAAExclusive: Mention code VAA25 for 25% off your first month!

Give the gift of time with Ask Data Entry |Check our our review with Ask Data Entry here!

Delesign

Know someone that needs help with graphic design – then this is the gift to give! Their business model is subscription-based. This means the more design work you need, the more value you will get from the same flat monthly fee.

They don’t specifically have a gift service, but you are able to purchase a service package and then add the person you would like to gift it to as a “Team Member” – they then have full access to the service!

Give the gift of time with Delesign | Check our our review with Delesign here!

Want to know what your Virtual Assistant can help you with this holiday season?

Check out our article “5 Things Your Virtual Assistant can do for you During the Holidays”

99Social

Posted by Mica Harvey / UK/Europe Virtual Assistants

99Social is a social media management company based in the UK. The company has been operating for just over two years and they work with businesses of all sizes all over the world.

They specialize in creating and posting high-quality content across all the major social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

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About 99Social

The company is based in the North East of England and all of their staff are in the UK. If you’re not in the UK don’t let this put you off, 99Social work with businesses all over the globe.

They offer a range of social media management services. Mainly posting content across all the major social media platforms, so you don’t have invest the time yourself.

You get a dedicated account manager, so there is a familiar voice and someone that will get to know you and your business better the longer they work with you. Something I think is important when it comes to social media, as you want a to keep your voice and brand image consistent through your social media profiles.

Social media management is a competitive and fast-growing industry. When I asked 99Social what sets them apart from their competitors, they said, “We think we’ve created something really special, bringing together the best things about using virtual workers with the best things about marketing agencies and hit the sweet spot, delivering on price, service, and the quality of content.”

How 99Social Works

To get started, choose a pricing plan that works for your budget or includes the services you’re looking for.

Then, hand over your login details for your social media accounts you want 99Social to post to, or you can have them set up new accounts if you don’t have any.

They will then handle the content creation and post to your social media accounts at the frequency detailed in the plan you signed up for.

You can also post to your social media accounts at the same time if you have extra content you want to add.

Services

99Social offer social media management services, which means they take your social media accounts off your hands and post content and updates for you.

The main social media platforms they handle are:

Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn

They say they are flexible when it comes to building a plan that ticks all the boxes for you, so I wouldn’t hesitate to reach out and tell them what service you’re looking for if you don’t see what you want.

Plans and Pricing

99Social currently have three pricing plans to choose from starting at £99 per month. All of their plans come with a dedicated account manager, so you have a consistent point of contact, and they point out that they are flexible if you want to focus more on one social network than another.

A complete list of their plans at the time of publishing is as follows:

Startup – £99 per month for a dedicated account manager, daily posts on Twitter and Facebook, weekly Instagram posts, and handpicked curated content.
Business – £199 per month for a dedicated account manager, 2 daily posts on Twitter and Facebook, Daily posts on LinkedIn and Instagram, handpicked content and custom graphics.
Custom – £299+ per month for a dedicated account manager, daily content posted on all the major social networks, custom content, images, and videos, and regular catch-up calls.

There are no long-term commitments, all their plans roll on monthly and you can cancel at any time.

Virtual Assistant Assistant Exclusive: Mention referral code VAA to get 20% off your first month’s order!

99Social Alternatives

If you’re based in the US and would prefer to work with a US-based company, there are a couple of social media management companies in the US worth checking out.

$99 Social and $98 Buck Social both offer comparable services to 99Social, and due to the favorable exchange rate, their services are less expensive.

If you’re looking for remote support for more than just social media management you should look into hiring a virtual assistant to handle social media and your other tasks.

Your Turn

Have you worked with 99Social? If so, please leave a brief review of your experience below to help others with their decision.

Rocket Lawyer

Posted by Mica Harvey / Legal Assistants

Rocket Lawyer provides a range of legal services online at an affordable price and makes it easy for anyone to get access to qualified legal advice.

You can use their interface to produce legal documents to do things like registering your business or pick up the phone to an attorney in your state to discuss family law, personal injury claims, real estate laws, and so on.

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About Rocket Lawyer

The company was founded by Charley Moore in 2008. Rocket Lawyer says, “We want to change things by making legal services affordable, simple, and available to more people than ever before.”

If you run a business there is a high chance you’ll need legal advice in some capacity. Whether it’s to do with registering your business, drawing up contracts for suppliers or staff, or just checking the legality of different things across different states.

