Virtual Assistant Blog

Scripted

Posted by Mica Harvey / Content Writing Services

As business advances into the digital age, it’s becoming more and more important to create online content, whether it’s for promotion or as part of a product or service. In fact, if you’re reading this, it’s probably because my content marketing worked to bring you here … muahaha <– insert evil laugh!

Scripted is a custom content creation service that allows businesses to release blog posts, social media posts, website pages, press releases, and more — even if they don’t have time to write the content themselves.

About Scripted

Scripted was started in 2008 as Scripped.com, which provided a space for screenwriters to work on screenplays together and attract the attention of producers. By 2011, it had grown to 80,000 writers, and the business changed to its current name and service of Scripted.com, offering non-entertainment content to businesses across the nation. In 2013, Scripted received $4.5 million from Redpoint Ventures, and expanded its team to 13 people in addition to their massive network of writers.

Scripted’s mission is “to better the quality of written content on the Internet by helping businesses create it at scale.” Its executive team consists of Sunil Rajaraman (who I met briefly at Affiliate Summit a few years ago), Ryan Buckley, and Jake Kring.

The company is based in San Francisco, CA, but its writers come from across the nation who all work in their own areas of specialization.

Services

Scripted offers customized content on demand; the process begins when a business or individual orders content through Scripted’s order form, and sets guidelines for the length and details of the project. Scripted writers then claim the work and complete the assignment; afterwards, the whoever ordered the content originally can review and revise it as needed before publishing.

The services offered by Scripted include:

blog posts (both standard and long)
white papers or reports
social media content (such as tweets and Facebook posts)
website pages and product descriptions
press releases
video scripts

Businesses that require a high volume of content can work out an arrangement with a content manager, who builds customer support and ensures timely publishing.

The service is aimed at businesses rather than individuals (as you’ll see by their higher price points). If you’re looking for cheap content by some overseas writer to hopefully get picked up by the search engines, Scripted is not going to be the right choice for you.

Scripted Intro Video

Plans and Pricing

A “standard” blog post starts at $58, with “specialist” or longer form posts commanding a rate of $85 or more. Here’s a glimpse at the rates for the various types of content Scripted creates:

The interesting thing is you can’t just go on Scripted.com and order an article. You need to become a member first (your first month is free, and you can use code “vaa” for 50% off your next month).

The Scripted membership gives you access to their pre-screened database of writers, of whom they only accept the top 1-2% of applicants. They have 3 different membership tiers, cutely named after famous authors.

The Dickinson plan is only $49, but you have to pay a 25% “transaction fee” on top of all writing you order.

The Hemingway and Austen plans, $149 and $299 per month respectively, eliminate that transaction fee, let multiple members of your team login and order articles, and give you access to a blog analytics dashboard.

At first glance I thought the analytics dashboard was a little goofy to include as a feature, since it requires you to sync your Google Analytics account. But it actually has some interesting data overlays where you can more easily see which of your content initiatives are performing well and get some traffic metrics on new posts vs. “evergreen” content.

Scripted is ideal for businesses that require or desire online content, but do not have the time, resources, or expertise to maintain a regular publishing schedule or develop quality content. Scripted writers are all pre-screened by the company to ensure a high quality end product, and can specialize in any areas required by the business ordering the content, from art and design to law to tech hardware.

At these rates, Scripted is positioned as a premium entry in the market, especially compared with the “$5 article” type of outsourced writing services.

Scripted Alternatives

The most compelling alternative to Scripted I’ve come across so far is Copywriter Today. They run a similar membership model, but instead of ZERO actual content being included in your membership fee, Copywriter Today offers “unlimited” content writing. (It’s actually limited by 1 article request at a time and the turnaround time.)

They use a team of all US-based writers, though may not have as strict a vetting process as Scripted. But it struck me as a little weird that I could pay Scripted up to $300 a month and not get any writing done; everything you order is on top of that membership fee. They likened it to a gym membership–your membership gets you in the door, and then it’s on you to actually lift the weights and see results.

For similar high-end content creation, you might consider BELAY, which offers this under their umbrella of services. On the cheaper side, you have “content mills” like HireWriters and Textbroker, where your price per article will be much lower and the quality often reflects it.

