Legends Virtual Assistance

Posted by Mica Harvey / Dedicated Virtual Assistants, US Virtual Assistants

UPDATE: It appears Legends Virtual Assistance is out of business. Please consider one of these alternatives.

Legends Virtual Assistance is virtual assistant service offering virtual assistant services, as well as personal concierge services for their clients. Legends is a new company, forming in October of 2015.

Legends’ headquarters is based in Florida, US. Their team members stretch from coast to coast across the US, and all of their virtual assistants are US based and work from their homes.

About Legends Virtual Assistance

legends virtual assistance reviewThe company is relatively new, starting operations in October 2015. It was founded and is run by co-founders Katy Boyle, who is also the CEO, and Dustin Rusbarsky who is the company CTO.

Katy explained the company was born out of the confusion and turmoil around Zirtual’s sudden and surprising shutdown (and subsequent resurrection).

Being a new company at the time of writing this review I was interested in their business objectives and what makes Legends different from other virtual assistant companies. Katy Boyle believes the difference is in their concierge service, designed to find the best VAs to match their client’s needs.

Each client is asked a series of simple and insightful questions during an introductory call to determine their needs. Then they are presented with a list of hand-picked virtual assistants to choose from.

A meeting with the virtual assistant can be arranged if required (hard to imagine making a hiring decision without this meeting!), and there is a “cooling off period” in which you can request to be re-matched if it isn’t working out for any reason.

Services

When hiring a virtual assistant to carry out tasks for you, knowing you’re hiring a competent person and knowing a bit about them is a huge plus not always offered by virtual assistant companies. Legends however have pictures of all their virtual assistants and short bio’s on their website. This is a nice personable touch, and helps when it comes to building trust with your assistant.

I spoke with Katy Boyle about how seriously they take their virtual assistant training and she explained:

“We provide individualized support and training to help our VA’s be the best they can be, at no cost to the VA. We provide skills training to help polish and improve existing skills, as well as hold seminars for people to learn new skills like WordPress design, copywriting, social media management, and other relevant skills. We assist with the creation and refinement of their marketing materials (LinkedIn profiles, websites, etc.) on a case-by-case basis as well.”

Their target customers are C-level and senior executives, serial entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and other busy professionals who need ongoing administrative support. 

Areas of specialization include:

  • bookkeeping
  • copy writing
  • web/graphic design
  • other general virtual assistant tasks

So with their comprehensive VA training and the concierge matchmaking service between their clients and assistants, the result should be a win-win for both parties.

legends va

Plans and Pricing

There are two parts to the pricing when hiring through Legends. Firstly you pay a matching fee, this starts at $250 and can go up from there depending on the number of hours you’re looking for, the complexity of your needs, and some other factors.

Next you pay the hourly rate as set by the virtual assistant. All their assistants are independent contractors and set their own hourly rates. Some offer discounts for monthly retainer plans and packages. This is to be negotiated with the assistant directly, however you can expect to pay $30 an hour on average.

Legends Virtual Assistance Alternatives

Boldly offers a similar service, as does Time Etc, though without the upfront matching fee.

Assistant Match actually runs a similar model with an upfront recruiting fee, all US-based staff, and variable hourly pricing on the backend.

Also, if you’re comfortable doing the initial search and candidate screening yourself, you can always hire an independent virtual assistant on sites like Upwork. The obvious difference here is the lack of support or comeback if your chosen assistant doesn’t work out.

Your Turn

Have you worked with Legends Virtual Assistance? Please be sure to leave a brief review of your experience below to help others with their search.

Read More

Sidekicks

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

UPDATE: Sidekicks has pivoted to a “different type of business model.” Please consider one of these alternatives.

Sidekicks enables entrepreneurs and business owners to quickly hire and build their own virtual teams. The company does this by connecting clients with hand-picked assistants that are skilled in handling the tasks required.

I think this is my favorite name for a VA company I’ve come across so far — every superhero needs a sidekick!

About Sidekicks

sidekicks reviewThe company went live in early 2015.