How Rocket Lawyer Works

Rocket Lawyer makes it quick and easy to generate legal documents or have your questions answered online. They also have a database of licensed attorneys on call if you want to pick up the phone and discuss any legal matters.

One of their most common inquiries, for example, is from individuals wanting to register a business.

You can produce the legal paperwork through their website by simply selecting your state, the type of corporation you want to register, so; LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp, etc, then filling in your personal details, answering a few questions, and paying for the legal documents.

If you have a legal question you want to discuss in person with a Rocket Lawyer‘s network of on-call attorneys you can type out your question and send it to be answered, or pick up the phone and call an attorney in person.

Rocket Lawyer Services

Rocket Lawyer‘s network of on-call attorneys have skilled across all facets of law. Their services are not just limited to business inquiries, you can seek legal advice for personal issues like divorce or selling your home too.

To give you an idea, some of their most commonly requested topics for legal advice include:

Starting a business
Making contracts
Trademarks and patents
Buying or selling a property
Lending money
Divorce

As a rule of thumb, if there is anything you’re not 100% about the legality of, be it in your personal or business life, it’s worth shooting them a question.

It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Plans and Pricing

Rocket Lawyer‘s network of on-call attorneys offers a monthly membership plan for $39.99. Most of their services are free or discounted with their membership.

Non-members can pay a one-off fee for the following services:

Legal Document Creation – $39.99
Attorney Services – $9.99-$59.99 (Depending on the exact service)
Business Services – $99.99-$149.99 (Depending on the exact service)

For reference, I paid around $500 for a trademark application through Rocket Lawyer, not including the federal trademark application fee. (Ultimately the request was denied — ouch!)

As you can see from the pricing if you anticipate using Rocket Lawyer for anything more than a one-off task it makes sense to pay for a month’s membership at $39.99.

They also offer a 7-day free trial. You can cancel your membership during the free trial or any time after, so no reason not to give them a try if they offer the services you’re looking for.

Rocket Lawyer Alternatives

If you want to check out other companies offering a similar range of legal services, you can take a look at LegalZoom.

I couldn’t see that either of these offer a free trial like Rocket Lawyer however. This is a pretty big deal, especially when some of the services can be quite costly.

Your Turn

Have you worked with Rocket Lawyer? If so, please leave a review below to help others with their decision.

The Best Virtual Assistant Services for Every Task

Posted by Mica Harvey / News

I know you were hoping for a magic page with the one clear winner here, but unfortunately there is no easy answer to the question of which is the best virtual assistant company.

The truth is it depends on your specific needs, and everyone’s needs are slightly different. Because of that, I’ve done my best to break it down by category, but be sure to check the reviews for each.

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The Best Virtual Assistant Services for Personal Tasks

Let’s say you want to dip your toes into the outsourcing waters before you jump completely in.

One way to do that is to start with a low cost service and try delegating some personal tasks, like restaurant reservations, flight check-ins, or some product research assignments.

Here are a few options you might consider.

Read Other Related Reading: Outsourcing vs. Insourcing

OkayRelax

Over the last few years I’ve really come to rely on OkayRelax.

Their 5-task plan matches Fancy Hands at the $30/month price point, but I’m on the $99.95 “Professional” plan that gives me access to the same assistant every time.

For that rate, I can delegate up to 25 30-minute tasks per month (the math works out to $8 an hour if I use ’em all). My dedicated assistant is a key part of several weekly routine processes, including formatting articles, updating my website, running reports, and more.

Our full OkayRelax review | Visit OkayRelax

Woodbows

WoodBows is one of the most reputed and reliable Virtual Assistant companies. They cater services for entrepreneurs/executives, small and medium businesses. Their high client retention and repetition rate speaks for their quality!

You will receive a dedicated Virtual Assistant who will have at least 10+ years of experience in the corresponding field. You will also receive a dedicated account manager with support. Their hourly rates range from $8.99 to $9.99 based on the plan you choose.

All the Virtual Assistants will have a phone number that you can personally connect with, similar to a personal assistant.

Our Full Woodbows Review | Visit Woodbows

TaskRabbit

And finally, for in-person help, TaskRabbit might be worth a look. They have a relationship with IKEA, which could help save your relationship!

Our full TaskRabbit review | Visit TaskRabbit

The Best Virtual Assistant Services for Small Business

While I tend to use the “Personal Assistant” options above for business tasks as well, there are lots of great VA options to support your small business endeavors. These are best-suited for ongoing relationships.

