Bench.co

Posted by Mica Harvey / Bookkeeping Services

Bench is America’s largest remote bookkeeping service for small businesses. They serve clients across the United States.

The company was formed in New York and has been in operation since 2002. They relocated to Vancouver, BC in 2013, and this is where all employees are based.

About Bench.co

Bench reviewB

Bench is a software company that gives  your business an all-in-one bookkeeping, banking, tax, and advisory solution (without the costly CPA price tag). 

They provide business owners with:

  • a dedicated bookkeeping team
  • powerful and easy-to-use financial reporting software
  • monthly financial statements to help keep them on top of their finances
  • Stress free tax preparation and filing

Bench is a tech-savvy bookkeeping service, and use their own intuitive software as well as an app to keep in touch with clients.

You can easily connect with them directly and ensure your financial records are up to date, as well as keeping in constant communication with your assigned bookkeeping team.

Bench Intro Video

Bench Bookkeeping Services

Preparing tax returns and balancing the books is a time consuming part of running a business. Bench takes the burden of managing the financials from small business owners at an affordable price.

Using their systems and a team of bookkeepers dedicated to each client, they take the financial reporting off your hands so you can use your time working on other areas of your business.

Bench uses their software and an account manager to prepare the financials for a business on a monthly basis. They prepare cash-basis, tax-ready income statements and balance sheets and provide ongoing support.

A simple 3-step plan for new customers:

  1. Set up a call to discuss your business and answer any questions you have.
  2. Bench prepares your financials for the first month for free so you can try their service and see how it works with your business before committing.
  3. Review the income statement with a member of their onboarding team and decide if you want to purchase an ongoing plan.

How Bench Works

I had the chance to sit down with Sebastian Kasza, who works in Business Development for Bench, to learn more about how Bench works.

In our chat, we cover how Bench securely gets your account info, the types of customers who are the best fit, and the differences between a virtual bookkeeping service and an accountant.

VAA Exclusive: Join through my referral link and get 30% off Bench bookkeeping for your first 3 months!

Bench Plans and Pricing

Bench has 3 packages to choose from.

Each package comes with monthly cash-basis income statements and a balance sheet, Tax preparation and filings, as well as ongoing communication with the team. Plans include monthly bookkeeping for up to 15 financial accounts (e.g. bank accounts, credit cards, loans, merchant processors).

These plans range from $249  per month to $497 per month, billed annually. Rates are slightly higher for month-to-month billing.

  1. Core-$249 per month
  2. Flex – $349 per month
  3. Pro – $479 per month

VAA Exclusive: Join through my referral link and get 30% off Bench bookkeeping for your first 3 months!

Which plan you need is based on your projected monthly expenses. They understand that every business has some individual needs and welcome anyone to contact them directly to discuss their financials and what package would be most suitable.

They also offer a free trial. This is for one month’s worth of bookkeeping, allowing you to give their service a try and get a feel for their software and processes.

Bench.co Alternatives

Hiring a bookkeeper is one of the first additions many small businesses make.

If you are looking for an all-in admin service, I would highly recommend RemSource.

Bench is a leader in the remote bookkeeping space, despite increased competition from services like ZipBooks and Pilot.

Compared with hiring a freelance bookkeeper through a platform like FreeeUp, my contact at Bench stressed the advantages of a truly user-friendly setup without the guesswork of billable hours and unpredictable communication standards.

Your Turn

I think the one month free trial is a great opportunity to give Bench a try if you’re unsure of what to expect. If you have worked with Bench please leave some feedback below to help others with their decision.

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DesignCrowd

Posted by Mica Harvey / Graphic and Web Design Services

DesignCrowd is a marketplace for crowdsourced graphic design contests. The Sydney, Australia-based company has been around since 2008 and has facilitated more than 350,000 design creations during that time.

In fact, they boast over 750,000 designers on their platform ready to tackle your project. Some of their top designers have earned more than $1,000,000, and you can even invite them to submit their concepts for your contest.

About DesignCrowd

designcrowd reviewDesignCrowd plays to the idea that for creative work like graphic design, it’s better to get a broad range of ideas and concepts, instead of working exclusively with one designer.

Their platform facilitates these types of “crowdsourced” contests, with you as the client gathering a ton of options and picking your favorite.