The company is based in Canada, and depending on time zone requirements they offer virtual assistants from the Philippines or Argentina. (Odd geography? Their community manager, James, explained they employ a bunch of US graduates living in Argentina.)

Sidekicks.co aims to connect clients with virtual assistants at a cost effective price, with their site stating ‘time is money, money is time’. They put a lot of emphasis on saving time and money by hiring one of their virtual assistants, known as ‘sidekicks’, affording business owners the time to work on other areas of their business.

Each sidekick is required to complete a 100+ step video training course. With only 3% of applicants passing their rigorous filtering process. This ensures that only the most qualified and competent applicants make it through to be matched up with their clients.

Their target customers are small teams, entrepreneurs, busy people, Amazon businesses, and any type of small business looking to increase their productivity through outsourcing tasks to a shared VA.

Sidekicks Founder Interview

VAA Exclusive: Get 25% off your first month of Sidekicks service through this link.

In chatting with their founder, I was surprised to hear him mention the clients that tend to get the most value from the service are those already doing $500,000 in revenue a year, because the service seems like a strong value for businesses of all sizes.

Services

The company provides clients with a versatile and vetted selection of virtual assistants. So depending on the client’s type of business, the VA will offer support as directed by the client.

Sidekicks have a comprehensive and rigorous process when vetting their remote workers. They put their applicants through their own academy training course and only match them with clients after they have passed to a high standard.

As a client, you can discuss your needs with Sidekicks and you will be matched with the best-suited assistant.

For example, as an e-commerce owner you can expect to receive support with email filtering, implementing systems, content creation, travel planning, social media marketing, blog management, customer support, WordPress support and much more.

Plans and Pricing

Sidekicks currently have three monthly membership packages. You can choose to either pay $449 for their Part-time VA, $859 for their Full-time VA, or $1699+ for their VA Team package.

sidekicks pricing

With the Part-Time VA you receive 20 weekly hours or virtual assistant time. This will be a shared sidekick available between 9-5 (UTC+8 — approximately a 12 hour flip from US east coast time), along with a CEO training course and email support.

VAA Exclusive: Get 25% off your first month of Sidekicks service through this link.

The Full-Time VA package gives you access to a dedicated sidekick for 40 hours a week, along with the CEO training, email, and phone support. The current $859 price-point is quite competitive among virtual employee options and perhaps reflects the relative strength of the US dollar overseas lately.

The VA Team package provides a team of sidekicks with 80+ weekly hours, along with the same training and full priority support. It’s the go-to option for small businesses with a lot of work to delegate.

Sidekick Alternatives

The virtual assistant marketplace is a crowded one, but in addition to Sidekicks I’d take a look at companies like Uassist.ME, Task Bullet, or Carve as viable alternatives.

When I asked Sidekicks what sets them apart from the competition, they argued their CEO training course and putting their assistants through the 100+ step video training course gives them a competitive advantage.

Your Turn

If you have hired a Sidekick? Please leave a review below to help others with their VA hiring decision.

Read More

BoxChecked

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

UPDATE: It appears BoxChecked is out of business. Please consider one of these alternatives.

BoxChecked is “The Entrepreneur’s Virtual Assistant” company. They are based in the US, and all of their virtual assistants also work across the US.

The company is focused on helping entrepreneurs grow their business by relieving them of the day-to-day tasks that drain their time.

About BoxChecked

boxchecked reviewThe company was formed in spring 2016 by Shane and Jennifer Young, a brother and sister team. Shane and Jennifer have worked together for a number of years. After building a successful company of their own they turned their focus to starting boxChecked to help others grow their own businesses through the use of their virtual assistants.

The company specializes in helping businesses grow by handling the repetitive tasks that keep you too busy to focus on other areas of your business. The virtual assistants at BoxChecked have been vetted and have a wide range of skill sets to handle anything you throw at them.

