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

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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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nDash

Posted by Mica Harvey / Content Writing Services

nDash is an online platform that connects freelance writers with clients in need of content. They have more than 10,000 fully vetted and verified writers, and provide tools to help clients build and manage teams of writers.

The company has been operating since 2014. They are headquartered in Wayland, MA, and all of the writers using their platform are freelancers working remotely.

About nDash

ndash reviewThe company was founded by current CEO, Michael Brown.

Michael is a writer and entrepreneur who loves creating things. He founded nDash to help the world’s best freelance writers advance their careers, and to help brands find quality writers to create quality content.

There’s a lot more to nDash than your typical content writing job board. The company has developed a fully interactive dashboard that helps companies find the perfect writers for their brand.

There are some other tools such as advanced workflow features, a content calendar, publishing tools, marketing integrations, and more.

From a client perspective, nDash has been designed to make finding writers and content ideas as easy as possible. You’ll even be pitched ideas from writers, which is how most of the content is produced on the platform.

How nDash Works

Most content marketplaces work the same way, they allow clients to post jobs and freelancers to either bid or pick up those jobs.

nDash works a little differently. There are three ways writers and companies can connect on the platform, and the most popular way isn’t through job posting.

The ways companies and writers connect are:

  1. Writers can respond to assignments posted by clients, as per the “normal” process.
  2. Clients are encouraged to find writers with the experience they need for their job. So, writers are often contacted directly to work out an arrangement.
  3. Writers can pitch ideas directly to companies. nDash says that to date, almost 65% of all paid assignments started as a pitch so this is something you should pursue if you’re a writer.

If you’re interested in using nDash as a client looking for content you can schedule a demo of their software. A member of their team will take you through the features of their software and help get you setup.

You can then start posting writing jobs, contacting writers, and looking through pitch ideas.

Services

nDash provides a platform for companies, agencies, or anyone seeking quality content to find vetted freelance writers.

With more than 10,000 skilled writers in their database, there’s a good chance you’ll find the right writer to help you create the content you’re seeking.

They have some of the best tools for managing workflows I’ve seen from a content creation company.

Plans and Pricing

nDash currently has three different monthly pricing plans. You’ll also need to agree to a price per piece of content with writers and pay that as well.

You can sign up and use the platform for free to get a feel for how it works. There are two plans on the opposite ends of the pricing scale; one for $30 per month and one for $500 per month.

Here’s a look at their pricing options at the time of publishing and the features you get with each plan:

  • Free – $0 per month, this plan allows you to use most of the tools needed to find and manage writers.
  • Pro – $30 per month, this plan allows you to manage your in-house writers using nDash’s software.
  • Managed – $500 per month, this plan also includes an account manager, custom onboarding, writer vetting, and testing, CMS management, and weekly content calls.

nDash Pricing

It’s hard to say how much content costs as you can set the price for your requests, and writers set their own prices when pitching content ideas.

Looking through some examples though, it’s fair to say you can expect to pay $75 and upwards for a 1,000-word blog post depending on the amount of research needed.

Some friends of mine who recommended the platform indicated they were paying $200-300 per article.

nDash Alternatives

If you’re looking for alternative content writing services, I recommend checking out CopywriterToday, Hirewriters, or Textbroker.

CopywriterToday operates on a monthly subscription model for unlimited content requests. While Hirewriters and Textbroker operate as job posting boards with some flexibility allowing you to pick writers if you prefer.

Your Turn

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

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Acadium (formerly GenM)

Posted by Mica Harvey / Freelance Virtual Assistants

Acadium is a unique and growing platform to connect businesses with free digital marketing apprentices.

The company’s stated mission is to “to enable anyone, anywhere to acquire the skills, experience and relationships they need to succeed in the job market.” How they accomplish that is by providing online training courses and matching students with businesses who need their help.

About Acadium

acadium reviewAcadium began as GenM began in 2017, with a team of 3 co-founders: Richard Shaw, Marco Tundo, and Moe Abbas. Since then, they’ve attracted more than 20,000 student members and over 5000 businesses.