The company offers their marketplace for a wide variety of design services, including logos, web sites, advertising graphics, flyers, print ads, t-shirts, business cards, and more.

A typical DesignCrowd contest gets a little more than 100 entries. I imagine you’ll find something suitable for your brand out of 100 choices!

Special Offer: Use promo code AFF150OFF for up to $150 off your design project!

DesignCrowd Review

I tested DesignCrowd in 2016 for a book cover project and share my experience in this video:

In 2019, I went back to DesignCrowd for a t-shirt design and really liked the results. I got over 150 design submissions on this one.

Here’s the winning design:

designcrowd review sample work

How it Works

Your first step in getting started with DesignCrowd is to create a design brief. It’s a fancy way of asking you to describe your project and any vision you have for it, so designers have some sort of starting point.

At this stage, you can also decide which price tier you’d like to offer to the winning designer. Naturally the higher your offer, the more designs you’re likely to attract.

Almost immediately, designers will start submitting their ideas and concepts. You can solicit feedback from friends, customers, or colleagues, and even request revisions from the designers before you decide on the winner.

Once you have your selection, you get all the necessary files, legal protections and rights to that design, and funds get released to the winning designer.

Plans and Pricing

Like other crowdsourcing sites, DesignCrowd has some pricing flexibility depending on your budget.

Logo design packages start at $109 and go all the way up to over $700. The drawback to the $109 price-point is that you’ll only get 1 designer, which kind of defeats the “crowdsourcing” purpose.

But at the $319 price point, you can expect multiple submissions from several designers, giving you a nice variety to choose from and still spend less than at competing sites.

designcrowd pricing

Special Offer: Use promo code AFF150OFF for up to $150 off your design project!

At the top-end, I can see some overwhelm setting in from trying to choose from 150+ designs, so would probably opt for something in the middle. DesignCrowd indicates their $499 package promising 100+ designs is their most popular offering, though if my budget is tight I’d go for the 50+ tier and save the $180.

There are add-ons to make your contest private or feature it to get more submissions.

If at the end of the contest you don’t like any of the designs, DesignCrowd will refund your project under their 100% money back guarantee.

(Of course, you’ll get more submissions if you make your project guaranteed and waive your right to a refund.)

DIY Logo Services

DesignCrowd has spun off an AI-logo design service called BrandCrowd, in which you can use thousands of templates to build your own logo.

Punch in your company name, an industry or keyword, and begin to sort through the options:

brandcrowd samples

From there, you can logo style, font style, and color preferences until you arrive on the perfect logo for your business.

Like other Do-It-Yourself logo services, you’ll pay for the use of the high resolution files. On BrandCrowd, the fee is $25-45 (not sure if the $25 shown is a limited time promo):

brandcrowd pricing

There’s also a monthly subscription option, which includes a bunch of extra stuff, of which the “unlimited edits” is probably the most valuable. I can see that being helpful if you need to make a change in the future.

But otherwise, it seems kind of unnecessary to pay monthly for what if most likely a 1-off project.

DesignCrowd Alternatives

There are several companies that offer similar graphic design outsourcing. The best-known of the crowdsourcing options is 99designs. One interesting point of differentiation is DesignCrowd’s “Participation Payment” program, which rewards designers for submitting their work to your contest even if they don’t win.

If you have a need for ongoing design work, Design Pickle might be worth checking out.

Fiverr Penji 99designs Design Pickle Looka
Customer Rating
Established 2010 2016 2008 2015 2016
Minimum Cost $5 $399 per month $299 $399 per month $20
Type of Service A la carte design Unlimited Graphic Design Crowdsourced design Unlimited design AI logo design
Best for Fast, cheap designs On-going design needs Higher profile work Ongoing design needs Affordable DIY
Notes 15-day money back guarantee. 100% money-back guarantee 14-day money back trial; 30% off first month w/ code VA30 Don't pay until you love your logo
Learn more Learn More Learn More Learn More Learn More Learn More

Your Turn

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

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DesignOye

Posted by Mica Harvey / Graphic and Web Design Services

Designoye is a graphic design company offering unlimited graphic design services for a flat monthly fee.

The company started operations in 2011. Their headquarters are split across the US and UAE, and their designers work remotely from the UAE, Philippines, and India.

About Designoye

Designoye ReviewThe company is headed up by current CEO Dushyant Bhatia.