Here are a few of the top-rated choices.

ClearDesk

ClearDesk promises that you will love your Virtual Assistant! Packages start at $500 per month for 30 hours with a VA that has a minimum 3 years of experience – highly rated and reliable! Free consultation call and 7-day free trial!

Our full ClearDesk review | Visit ClearDesk

Time Etc

If your budget allows, you might consider US and UK-based Time Etc. Time Etc virtual assistants work from their home offices and go through a rigorous vetting process before being added to the platform.

Rates go as low as $21 an hour and they’ve completed more than a million tasks since 2007.

One cool perk? Your unused hours rollover to the next month.

Our full Time Etc review | Visit Time Etc

Remote Coworker

Remote CoWorker is a virtual assistant company specializing in providing virtual assistants at competitive rates to entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes all over the world. Remote CoWorker pricing starts at $5.99 an hour and go up depending on the skill sets and experience you require from your assistant.

This is a very competitive starting rate, and comes with a full-time dedicated virtual assistant.

Part-time support is also an option for an extra $1 an hour.

There are no long-term contracts, everything is month to month!

Our full Remote CoWorker review | Visit Remote CoWorker

MyTasker

A long-time favorite of Virtual Assistant Assistant visitors, MyTasker provides professional support for as little as $7.50 an hour from their office in India.

You’ll be assigned a dedicated VA, but also have access to the rest of their team if a certain task is better suited to someone else’s expertise.

Our full My Tasker review | Visit My Tasker

UAssist.me

UAssist.me offers professional outsourcing close to home in El Salvador, Central America. The company has been a top-rated option here on Virtual Assistant Assistant for years, and maintains affordable pricing with several package options.

Services include administrative support, customer service, digital marketing, real estate, and more.

Our full Uassist review | Visit Uassist

OnlineJobs.ph

No matter what you need done, you can find a virtual assistant for it on OnlineJobs. With more than a quarter million resumes, the leading job board in the Philippines has become a mainstay for affordable small business outsourcing.

It has a little bit of a needle-in-the-haystack / diamond-in-the-rough feeling to it, but I’ve found several excellent VAs through this site.

How it works is you pay a nominal monthly membership fee, and then once you find your best-fit assistant, you pay them directly with no additional markup on their salary.

Our full OnlineJobs.ph review | Visit OnlineJobs.ph

FreeUp

FreeUp is a fast-growing freelance marketplace that supposedly only lets in “the top 1%” of freelancers.

The company started with a focus on e-commerce / Amazon seller support, but has expanded to a huge variety of virtual services.

Aside from the promised talent curation, the biggest differentiating factor between FreeeUp and other marketplaces is the speed of execution. The site aims to connect you with a qualified candidate in less than 24 hours–and often even faster than that.

Our full FreeeUp review | Visit FreeeUp

The Best Virtual Assistant Services for Medium Businesses

As your business grows, your team will likely expand as well. And as my own operations have grown, so has my appetite to hire more expensive workers.

Like most entrepreneurs starting out, budget was my #1 concern. Now I’m a little more willing to pay extra for someone great at what they do. Are you in the same boat?

Of course any of the above “Small Business” options are fine choices too, but for your consideration I’ll share a few alternatives to check out.

Prialto

Prialto is a managed service. This means every assistant comes with ongoing support, from managers who ensure quality to proactive systems that guarantee success. Services are managed from Portland, Oregon with “Productivity Assistants” (PAs) and additional management and support in Asia and Central America.

Prialto offers a level of service and support that is unmatched in the remote virtual assistant marketplace. All assistants are college educated, full-time employees of Prialto.

Pricing starts at $1200 per month, and includes up to 55 hours of dedicated support, plus backup assistance when your VA is unavailable.

Our full Prialto review | Visit Prialto

BELAY

It’s not the cheapest service out there, but BELAY would argue that you shouldn’t bargain shop for a linchpin team member. They specialize in providing expert US-based remote executive assistants with world class support.

Clearly, the demand is there; the company hit the Inc. 5000 list 4-years in a row. (The list charts the fastest growing private companies in the country.)

BELAY Solutions specializes in virtual assistants, bookkeepers, and website maintenance services.

Mention VAA for exclusive offers!

Our full BELAY review | Visit BELAY

Boldly

Similarly priced, Boldly has built a fantastic reputation for smart VAs for American and European clients. And if you need a bilingual assistant, look no further.