Services

Box Checked offers a handful of different service packages. Their “Paper Pushing Isn’t For Me” package includes:

  • accounting chores
  • social media and web tasks
  • any form of paperwork
  • scheduling and booking appointments
  • answering phone calls and emails
  • project management
  • and more

Their “Do Just One Project” package does exactly that. They do one project or task off your list at a time for a fixed hourly rate. This can include getting your workflow organized, carrying out research, or just about anything you need doing.

Their “Dedicated Back Office” package is a service to handle all of your back office needs. It’s a quicker and more cost-efficient option than hiring a member of staff, and they have a team of virtual assistants ready to start immediately.

Their fourth package isn’t really a virtual assistant service at all. Their $500 one-time “Business Assessment” service is more of an outsider’s audit of your business and processes. The assessment is conducted by a successful and seasoned entrepreneur who will make recommendations based on the health and opportunities they discover.

This is aimed at people starting up a new business or needing some direction for their existing business. With experience in starting and growing a successful business, BoxChecked has the expertise to offer some valuable advice.

Plans and Pricing

BoxChecked offer four different pricing plans as outlined in the services section above. These are priced as follows:

  • Paper pushing isn’t for me – Starts at $299 for 10 hours of virtual assistant time a month. ($30/hr)
  • Do just one project – This service is priced at $40 an hour.
  • Dedicated back office – This service is priced per individual custom quotes.
  • Business assessments – These are priced at $500.

boxchecked pricing

VAA Exclusive: If you mention Virtual Assistant Assistant when buying a package you will receive 10% off the purchase price for up to three months.

BoxChecked Alternatives

When I asked boxChecked what separates them from the other companies in the crowded virtual assistant space, they said, “The big thing that sets us apart is our experience building, running, and selling a company to a publicly traded company. Isn’t that every small business’ dream? We bring that experience and proven track record to your business.”

(It’s a unique and interesting selling proposition, though a big exit might not be your dream or where you want to take your business.)

Among US-based virtual assistant services, Time Etc and Boldly are well-reviewed, similarly priced, and worthy of your consideration.

Your Turn

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

Read More

Cloud Assistant Pro

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

UPDATE: It appears Cloud Assistant Pro is out of business. Please consider one of these alternatives, or see below.

Cloud Assistant Pro is an India-based virtual assistant company and they have been operating since June 2015. Their virtual assistants are based in Bangalore, and they have virtual offices in the US and the UK.

The company primarily helps startups and small businesses by handling a wide range of administrative tasks, as well as providing general virtual assistant services to busy professionals.

About Cloud Assistant Pro

cloud-assistant-pro-reviewThe company was founded by Grace Aman and all aspects of the business are overseen by Grace. Cloud Assistant Pro currently have a team of 14 staff working from their Bangalore offices. Being based in India they are able to offer competitive rates.

When you sign up with Cloud Assistant Pro you have the option to pay-as-you-go with the amount of hours you need, or commit to a set amount of hours to be used within a specific time period.

Some plans will match you up with a specific dedicated virtual assistant, while other tasks will be distributed and handled by staff with the best-matched skills to carry out the tasks.

Services

Cloud Assistant Pro group their services into 8 categories:

  • General Virtual Assistant
  • Web Designer
  • Web Developer
  • Audio and Video Specialist
  • Graphic Artist
  • Content Writer
  • SEO/SEM
  • Project Management

If your potential tasks don’t fall neatly into one of those buckets, you might reach out with what you have in mind and see if it’s something Cloud Assistant Pro can accommodate.

As always, with virtual assistant providers you get the most from their services by communicating your needs in as much detail as possible and seeing how well their staff match up with your requirements.

Plans and Pricing

Cloud Assistant Pro offer a pay-as-you-go option or subscription pricing plans. Their pay-as-you-go plans are as follows:

  • 1 hour – $15 ($15 per/hr)
  • 40 hours – $400 ($10 per/hr)
  • 80 hours – $800 ($10 per/hr)

cloud-assistant-pro-payg-pricing

You can submit your requests via the website, email, Skype, or Microsoft Kaizala. There is a 24 hour turnaround, and you have 45 days to use your hours.