Your Turn

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

Virtual Assistant Israel

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

Virtual Assistant Israel provides virtual assistant services to small business owners and start-up entrepreneurs based in the US. The company was established in 2008 and employs American VAs based out of their home offices in Israel.

At the helm are Director Alyssa Magid, Community Manager Aviva Blumstein and Administrative Manager Naomi Schneider.

About VA Israel

Alyssa explained their people are what set them apart from the competition. All Virtual Assistant Israel VAs are native English speakers (most hail from the US) with college degrees and a minimum of 3-5 years of work experience, but due to not necessarily speaking Hebrew and other employment restrictions, have a hard time working for local Israeli employers. So they work online for people like you instead!

When I spoke with Alyssa, she added that they have a pretty demanding screening and testing process. What that means in terms of raw numbers is reviewing over 7,000 resumes to find the fewer than 50 top VAs that make up the Virtual Assistant Israel team today.

Virtual Assistant Israel Intro Video

Services

Virtual Assistant Israel VAs specialize in remote administrative, marketing, social media, and writing / content-creation tasks.

They have a wealth of experience in these areas and can help run your office and set-up strategic marketing plans for your business. In terms of social media, they are responsible stewards of your online brand, and can execute a social presence on the most important channels.

Each VA works on US east coast time and is available through a US-based phone number up until 5pm EST.

For full disclosure, the company also lists several services they are NOT a good fit for, including playing virtual receptionist, accounting/bookkeeping, website development, sales, and graphic design.

Plans and Pricing

With Virtual Assistant Israel, there is a one-time $199 set-up fee that gives you access to interview as many candidates from their pool of available VAs as you like. Alyssa explained the fee primarily serves to weed out tire-kickers who maybe aren’t as serious about adding a team member. She also offered $100 off for VAA visitors:

VAA Exclusive: Mention VirtualAssistantAssistant.com during sign-up or on your intro call and get $100 off your Virtual Assistant Israel set-up fee.

Normally how it works is prospective clients have an intro call with the management team to assess their needs and delegation opportunity in their business, and are provided with 3 VAs to interview. After the interviews, you pick your favorite and begin the relationship with your new dedicated assistant.

If you don’t find an assistant you love within 14 days, your set-up fee is 100% refundable.

The company has a couple different price tiers that are dependent upon the skills and level of experience you require from your VA. The first tier is $26-30/hour and the higher level tier is $34-39/hour. There’s a 10-hour per month minimum engagement, but other than that no contracts or long-term commitments.

Once you engage, your virtual assistant uses Freshbooks to track their working time to the second and invoices you only for the time they spend. In that manner, you don’t have to worry about unused hours in a month or counting tasks.

Virtual Assistant Israel Alternatives

With VAI, you have the advantage of an experienced, professional dedicated assistant. Along those lines, there are a few other companies that might be worthy of your consideration, including Time Etc and other US-based VA companies.

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

Task Network

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

Task Network is a Canadian based virtual assistant company with their head office in Toronto, Canada, and their fulfillment office in Metro Manila, Philippines. The company was founded in 2014 by founder and president Eric Opinion.

About Task Network

The company’s head office is in Toronto, Canada. The company’s directive is to provide businesses with highly-skilled, cost-effective, offshore assistants to apply their expertise to administrative support, customer support, technical support, and more.

They employ their virtual assistants in the Philippines, allowing them to offer competitive rates. This allows business owners to focus on other areas of their business while handing over tasks to skilled assistants at TaskNetwork.ca to carry out.

When you sign up with Task Network you will receive a consultation to best understand your requirements. You will then be assigned a virtual assistant with the necessary skills to carry out the work. The company puts their candidates through a screening and interview process to ensure their skills match up with your requirements, and you have a point of contact within their management team should you have any problems.

TaskNetwork Intro Video

Services

Task Network’s virtual assistants can handle a wide variety of tasks. In summary this includes:

administrative work
technical support
IT support
customer service
ordering support
data entry
general ad-hoc tasks

You’re best off contacting them and giving as much detail as possible about what tasks you want to hand over and how long you expect the tasks to take. This will give you a good idea about how well equipped they are to handle your tasks, and how quickly they can turn the work around.

Plans and Pricing

The company currently has one package. This is for a full-time virtual assistant working 8 hours a day, 176 hours a month. For a quotation on price you need to contact Task Network directly as prices vary depending on the required skillset of the assistant.