Officially, Boldly doesn’t call itself a virtual assistant company, but rather a “subscription staffing” service. That said, they only hire VAs with a minimum of 7 years of executive assistant experience (most of them have 10 to 15 years under their belt).

Most clients are founders and executives of large companies.

Our full Boldly review | Visit Boldly

Task Bullet

Task Bullet is an affordable service with assistants in the US and in the Philippines.

Their unique system of selling “buckets” of VA time (starting at just $6 an hour) make them an interesting option for both ongoing needs or one-off projects.

You’re not locked into any monthly subscriptions and have access to a team of VAs if you need some specialized skills.

Our full Task Bullet review | Visit Task Bullet

The Best Virtual Assistant Services for Full-Time Dedicated Help

Ready to bring on a full-time hire? It’s an exciting time!

OnlineJobs.ph – If you’ve got a defined process to plug someone into, I think OnlineJobs is your best budget option. It’ll cost you just $69 to start (to post your job), and then you’ll hire your top candidate directly, with salaries ranging from $450 – $1000 per month for full-time help.

My Tasker – $1200 will buy a full-time staff member in India through MyTasker.

UAssist.me – With UAssist, you’ll pay slightly more than with the Asian companies, but I still think $1499 per month is a pretty sweet deal for a full-time worker.

The Best Virtual Assistant Services for One-Time Projects

This is where I started my whole outsourcing adventure. I needed a website built but didn’t know where to turn!

The options below are for broad, everything-under-the-sun freelancers, but please know there are specialty services (I’ll highlight a few below) that might be worth a look if you’re need of a specific skill or expertise.

Fiverr

Even today, I often start my outsourcing search on Fiverr. The reason is it’s such low risk. For $5-25 you can test out someone’s skills in writing, graphic design, data entry, transcription, formatting, or whatever else you need.

There’s no bidding process either; you just find the freelancer you like and click their “buy now” button.

Our full Fiverr review | Visit Fiverr

Use Per Wish – This unique on-demand virtual assistant service in India charges a flat rate of $10 an hour with no minimums or automatic monthly renewals. Tap into a team of professional VAs for almost any kind of remote work you need done.

Related: Upwork Alternatives: The Top 49 Sites Like Upwork to Find Freelancers

Related: Upwork vs. Fiverr: Which Platform has the Best Freelance Talent?

The Best Services for Outsourced Graphic Design Work

One of the core tenets of outsourcing is to let someone else do the work you’re not good at, and I’ve come to understand I’m just not a great designer!

However, graphic design can be tough to delegate because it’s so subjective and comes in so many different flavors. I’ll highlight a few of those different options here:

Penji – Penji delivers a 5-star customer experience and creating the best DAAS (design as a service) on the planet and offers their service to all non-profits in Camden, NJ for just $1. Pretty cool.

Design Pickle – Design Pickle pioneered the “unlimited” graphic design model and sells all-you-can-eat designs for a flat monthly fee. It’s perfect for companies that have a constant need for fresh images for blog posts, social media, or marketing material.

99designs – Why limit yourself to working with one designer when you could have dozens of creative brains competing for your business? At least that’s the pitch behind the popular crowdsourced logo and web design site 99designs.com.

Deluxe Logo Design – Or if you prefer to work one-on-one with a US-based designer for your logo, check out Deluxe for competitive packages.

PicMonkey – While not technically a graphic design service, this cool online tool is the one I find myself using most often to create custom images for social media.

The Virtual Content Writing Services

Content marketing is one of the most effective ways to drive traffic to your site, but let’s face it, creating all that content is time-consuming.

Here are some outsourced writing companies that can help.

Copywriter Today – Gabe Arnold’s Copywriter Today delivers “unlimited” articles from native English writers at a fixed (and affordable) monthly fee. This is perfect if you’re looking to step up your blogging game or if you need content on an ongoing basis for clients.

HireWriters – With different quality levels ranging from almost unintelligible to actually pretty good, HireWriters specializes in cheap copywriting made easy. These guys have written dozens of articles for me.

The Best Services for Remote Website Help

Zen WP – California-based Zen WP offers unlimited WordPress fixes for $79/mo. I’ve been a customer for quite a while and they’ve been essential in troubleshooting some issues with my sites.

The service was especially handy to have during a recent redesign and in migrating the site to SSL.