The subscription plans they offer are:

  • 40 hours – $400 ($10 per/hr)
  • 80 hours – $800 ($10 per/hr)
  • 120 hours – $1,200 ($10 per/hr)

cloud-assistant-pro-pricing

You can submit your requests via the website, email, Skype, or Microsoft Kaizala. With these plans, you are assigned a dedicated account manager and unused hours rollover month to month.

(I think the rollover hours are why you’re not seeing the typical price break at the larger monthly plans. Normally the more hours you commit to, the better rate you’ll get, but not in this case.)

Virtual Assistant Assistant Exclusive: Get 10% off your first month of service through the link below:

cloud-assistant-pro-discount

Cloud Assistant Pro Alternatives

If you’re looking for India-based virtual assistant companies then My Tasker and VA Talks are two that might be worth a look. Both are slightly less expensive at top end of the hourly spectrum (100+ hours per month).

Their prices and services are very similar so I would check them out and see which company impresses you the most.

Your Turn

Have you worked with Cloud Assistant Pro? If so, please take a moment to leave a quick review to help others with their decision.

Read More

Bookkeeping.com

Posted by Mica Harvey / Bookkeeping Services

UPDATE: It appears Bookkeeping.com has become unresponsive. Please consider one of these alternatives.

Bookkeeping.com is, as the name gives away, an online bookkeeping service. They provide customized bookkeeping solutions for businesses of all sizes, along with some other services to help take financial and bookkeeping tasks off your hands.

The company has been in business since 2011. Their headquarters is based in California, and all their staff work out of their offices.

About Bookkeeping.com

The company is headed up by Brandon Littleton, and they have a team of bookkeepers and other skilled financial staff based in their offices in California.

Bookkeeping.com provides bookkeepers to manage your books, and software to help monitor your financials and integrate with their processes. Beyond that, they offer a wide range of services for businesses of all sizes, which is something you need to iron out with a call when you first sign up with them.

It’s also important to note that they have “bank grade security architecture” to give you peace of mind that your financials are well protected against nefarious activities, and there is a backup in case you lose your data saved locally.

How Bookkeeping.com Works

Ready to start handing off all your day-to-day bookkeeping tasks?

When you sign up to work with Bookkeeping.com, they sync QuickBooks software with your bank accounts.

You’ll maintain access so you can see everything they’re doing and get up-to-date financial reports.

Their onboarding process and ongoing working relationship is developed as follows when you sign up with them:

  1. Acquiring documents – They sync with your bank accounts to get your statements automatically and put them into QuickBooks for you.
  2. Bookkeeping – Your dedicated bookkeeper will categorize all of your expenses, pay invoices, reconcile accounts, and handle all the other bookkeeping duties.
  3. Dashboard Access – You can access your customizable dashboard in QuickBooks portal to look at any of your financials whenever you want.

You don’t have a dedicated bookkeeper, instead you have access to a team of bookkeepers picking up different areas of your accounts.

If you have any questions, you can send your bookkeeper a message via the QuickBooks portal and they will get back to you within a business day.

Services

Bookkeeping.com’s services extend beyond just bookkeeping. Here is a list of the core services they offer:

  • Bookkeeping – They provide customized bookkeeping services for business of all sizes, from individuals to Fortune 500 companies.
  • Payroll – They provide certified payroll specialists to manage your payroll for you.
  • Tax Services – They provide qualified tax specialists to help you with your state and federal taxes.
  • Time Clock – They provide software to help track your employees’ time and attendance.
  • Human Resources – They provide human resource solutions to help increase productivity within your business.
  • Insurance Services – Bookkeeper.com have negotiated deal with partners to offer a range of insurances, including commercial auto, professional and general liability, and workers compensation.

Plans and Pricing

Bookkeeping.com do not have any set pricing or plans. They provide customized bookkeeping solutions tailored to the needs of their customers, as such you need to contact them with details of your business to receive a quote.

Bookkeeping.com Alternatives

ZipBooks and Bench are two alternative online bookkeeping companies worth checking out to compare prices and services.