Task Networks Alternatives

While there are no shortage of virtual assistant companies in the Philippines, there aren’t a lot of well-known virtual assistant companies based in Canada. If you prefer to work with local companies and you’re in Canada then check out Task Network.

If you’re comfortable doing a little more of the legwork in hiring, you might consider OnlineJobs.ph, the largest virtual job board in the country, and if you don’t quite have enough work to keep a full-time VA busy, take a look at TaskBullet, which offers smaller buckets of hours that can be used over a 3 month period.

Your Turn

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

AVirtual

Posted by Mica Harvey / UK/Europe Virtual Assistants, Virtual Assistant Companies

AVirtual is a virtual assistant company based in Cape Town, South Africa. The company has been in business since 2014 and targets customers in the UK.

The company was founded by a UK based entrepreneur with years of experience in customer service based businesses. AVirtual.co.uk started in South Africa to offer the same standard of virtual assistant as found in the UK, but at a more affordable price.

About AVirtual

Most of the company’s virtual assistants are based in their offices in Cape Town, with some being located in offices nearby. They have a mix of full and part-time VAs, and the advantage of their virtual assistants being located in their offices allows them to have IT and management infrastructure in place.

The company supplies dedicated virtual assistants to UK businesses and individuals. Most of their assistants have lived or worked in London and have a good understanding of UK business practice. South Africa is only a 1-2 hour time zone difference between the UK depending on the time of year.

Their target customers range from SME’s, start-ups, to FTSE 100 clients. If you have tasks you want to outsource, no matter how large or small, AVirtual have assistants ready to pick up that task.

If you sign up with AVirtual you will be assigned a dedicated VA, and you will always have a backup assistant available should your assistant not be able to meet their commitments. You will also be matched with an assistant with the best matched skillset to your requirements.

Services

AVirtual’s virtual assistants can handle a wide variety of tasks you send their way, including:

Personal assistance
Calendar management
Telephone support
Sales support
Content production
Bookkeeping
Human resources
Graphic design
And more

How it works is you’re assigned a dedicated PA, but they work on a “buddy system” so you have a backup in case of illness or holiday. The PAs also work in teams of 4 called “pods,” where you can tap into a variety of skillsets if you need additional or specialized help on a particular project.

Plans and Pricing

AVirtual has 5 payment plans; Core, Plus, Pro, Enterprise, and Full Time.

Core Plan – £165/month (£16.5/hr) – This plan includes a dedicated virtual assistant, 10 hours of assistant time, branded email, and email and phone support.

Plus Plan – £325/month (£16.25/hr) – This plan includes all the services in the Starter Plan with a total of 20 hours of time.

Pro Plan – £625/month (£15.63/hr) – This plan includes all the services in the Business Plan with a total of 40 hours.

Enterprise Plan – £1135/month (£14.19/hr) – This plan includes all the services in the Professional Plan with a total of 80 hours.

Full Time Plan – £1995/month (£12.47/hr) – Your own dedicated full-time assistant available between 7am and 5pm.

VirtualAssistantAssistant Exclusive: Mention referral code VAA for £25 off your first month!

These rates allow you to take advantage of the lower cost of living in South Africa while still having a PA who speaks English as a first language and operates very close to your time zone.

As you can see from the hourly rates the best value is in the Enterprise plan. There is also a 5 hour free trial available, this is a great way to sample their services before committing to a plan and will help with your decision.

AVirtual.co.uk Alternatives

If you are looking for British virtual assistants then I recommend checking out Time ETC and Worldwide 101 for two of the highest rated companies. Both of these companies use UK staff so their prices are a little higher (think double) to reflect this.

Your Turn

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

Carve

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

Carve is a virtual assistant company based in Davao City, Philippines. The company was founded in 2013 by Tom Secuya, who’s overseen the business’ growth from 3 people to a team of more than 100.

Tom had several years of experience in business process outsourcing and has emerged as a capable leader in the industry and in the local community.

About Carve

You can tell just by looking at the Carve.ph website that this is not your average virtual assistant company. No, Carve stands out with a bold, modern design, a fun-loving staff, and a mission to good in the world by doing well in business.

They wanted to help people by creating opportunities for them, and have been tremendously successful in doing that in just a short time. That company culture extends beyond borders as well, as client success translates into more growth opportunities and expanded partnerships.

