Looka (formerly Logojoy)

Posted by Mica Harvey / Graphic and Web Design Services

Looka (formerly Logojoy) is an AI-powered online logo design tool.

Instead of having a designer make a logo to your specifications, Looka uses artificial intelligence and complex algorithms to generate several logo designs based on your specifications.

The company’s website went live in November, 2016, and Their team are located in Toronto, ON, Canada.

About Looka

looka reviewThe company was founded and is headed up by Dawson Whitfield. With experience in graphic design and freelance work, Dawson realized that most entrepreneurs just wanted simple, high-quality logos, at the lowest possible price.

This gave Dawson the idea to replace himself with artificial intelligence capable of designing high-quality logos. Dawson spent several months on the algorithm behind the logo generating software and starting the company.

The site launched in November 2016 on Product Hunt. Although they have only been in business for less than a month at the time of writing this Dawson says the response from customers, “has been overwhelmingly positive and we hope to establish ourselves as the go-to online application for logo design.”

Services

Looka uses artificial intelligence instead of graphic designers. That allows the service to offer much lower price points and generate several logos in just minutes.

The company’s target customers are entrepreneurs, small business owners, and early-stage startups. Basically, anyone who doesn’t have the budget to work one-on-one with a graphic designer to design their logos and branding material.

How Looka Works

Looka has a well-designed interface to take you through a few quick steps from start to finish. These are:

  1. Choose Inspiration – You choose a few general logo types you like the look and style of. These form the base of the logos the AI will generate.
  2. Choose Color Scheme – Next you choose a block of colors to be used in your logo design.
  3. Company Name and Slogan – Add your company name and a slogan if you have one. This will be used as text on your design.
  4. Pick up to 3 Symbols – Based on keywords of your choice you can choose up to 3 different icons to be used on your logo from a library of over 500,000 unique designs.

Based on your choices in the 4 steps above you will be presented with a few logos. By selecting which logos you like the algorithm will continue to return more logos that meet your specifications until your focus down on the one logo you like best.

There are no graphic designers or assistants to talk to while going through the process. There is however customer support that will get back to you within 24 hours if you have any questions.

I went through the process myself to test it out, and after a little difficulty in creating my account (“Your name is too long or too short”; “Your password is too long or too short” — not helpful!), the app generated a few different options for me:

logojoy-sample-logos

And a few more:

logojoy-sample-logos-2

I think the ones with the headset and the pen (graphics I chose in the process) actually look pretty good. Some of the others don’t make much sense at all.

Plans and Pricing

It’s free to build unlimited logos, which is great because it means you can practice and browse plenty of logo ideas without committing. You only pay when you want to download the logo you have chosen, there are three different pricing plans.

looka pricing

  • Basic – $20, you can download a low-resolution logo on a white background.
  • Premium – $65, you can download a high-resolution logo, ready for use in print, on a transparent background, and with black and white versions.
  • Enterprise – $165, you get all the same features as the Premium package and a one hour design session with one of their designers.

Looka Alternatives

When it comes to graphic design for your business, you’ve got lots of options. Logo Garden operates under a similar model where you kind of do a do-it-yourself design and pay just to download the high resolution files.

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

Alternatively you have services like:

  • Fiverr, where there are hundreds of logo designers promising logos starting at just $5
  • Deluxe, where you’ll pay a little more to work with a dedicated designer and usually get several concepts
  • 99designs, where you can “crowdsource” your logo design to several different designers and pick your favorite

Your Turn

Have you created and downloaded any logos from Looka (or Logojoy)? If so, please take a moment to leave a quick review to help others with their decision.

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Moneypenny

Posted by Mica Harvey / Virtual Receptionist Services

Moneypenny is a telecommunications and phone answering business based in the UK. The core of their business is providing virtual receptionists, they also provide live web chat support, switchboard services, and a pocket phone system.

The company has been in business since 2000, and while they have been long established as one of the market leaders in the UK working with more than 13,000 businesses, they recently expanded their service to the US.

About Moneypenny

Moneypenny provides a wide range of virtual telecommunication services such as live web chat, switchboard handling, and phone pocket systems. Their main service, however, is providing virtual receptionists, which basically means there will always be a receptionist available to take the calls you can’t, or don’t want to take.

The main benefits of a virtual receptionist service are that you can forward calls to your receptionist when you’re not in the office, or set calls to redirect if you’re not answering them quick enough. This way there is always someone to answer your calls, so you’ll never miss a sale, important message, and so on.