When asked who their target customers are, Designoye told me, “Anyone who is looking to have a designer but is not keen on hiring full-time personnel.”

They went on to say they work with startups, creative agencies, bloggers, professionals, and a lot of brick and mortar businesses.

When you sign up for a monthly plan with Designoye you can start submitting as many design tasks as you wish.

You’re limited to the 24-48-hour turnaround per task, plus revisions. This means you can get around 30 tasks completed in a month in the best-case scenario.

That’s pretty good value for $369/month, especially when you compare that to the cost of an in-house designer.

They have offices in the US and the UAE you can call as a point of contact. The design work is sent overseas to India and the Philippines, which explains how they can offer such competitive rates.

How DesignOye Works

When you sign up for one of their monthly subscription plans, you’ll be able to log in to your account and access your dashboard via their site.

Once in, a member of their team will call you up and talk you through the process when it’s your first time.

Once you’re familiar with their software and how to submit jobs, it’s as easy as submitting a job and waiting for it to be completed.

You’ll receive a draft within 24-48 per job. You can either accept the work or send it back with revision notes. You can also add as many jobs as you wish to your job list and they’ll be picked up one after the other.

Services

Designoye’s team of graphic designers will take on just about any kind of graphic design task.

A few tasks, such as logo designs, animated Gifs, website designs, and Google Slides and Decks are reserved for the Premium Plan, but everything else is available in either plan.

Some of the common design tasks they expect from their clients include:

  • Banner ads
  • Social media graphics
  • Email banners and graphics
  • Blog images
  • Infographics
  • Flyer and brochures
  • T-shirt graphics

Plans and Pricing

Designoye currently has two different monthly pricing plans as follows:

  • Standard – $369/mo – Aimed at individuals, solo entrepreneurs or small teams.
  • Premium – $999/mo – Aimed at agencies and medium to large businesses

Designoye Pricing

Included in the Standard Plan:

  • unlimited design projects
  • unlimited revisions
  • free stock photos
  • one project at a time

The Premium Plan includes all the services in the Standard Plan, plus you are assigned a dedicated account manager, can request logo designs, animated Gifs, website designs, and Google Slides and Decks.

Designoye Alternatives

Design Pickle is perhaps the best-known service in the unlimited graphic design space. Rival Delesign might be worth a look as well, and performed well in my brief trial. Pricing is similar.

Fiverr Penji 99designs Design Pickle Looka
Customer Rating
Established 2010 2016 2008 2015 2016
Minimum Cost $5 $399 per month $299 $399 per month $20
Type of Service A la carte design Unlimited Graphic Design Crowdsourced design Unlimited design AI logo design
Best for Fast, cheap designs On-going design needs Higher profile work Ongoing design needs Affordable DIY
Notes 15-day money back guarantee. 100% money-back guarantee 14-day money back trial; 30% off first month w/ code VA30 Don't pay until you love your logo
Learn more Learn More Learn More Learn More Learn More Learn More

If you don’t want to commit to a monthly plan, you could try looking on marketplaces like Fiverr for one-off design gigs.

Your Turn

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

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Nexa

Posted by Mica Harvey / Virtual Receptionist Services

Nexa is a US-based virtual receptionist provider. They have offices in Phoenix, AZ, Lake Havasu, AZ, and Richmond, VA. All of their virtual receptionists are located in their Phoenix offices.

The company has been in business since 1982. They provide a wide range of virtual receptionist services to clients across the US.

About Nexa

Nexa ReviewThe company is headed up by Chief Executive Officer and Company President, Parker Davis.

Nexa provides virtual receptionist services and say they’ve answered more than 30 million calls to date.

Nexa Services

Their core services are call answering, appointment scheduling, and qualifying leads for you and your business.

They work with companies across any industry. If you’re in a position where you need phone cover out of hours or when you’re busy, they can take your calls using a custom script for your business.

They have a few tailored plans with agents trained in specific industries, too. For example, you’ll find:

  • NexaProfessional, for busy professionals
  • NexaMedical for doctor’s offices and medical professionals
  • NexaHomeServices for small businesses with a client base

Nexa says they have rigorous internal training processes and ongoing development programs. They also train the agents you’ll be working with about your business during the onboarding process.

This means you get to work with the same agents. As they learn more about you and your business over time, they’ll feel like part of your team.