Carve Virtual Assistant Services

Carve specializes in branding, training, automation, and business process management. In the international market, they’ve found a niche in serving coaches from Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Carve’s Virtual Managers can setup webinars, create websites, build landing and sales pages, do audio and video editing, graphic design, and more. In addition, clients use them for help with transcription, list building, social media management, content creation, Internet marketing, and search engine optimization.

All virtual assistants work from the company’s central Davao office, and Carve invests heavily in recruiting, training, and coaching team members who buy into their culture and attitude.

Sponsored Link:

How It Works

Call – We talk about who you are and how we can best work together
BFL – You enter your Big Fat List of projects that you can’t wait to offload to us.
Offer – we recommend the package that best suits your needs.
Settle – Sign and settle the necessary paperwork to get started.
Onboard – We will manage expectations and orient you with the processes.
Start – Get things rolling by letting the team do the work for you.
Support – We’ll continuousl check how you are and the development of your projects.

Video Overview with the Founder

Plans and Pricing

A full-time Carve virtual assistant (a “ninja”) costs $998 per month for 120 hours (so not “full-time” in the 40-hour per week sense). If you don’t have that volume of work to outsource yet, you can engage their services on a per-hour basis of $18-22 per hour depending on the type of work.

You can opt for dedicated service, or a team-based approach to tap into different skill-sets as needed.

Carve pledges 20% of their earnings to local charitable causes in Davao. Tom explains, “We have seen the pressing need for support in this area and as a business we want to continue to exist to do just that.”

The company has instilled a unique culture in that they believe they are not merely a business, but a movement. Hence working with us would mean, taking part in that movement. We are happy that you can find success in your own business because of us and create success for others through us.

Why Carve?

I asked Tom what sets Carve apart from their virtual assistant competition, and got this awesome reply:

“What sets us apart is that we offer not only awesome ninja-like skills but also we put a glass of love and a bottle of passion for every project we have. We have that drive and determination to have an epic relationship with our clients.

Not only that but we also practice radical honesty. We tell you how much we are getting, how your virtual assistant is getting, how they are doing in terms of performance, behavior and attendance.”

Carve Alternatives

Naturally, Carve isn’t the only game in town when it comes to virtual assistants in the Philippines. Their competition comes in two main varieties: other VA companies, and independent work from home VAs found through services like OnlineJobs.ph or Zen Virtual Assistants Finder.

Your Turn

Have you worked with Carve? If so, please be sure to leave a quick review of your experience in the comments below to help others with their decision.

HireWriters

Posted by Mica Harvey / Content Writing Services

HireWriters.com is an on-demand content creation service. The company began in 2012 as sort of an article marketplace, linking those who needed content with writers from around the world.

I was lured in by the low prices ($5 for a 700 word article), but should have known better. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

That price is for the lowest quality tier, meaning it will probably be illegible to most of your website visitors.

Plans and Pricing

Still, the HireWriters rates are pretty affordable, all things considered.

A 500 word article from a “Skilled” writer is just $8.25. Where things get more expensive is when you want to jump to the next tier, “Expert.” A 500 word article from an “Expert” writer is $19.

Skilled writers are defined as those who have completed at least 7 jobs and earned a feedback rating of at least 4.1 in the HireWriters system. Expert writers have completed 12 jobs with a 4.6 rating or higher.

Another service HireWriters offers is a re-writing, or article spinning service.

The theory behind this is you can use the same content in multiple locations without triggering any “duplicate content penalties” from Google, because each will by slightly different.

HireWriters Intro Video

I tested out a couple of articles using the HireWriters system. I made the minimum required $10 deposit, and was pleasantly surprised to find it earned a 25% bonus! So if you really need a lot of content written, it would make sense to make a bigger initial deposit to maximize the bonus.

HireWriters Review

I had two 300+ word articles written by “Skilled” writers for $5.50 apiece. Both were tackled by the same author, and neither were amazing.

The writer struggled to follow the directions and examples I gave them, and failed to answer all the questions I said the articles should address.

I specifically asked for neutral, news-style, articles (who, what, where, when, why), but got back a lot of generic fluff content that didn’t really deliver. Maybe this is me being cynical, but if felt like they were really just looking for anything that would get them to the 300 word target so they could be done.