It’s also a lot more cost-efficient than employing a full-time receptionist as you’ll only be charged for the minutes that your virtual receptionist is on a call. You also have a team of four receptionists covering your calls, so there is always a good chance one of the team will pick up your call quickly.

How Moneypenny Works

When you sign up with Moneypenny, they assign you a dedicated phone number so they can redirect your calls to that number and your receptionist will know they are answering a call on your behalf.

They can then read from a script you’ve provided, or handle the call as per your instructions and forward any messages to you via email or SMS.

To get started, Moneypenny recommends you take a week’s free trial to get a feel for their service and how it fits with your business.

When the trial is coming to an end, they will recommend a pricing plan that’s best-suited for your business so you can carry on working with them if you’re happy with the results.

Services

Moneypenny group their services into the following four core areas:

  1. Telephone Answering – You can have a team of their receptionists answering your call as per your instructions.
  2. Pocket Phone System – Redirect calls via your mobile to a different number or one of their receptionists.
  3. Mobile Answering – Set up times for their receptionists to answer your mobile calls for you.
  4. Switchboard – Centralize switchboards across multiple locations and hand over the handling of call forwarding to their team.

Plans and Pricing

Moneypenny does not have any set pricing plans available on their site for their phone call answering service. They offer a week’s free trial and will recommend a pricing scheme tailored to your usage and business after the trial ends.

Moneypenny Alternatives

If you’re in the US and want to take a trial with a US-based virtual phone answering service I recommend checking out Ruby Receptionists or Gabbyville.

For another UK-based option, Time Etc is one of the largest virtual assistant companies operating in the UK. They don’t specialize in virtual receptionist services, but it does come under their virtual PA services.

Your Turn

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

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My Cloud Crew

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

My Cloud Crew is an Australian owned and managed virtual assistant company. Their virtual assistants are based in Australia, the US, and predominantly the Philippines, allowing them to offer a wide range of services and business hours.

The company was founded in 2017 and specializes in providing cost-effective staffing solutions for small to medium-sized businesses.

About My Cloud Crew

My Cloud Crew ReviewThe company was founded by Tim Reading. Tim has almost a decade of experience in virtual staffing and has hired and trained more than 500 virtual assistants to-date.

My Cloud Crew says they screen dozens of talented candidates each month to add to their crew of virtual assistants, and they are able to offer competitive rates because most of their virtual assistants are based in the Philippines.

Most of their operational staff and the members of staff that are a point of contact for clients are based in the US, so no issues with business hours if you’re based in the US. They also manage their Filipino staff from their US offices.

They say a couple of areas that separates them from their competitors is that they put their crew members through world-class training to keep their skills up-to-date with the latest software and technologies, and they start with packages for just 5 hours per week to meet the requirements of small businesses.

When you sign up for one of their plans and start working with your assistant you can communicate directly with them via Teamwork, Zoom, a phone number, or Skype.

How My Cloud Crew Works

My Cloud Crew say they can take you from signing up to working with one of their assistants in just 4 steps and less than 24 hours:

  1. Discuss your requirements – You can either fill out a form on their site or talk with a member of their team so you’re both on the same page regarding what you need from your assistant and you’ll be assigned an account manager.
  2. Interview candidates – Your account manager will set up video conference interviews with the top 3 candidates that are most suitable for you and your business.
  3. Make a pick – It’s down to you to decide on the candidate you want to start working with.
  4. Integrate – You can start communicating directly with your new assistant and sending them tasks to complete. There will also be scheduled meetings via Zoom that will be recorded.

Services

My Cloud Crew offer a wide range of services and I wouldn’t hesitate to contact them with whatever requirements you have.

To give you a starting point, they group their “crews” into three general categories as follows:

  • Digital Marketing Crew – Blogging, content marketing, SEO, social media management, web developing, and similar tasks.
  • Finance Crew – Bookkeeping and financial tasks.
  • Operations Crew – General virtual assistant and customer service tasks.

Plans and Pricing

My Cloud Crew have a few different pricing plans depending on the role of the assistant you want to hire and where they are based.

To give you a baseline, however, you can hire one of their Filipino general virtual assistants starting at $5.90 per hour, or one of their senior developers for $20 per hour.

My Cloud Crew Pricing

They hire out their assistants in increments of 20, 40, 60, 80, 120, and 180 hours per month. It’s a good idea to contact them directly for a quote based on the skills and number of hours you need per month.

