In case you’re rising your corporation, however you end up and your group slowed down by routine enterprise administrative assist and fundamental advertising duties as an alternative of the particular development advertising duties, you want a digital assistant (VA).
Digital assistants can save companies as much as 78% of operating costs.
With digital assistants, companies don’t need to concern themselves anymore with the bills required to keep up conventional workers. These bills, which contain the prices related to hiring, recruitment, paid coaching, offering tools, and paying for advantages in long-term contract agreements, can add as much as substantial quantities.
In 2018, round 37% of small businesses outsourced their business processes. This grew to 52% by 2019.
A 2022 survey by Manpower Group confirmed that 75% of employers in the U.S. alone required assist discovering appropriate expertise rapidly. Right now, digital assistant statistics present that there are 49% of companies with over 1,000 workers flip to digital assistants for this want.
Digital assistants are in excessive demand amongst companies of all sizes. There are 31% of firms which have between 100 and 1000 workers that rent digital assistants for his or her enterprise assist processes. Alternatively, there are 19% of companies with fewer than 100 workers that achieve this.
What Is A VA?
What precisely does a digital assistant do?
A digital assistant, or VA, is an unbiased contractor that gives enterprise administrative and advertising assist to their shoppers.
They perform equally to a private assistant or an govt assistant, besides that they work remotely from house or their very own private workplace, exterior the corporate’s premises.
A typical digital assistant’s job description includes:
- Answering telephones
- Making calls
- Scheduling appointments or conferences
- Following up on duties
- Making and managing journey preparations
- Responding to emails
- Accounting
- Managing gross sales leads
- Posting on social media
- Dealing with Managed IT services
Along with routine enterprise administrative assist duties, specialised digital assistant roles are extra technical and infrequently contain fundamental advertising capabilities corresponding to:
- E mail advertising
- Content material writing
- Customer support
- Graphic design
- Social media administration
- Advertising analysis
Why Rent A Digital Assistant?
Hiring a digital assistant:
- Saves you time by outsourcing them
- Saves you cash by putting off hiring and onboarding prices. A Stanford University study confirmed that hiring distant employees cuts attrition charges in half.
- Lets you merely handle their work since they’ve elevated effectivity and productiveness, with fewer sick days and breaks. Round 60% of digital assistants are college-educated and don’t want you to intently supervise them. The identical Stanford College examine confirmed that these distant employees are 13% extra productive.
- It allows you to focus in your priorities, corresponding to dealing with consumer relationships and growing income, whereas taking up duties. On time-consuming routine however crucial enterprise assist duties,
Who’s almost certainly to rent a digital assistant?
Though there are at the moment extra massive firms hiring digital assistants to outsource their routine enterprise administrative and advertising assist roles, digital assistants are notably useful for small to medium companies and corporations seeking to develop and scale quick. And with technological development, we would have the ability to outsource software development, recruitment, search engine optimisation, and different extra superior operations to a digital assistant.
High 10 Platforms for Hiring a Digital Assistant
The place is the perfect place to get a digital assistant?
It is determined by your wants and targets.
Right here, we’ve listed the ten finest digital assistant web sites or platforms based mostly on what they’re finest for, to make your choice simpler.
Greatest for advertising digital assistants: Toptal
Toptal’s elite digital assistants are finest suited to advertising roles, particularly development advertising.
They will do design, video, paid adverts, natural social, e mail advertising, influencer advertising, search engine marketing (search engine optimisation), knowledge reporting and evaluation, gross sales assist, advertising operations assist, and extra.
Every advertising assistant is college-educated, speaks and writes in glorious English, is off-shore, and has not less than 2–5 years of enterprise and advertising expertise.
Your advertising VA works full-time for under you. They are going to be a part of your Slack channels, be a part of you on your conferences, and use your organization e mail tackle as a full-time member of your group.
If you wish to develop and scale your corporation quicker than your opponents, you don’t need freelancers who in all probability produce other shoppers and tasks they’re engaged on.