And for $5 I shouldn’t be so harsh.

In the end, I had some usable sentences but had to re-write most of the articles myself. I can’t even share the articles as examples because they’re almost unrecognizable from what I got back. But like I’ve said before, there’s still some value in getting a shell back and having some structure to start with, rather than staring at a blank screen.

Just recently I went back to HireWriters to test out the “Expert” level, and was pretty impressed. The cost was significantly higher — $19 for a 500-700 word article, but it took hardly any editing to get it ready for publishing. And for the two articles I ordered at that level, both came back over the 700-word count.

So that’s the thing. If you want an article you’re going to sign your name to, you’ll probably have to pay a bit more, or just do it yourself. If you don’t care, or are just churning out content for search engine digestion, HireWriters is a great choice.

Related: My Outsourced Content Writing Process: A Step-by-Step Guide

HireWriters Alternatives

I’ve also tested articles from Fiverr and Textbroker, with pretty similar results — though every now and then you get a homerun.

	Copywriter Today	Fiverr	HireWriters	Textbroker
Customer Rating				not yet rated
Established	2014	2010	2012	2005
Minimum Cost (500 words)	$265 per month	$5	$5	$7.50
Type of Service	Subscription	A la carte articles	Pre-screened writers; varying quality	Pre-screened writers; varying quality
Best for	Agencies, ongoing content needs	One off, quick work	Inexpensive filler content	Connecting with reliable writers
Notes	First article free	Check Fiverr Pro for better quality	25% bonus on first deposit	Pricing is per-word
Learn more	Learn More	Learn More	Learn More	Learn More

The other writing company I like is Copywriter Today, which is perfect if you have demand for US-based writers and a lot of content on a monthly basis.

Have you tried Hire Writers? If so, please share a quick review of your experience below to help others with their decision.

99designs

Posted by Mica Harvey / Graphic and Web Design Services

99designs is the crowdsourcing design marketplace that is probably first-to-mind for most people. I first learned about the company at a conference in 2008, and since then the Melbourne, Australia-based business has grown by leaps and bounds.

In fact, 99designs has thousands of active design contests and pays out more than $1.5 million to designers each month!

In any freelance or crowdsourcing platform, the level of activity and engagement from the community is paramount. The worst feeling is to go through the trouble of creating an account, paying the fee to escrow, and then hearing the crickets chirp when no one submits any responses.

At the time of this writing, 99designs contests are receiving an average of 110 entries, so you should have plenty to choose from.

How it Works

As the name suggests, 99designs specializes in crowdsourced graphic design work. The platform is a good place to turn for logo design, web design, print media, mobile apps, promotional materials, t-shirts, and more.

If you don’t have ongoing design work, it makes sense to get it done one-time at a place like this instead of hiring an on-site or virtual assistant designer.

To start a design contest with 99designs, you go through this detailed questionnaire about your business and what kind of designs you might like. I think this feature is definitely a strength. When I went through they had sample logos, descriptive words, and colors and their common associations.

You can even upload other logos you like or choose from a sample gallery. It forces you to think about the kind of design you’re looking for and gives the army of designers something to base their work on.

99designs Review

Plans and Pricing

Logo design starts at $299, and web page design starts at $599.

On the lower end of the spectrum you can find card and invitation design (like custom wedding invitations), apparel design, and banner ads all starting at $149. There are several pricing tiers, and as you might guess, the higher price points attract more designers into the contest.

The turnaround time is roughly a week from beginning to end, and each 99designs contest comes with their risk-free money back guarantee. If you don’t like any of the designs you receive, you can get a complete refund.

99designs Alternatives

If these prices seem a little rich for your blood, you might check out 48 Hours Logo or Crowdspring, which both offer similar models at slightly lower prices.

	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

I’m in the process of experimenting with getting some banner ads done at Fiverr. For 30x the price, I expect the quality would be much higher at 99designs, but depending on your needs it might not be worth it.

If you want to try making a free logo, check out the templates and tools at Logo Garden. You can play around and generate a logo yourself for free, and you only have to pay if you need a copy of the high-resolution file.

Your Turn

Have you had design work done on 99designs? Please leave a short review below and help others with their decision.