My Cloud Crew Alternatives

If you want to work with an Australian-based virtual assistant company Outsourced.ph also operate on a similar business model using staff in both Australia and the Philippines. So, it’s worth getting a quote and speaking with a member of their staff to see how they compare.

If outsourcing on a budget is your main focus, there are a number of highly rated virtual assistant companies based in the Philippines worth considering. For full-time hires, OnlineJobs is the country’s largest remote job board.

Your Turn

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

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Toasty

Posted by Mica Harvey / Resources/Tools

Toasty is a virtual meeting software platform designed to help users connect deeper with their meeting participants.

This software is free to use and offers a wide range of features that promote the most interactive experience possible when communicating remotely.

The company is headquartered in Hong Kong and its support staff are also located in Spain, Russia, the Philippines, and Australia.

About Toasty

The company has been in operation since 2019 and is run by Eric Tsang, CEO. Toasty says they already work with more than 16,500 users across 25 countries and are expanding quickly.

This rapid growth is due in part to the global pandemic as more personal and business communications have been forced to take place online.

It’s also a testament to how good this remote conferencing and communication software is.

Toasty says they are the “world’s first and only video meeting platform that is intentionally interactive to incorporate various social capabilities.”

It’s unique, interactive features like Micro Whiteboards, and Figma Design Tools, that separates Toasty from other video conferencing software.

Combined with the fact that Toasty has a generous freemium plan and is incredibly easy to use, and it’s easy to see why this software is so popular.

While anyone can use Toasty, they told me their target audience are trainers, educators, and consultants. This is due to the tools and features Toasty has that helps hosts illustrate and communicate better.

How Toasty Works

If you want to try out Toasty, you can get started for free by signing up for their free plan. Alternatively, if you contact their sales team they will be happy to give you a demo.

Once you have an account, you can set up, pre-plan, and invite people to join you on live sessions.

This may be for work-related meetings, demonstrations, personal calls, essentially anything that involves you communicating with one or more other participants live remotely.

It’s the long list of features that makes Toasty interesting. As a host, you can create agendas for participants to follow along with.

You can include interactive polls, use Miro Boards to illustrate things, set activities, and use other tools to better engage with participants and help add structure to your session.

Toasty Services

The Toasty platform is a self-service interactive platform that connects one or more people virtually.

Some of the main reasons users use Toasty is for:

  • Hosting training
  • Virtual meetings
  • Virtual workshops
  • Focus groups
  • Networking events

Whatever the reason you want to connect with someone or a group of people virtually, Toasty will facilitate it.

Toasty Plans and Pricing

Toasty has three pricing plans to choose from. One of their plans is free and offers enough capacity and features for most organizations to try the platform, if not use it for free.

Their pain plans range from $20-$50/mo and offer increased agendas, attendees, and duration of meetings along with some other benefits.

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

  1. Free – $0 per month – You can assign 3 unique agendas, host up to 20 attendees per session, and meet for up to 50 minutes per session.
  2. Plus – $20 per month – You can assign 30 unique agendas, host up to 100 attendees per session, and meet for up to 3 hours per session.
  3. Premium – $50 per month – You can assign unlimited agendas, host up to 200 attendees per session, and meet for up to 6 hours per session.

There is a discount for paying annually, and you can cancel or change your plan at any time. In addition to this, if you want a custom plan that will better suit your requirements, the sales staff at Toasty are happy to discuss this.

Toasty Alternatives

For alternatives to Toasty, we recommend checking out other online conferencing tools like Zoom, Butter.us, and Whereby.com.

Zoom is a popular all-purpose conferencing software. While Butter.us is a specialized virtual workshop software, and Whereby.com is a virtual meeting software. These are great options if you’re looking for specialized software options.

Check out our tools and resources page for other helpful software!

Your Turn

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

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CyberCoders

Posted by Mica Harvey / Freelance Virtual Assistants, Technical Assistants

CyberCoders is an online recruitment service helping job seekers all over the US find the perfect job, and vice versa.

The company was founded in 1999 and their headquarters is in Irvine, CA. They use a combination of their own proprietary technology and team of experienced recruiters to make matching applicants with the right jobs efficient and effective on both sides.

About CyberCoders

CyberCoders ReviewThe company is headed up by CEO Shane Lamb, and Chief Technology Officer Matt Miller. Matt has played a key role in the growth of CyberCoders and was instrumental in their $105 million acquisition by On Assignment Inc. in 2013.