One of the things that stood out to me about Nexa is that they say they can integrate their systems with your CRM. This enables them to schedule appointments directly into your calendar, provide monthly reports directly into your system, and more.

How Nexa Works

When you sign up with Nexa you are taken through an onboarding process. This involves writing up scripts for their virtual receptionists to use. If this isn’t something you’re prepared for, they’ll help you put it together.

You can then start forwarding your calls to their agents for the times that you’re not able to take them. Their receptionists work 24/7, 365 days a year so finding cover is never an issue.

All the calls and messages they take are recorded in detail. You can request these details to be sent to you by SMS, email, or via your chosen CRM. They also have a mobile app and desktop portal with live data you can check whenever you want.

Services

Nexa offers a range of telecommunication services. They have a team of receptionists based in their call center waiting to handle your calls, take messages, make appointments, and so on.

To give you a better idea, they group their services into the following categories:

  • Virtual receptionist services – This encompasses everything their receptionists can do while answering your calls 24/7, 365 days a year.
  • Appointment scheduling – Their agents can schedule appointments they take over the phone directly into your calendar through your preferred CRM.
  • Lead qualification and intake – Nexa says their agents are trained to identify and act on leads. This means you can be sure you’ll not miss a potential lead because you’re busy or sleeping.

Plans and Pricing

Nexa currently has 4 different pricing plans, although they don’t have a set price for each plan. The cost will vary depending on what type of business you have and some of your specific requirements.

Each plan includes access to their online portal, follow-ups and outbound calls, a dedicated phone number, and 24/7 cover.

You can opt in to the following bundles of minutes per month:

  • Entrepreneur – 100 minutes and 5 points of contact
  • Professional – 300 minutes and 10 points of contact
  • Executive – 500 minutes and 20 points of contact
  • Enterprise – 500+ minutes

Nexa Pricing

Nexa Alternatives

Ruby Receptionists and GabbyVille are two alternative US-based virtual receptionist companies worth checking out.

Ruby Receptionists Gabbyville DaVinci 1-888-GoAnswer
Customer Rating not rated not rated
Established 2003 2013 2006 2003
Minimum Monthly Cost $299 for 100 minutes $229 for 150 minutes $99 for 50 minutes $110 for 100 minutes
Price per Minute $2.99 $1.53 $2.00 $1.10
Set-Up Fee $99 $95 $75
Trial 14-Day Free Trial 14-Day Free Trial 30-Day Risk-Free
Learn more Learn More Learn More Learn More Learn More

Gabbyville is the less expensive of the two and the only one to offer a free trial if you prefer to try a service before committing. Meanwhile, Ruby Receptionists is one of the longest-running and best-known companies in the space.

Your Turn

Have you worked with Nexa? If so, please share a quick review of your experience and help others with their search.

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Gigster

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

Gigster is a US-based company that has built a network of more than 600 freelance engineers and app developers. One of their taglines is, “We build and manage distributed teams like no one else.”

If you have a large project that requires a team of skilled developers, Gigster are able to assemble and manage that team for you.

The company started operations in 2014. Their headquarters are located in California, and the developers using their platform work remotely all over the globe.

About Gigster

Gigster reviewThe company is headed up by co-founders Debo Olaosebikan and Roger Dickey.

Gigster is a form of online marketplace that connects app developers and software engineers with customers. However, there are some major differences between their business model and popular marketplaces like Upwork and Freelancer.com.

You don’t post a job to be picked up by freelancers or receive proposals. Instead, Gigster will build a team of developers — headed up by a project manager — based on your project requirements.

They have a deep pool of highly experienced and skilled developers from around the world. Their service is aimed more at businesses with large projects and sizable budgets. Some of their past clients include large banks and medical outfits.

How Gigster Works

Gigster doesn’t go into a lot of detail about their services and the processes involved when working with them.

If you’re interested in working with Gigster to develop an app or complete some other online projects, you’ll need to reach out and contact them for a custom quote based on your needs.

Once they know what you want, they’ll put together a team and handle everything from that point.

Services

If you don’t have the software or app developing skills within your team, or know that your project is going to be a one-off, Gigster might be a cost-effective solution.

They have skilled freelancers on their books ready to take on projects. So, you can hand over the development of an app or some software, and tap into their pool of talent without the long-term commitment.