You need devoted advertising digital assistants targeted solely on your corporation who not solely know advertising however have been pre-vetted by skilled entrepreneurs themselves.
E-book a free session name with the Toptal group at present.
Greatest for fast requests: Fancy Hands
In case you simply need to get stuff completed quicker with out doing all of the analysis and present process the training curve of issues your self, Fancy Fingers was made for this.
With Fancy Fingers, you rent a digital assistant on a per-task foundation in case you subscribe to a minimal of three duties per thirty days. Every process is valued at 20 minutes. If a process takes longer than this, you’ll be notified forward of time about what number of subscribed duties your order will take. Unused requests are carried over to the subsequent month for so long as you’re a subscribed member.
Fancy Fingers is finest for your corporation in case you simply want issues to be completed rapidly with out back-and-forth negotiating for costs, such as you would do on freelancer platforms. Its customary turnaround time is 48 hours to 72 hours.
Designed as an on-demand resolution for fast motion, Fancy Fingers’ web site maps all logged-in VAs and their places for transparency, with all VAs being U.S.-based.
Nevertheless, you might not all the time get the identical VA. The duties are accepted by those that have been logged into the system once you positioned your order.
Fancy Fingers gives 4 pricing plans: Small, Medium, Massive, and XL. Pricing is predicated on the variety of requests:
- Small: Three requests: $17.99 a month
- Medium: 5 requests: $29.99 a month
- Massive: 15 requests: $74.99 a month
- XL: 30 requests: $149.99 a month
Though it has a easy pricing construction, the charges can get fairly costly for extra advanced duties. Fancy Fingers is finest for easy and fast private {and professional} duties you need to be completed rapidly.
To make use of Fancy Fingers, you have to join first. As soon as signed up, you may assign your duties to a digital assistant.
Fancy Fingers has a cell software that you would be able to obtain, join, register to, and submit your duties.
Fancy Fingers serves English-speaking shoppers all around the world.
Greatest for entrepreneurs: Time Etc and Zirtual
Time And so on can be a U.S.-based platform that gives VA companies to enterprise house owners. Their companies cowl normal duties like serving to together with your to-do lists and sorting your receipts and bills, social media and content material advertising, gross sales administration, advertising administration, and analysis.
You may first attempt a digital assistant free of charge, and no bank card is required. After they full your first process, you can rent them as a devoted VA in case you like their work.
Time And so on’s VAs bear a 10-stage choice course of designed by Penni Pike, former govt assistant to Sir Richard Branson. On common, they’ve 12 years’ expertise within the position.
Time And so on operates on a month-to-month subscription. Whether or not you could have a busy month or a quiet month, you may alter your subscription up or down by switching plans anytime.
Plans are priced based mostly on the variety of hours:
- Ten hours: $380/month ($38/hour)
- 20 hours: $740/month ($37/hour)
- 40 hours: $1,440/month ($36/hour)
- 60 hours: $2100/month ($35/hour)
Time And so on additionally gives plans for groups, the place everybody in your group can have their very own private assistant, beginning at $14.40 per person per thirty days. Every of your group members can then have a extremely skilled assistant to deal with private duties, journey and lodging, analysis and sourcing, liaising with suppliers, and extra.
Plans for groups are based mostly on the variety of customers in a group:
- Crew of 15: $290/month ($19.33/person), with 2 devoted U.S. assistants
- Crew of 30: $560/month ($18.66/person), with 2 devoted U.S. assistants
- Crew of 75: $1,080/month ($14.40/person), with 3 devoted U.S. assistants
- Crew of any measurement: custom-built pricing and options
Time And so on additionally gives a “lifetime happiness assure”: if, for any motive, you’re sad with its companies, you get your a refund.