Both offer a free trial, so you can test their services before committing to a payment plan, and ZipBooks is the more affordable of the two.

Your Turn

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

Read More

A to Z Tasks

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

UPDATE: It appears A to Z Tasks is out of business. Please consider one of these alternatives.

A to Z Tasks is US-based virtual assistant company with an offshore office located in Bangladesh. Their 300-person facility is in Dhaka, a city with great high-tech infrastructure and that is home to many call centers and technology companies.

A to Z Tasks has been providing outsourcing services since 2008, and serves clients around the world. Among their recognizable customers are Toyota, Subway, Verizon, and Century 21. If these large brands trust A to Z with their data and workload, there’s no question they can provide serious value for smaller companies, entrepreneurs, and busy individuals.

a to z tasks reviewVirtual assistants from A to Z Tasks can perform any number of helpful functions, including general administrative tasks like responding to emails to website maintenance and customer service. You can even train your assistant to accomplish routine business processes and free up more of your time.

The most attractive A to Z Tasks plan is their full-time dedicated “virtual employee” plan, which is $995 for 160 hours a month (approx. $6.20 an hour).  If you need less time, smaller plans are available ranging from 30 hours a month to 80 hours a month at rates between $8 and $10 an hour.  These rates make A to Z Tasks very competitive among other virtual assistant companies.

A to Z Tasks offers a 20-hour free trial so you can test out their service without any money upfront or a long-term commitment. In addition, they promise an impressive 24-hour start-up time, from sign-up to assistance. And if you don’t like their service, you’re protected by their 14-day money back guarantee.

For similar alternatives, you might consider the well-priced business plans from Efficise or My Tasker.

The A to Z Tasks website includes a number of testimonials from satisfied clients. Have you used their service?  We’d love for you to share your experience with A to Z Tasks below.

Read More

Ask Virtual Services

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

UPDATE: It appears Ask Virtual Services is out of business. Please consider one of these alternatives.

Ask Virtual Services is an international virtual assistant company with clients primarily in the US, UK, and Canada, as well as servicing clients in other countries across the globe.

Their virtual assistants work remotely from locations such as the Philippines to allow the company to offer competitive hourly rates.

About Ask Virtual Services

ask virtual services reviewAsk Virtual Services head office is in Palo Alto, CA. They employ virtual assistants in locations around the globe that allow them to offer competitive rates. They do however have US-based customer support staff should you have a problem, and you will be assigned a member of their customer service team to communicate with if you buy one of their plans.

Their target customers are primarily entrepreneurs and business owners. It often makes sense to hire a virtual assistant to take on some of your workload regardless how large your business is however. The rates you pay through companies like Ask Virtual Services are often lower than local rates, and there are no other employee or contractor costs.

The company have a number of virtual assistants and will match you with the best suited candidate. You can start outsourcing tasks the day after you sign up for one of their plans.

Sponsored Link:

Services

You can either pay per hour for individual tasks, or buy a set amount of hours to use over a three month period. There are no contracts or fees to pay up front, you just pay for the amount of hours you want and can top up at any time.

Ask Virtual Services provide an array of services covering web development, PPC and email marketing, social media management, SEO tasks, and more. As with all virtual assistant companies you get the most from the services by contacting them and discussing your requirements in detail.

Plans and Pricing

In terms of pricing, Ask Virtual Services offer some flexible plans and pricing depending on your requirements.

For individual tasks:

  • Data entry tasks cost $7.98 / hour
  • Virtual assistants cost $9.98 / hour
  • Web development costs $12.98 / hour

Their packages are priced as follows:

  • Starter Bucket – 20 hours @$10/hr
  • Light Bucket – 40 hours @$8.98/hr
  • Part-time Bucket – 80 hours @$7.98/hr
  • Full-time Bucket – 160 hours @$7.98/hr

ask virtual services pricing

All of their packages come with a free consultation and setup when you make your first purchase. They also have an on-demand plan with no monthly recurring fee, and any tasks you request done are billed out at $12.75 an hour.