Access WP – Access WP operates similarly, but with an all US-based support staff. They’ll take care of any WordPress website maintenance and support issue that pops up.

The Best Virtual Call Answering Services

Here’s the dilemma for small business owners. You want the phone to ring and you want to treat every potential customer like the awesome person they are, but you don’t want to be tied to the phone all day — when will you get any work done?

That’s where these virtual answering services come in.

Ruby Receptionists – Make sure all your calls are answered professionally, with rates starting at $299 per month. (There’s a special discount for Virtual Assistant Assistant readers!)

Gabbyville – The popular virtual receptionist service gives you a 14-day free trial to test out their service.

The Best Online Bookkeeping Services

Hiring a bookkeeper is one of the first team-members many new entrepreneurs add. But that person doesn’t need to be in your office!

A number of virtual bookkeeping services have popped up to serve small businesses. Here are the best known and top-rated.

Bench – This popular tech-savvy remote bookkeeping service gives you a dedicated bookkeeping team and monthly financial statements to help you stay on top of your finances. Take advantage of their one-month free trial to see if it’s right for you.

Bean Ninjas – An online bookkeeping and accounting service that helps small and medium-sized businesses manage their books using the Xero accounting software.

The Best Options for Virtual Legal Support

If you have legal questions these days, you probably don’t need to open up the yellow pages to find a (high-priced) local attorney.

A number of online services provide off-the-shelf and customizable document preparation services with on-demand advice from real lawyers.

Rocket Lawyer – Probably the most affordable way to have a lawyer “on your team.”

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best virtual assistant companies?

After collecting thousands of real customer reviews, our top-rated companies are Boldly, BELAY, Time Etc, VA Talks, My Tasker, and Uassist.ME.

How much do virtual assistant companies charge?

The price you pay for a virtual assistant service varies primarily based on location. US and Europe-based services are typically in the $25-40 an hour range, while overseas providers are more often in the $5-15 per hour range.

What is a virtual assistant company?

A virtual assistant company is a service business that provides remote support to companies and individuals. Your assistant might be around the corner or around the world; as long as the work doesn’t involve physical labor, they can get it done.

How do I choose the right virtual assistant company?

Consider the types of tasks you need done, the hours of service you anticipate needing, and any special skills your assistant should have. Then dive into the company profiles and reviews on Virtual Assistant Assistant to find the best fit.

Still Need Help Finding a Virtual Assistant Service?

Hopefully this list has given you a starting point to begin digging into the ratings and reviews and specialties of each service.

If you’re still unsure of where to start, try our survey tool and get free personalized recommendations in your inbox, generally within 30 minutes.

Or you can browse our full directory of virtual assistant companies here.

Looking for the lowest cost Virtual Assistants?

We have a list for you here.

Pepper VA

Posted by Mica Harvey / Philippines Virtual Assistants, Virtual Assistant Companies

Pepper VA is a virtual assistant company specializing in providing virtual assistants at competitive rates to small and medium-sized businesses all over the world.

The company is based in the Philippines, with offices in Manila and Davao City. Most of their virtual assistants work out of their Davao location, while their marketing, creative, and digital teams work out of the Manila location.

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About Pepper VA

The company started operations in 2009 and is headed up by Business Director Nikki Ilumin, and President Miguel Ramos.

For those wondering about the company name, it comes from the Marvel character, Pepper Potts, a supporting character to Ironman. Pepper VA say they used this name to symbolize their own loyal assistance to businesses around the world.

They have a mix of experienced virtual assistants, and younger VAs going through their in-house training program and cover a wide range of skills and job roles.

Pepper VA have well-equipped offices with up-to-date technology, IT staff in-house to handle any IT issues, and provide senior staff to manage their assistants.

How Pepper VA Works

Pepper VA have the streamlined 3-step process that a lot of VA companies follow:

Talk with a member of their team to discuss what your requirements are from a virtual assistant and help them get to know your business better.
They will find the best-suited VA for you and your business and set up a call so you can meet them and ask any questions you may have.
When you’re happy with your VA you can start working with them. You can monitor their progress via Pepper VA’s online dashboard.

Services

Pepper VA’s assistants are trained to handle a wide range of tasks that can be completed remotely.