3 Ways “Going Virtual” Can Improve Your Company Culture (and your Bottom Line)

Posted by Mica Harvey / News

This contribution comes from Bryan Miles, CEO of BELAY and author of Virtual Culture: The Way We Work Doesn’t Work Anymore.

************

From day one we were a company of two (my wife and I), so remote made sense.

But as we grew, we wanted to maintain a 100% remote workplace for BELAY. We decided on the virtual business model for a variety of reasons, but the primary motivator was a desire for a better quality of life — for both us and our employees.

There are some major perks to being 100% remote as well as some challenges. One of our Core Values as an organization is “VISION: We are leaders in our industry. We refuse to accept the status quo. We have the vision of what can be.”

To do that, we work consistently on our culture and check in with our employees to be sure we aren’t becoming status quo but instead are continuing to be leaders in culture.

Here are 3 reasons to consider going virtual as your company grows.

1. Going Virtual Makes You a Better Communicator

In the virtual workplace, the Swiss army knife for all cultural woes is communication.

Whether in the office or out, I’ve found that effective communication is the best way to overcome disputes and inspire connections. And when it becomes an essential element of a company’s culture, effective communication will prevent most disputes from ever happening in the first place.

We tend to err on the side of over-communication.

What does this mean?

We encourage our team to use the virtual nod. Meaning when emails are sent, you let everyone know you are on it with a simple reply back.

Short on time? We don’t shame emojis. A thumbs up or a smiley face is all we need to know that the team is aware of the ask and on it.

This standard of over-communication makes everyone better communicators.

2. Going Virtual Makes You a Better Vision Caster

Culture is based on a shared vision. And if that vision is passed down effectively throughout your organization, it doesn’t matter if you share a desk or live across the ocean from one another.

In BELAY’s case, our vision is to provide world-class virtual assistance to companies across the country. And we trust our 600-plus team members to carry out that vision as if they owned the place.

We may work in separate locations, but we have shared values of gratitude, teamwork, vision, passion, fun and God. As long as we’re all on the same page in these areas, we’re going to succeed and serve our customers well.

3. Going Virtual Makes You Smarter with Your Money

Personnel budget is often the largest expense any business has. Unless you’re a one-person show, it is likely that you are spending a lot of money on people.

If all your money is tied up in personnel, you will choke on your own payroll.

But, growth is a good thing! Adding people will help spark new ideas, produce products, and offer services that generate revenue and help you accomplish your organizational objectives.

When it’s time to hire that next person, the first thing you’re going to want to understand is how much this hire is going to cost. In addition to salary, you must factor in:

health insurance
dental insurance
vision insurance
life insurance
short-term disability
paid vacation
sick time off
volunteer time off
retirement plans
workers compensation costs
equipment & resources
training and meetings
travel & expenses
401(k) matching
cell phone costs
internet costs

The list feels endless …

And this is just to get you started. A general rule of thumb is to add 35 to 50 percent to the salary you intend to pay. This is the “true cost” of your next hire. (And probably a number that is going to turn your stomach inside-out.)

The cost of even one full-time employee can be discouraging.

For growing businesses and organizations who need help, adding employees means accruing fixed costs versus variable costs.

Today’s business climate demands agility — especially in the area of staffing. That’s why businesses are relying on freelancers and outsourced services more than ever.

Going virtual allows you to “lock in” a fixed monthly cost that is much, much lower than adding a W-2 employee.

But, sometimes you need to see all the facts before you can make a decision. We’ve created a tool to help you gauge just how much an employee can cost. Fill out the Employee Burden Cost Calculator below. Once you have the final number, we’d love to have a conversation to see if we might be the right fit for you.

Nick’s Notes: To learn more about Bryan’s company, BELAY, check out the full write-up and customer reviews here, and be sure to check out his new book, Virtual Culture.

TimeSvr

Posted by Mica Harvey / Task-Based Virtual Assistants, Virtual Assistant Companies

TimeSvr.com is a virtual assistant company that was founded in 2008. The company is based in Pakistan, and was actually the service I used to hire my first full-time assistant.

As a customer, you can opt for dedicated assistance or task/team-based service. TimeSvr virtual assistants (they call them “aides”) are college-educated young professionals with proficient English language skills. Depending on your needs, your TimeSvr aide can work flexible hours, which is helpful given the 12 hour time difference between the US and their offices.