They say that every year, they help thousands of top professionals find the ideal role from more than 350 recruiters using their platform.

Looking at their current listings now I can see almost 10k jobs available, and they say they can reach more than 40 million candidates. There’s no question they have built up huge reach over the 20 years they’ve been in business.

While not exactly a virtual assistant company, CyberCoders can help fill a part-time or full-time remote role in almost any industry.

How CyberCoders Works

As a job seeker, you can browse the job listings they have available, narrowing down your search by keywords or zip code.

The job listings are typically very detailed, you’ll see the required skills and experience, the responsibilities of the role, what the requirements are for the role, and some other information relevant to the role.

If you fit the bill and are interested in applying, you can email the recruiter (member of CyberCoder’s team) managing the applicants and they’ll get back to you to start talking through how suitable you are and what you need to do next.

If you’re an employer looking to advertise a role, you can get started by filling out a form detailing your position on their site.

You’ll then be sent a list of the best matching candidates they have in their database, as well as being contacted by a member of their team to talk you through how they can best help you fill your position.

Services

As a professional recruiting firm, CyberCoders works with both employers and job seekers to help advertise and fill job vacancies in:

  • Tech and IT
  • Engineering
  • Accounting and Finance
  • Healthcare

They do this by working with individuals and businesses on a one-to-one basis and using their technology to match candidates with roles based on the positions and candidates they have on their system.

CyberCoders claim to “Spend more money per recruiter than any other firm in the industry.”

Plans and Pricing

It’s free for job seekers to apply for roles. There is an undisclosed fee payable by the employer when yuo hire a candidate.

You’ll need to contact them for a quote based on the role you are advertising.

CyberCoders Alternatives

CyberCoders specializes in helping businesses find candidates that are willing to work either remotely or based in-house.

If it’s a remote worker you’re looking for, there are plenty of online job boards and marketplaces to check out, like Dynamite Jobs and HireMyMom. Both have thorough vetting processes and will open you up to a large pool of candidates across the nation.

Your Turn

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

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Davinci Virtual Receptionists

Posted by Mica Harvey / Virtual Receptionist Services

Davinci Virtual is an award-winning virtual office and receptionist service company based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They currently have around 100 well qualified American employees who work to virtually serve more than 15,000 clients representing businesses large and small throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Central America, Asia and Australia.

About DaVinci Virtual

davinci virtual reviewDavinci Virtual Office Solutions is a BBB A+ rated company that has been privately held since 2006 with co-founders Bill Grodnik and Martin Senn as the CEO and COO.

They specialize in creating innovative solutions for all aspects of global marketing including online, radio broadcasting, phone services and more. I first came across Davinci when I was looking into “virtual office” solutions for my company. Aside from their virtual receptionist service, it seems like this was their bread-and-butter for many years.

Basically they’d set you up in a shared office space where you could claim a physical address, receive mail, and occasionally drop by to use the conference room. I ended up not going down that route because it wasn’t going to accomplish my goals, but the call answering service is intriguing.

Davinci Virtual Receptionists Intro Video

Services

The staff members and executives at Davinci Virtual Office Solutions offer their clients with a number of services including live receptionists, call forwarding/screening, appointment scheduling, order processing, voicemail management, online faxing, conference calls, live web chat and much more.

They promise that each and every one of their clients’ customers will speak to a real person each time they call, and all representatives are based in the US.

Two free phone numbers are included in your plan, and you can choose whether they are toll-free or local numbers. If you have an existing number you want them to answer, you can have it forwarded to them at no cost.

Plans and Pricing

Davinci Virtual Office Solutions provides their new clients with four basic packages to choose from depending on their needs.

Their most popular package is the “Business 50”, which is just $99 a month and includes 50 live answer minutes. For reference, they say the average Business call is 80-100 seconds.

The virtual receptionist packages also carry a $95 one-time set-up fee.

davinci virtual pricing

Both Business and “Premium” plans include call answering, voicemail management, online faxing, call routing and audio conferencing.

The biggest advantages of upgrading to the “Premium” level are:

  • Appointment scheduling
  • Outbound calling
  • E-Commerce order processing

Premium plans also cover bilingual receptionists and more complex call flows.

If you go over your allotment of minutes, additional time is billed out at $1.25-$1.75 per minute depending on which plan you’re on.