To give you a better idea, they group their core skillsets or job roles into the following categories:

Executive Admin – Online research, data entry, updating blogs/website, calendar management, and more.
Marketing Administration – Emails, article writing, graphics and web design, reporting and analysis, and more.
Customer Service – Handling customer inquiries, chat support, email follow-ups, and more.
Project Management – Developing project plans, managing timelines, scheduling tasks, and more.
Social Media – Updating social media feeds, engaging with influencers, writing posts, and more.
Bookkeeping Support – Logging expenses, raising invoices, running payroll, and more.
Writing and Editing – Article writing, newsletter emails, editing copy, and more.

Plans and Pricing

Pepper VA offer four different pricing options:

20-Hour Plan – $297 per month ($14.85 per hour).
40-Hour Plan – $557 per month ($13.90 per hour).
80-Hour Plan – $750 per month ($9.40 per hour).
160-Hour Plan – $1,200 per month ($7.50 per hour).

All of their plans include a substitute virtual assistant in case of emergencies, back up broadband, and 24/7 IT support. That ensures you and your VA can work without interruption.

Pepper VA Alternatives

Before making a decision, if you want to get quotes from other virtual assistant companies based in the Philippines, I recommend starting with OnlineJobs.ph and Task Bullet.

OnlineJobs.ph operates on a different business model; it’s a subscription-based service to put you in contact with virtual assistants. Task Bullet has a similar business model and hourly rates as Pepper VA.

Your Turn

Have you worked with Pepper VA? If so, please leave a review below to help others with their decision.

Outsource School

Posted by Mica Harvey / Bookkeeping Services, Customer Service, Dedicated Virtual Assistants, Education, Freelance Virtual Assistants, Graphic and Web Design Services, India Virtual Assistants, Philippines Virtual Assistants, Project-Based Virtual Assistants, Resources/Tools, Task-Based Virtual Assistants, US Virtual Assistants, Video Editing Services, Virtual Assistant Resources, Virtual Employees

Outsource School is a hands-on platform that gives you access to top training courses and resources created by successful 8-figure entrepreneurs.

For a monthly or annual fee, you can access dozens of training courses. These courses outline all the processes and procedures any entrepreneur or business owner would need to hire virtual assistants.

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About Outsource School

The company is relatively new, starting operations in January 2020. However, the founders, Nathan Hirsch and Connor Gillivan are no strangers to starting businesses.

Nathan and Connor have been working together for the past 10 years. In this time, they have started multiple successful companies.

Back in 2009, they started an eCommerce business together. Between 2015 and 2019, Nathan and Connor grew that business to more than $25 million in sales.

A large part of that growth was down to how they leveraged overseas virtual assistants. This led them to start FreeeUp.net, a freelance marketplace providing pre-vetted virtual assistants to businesses all over the world.

They sold FreeeUp (now called FreeUp, with one less “e”) to The HOTH in late 2019. After the sale, Nathan said he was getting a lot of questions about how they built their businesses.

So, he and Connor decided to start Outsource School to share all of the processes they used to grow their own businesses in a training format.

Their target customers are entrepreneurs and business owners in the online space. Nathan and Connor are based in Denver, Colorado. It’ll come as no surprise that their staff of VAs is based in the Philippines, India, and the U.S.

How Outsource School Works

If you want to see what’s behind the paywall at Outsource School, they offer a 14-day free trial.

This will give you a sneak peek at some of their courses and a feel for how their platform works. This will give you a sneak peek at some of their trainings and a feel for how their platform works. You even get a free 1-on-1 call with their rockstar team to answer any questions you have and see if Outsource School is the right fit for you!

When you’re ready to get your hands on all of their training materials, simply sign up for either a monthly or yearly payment plan.

You’ll then have access to everything Outsource School has to offer.

Outsource School Services

Members of Outsource School are able to do three things:

Hire Rockstar Virtual Assistants Quickly by mastering their easy to implement unique hiring method.
Avoid hiring mistakes with their hands-on support and community
Save time with our Pre-made documents and cheat sheets. While their trainings help you efficiently set up different roles and teams.
As an additional bonus members can always access their growing libraries of SOPS plus their easy to use SOP making software SimplySOP.

There are four pillars to Outsource School’s training content:

Hire Rockstar Virtual Assistants Quickly by mastering their easy to implement unique hiring method.
Avoid hiring mistakes with their hands-on support and community
Save time with our Pre-made documents and cheat sheets. While their trainings help you efficiently set up different roles and teams.

As a bonus members can always access our growing libraries of SOPS plus our easy to use SOP making software SimplySOP.