Why would these students choose to work for free? They’re looking for real-world digital marketing experience to boost their resume and attractiveness on the job market.

In exchange for their help, you’re expected to provide mentorship, guidance, and feedback on their work.

How Acadium Works

uassist.me review

As an employer, you can create a free Acadium account here. The site will ask for some information about you and your company, which will be shown to prospective apprentices.

I answered questions about my proudest business accomplishments and the areas I could use the most help with.

You’ll find you’ll begin to get messages from proactive students right away, but you can also reach out to individuals yourself. Inside the platform, you can filter the student database by country, industry, the type of work, software tools, and language.

genm filters

From there, you can check out the profiles of each student and start a conversation. You’ll want to sell your company a bit as to why it’s a cool / beneficial place to work, and figure out what the candidate is most excited to learn and work on.

Once you find a candidate you like, that’s when you pay your membership fee (see below) and start the apprenticeship.

Each apprenticeship lasts 3 months. At the end of the term, you can either hire your apprentice into your team or go back to the pool and get a new one. There is no obligation or expectation to hire, though the platform says 1 in 5 apprenticeships do end in a job offer.

Acadium provides the labor contract that protects your business.

Acadium Services

Acadium specializes in placing remote digital marketing apprentices, which encompasses a variety of skills, including:

  • SEO
  • Graphic design
  • Social media
  • Content marketing
  • Marketing analytics
  • E-commerce
  • Paid advertising
  • and more

The platform is upfront that most of their candidates don’t have a ton of experience. Instead, “We screen for motivation,” they explain.

My Experience with Acadium

A member of my community first told my about Acadium (back when it was GenM) and I was curious to see what it was all about.

I was specifically looking for help with SEO and content marketing, and found several candidates that were interested in or experienced in those areas.

My apprentice helped build out a detailed database of my existing blog content. The goal was to help plug some holes in keyword and social optimization, and through her efforts we found several key opportunities for improvement.

Hopefully the experience was interesting and helpful for her going forward with her own projects!

Because she was balancing school and another job, she didn’t have a ton of time to dedicate to my work, which was totally fine by me. I think as long as you’re upfront about expectations, you won’t run into any issues there.

Acadium Plans and Pricing

Acadium membership costs $299 per “credit”, paid quarterly, and your apprentice can work up to 10 hours a week. Each credit can be redeemed for a 3-month term with an Acadium apprentice.

(There is a limited free plan, but if you want to contact candidates, you’ve got to pay.)

There are no hidden fees or other costs, though you can potentially save money by buying multiple credits:

While the price is obviously a huge advantage of the Acadium service, the biggest downside I see is the constant turnover.

If you’re looking for a long-term solution to a need in your business, bringing on and training a new apprentice every 3 months might be counter-productive.

Acadium Alternatives

Aside from the various virtual assistant companies, the closest competitor I could find to Acadium is Internships.com. On that platform you can post your internships for free, but in most cases you’ll probably need to pay your internship.

Your Turn

Have you worked with an Acadium apprentice? What did you think? Please leave a review below to help others with their decision.

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Hatchwise

Posted by Mica Harvey / Graphic and Web Design Services

Hatchwise is a crowdsourcing design marketplace where you can run “contests” for a range of graphic design tasks. You’ll receive designs from dozens of designers from all over the world to choose a winning entry from.

The company has been in operation since 2008, and their headquarters is located in Groton, CT.

About Hatchwise

Hatchwise ReviewThe company is headed up by founder George Ryan. George is also a co-founder of Flocksy, an on-demand graphic design company. So, he understands the graphic design space well.

Hatchwise says they have created more than one million logos, designed by designers from 130 countries, for companies in 97 countries. So, they’ve grown considerably since launching in 2008 and have a good global reach.

They’re basically the middleman between clients seeking design work, and freelance designers. When you’re running contests and choosing a winner, you’re dealing with the freelancers directly.

How Hatchwise Works

There are four steps from creating a contest to receiving your finished designs as follows:

  1. Fill out a simple creative brief outlining what you want from your contest. Provide details of the designs you want, set a budget, deadline, and launch your contest.
  2. You’ll start receiving dozens of entries from designers all over the world.
  3. You can rate, provide feedback, and request changes if you see a design that’s close to what you want.
  4. When you see the perfect design, select it as the winner. The creative who designed it will receive their payment and release all the files and usage rights to you.