They say they’ve handled more than 5,000 jobs to date. Mostly revolving around developing custom platforms, apps, and solutions for their clients.

Plans and Pricing

Gigster do not have any set pricing plans or give away any details regarding how much their service costs. Still, keep in mind most of these types of projects will have budgets in the $20,000-$100,000+ range.

They price each job on a case-by-case basis depending on your individual task requirements.

Expect their pricing to be on the higher end of the scale though. On their recruitment page, they say they’re looking for highly skilled developers and pay a “Silicon Valley wage no matter where you live.”

They also assign a project manager to manage the team of developers working on a project, so this isn’t the place for one-off quick tasks.

Gigster Alternatives

Toptal is another platform that can connect you with highly-skilled and talented freelance developers and engineers. They’re a bit more transparent with their pricing and services, so it might be a good idea to hop over and take for a quote.

FreeeUp Upwork Fiverr OnlineJobs
Established 2015 1999 2010 2008
Location Worldwide, w/ concentration in USA and Philippines Worldwide Worldwide Philippines
Customer Rating
Size of Talent Pool Thousands 12 million 830,000 250,000
Hourly Rate $5-75+ $3-100+ $3-100+ $3-20+
Platform Fee 15% 5-20% 20% + processing fee $69 a month
Worker Tracking
(optional)
Pre-Screened Freelancers
(w/ Fiverr Pro)
Best For Quick hires, e-commerce One-off projects Smaller jobs Affordable full-time help
Learn More Learn More Learn More Learn More

If these kinds of platforms more than you’re really looking for, you could try a freelance platform like FreeeUp. Post your job and vet the candidates that come in. It’s certainly going to be less expensive, too, but obviously aimed at a different client base.

Your Turn

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

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Xilium

Posted by Mica Harvey / Virtual Assistant Companies

UPDATE: As of 2019, Xilium has widened its scope to providing solutions for medical enterprise groups.

Xilium is a virtual assistant company with administrative offices in Minnesota, and offices and virtual assistant staff in the Philippines. They provide a wide range of services and have been in operation since 2011.

If you’re curious what the name means, as I was, apparently it’s loosely derived from the Latin word “auxilium” meaning “assistance” or “aid.” So there’s your trivia for the day.

About Xilium

xilium reviewThe company is headed up by Vanessa Belleza. I asked Xilium what their areas of specialization are and they said, “[we] specialize in providing remote administrative support services to healthcare professionals in the US. Among the virtual medical services we offer are EMR management, reception, medical billing, and medical coding.””

If your businesses focuses on either of these areas and you are struggling to keep up with your workload it’s worth making contact with Xilium to see how they can help.

Xilium hire staff in the Philippines to take advantage of the geoarbitrage that comes with the lower cost of living in the Philippines (see plans and pricing below). You can hire part or full-time staff at a much lower cost than in the US. Staff in the Philippines typically have very good English skills too, so you’re less likely to encounter communication problems as you would with some other counties.

All of their staff are vetted, have college-graduate level qualifications and years of experience in the virtual assistant industry. Their staff work flexible hours, so your timezone or prefered hours of operation are not going to be a problem.

Services

The company provides college-graduate, professional virtual assistants ready to handle the day-to-day tasks you want to outsource to free up more of your time.

Medical Assistant Virtual Assistants

  • Patient scheduling
  • Call answering and handling
  • Calendar management
  • Word processing
  • Electronic medical record management
  • Medical transcriptions
  • Internet research
  • Medical billing and coding
  • Medical accounting via QuickBoooks

Xilium Intro Video

Plans and Pricing

Xilium requests prospective clients contact them for a custom package quote based on your needs. For the sake of reference, rates were previously in the $9-15 an hour range.

Xilium Alternatives

There are no shortage of virtual assistant companies operating out of the Philippines, but few (if any) have the medical focus that Xilium does.

If you’re comfortable with a home-based VA, you might consider OnlineJobs, the largest virtual work job board in the country.

Your Turn

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

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Paragon Planners

Posted by Mica Harvey / US Virtual Assistants

Paragon Planners is a US-based virtual assistant company. They specialize in providing scheduling and marketing services to individuals and small to medium-sized businesses.

The company has been operating since 2002. Their headquarters are based in Portland, Oregon, and their assistants work remotely across the US.