Outsource School Plans and Pricing

Outsource has two payment options; you can either pay monthly or pay a one-off annual fee priced as follows:

Monthly – $97/mo
Yearly – $997/yr

If you pay a one-off fee for the whole year you will save $200. That’s a substantial saving, and certainly worth considering if you’re going to use their training on an ongoing basis.

Included in the price is access to all of their training and SOPs, access to a private community, you’ll get new training materials each month, and more.

They promise a hassle-free 30-day refund. Plus, 3% of all sales go to Teach for the Philippines, a non-profit organization that provides education to Filipino children in need.

Outsource School Alternatives

Alternatives to Outsource School are training platforms like Udemy and Coursera. You’ll find various training courses around hiring and managing VAs on these platforms.

Outsource School is unique in the way that it’s a platform dedicated to covering everything related to outsourcing and hiring virtual assistants.

The private community is also a valuable resource. You can ask questions as you progress through the training and interact with like-minded business owners.

Your Turn

Have you joined Outsource School? If so, please leave a review below to help others with their decision.

PATLive

Posted by Mica Harvey / Virtual Receptionist Services

PATLive is a 24/7/365 live answering service, specializing in handling all types of inbound calls for thousands of businesses across the U.S.

The company has been in business since 1990. They started out as a small hosted services company, later shifting their business model to a virtual live call answering service.

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About PATLive

PATLive started out as a small voice company, but gave such great customer service that people asked them to start taking their calls…so their live receptionists were born.

30 years later, PATLive is still providing exceptional service daily and has expanded their expertise across multiple industries including real estate, medical, legal, and various other professional services.

With enthusiasm, intelligence and a strong sense of responsibility – PATLive’s live receptionists bring the traits that make our customer service so great on every call.

How PATLive Works

With the most powerful and flexible call handling technology in the industry, every PATLive service includes a fully customizable call experience.

When you sign up for one of their plans a member of their team will call you to discuss your requirements and

nd call handling instructions you want their agents to use. Messages or leads will be submitted to you in real-time following every call (if you choose), so that you never miss a beat.

It’s easy to get started with an on-demand team of over 150 U.S.-based PATLive virtual receptionists. In most cases, they can begin answering calls for your business in as little as 24 hours.

Plus, it’s free to try for 14 days.

PATLive Services

PATLive’s virtual receptionists save you time by performing just about anything you would do on an inbound call and can even integrate with your software to submit call information within the tools you’re already using.

The core of PATLive’s service is to provide a range of virtual receptionist services. This means you can have a receptionist on the end of the line for your customers 24/7 at a much lower cost than hiring one in-house.

Some of the services their agents provide from the other end of the line include:

Message Taking
Appointment Scheduling
Order Processing
Call Screening and Call Transfers
Bilingual Answering (Spanish)
Event Registration
Lead Collection
And more…

PatLive Plans and Pricing

PATLive have five different pricing plans. Their smallest plan is for 75 minutes of call time a month that works out at $1.99 per minute. With their largest plan including 1,000 minutes and reducing the per minute cost to just $1.

A full list of their plans at the time of publishing is as follows:

Starter – $149 per month for 75 minutes ($1.99 per minute)
Standard – $269 per month for 200 minutes ($1.35 per minute)
Premium – $399 per month for 350 minutes ($1.15 per minute)
Pro – $629 per month for 600 minutes ($1.05 per minute)
Pro + – $999 per month for 1,000 minutes ($1 per minute)

The plan you choose is going to be largely decided by the number of minutes you anticipate needing each month. However, if you need more than one phone number you will have to opt for a larger plan.

You only pay for the time that an agent is connected to someone on the end of the line. If you go over your minutes, you’ll be charged for each minute at a rate similar to the rate of your plan.

PATLive offers a 14-day free trial for all their plans, so it makes sense to take advantage of this. If for any reason you’re not happy with the service just cancel before the 14 days end, otherwise you’ll be transferred to the paid account of your choice.

PATLive Alternatives

There are a few highly rated US-based virtual receptionist companies worth considering if you’re looking for some other options to compare services and pricing with.

Ruby Receptionists and Gabbyville both operate on a similar business model and offer free trials. PATLive’s rates are more competitive, so if budget is your driving force, I recommend giving their free trial a go.