Services

You can start a contest for just about any form of graphic design work. Some of the more popular contests are for:

  • Logo designs
  • Website designs
  • Brochure designs
  • T-shirt designs

They also have some options to run contests for naming your company, website, or slogan and tagline ideas to go along with some new logos and branding.

Plans and Pricing

Hatchwise currently has four different pricing plans starting at $89 for 30+ designs.

Each plan increases the number of designers and designs you can expect to come in. As you pay more, you’ll get you more design concepts to choose from.

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

  • Bronze – $89 for 30+ designs from 10+ designers.
  • Silver – $189 for 70+ designs from 20+ designers.
  • Gold – $249 for 130+ designs from 50+ designers.
  • Platinum – $539 for 270+ designs from 100+ designers.

Hatchwise Pricing

They offer a money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied with any of the entries for your contest.

Obviously, there’s a lot of work that goes into every contest with so many designers pitching their work, and only one person is getting paid. So, Hatchwise does stress that you should only run a contest if you’re planning on settling on a winner, which is fair.

Hatchwise Alternatives

As an alternative company that operates on a very similar business model is 99Designs. The only real difference is that 99Designs is a little more expensive. In fact, Hatchwise’s pricing plans are definitely on the lower end for this type of design content model.

If you’re working on a tighter budget you could try and make your own logo using an AI-power logo design tool like the one offered by Looka which starts at $20.

Or, you could try and find a designer you want to work with on Fiverr and spend as little as $5.

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
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Consider It Done

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

Consider It Done is a US-based premium personal concierge company. They provide a range of high-end concierge services to VIP clients across the US.

The company has been operating since 1997. Their headquarters and team members are located in New York, NY.

About Consider It Done

Consider It Done ReviewThe company is headed up by founder and CEO, Julie Subotky.

Consider It Done is a high-end lifestyle, management, and personal concierge business. Their business model is to take just about any task off your hands, so you can free up more of your time to do other things.

Describing their service themselves, they say, “Our team of diversely trained individuals have crafted their skills to master time efficiencies so you can live for what really matters.”

If you’re a busy professional, socialite, or someone who is ready to start handing over tasks to a personal concierge to free up more of your time, Consider It Done wants to hear from you.

How Consider It Done Works

Consider It Done offers a bespoke service. If you’re interested in working with them you need to get in touch and provide some details about the kinds of tasks you want help with.

A member of their team will get back to you detailing how they can help and the expected cost.

Services

Consider It Done says they can help you get anything done.

From “Re-organizing your closets… to managing your next renovation, or scheduling the best events,” it sounds like there’s no task they will not take on.

So, whatever it is you feel like you need help with, it’s worth reaching out to them to see what they can offer.

What that said, to give you a better idea of the areas they specialize in, they group their services into these 5 categories;

  • Personal Services – Booking, planning, scheduling, or any other personal lifestyle tasks.
  • Moving Services – Their sister company, Consider It Moved specializes in helping plan and execute a move.
  • Concierge Services – They can arrange a white-glove experience for you and your clients.
  • Gifting Services – You provide a list of the people and events you want to provide gifts for. They’ll put together a gift-giving calendar and ensure your gifting thoughtfully curated gifts.
  • Coaching Services – They have another sister company called Consider It Coached offering personal and professional coaching services.

Plans and Pricing

Consider It Done do not have any set plans or packages. With the range of services they offer being so board, they put together custom quotes for each client based on their individual requirements.

Consider It Done Alternatives

If you like the concierge model, One Concierge offers a similar suite of services and business model. They are more transparent with their pricing as they operate on a monthly membership model, so I recommend taking a look.

Alternatively, I recommend checking out to virtual assistant companies such as Time ETC and BELAY. You can hire personal US-based assistants capable of carrying out the same tasks and pay a flat hourly rate.

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
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*Specialist services are available for an additional charge.

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