These virtual assistants really get into your business. They stay up to date with and research the market and competition. They read and follow reviews, engage users and potential customers through twitter, facebook or LinkedIn.

Services

The task-based assistants handle your basic administrative tasks like online research, travel planning and coordination, setting up appointments and that sort of thing. With this plan, you can send in your task requests, and the first available assistant will get to work on it and notify you when it is complete. You can use their online interface to submit tasks or use email, Skype, or another instant messaging service.

With a dedicated rep, you have a little more leeway into training and ongoing processes. TimeSvr explains that their aides can double up as customer support reps, conduct PR campaigns, set-up user testing experiments, and a variety of other projects small business owners can think up.

I had my dedicated TimeSvr assistant work on my Google AdWords campaigns, data entry projects in Excel, and research and write company blog posts.

TimeSvr Review

Plans and Pricing

TimeSvr offers two levels of service: TimeSvr Personal and TimeSvr Dedicated.

They’re best-known for their personal plan, which allows you to unload “unlimited” basic tasks for just $69/month. Basic tasks are typically defined as one-off projects, usually lasting 15 minutes or less, such as managing appointments, making phone calls, online research, and travel reservations.

With TimeSvr Dedicated, you can get a dedicated Business Support Agent who works 4 hours a day, 5 days a week for $700 a month. It works out to less than $9 an hour. The advantage of the Dedicated plan is you aren’t limited by “basic” tasks. You get to work one-on-one with your assistant and train them just as you would an in-house employee. They can work for hours or days on one project without interruption.

TimeSvr Dedicated is quite affordable for this level of service, plus you don’t have to worry about payroll processing, employment taxes, benefits, or even providing a workspace.

Even though TimeSvr is one of the smaller virtual assistant companies, both of their plans offers a great value.

TimeSvr Alternatives

The closest alternative to TimeSvr is Efficise, a new virtual assistant company in Pakistan actually founded by TimeSvr alumni. They’re offering 50 tasks a month for just $65.

Another entry is OkayRelax, with dedicated assistants out of the Philippines.

If you don’t think you’ll have enough tasks to justify an “unlimited” plan or the 50 tasks a month, you might consider smaller options from US-based firms like Fancy Hands or Red Butler.

If you have had experience with TimeSvr, positive or negative, please rate your experience below.

crowdSPRING

Posted by Mica Harvey / Graphic and Web Design Services

crowdSPRING is a freelance marketplace for graphic design, web design, and logo creation services.

While other freelance sites try and be everything to everyone, Chicago-based crowdSPRING focuses on these creative niches. The company was founded in 2008, and has attracted a userbase numbering in the tens of thousands from all over the world.

How CrowdSpring Works

The way it works is you post a description of the work you need done, and talented designers submit their ideas. On average, projects receive over 100 submissions so you’re sure to get a range of designs to choose from and find one that fits your vision.

Designers on crowdSPRING have created graphics for a wide range of applications, including company logos, business cards, stationary, product packaging, marketing materials, t-shirts, banner ads, you name it.

Essentially it’s a winner-take-all design contest you’re sponsoring for a fixed fee. Once you’ve picked the winner, the designer gets paid and you’re covered by crowdSPRING’s money-back guarantee.

Posting a contest on the site would be an alternative to hiring a graphic designer locally or bringing on a part-time virtual employee for design work.

If I were a designer, the 100+ submissions would be a major turnoff – a lot of talented people are putting in the time for a less than 1% chance of getting paid. But hey as a business owner looking to source some great design work, it’s a great set-up.

One way crowdSPRING differentiates itself from other sites like oDesk is they set a “floor price” for each type of project. For example, logo design starts at $269 (slightly less than at 99designs); web design from $729.

You can raise your price to (in theory) attract higher quality creatives. This eliminates the race-to-the-bottom bidding system you might find elsewhere, and lets you view the work before forking over the cash.

Services

crowdSPRING also works as a marketplace for writing services as well. These projects might include article writing, business naming, resume/cover letter writing, technical writing, and others.

crowdSPRING writing projects all start at $269, but for some of the examples given it’s not entirely clear what your deliverables would be. For that reason, I might stick with HireWriters or CopywriterToday for writing projects.

Your Turn

Have you worked with crowdSPRING? If so, please leave a quick review of your experience below.

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