For those businesses which are only web based, they suggest their “Live Web Chat” package. These plans start at just $79 a month and be a powerful way to engage with your website visitors.

davinci live chat pricing

Handling the live chat customer support is something my dedicated VA did very well, and freed me up from the stress of constantly having to be “there” in case a message came in.

For live chat, there’s a one-time $50 set-up fee.

In addition to their special packages, they also work with clients to create custom packages in order to better fit the needs of their business.

DaVinci Virtual Alternatives

The rates for Davinci are slightly higher per minute than what you’ll find at competitor Gabbyville. Gabbyville offers a 150-minute virtual receptionist package at $229 a month.

However, they’re not as expensive as Ruby Receptionists, which has a minimum package price of $299/month with just 100 minutes.

In either case, outsourcing the receptionist function is far more efficient than having a full-time person in your office, especially if the phone only rings a few times per day. At that point, your main mission is focusing your energy on marketing to increase that call volume!

Your Turn

Have you worked with Davinci Virtual Receptionists?

What did you think? Please be sure to leave a review below to help others with their decision-making process.

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1-888-Go-Answer

Posted by Mica Harvey / Virtual Receptionist Services

1-888-Go-Answer is a family-owned virtual telephone answering service. They provide a wide range of virtual call handling services for companies of all sizes.

The company handles inbound and outbound calls for more than 5,000 companies across North America.

About 1-888-Go-Answer

The company is a 2nd generation family run business with a number of experienced telecommunication individuals overseeing the day-to-day operations.

1-888-Go-Answer currently have three state-of-the-art locations; Garden City, New York, Boca Raton, Florida, and St. Lucia.

When you sign up with 1-888-Go-Answer your calls will be directed to a shared pool of agents situated in one of their offices.

You’re given access to a portal with real time information on call volume, messages, how many minutes you have left, and so on.

Through the portal you can make changes to your plan and how you want the agents to handle your calls.

Services

1-888-Go-Answer’s phone agents are trained to handle calls professionally and promptly across any industry.

They can handle both your inbound and outbound calls. You can have them take all your calls and pass on messages or hand out information. The receptionists can also make outbound calls on your behalf.

It’s a cost-effective way to have a voice on the end of the line 24/7 representing your business and a huge time saver.

If you’re in the legal business 1-888-Go-Answer have a large division specializing in legal intake. They can do everything from picking up the phone to personal injury inquiries to handling large volume cases for the mass tort space.

In addition to legal intake, the company has dedicated departments for:

  • finance
  • eCommerce
  • real estate
  • publishing

I thought that specialization was good to see since those industries require some specific knowledge on the end of the phone.

Plans and Pricing

1-888-Go-Answer have different plans and pricing depending on the type of services you want. As with most virtual telephone answering services you are charged per minute and charged extra if you go over your allowance.

Their plans are grouped as follows:

  • Regular answering service/Virtual Receptionist – Pricing starts at $1.15 per minute and goes as low as $1.00 per minute for their largest plan.
  • Contact Center Solutions – Pricing starts at $14.50 per hour.
  • Legal Intake Solutions – Pricing starts at $2.20 per minute and goes as low as $1.50 for their largest plan.

1-888-goanswer pricing

The best thing about their plans is that they are flexible and you’re only billed for the minutes their agents use. There are no long-term contracts to commit to either, and you can cancel at any time.

All of their plans come with a 30-day risk-free trial. If you’re not happy, just cancel your service for a full refund.

1-888-Go-Answer Alternatives

Ruby Receptionists and Gabbyville are two highly rated virtual telephone answering companies operating on similar pricing and service models.

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

Since making a great impression with customers is so crucial, it might make sense to call several of these companies yourself to see who impresses you. Most offer a free trial as well.

Your Turn

Have you worked with 1-888-Go-Answer? If so, please leave a brief review of your experience below to help others with their decision.

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Pilot

Posted by Mica Harvey / Bookkeeping Services

Pilot is an online bookkeeping service specializing in providing bookkeeping services for businesses of all sizes.

Their goal is to put premium bookkeeping solutions within reach of every business, so you can leave the number crunching to their qualified bookkeepers and put your time into other areas of your business.

The company has been in business since 2017. Their headquarters and all of their staff are based in San Francisco, US.

About Pilot

Pilot ReviewThe company is backed by a long list of entrepreneurs that helped them raise more than $15 million in Series A financing.