Alternatively, Zirtual prides itself on having PowerPoint VAs who’ve high administrative expertise corresponding to:
- Calendar administration
- Content material creation
- Knowledge entry
- Occasion planning
- Inbox administration
- Issuing invoices
- Making journey preparations
- Making PowerPoint displays
- Recording bills
- Social media administration
- Utilizing Google Docs and Microsoft Workplace Suite
- Internet analysis
- Web site upkeep
Zirtual’s VAs are all college-educated and based mostly within the U.S. You get one devoted digital assistant to work with who will do all these duties and extra. In case you have extra specialised requests, they will seek the advice of with their supervisor and different Zirtual VAs for assist at any time. Zirtual VAs have ongoing assist from their delegation strategists and process specialists.
You additionally profit from Zirtual’s 2-hour customary response time for duties. You will have direct contact together with your devoted digital assistant by means of cellphone, quick message service (SMS), and e mail.
Executives, entrepreneurs, and small enterprise house owners from the next industries or professions sometimes rent VAs from Zirtual:
- Businesses
- Authors/writers
- Enterprise companies
- Ecommerce
- Monetary analysts
- Nonprofits
- Property companies
- Property administration
- Actual property
- Startups
Zirtual additionally has a Associate Community with firms that shoppers may want, from bookkeeping to housekeeping, meal supply, and content material creation. Your VA then turns into the purpose particular person to coordinate all of your specialised and offline wants.
You pay one month-to-month price for a specified variety of VA hours. Zirtual has 4 pricing plans:
- Entrepreneur: 12 hours, 1 person, $549/month
- Startup: 24 hours, 2 customers, $849/month
- Small Enterprise: 36 hours, 3 customers, $1249/month
- Crew: 50 hours, 5 customers, $1699/month
There aren’t any long-term contracts. You may improve or downgrade your plan as your wants change. There is no such thing as a rolling over of unused month-to-month hours, although. Your VA, together with their managers, will strategize methods that will help you maximize your time. You can too cancel anytime, however the cancellation will take impact the next month.
Greatest for bilingual digital assistant companies: Uassist.ME
Based in 2009 with solely 4 workers, Uassist.ME has grown right into a full Enterprise Course of Outsourcing (BPO) firm that provides each digital help companies and call middle companies to worldwide shoppers. It gives a various vary of companies, from accounting to graphic design, customer support, and net improvement.
Uassist.ME is an El Salvador-founded firm now based mostly in Miami Seashore, Florida. It calls its service “near-shore help, with bilingual digital assistants who converse each English and Spanish.
It additionally options dynamic in-person companies if wanted, because it’s solely a two-hour flight to main U.S. cities.
VAs are vetted after which paired with their small and medium-sized enterprise (SMB) shoppers based mostly on their backgrounds. Uassist.ME’s VAs sometimes have backgrounds in enterprise, customer support, design and improvement, finance, lead era, advertising, and gross sales.
Digital administrative help companies embrace:
- Knowledge entry
- E mail administration
- Occasion planning
- Word-taking in conferences
- PowerPoint displays
- Analysis
- Social media administration
- Translations
- Transcriptions
- Journey preparations
Administrative assistant companies’ pricing is predicated on the variety of hours per thirty days:
- Starter Pack: 10 hours, $300
- Effectivity Enhancer: 20 hours, $460
- Skilled Enhance: 40 hours, $760
- Productiveness Plus: 60 hours, $1,020
There aren’t any long-term contracts. You merely improve or downgrade your plan as you have to.
Different companies provided embrace gross sales help, customer support, inventive companies, and bookkeeping help. It’s a must to contact them to get a custom-made quote on your particular wants.
Uassist.ME’s contact middle companies embrace again workplace, gross sales assist, and customer support.
Greatest for giant groups: Prialto
What makes Prialto completely different from most VA platforms is that it brings in, trains, and manages its digital assistants as full-time workers. Which means that you and your group can turn out to be extra productive without having to handle one other worker.
Prialto’s VAs maintain administrative duties, buyer relationship administration (CRM), and complicated venture coordination, so the executives they work with have extra time to give attention to rising their firms.