Your Turn

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

TextMaster

Posted by Mica Harvey / Content Writing Services, Project-Based Virtual Assistants

TextMaster is a professional translation, copywriting, and proofreading service for e-commerce professionals. The company was founded in 2011 by Belgium startup studio eFounders. TextMaster is a member of the Acolad Group since 2018.

The idea for TextMaster stemmed from seeing a real need in the market for a platform and technology based translation and content creation service. TextMaster’s head office is in Paris, but uses a global network of professional translators, copywriters and proofreaders.

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Services

Professional translation, copywriting and proofreading are services that are often slow and expensive. Because of this, TextMaster created a global freelance workforce that is accessible 24/7 around the world and brings together professionals that offer professional translation, copywriting and proofreading services and adds a strong quality control component to it.

You’ll find more than thousands of pre-tested authors and translators on their easy-to-use platform, and can get content written, proofread or translated in 50 different languages and 300 language combinations.

How does it work?

Unlike freelance websites like Upwork, TextMaster can take away the pain of finding and managing the writers.

You don’t have to do any decision-making in terms of who to hire. Just submit your job and it gets done. If you want to choose your authors according to your style and preferences, TextMaster can set up a casting and let you select your favourite copywriters and translators by language to be used in all your projects.

The copywritings and translations are priced based on the length of the piece, the languages, the expertise needed and the quality desired. The price starts with $0.066 per word for copywriting for a standard (non-professional) level, and $0.146 for an enterprise (professional) level. You can pay as you go or buy a pre-paid bundle that gives you some free bonus credit.

Who is this for?

TextMaster is for anyone who needs content to be written, proofread or translated.

More than 10,000 companies of all sizes and domains turn to TextMaster for assistance with their international expansion, including leading European eCommerce websites, retails and global brands in various industries.

How much does it cost?

The rates for Standard level service, which can suit general website content and product descriptions, start at $0.066 per word, meaning you can get a 500 word article for $33.

An Enterprise level service starts at $0.146 cents per word and is intended for writings that require more research, blog posts, longer articles, marketing materials, or scripts. A 500 word Enterprise writing would be $73.

In addition, TextMaster allows you to add custom option for more specific needs:

Extra Proofreading for an additional 4.4 cents per word, where the work of the writer is controlled by TextMaster in-house quality people or trusted freelance Language Managers.
Expertise for additional 11 cents per word to get a high-level expert in the selected category. TextMaster has experts in over 60 categories to choose from.
Priority Order for faster turnaround time is an additional 4.4 cents per word. (Standard delivery varies based on the length of the writing and the content from less than 24 hours to a few days.)

For payments, you can choose pay-as-you-go option or go with one of the pre-paid bundles that gives some attractive free bonus credit. The Starter bundle starts with $399 and the largest goes up to $5,999. The pre-paid bundle can be used on any of the services offered.

It’s free to sign-up and create an account.

Who is doing the work?

You submit the job and based on the requirements it gets done by a writer who meets the criteria.

You can choose to work with different authors, for instance if you have large volumes of content that need to be written fast you can choose to have many authors work on various jobs at the same time.

After you spend some time on the platform and you start developing relationships with writers, you can add the best ones as your favourites (your TextMasters), and choose to work with them only on future tasks or writings that require consistency in tone and style. It’s up to you. All authors are pre-tested and rated by in-house quality team on a regular basis.

What sets TextMaster apart from the competition?

Here’s what differentiates the company from their competitors like HireWriters, or Copywriter Today:

Unlike most other platforms out there, TextMaster allows unlimited revisions and back-and-forth communication for no extra fee.
Better Quality Control: In-house quality control team proofreads first 10 jobs of every author and after that rates authors on an on-going basis; users can request QC on any job at any time.
Multilingual: They produce content in 50 different languages and translations in 300 language combinations.
Largest scope of services: In addition to writing, they also do proofreading and translations, so you can order proofreading on already written content, and translations to make the content available to a wider audience.
Cutting-edge technologies:
- MementoTM, the proprietary, real-time translation memory from TextMaster allows you to save up to 60% on your translation budgets.
- LexioTM, TextMaster’s interactive glossary, helps you ensure consistency of your content in all languages and throughout all channels.
- Post-EditorTM, the Intelligent Machine Translation technology created by TextMaster, uses the best of Artificial Intelligence and Human Expertise to get you quality content quickly by combining neural machine translation and human proofreading.

Have you tried TextMaster for content creation? If so, please leave a short about your experience below to help others with their decision.

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