About Paragon Planners

Paragon Planners ReviewThe company is headed up by co-founder, President and CEO, Tina Gardner.

Paragon Planners refers to their team as a “driven, energized, enthusiastic team of planners and makers.”

They provide a range of virtual assistant services. Specializing in what they call “Territory Management.” This means their goal is to help their clients grow their businesses within their territories or markets.

They do this by providing virtual assistants trained in marketing, administrative tasks, event planning, and other skills needed to improve their relationships with their own clients.

How Paragon Planners Works

If you’re interested in working with Paragon Planners, the relationship starts with a consultation call.

This enables them to understand your business, determine your requirements, and work out how they can help.

With a clear understanding of the skills and experience you need from an assistant. They will assign you the best-suited assistant from their team.

From there, you can communicate directly with your assistant and bring them into your business as a remote team member.

Services

Paragon Planners provide assistants skilled in a wide range of tasks. They do specialize in marketing, client relationships, and planning, however, so you’ll get the most out of their service in these areas.

Here’s how they categorize their services:

  • Territory Management – Territory analysis, focus lists, prospect lists, and other metrics to help you better understand your market.
  • Scheduling and Appointment Setting – One of their Schedulers will take care of all your scheduling. Such as managing your calendar, scheduling appointments, working through your call logs, and more.
  • Marketing – Their marketing approach is “The Art and Science of Using Gifts.” This might mean things like thank you cards, gifts, and other things to make a good impression with clients.
  • Event Planning and Calling – Their assistants can help you plan and run any kind of event. Such as ordering materials, booking venues, sending out invitations, post-event follow-ups, and everything else that goes into a successful event.
  • Admin/Operations Support – Their administrative assistants can handle all those day-to-day tasks taking up your time, such as bookkeeping, travel planning, inbox management, and more.
  • Virtual Assistant Services – Paragon Planners also have general virtual assistants. You can utilize them to handle any business or personal tasks that can be completed remotely.

Plans and Pricing

Paragon Planners does not provide any pricing plans or cost information upfront. They put together custom plans based on each individual client’s requirements.

Paragon Planners Alternatives

For US-based virtual assistant companies, I recommend checking out Time ETC and Boldly.

Prialto Time Etc MyTasker Boldly
Customer Rating
Established 2009 2007 2012 2012
Hourly Rate $27 $24-27 $7.50-14 $59
Minimum Package $1500 for 55+ hours $270 for 10 hours $140 for 10 hours $2360 for 40 hours
Dedicated Assistant
Minimum VA Experience Extensive in-house training 5 years In-house training 7 years
Team Access
Rollover Hours *does not charge overage
Free Trial
Learn More Learn More Learn More Learn More

While they don’t specialize in scheduling and marketing services as Paragon Planners do, these skills fall under their services offered. If budget is a concern, Time ETC is well-rated and has slightly more affordable rates.

Your Turn

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

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Kapa99

Posted by Mica Harvey / Graphic and Web Design Services

Kapa99 is a US-based graphic design company offering unlimited graphic design requests and revisions for a flat monthly fee.

The company started operations in 2014. Their headquarters are located in California, and all of their designers work exclusively for Kapa99 from all over the world.

About Kapa99

Kapa99 ReviewKapa99 offers a range of graphic design services on a monthly subscription-based model. As a user of their platform, for a monthly fee you can request as many graphic design tasks as you want.

As with other companies offering “unlimited” tasks, you’re limited by how long your designs take.

You can order as many designs as you like, but they’ll be placed in a queue and be completed in order. Kapa99 says their typical turnaround time is 24-48 hours for new tasks and revisions.

The basic math on this means you can receive anywhere between 15-30 designs in a 30-day period.

How Kapa99 Works

When you sign up with Kapa99 you get a 15-day free trial, so it makes sense to make the most of this and start loading up your queue with as many designs as you need.

You can submit tasks via email or Trello. They recommend you are as descriptive as possible when outlining your brief to help their designers create your vision.

Even including a rough drawing by hand will go a long way to helping a designer start in the right direction.

You’ll receive your designs in AI, .PSD, and .INDD file format and own all the rights to the work.

Their turnaround time is usually within 24-48 hours. If the design isn’t what you were looking for, you can reply with the revisions you want to be made.

Services

Kapa99’s designers will undertake most types of graphic design work.