Prialto’s VAs have bachelor’s levels and have intensive expertise in enterprise assist companies. They bear a month-long new-hire coaching program earlier than they’re assigned to work with shoppers. In addition they bear ongoing coaching on the newest tendencies in enterprise practices and know-how.
Based by Eric Taussig in 2010 in Silicon Valley after he traveled all through Asia and Latin America assembly school graduates caught in unsatisfying jobs, Prialto caters to executives “crumbling below a load of administrative work pressured on them by know-how that changed administrative assistants.”
With a worldwide workforce, utilizing a distributed workforce mannequin and a U.S.-based venture administration system, Prialto assigns its VAs to executives or groups to supply assist for the manager and their group.
All of their shoppers’ work is cross-trained amongst a group of individuals, and all the things is documented, whilst processes evolve and instruments change.
So, in case your VA is briefly out for a trip, leaves, or is promoted, the transition is seamlessly managed by Prialto. One other VA with current data is there to step in, and Prialto’s group of managers ensures that assist stays intact. You by no means have to start out over once more with a brand new VA.
Pricing is predicated on whether or not you have to assist your self or as a group or group. Prialto’s pricing scheme scales with your corporation, given the next Prialto Models:
- Your self (1-3 Models): One VA with 55 hours of month-to-month assist, $1500 per thirty days
- Your Crew (3+ Models): Three VAs with over 165 hours of month-to-month assist, $4,500 per thirty days
- Your Group (8+ Models): Eight VAs with over 440 hours of month-to-month assist (inquire for pricing)
Every Prialto Unit comes with a devoted VA, an engagement supervisor (EM) who ensures that you simply get essentially the most out of your Prialto Unit, a specified variety of help hours every month, and absolutely educated main and secondary backup assistants, with free episodic overflow time.
There’s a $250 preliminary set-up price within the first month, however that is waived in case you subscribe to a one-year settlement.
Onboarding for people and small groups sometimes begins inside three to 5 days. Bigger groups begin based mostly on an agreed-upon timeline.
Greatest for consumer satisfaction: WoodBows
WoodBows gives VA assist from places of work within the U.S., India, and the Philippines. It boasts a 98.4% retention charge amongst its shoppers. It additionally has a 99.7% consumer repetition charge from repeat clients looking for to lighten their administrative load.
It has obtained persistently excessive scores from the U.S. assessment web site Clutch.com, with glorious suggestions from TimeDoctor.
Digital assistant companies are numerous: administrative duties, app improvement, appointment scheduling, bilingual assist, content material writing, buyer assist, knowledge entry, digital advertising, monetary administration, graphics, actual property assist companies, software program improvement, net design, and lots of extra.
You get a devoted VA, so you’re all the time working with the identical skilled on your job wants. This ensures a deeper understanding of your workflow and extra consistency in work.
In case you want a extra specialised process your VA can’t do, they will get assist from one other VA who has the experience for the duty. Basically, you get a group of specialists however you pay just for a single VA.
VAs are additionally supported by supervisors, who guarantee the standard and timeliness of their work. They’re additionally employed among the many perfect, with not less than 10 years of trade expertise.
VAs will work in your time zone and can be found for communication by cellphone, e mail, textual content, and video chat.
WoodBows positions itself as an outsourced digital assistant service that feels in-house.
Pricing is determined by the variety of hours a month you want their VA companies. You could select from weekly, month-to-month, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual plans. The month-to-month pricing scheme is as follows:
- 40 Hours Month-to-month: $499 a month ($12.48 per hour)
- 80 Hours Month-to-month: $699 a month ($8.74 per hour)
- 160 Hours Month-to-month (Full Time Plan): $1,299/month ($8.11 per hour)
- 160 Hours Month-to-month (US-Primarily based VA): $27 per hour
Unused hours could also be rolled over. WoodBows gives a 100% money-back assure. WoodBows will situation a full refund if shoppers inform them inside two days of the beginning date.
Hiring a VA from WoodBows includes 4 steps:
- Request a free session and clarify your necessities.
- Determine in your subscription plan.
- Join at WoodBows’ web site.