Their ideal customers are individuals and businesses up to 300 employees looking to outsource their bookkeeping. Pilot offer sliding-scale rates based on the number of expenses a business has so you pay a rate that reflects the amount of work involved.

Pilot says that being created by startup founders helps them better understand other startups and their bookkeeping needs. So, if you’re a startup looking for an online bookkeeping service I’d recommend checking them out.

When you sign up with Pilot you’ll be assigned a dedicated bookkeeper. This is not always the case with online bookkeeping services, but building that working relationship and familiarity is a huge bonus for me.

How Pilot Works

When you sign up with Pilot there is a just a couple of things to do before you can hand over your accounting to one of their bookkeepers:

  • Meet your dedicated account manager – You’ll be assigned a dedicated account manager. It’s nice to have a consistent point of contact and someone that will get to know you and your business better over time.
  • Integrating systems – Your account manager will walk you through how to integrate your existing processes and software with Quickbooks so they can automate as much of your bookkeeping as possible.
  • Check your monthly reports – All that’s left for you to do is check your monthly reports containing your cash flow statements, profit and loss, and balance sheet and raise any queries if you have any.

If you have any questions throughout the month you can talk to your account manager through the Quickbooks portal or by email at no extra cost.

Services

Preparing tax returns, allocating expenses, and compiling all the incoming and outgoing financials of a business are some of the more time-consuming tasks Pilot will take off your plate.

Pilot integrate Quickbooks with your systems and take all the heavy lifting off your hands. They handle all of your bookkeeping needs and produce monthly reports summarizing all the information.

Plans and Pricing

Pilot has two pricing plans, one designed for small business handling up to $200k in monthly expenses, and one for larger businesses dealing with multiple entities, more than $200k in expenses, or in need of a custom plan.

Their two plans are as follows:

  • Pilot Core – Starts at $195 per month (if paid annually) and scales up based on your monthly expenses.
  • Pilot Plus – Starts at $1,000 per month.

Pilot Pricing

Their Pilot Core plan starts at $195 for businesses processing up to $14,850 in monthly expenses. Jumping up to $255 for businesses processing expenses up to $29,700 per month and continues scaling up in that fashion.

They have a sliding bar on their pricing page so you can easily check how much you’ll be paying a month based on your business’s expenses, and they offer a risk-free trial.

Pilot Alternatives

Bench and Bookkeeping.com are two alternative online bookkeeping services worth checking you to compare prices and services.

Bookkeeping.com operate on a custom quote only basis, while Bench offer a free trial and similar rates as Pilot.

Your Turn

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

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Crowd Content

Posted by Mica Harvey / Content Writing Services

Crowd Content is a content creation service based in British Columbia, Canada. The company was founded in 2011 and aims to deliver “publish-ready content”.

They hire writers from native English-speaking countries, and currently have more than 5,000 professional writers on their database which allows them to turn most orders around in less than 24 hours.

About Crowd Content

crowd content reviewThe company was co-founded by current CEO, Clayton Lainsbury, and CTO, Matt Martin, and received backing from Angel Investors.

They provide a broad range of content services, facilitated through their online platform that connects writers with customers in need of content.

Crowd Content grades their writers from 1-4 stars. When placing an order, you’re asked to choose the level of writer you want to write your content (this makes a big difference to the price per word).

A writer’s grade is largely determined by the feedback and ratings given by previous customers. So, it’s a good indication of how many happy customers they have on their portfolio.

How Crowd Content Works

Ordering content from Crowd Content is a straightforward process. As with most remote services, the key to getting exactly you want is communication, and they help this process with a real-time chat feature.

The process from ordering to receiving your content is as simple as:

  1. You fill out a one-page order form detailing your content requirements. You can specify things like the tone of voice, keywords, or any other guidelines you want the writer to take note of.
  2. A writer will pick up your order and start working on it as per your instructions. You can use an instant chat feature to communicate with them as they are working on your content to ensure it’s going exactly as you want.
  3. Check your finished article, request any revisions if required and leave your writer a rating/feedback.

Services

With more than 5,000 writers in their database and knowing how hungry freelance writers are to get stuck into to almost any type of writing, it’s fair to say that whatever the type of content is you’re after you can request it from Crowd Content.