Some of the most commonly requested design tasks include:

  • Logos
  • Blog images
  • Web ads
  • Illustrations
  • T-shirt designs
  • Business cards
  • Book covers
  • Social media images

It’s almost easier to list what they don’t do. Which, for the most part, includes:

  • Video or motion graphics
  • HTML/CSS or work with any other languages
  • Website or mobile app designs
  • CAD/3D

Plans and Pricing

Kapa99 charges a flat fee of $399 per month for unlimited design requests and revisions.

They turn most tasks around within 24-48 hours. They say there is some flexibility there if you have an urgent task or a big task that will take a lot longer.

You can reach out to them to discuss any individual requirements, and they’ll do their best to accommodate you.

Kapa99 Pricing

They offer a 100% money-back guarantee for your first 30 days. If you’re not happy for any reason, they’ll give you a full refund. They also pay out $15 for every delay that’s their fault.

Kapa99 Alternatives

Design Pickle and Pebbled are two alternative companies that both offer a similar monthly subscription model for unlimited design work.

Pebbled is the least expensive of the bunch, with pricing starting at $99 per month. Design Pickle starts at the same price point of $399 as Kapa99, with the option to upgrade for same-day delivery.

Fiverr Penji 99designs Design Pickle Looka
Customer Rating
Established 2010 2016 2008 2015 2016
Minimum Cost $5 $399 per month $299 $399 per month $20
Type of Service A la carte design Unlimited Graphic Design Crowdsourced design Unlimited design AI logo design
Best for Fast, cheap designs On-going design needs Higher profile work Ongoing design needs Affordable DIY
Notes 15-day money back guarantee. 100% money-back guarantee 14-day money back trial; 30% off first month w/ code VA30 Don't pay until you love your logo
Learn more Learn More Learn More Learn More Learn More Learn More

Your Turn

Have you worked with Kapa99? If so, please leave a review below to help others with their decision

Read More

Hit Rate Solutions

Posted by Mica Harvey / Virtual Receptionist Services

Hit Rate Solutions is a telecommunications company offering a range of virtual receptionist services. They serve businesses of all sizes looking for a cost-effective solution to outsourcing their inbound and outbound calls.

The company started operations in 2011. They have offices in the US and the Philippines, all of their call agents are based in their call center in the Philippines.

About Hit Rate Solutions

Hit Rate Solution ReviewThe company’s daily operations are overseen by operations manager Mary Salgado.

Their target customers are businesses of any size in need of outsourcing their inbound or outbound calls.

Their business model separates them from their competitors. Hit Rate Solutions operates on a model similar to a virtual assistant company rather than a virtual receptionist provider.

Instead of having a pool of virtual receptionists picking up calls and charging per minute spent on the phone, Hit Rate Solutions provides virtual assistants that work the same business hours as you and act as a receptionist available to answer calls.

If you’re weighing up the pros and cons of outsourcing to the Philippines, Hit Rate Solutions lists their strengths as:

  • High quality, low cost – It’s no secret that the cost of living is considerably lower in the Philippines than in the US. This enables Hit Rate Solutions to offer hourly rates that can’t be matched by US-based call centers.
  • Excellent English – The concern with outsourcing telecommunications overseas is the possible language barrier. Hit Rate Solutions says all of their agents speak excellent English.
  • Experience – With more than 10 years of experience behind them, they say they’ve refined their service and are “customer experts.”

How Hit Rate Solutions Works

Hit Rate Solutions says it typically takes 2-3 business days to get set up and have your assistant picking up your calls.

To get started, a team member will jump on a call with you to talk through the onboarding process and answer any questions you have.

They’ll then find available agents and you can either screen them yourself over a call or leave it in their hands.

Once an agent is assigned to your account, you can send them any scripts you want them to use and forward your calls.

Services

Hit Rate Solutions offers a range of call answering services, including:

  • Outbound Calling – Lead generation, appointment scheduling, telemarketing, and more.
  • Customer Support – Handling all kinds of inbound queries and questions from your customers on your behalf.
  • Virtual Receptionist Services – You can task their agents to do anything you would ask of an in-house receptionist.
  • Virtual Assistant Services – They also provide general virtual assistants to help with tasks such as bookkeeping, data entry, and other business tasks that can be completed remotely.
  • Telephone Answering Services – If your business has any call answering tasks outside of what’s already been covered, their team can handle those for you.