Discounts are available for agreeing to a longer term contract of 6 or 12 months.

The hours can be used over a 3 month period, your virtual assistant will work your local business hours, and you have access to a US-based member of their support team.

Ask Virtual Services Alternatives

Although Ask Virtual Services are a US-based virtual assistant company, their prices reflect the fact that they use overseas virtual assistants. Their prices and even the names of their packages are very similar to those at TaskBullet if you want to compare their services. It’s always a good idea to get quotes from more than one company,

I’d recommend checking out OnlineJobs.ph (great resource for full-time Filipino VAs) and Uassist.ME (well-rated company in Central America) as well.

Your Turn

Have you worked with Ask Virtual Services? If so, please leave a review below to help others with their search.

Read More

AssistNinja

Posted by Mica Harvey / Philippines Virtual Assistants

UPDATE: It appears AssistNinja is out of business. Please consider one of these alternatives.

AssistNinja is a virtual assistant head-hunting company based in Manilla, Philippines. They are a new company, starting operations in January 2018. Although their parent company has been in business since 2015.

They specialize in finding the ideal Filipino virtual assistants for entrepreneurs and small business owners all over the world based on their specific needs.

About AssistNinja

The company is run by Cody McLain, and their target customers are small businesses and entrepreneurs across North America, although they work with clients all over the world.

When you sign up with AssistNinja a member of their team will give you a short survey to fill out. This provides them with all the information they need to find a selection of ideal candidates for you to interview.

How it Works

Unless you specify otherwise, AssistNinja will narrow their list of candidates down to three for you to carry out the final interviews with.

Once you are happy with your chosen virtual assistant they hand over full responsibility to you. You are responsible for the contract you set in place, managing your assistant, salary, and so on.

This is where AssistNinja differs from virtual assistant companies who employ their virtual assistants, manage them in-house, and hire them out per hour.

In this case, you’ll have a much more hands-on role. This gives you the flexibility to negotiate pay, hours of work, and other employee benefits directly with the assistant.

The main drawback however is that there is no one to fall back on if things aren’t working out as planned. That’s why the screening and interviewing process is very important.

Services

AssistNinja will headhunt an assistant to best meet your requirements.

Here are some of the areas and skillsets they specialize in providing:

  • Bookkeeping Assistant
  • Content / Blog Writing
  • General Virtual Assistant
  • Graphic Designer
  • SEO / Marketing Assistant
  • WordPress Developer

Plans and Pricing

There is a one-off fee of $500 payable after you’ve completed a survey and AssistNinja knows exactly what you’re looking for.

They will then present you with three virtual assistants meeting your requirements to choose from in around 2 weeks.

AssistNinja Alternatives

There are plenty of choices when looking for Filipino virtual assistants. Most similar is Chris Ducker’s well-known recruiting service Virtual Staff Finder, though last I heard they were only recruiting general VAs.

If you’re comfortable hiring a work from home assistant, you might also consider OnlineJobs.ph. For a low monthly price, you get access to their entire database of candidates; but you have to do your own screening and vetting.

Your Turn

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

Read More

Athandz Research

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

UPDATE: It appears Athandz Research is out of business. Please consider one of these alternatives.

Athandz Research is a Sri Lankan based company specializing in carrying out customized research and business intelligence.

The company has been in operation since 2003. They gather data as per client instructions, filter and summarize the information and return it in an easy-to-use format. This gives clients the information they need to improve on their own KPI’s and the performance of their business.

About Athandz Research

athandz research reviewThe company is based in Sri Lanka. They work with clientele all over the world, with the majority of their clients being based across Europe.

Their services are aimed at companies or individuals who want to outsource any form of research. Searching the internet for information and formatting the results is a time-consuming process. Athandz Research has a team of people who specialize in these areas, and can do this at an affordable rate.

When asked what their areas of specialization were, Athandz said “medical related web research.” Their services are not limited to the medical field however, having worked with clients in the banking, software, telecom, pharmaceutical, insurance and consulting niches to name a few.