To give you an idea, some of the most commonly requested types of content are:

  • Blog Posts
  • Product Description
  • Local SEO City Pages
  • Website Content
  • Tweets
  • Facebook Posts
  • Metadata
  • eBooks
  • Press Releases
  • Newsletters
  • Ghostwriting
  • Copy Editing Services
  • Technical Writing
  • White Papers

Plans and Pricing

Crowd Content split their writing services into two different categories:

  1. Marketplace – which is primarily blog posts and website content, and
  2. Special Format – which is Tweets, product descriptions, metadata, and other ad-hoc tasks.

They then have different pricing depending on the type of content you need and the quality of the writer you want.

Crowd Content Marketplace

Their Marketplace content ranges from 2.2 cents per word to 12 cents per word, and you have the choice between four “Quality levels” as follows:

  • Entry Level – 2.2 cents per word.
  • Freelance – 3.5 cents per word.
  • Professional – 8 cents per word.
  • Expert – 12 cents per word.

Crowd Content Pricing

So, as an example, a 750-word article written by one of their Entry Level writers will cost $16.50. The same word count will cost you $90.00 if you choose one of their Expert writers.

That’s the opposite end of the scale when it comes to paying for content from an online marketplace, so expect an equal contrast in quality between the two.

Crowd Content Special Format

If you’re after content that comes under their Special Format category, prices start at $1.50 per Tweet, and go as high as $5 per 50 words for products descriptions from one of their Professional Grade writers.

Crowd Content Alternatives

Two other content marketplaces that operate on a similar business model are HireWriters and iWriter. If you’re operating on a budget, they are both less expensive than Crowd Content.

Be aware however that there is typically a correlation between content quality and price. One interesting service for content writing that might be worth a look is Copywriter Today, which runs as a monthly subscription service.

Your Turn

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

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Workana

Posted by Mica Harvey / Freelance Virtual Assistants

Workana is an online marketplace connecting freelancers with customers all over the globe looking for skilled help with anything from writing website content, to developing custom apps and everything in-between.

The company has been in business since 2012. They now have more than 1 million freelancers using their marketplace and complete more than 20,000 projects each month.

About Workana

workana reviewThe company was founded by four Argentine entrepreneurs; Fernando Fornales, Guillermo Bracciaforte, Mariano Iglesias, and Tomas O’Farrell.

They created Workana because they “believe in the rise of freelance work,” and wanted to make the process of connecting individuals and businesses of all sizes with skilled freelancers anywhere in the world quick and easy.

As an employer, you post your project and wait for bids from freelancers wanting to complete the work. You can then contact the freelancers you’re interested in and discuss the finer points of what you want before starting work.

They have some general categories to help you narrow down the field, but in essence, you can post a project for just about anything that can be completed remotely.

How Workana Works

Workana connects you with freelancers and provides a secure way for you to pay them once you’re happy with the completed work.

The steps involved from posting a job to completed work is as follows:

  1. Post a project – Post details of the type of work you want to be completed and the freelancer you’re looking for and Workana say you’ll start receiving bids from freelancers within minutes.
  2. Contact freelancers – You can chat with the freelancers that have sent bids for your project. This is your chance to negotiate rates and agree to terms.
  3. Put the funds in escrow – With the price agreed with a freelancer Workana will hold the funds in an escrow account until the work is complete.
  4. Wait for the finished work – Your chosen freelancer will carry out the work. You can communicate with them while they are working on your project and when both parties are happy the funds are released to them.

Services

You can post a project for just about anything that a freelancer can do for you remotely. If it’s too obscure, you might not receive any bids. But it’s free to post a project, so if you want something done it’s worth putting it out there and seeing what offers come in.

To give you a starting point, here are the categories Workana give you to choose from when posting a project:

  • Mobile Development
  • Web Development
  • Logo Design
  • Web Design
  • Article Writing
  • E-Commerce
  • Advertising on Google/Facebook
  • Illustrations
  • WordPress
  • Writing for Websites
  • Video Creation or Editing
  • Other

Plans and Pricing

Registering an account, creating projects, receiving bids, and chatting with freelancers is free on Workana.

Each freelancer you hire sets their own rates, either on an hourly or project basis. The only fees you have to pay as a client is a service cost that represents a value equivalent to 4.5% of the total project value.

Workana Alternatives

It’s hard to talk about a freelance marketplace without mentioning the big ones like FreeeUp and Upwork. They operate on the same business model as Workana, where they take a facilitation fee for connecting workers and employers.

The big difference with FreeeUp is there is some level of pre-vetting of the workers; they claim to only accept the “top 1%” of applicants.

Your Turn

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

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