Plans and Pricing

Hit Rate Solutions do not have any set pricing plans or packages. Instead, they provide custom quotes based on your specific requirements.

If you’re interested in working with them, you need to fill out a form on their site and a member of their team will get back to you.

To give you an idea of how much you can expect to pay, I asked one of their agents for some more detail on their pricing. He told me, “We can offer dedicated associates for as low as $7/hr. We work in 80-160 hour blocks of time (2-4 weeks) per caller. There are no set up costs, long term contracts, or additional phone charges.”

This is very different from the cost-per-minute model most US-based virtual receptionist companies operate to. So, it’s worth evaluating how having an agent working for you by the hour works out per the number of expected calls they’ll receive.

Hit Rate Solutions Alternatives

If you’re looking for virtual receptionist services, I recommend checking out Ruby Receptionists and Gabbyville.

These are two of the top US-based virtual receptionist companies, so expect to pay a little more than Hit Rate Solutions. But they do offer free trials, so you have nothing to lose by testing them out.

Ruby Receptionists Gabbyville DaVinci 1-888-GoAnswer
Customer Rating not rated not rated
Established 2003 2013 2006 2003
Minimum Monthly Cost $299 for 100 minutes $229 for 150 minutes $99 for 50 minutes $110 for 100 minutes
Price per Minute $2.99 $1.53 $2.00 $1.10
Set-Up Fee $99 $95 $75
Trial 14-Day Free Trial 14-Day Free Trial 30-Day Risk-Free
Learn more Learn More Learn More Learn More Learn More

If you want to stick to overseas outsourcing, most virtual assistant providers in the Philippines will be able to manage your calls. I recommend starting with OnlineJobs.ph and FreeeUp as they’re two of the bigger VA providers.

Your Turn

Have you worked with Hit Rate Solutions? If so, please leave a review below to help others with their decision.

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MyWorkers

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

MyWorkers is a virtual assistant company providing a range of virtual assistant services to businesses of all sizes across the globe.

The company has been in operation since 2014 and recently went through a rebranding in 2019. Their headquarters is located in Provo, UT, and most of their virtual assistants are based remotely in Venezuela.

About MyWorkers.co

myworkers reviewThe company is headed up by founder and CEO Cameron Kinney.

Cameron started MyWorkers to provide top quality English speaking talent at a low cost. He’s done this by putting together a team of college-educated virtual assistants based remotely in Venezuela.

MyWorkers say that native Venezuelans speak excellent English, so communication shouldn’t be an issue. They also put every applicant through an intense interview process to ensure they’re hiring only the top talent in the area.

They currently have more than 300+ virtual assistants on their team. This is a huge number, so I would expect you to be able to find the availability and skills needed to outsource your business tasks.

When asked what their area of specialization is, MyWorkers said, “We have such a wide variety of clients and needs that I wouldn’t say we specialize in any specific area. We’re definitely generalists.”

How MyWorkers Works

If you’re interested in working with MyWorkers you can send them an email to get started.

A member of their team will get back to you to arrange a video call to discuss your requirements and find out more about you and your business.

They’ll then send you profiles of a few of their candidates they think are best suited for your requirements.

You can either choose the candidate you think is the best fit, or leave it in their hands. Once a decision has been made, you can start working with your assistant right away.

MyWorkers Services

MyWorkers’ assistants are able to take on just about any business tasks that can be completed remotely.

To give you an idea of the kinds of tasks they expect, they group their services into the following categories:

  • Social media management
  • Data Entry
  • Online research
  • eCommerce support
  • Customer support
  • Sales
  • Personal assistance
  • WordPress and web development

MyWorkers Plans and Pricing

MyWorkers charges a simple flat rate of $7.95 per hour, for as few or as many hours as you’d like.

They say there are no minimum requirements, no contracts, and no hidden fees. You just pay for the hours your assistant works for you.

They offer a 3-hour free trial, so you can test their services before committing.

MyWorkers Alternatives

If you like the idea of working with South American-based assistants, Uassist.me and iWorker are two companies worth considering. iWorker is the least expensive of the three if budget is your main priority.

You can also get similar rates by looking overseas. There’s no shortage of options if you’re comfortable working with a virtual assistant company in the Philippines.

Your Turn

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

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