If you currently spend a lot of time carrying out research tasks or have a large task coming up, the starting point is to provide details to Athandz along with your budget to receive a quote. As with any virtual assistant services you need to weigh up the opportunity cost of tying up your time against other tasks within your business you could be focusing on.

Services

Athandz carry out a wide range of research and intelligence services. They can gather information on your competitors to help you better understand how others in your industry are performing. Helping you make comparisons with your business, and look for areas where you can improve.

They also carry out all kinds of online research, such as finding news articles, events, products, vendors, and any information as specified by yourself. You can ask for lists of information to help you with research you’re carrying out or help you put together a list of contacts to email.

Athandz Research specialize in the medical niche. If you are in this space you can use their services to data mine and summarize medical information for research and educational purposes. As well as carrying out medical transcriptions, formatting large volumes of information, and performing ad-hoc research.

Athandz Intro Video

Plans and Pricing

Their rates vary per project based on the individual requirements of the task.

Their hourly rate is usually $10 to give you an idea of how much a task will cost. To get an accurate quote I suggest you contact Athandz with as much detail about the tasks you want carried out and they will call or email you to discuss the project and provide you with a quote.

Athandz Research Alternatives

With most virtual assistant companies you will be able to hire a virtual assistant and have them carry out research tasks for you. What separates Athandz Research apart from virtual assistant providers is that they specialize in research and business intelligence. If you are after research only and not the general VA assistance I would check them out.

For general virtual assistant services companies like My Tasker and OkayRelax offer very competitive rates.

Your Turn

Have you worked with Athandz Research? If so please leave a review below to share your experiences and help other with their decision, thanks.

Read More

Lifenzyme

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

UPDATE: It appears Lifenzyme is out of business. Please consider one of these alternatives.

Lifenzyme is a virtual assistant company based in Bangalore, India.  They got their start in 2008, and have been helping clients with remote tasks ever since.

The Lifenzyme.com website is a mess. I work with dozens of virtual assistant companies but this one is probably the hardest to navigate. Now I’m not saying that this site has the greatest design in the world, but I’m not the one selling web design and development services either.

lifenzyme reviewAll over you’ll find strange syntax and random capitalizations in the text. I hate to be the grammar police but this is your sales brochure to the world. I found the process-flow charts, service plans, and unfamiliar acronyms really confusing. The promo buttons on their site don’t make much sense. Four months of free service for existing customers? Why are you showing that to me?

Other red flags:

  • Live Help was offline, even though they claim to run a shift during US business hours.
  • At the time of this writing in 2012, the copyright date at the bottom of the homepage was 2009.
  • At the time of this writing, their twitter account has tweeted only once in 12 months.  Prior to that, nearly every tweet was 100% self-promotional.
  • They charge people $35 to join their affiliate program.  Hello? Affiliates promote your business for free, and only get paid you make a sale.  Why create extra barriers to entry?

I would hesitate to sign-up for Lifenzyme based just on those issues. It makes it seem like they don’t understand the needs of their potential clients.

However, their pricing is competitive among Indian virtual assistant companies. Rates begin at $15 an hour and fall to $7 an hour for a full-time plan. You can sign-up for a “full-time” 150-hour a month plan for just $1000. I say “full-time” because normally full time is considered 160 hours a month.  To add to the confusion, Lifenzyme also has a 120-hour “full-time” plan.

The granddaddy of all the Lifenzyme plans is their dual-dedicated-assistant plan, which comes with two virtual employees each working 7 hours a day. At a price is $2350 per month, it’s unclear why someone would opt for that instead of 2 150-hour plans for $2000.

Some of the larger plans allow for rollover time if you have a slow month, and any plan can be cancelled free of charge with 30-day notice.

Lifenzyme offers a 5-day free trial if you want to take their virtual assistant services for a test drive. Otherwise, you might consider My Tasker or 24/7 Virtual Assistant for well-rated outsourced help in India.

If you have worked with Lifenzyme, please share your experience (positive or negative) in the reviews below. Thank you!

Read More
«‹8384858687›»