- Get matched inside 24 hours.
WoodBows has obtained dozens of safety awards from varied U.S.-based organizations. It has a sophisticated Knowledge Encryption know-how to guard your knowledge, with Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) with its shoppers. As a consumer, you personal 100% of the work carried out by digital workers.
Greatest for budget-friendly and numerous digital assistant companies: VA Staffer
In case you’re a start-up or small enterprise proprietor with large desires, a VA staffer might be the wind beneath your wings. This Philippine-based digital assistant service supplier is thought for its cost-effective pricing construction and completely vetted and educated digital assistants with numerous expertise and experience. They provide their companies hourly, which is a worthwhile benefit for enterprise house owners looking for to handle prices and money flows successfully.
The Philippines, basically, is without doubt one of the outsourcing capitals on the planet, widespread for its cost-effective, high-quality outsourcing options. It has a hub for BPO, name facilities and knowledge-based companies.
Recognized for his or her effectivity and financial system, VA Staffer digital assistants can assist your corporation with a wide range of companies, from knowledge entry to accounting, e mail advertising, graphic design, social media administration, video enhancing, web site improvement and upkeep, strategic enterprise planning, and extra. They’re college-educated, and a few have undergone coaching to learn English for higher communication, guaranteeing they will successfully assist your corporation wants.
Its Hourly Plan choices are for 20 hours, 50 hours, and 100 hours every week, beginning at $298 a month. Its Devoted Assistant Plan choices vary from 20 hours to 40 hours every week, beginning at $800 a month.
The Hourly Plan is finest for busy entrepreneurs who want a wide range of assist that gives a number of talent units. It offers the next customary companies:
- Administrative Activity Assist
- CRM Set-Up
- Knowledge Entry
- Graphic Design
- Analysis and Lead Technology
- Social Media Administration
- Video Modifying
- Internet Improvement
The Devoted Assistant Plan is finest for busy entrepreneurs who want a devoted digital assistant to assist them with every day duties. It offers the next customary companies:
- Administrative Activity Assist
- Knowledge Entry
- Analysis and Lead Technology
- Social Media Administration
- A Devoted Assistant
- Work on Your Hours
Each Plans are versatile. You may simply change plans, skip a month, or cancel indefinitely. The Hours don’t expire. They continue to be in your account, which you should utilize at a later date once you need to use their VA companies once more.
Hiring a digital assistant from VA Staffer takes three steps:
- Schedule a Technique Name
- Meet with their Consumer Success Advocate to strategize what to delegate.
- Get matched to a VA based mostly in your particular wants.
VA Staffer has a state-of-the-art venture administration software that you should utilize as quickly as you begin with them. The instruments mean you can assign duties, begin discussions, add information, and absolutely combine together with your e mail for fast communication.
Greatest for U.S.-based digital assistant companies: Belay
If you’d like your digital assistant to be U.S.-based in order that they work inside your time zone at common waking hours, Belay stands out as the platform for you. Primarily based in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s unfold out throughout 48 states in america.
Belay focuses on providing first-class, U.S.-based digital assistant companies to entrepreneurs, executives, and companies of all sizes. With a customized method, devoted account managers match you with a VA that meets your wants. Belay boasts of a 93% first-match success charge.
Led by a group of 4 ladies—Tricia Sciortino, Liza Zeeveld, Lisa Seal, and Krisha Buehler– Belay values variety and tradition. It explicitly states its stance as “Simply Be You.”
It has received many tradition and enterprise awards from outstanding nationwide magazines corresponding to FlexJobs, Entrepreneur Journal, Inc. Journal, and The Atlanta Enterprise Chronicle. It offers assets corresponding to a weblog, podcast, ebooks, guides, and programs for the holistic assist of its shoppers.
They notably excel at offering digital assistant, accounting, and social media staffing options. Accounting companies vary from bookkeeping to payroll processing to fractional Chief Finance Officer (CFO) roles. They’ve greater than 1,800 unbiased contractors at the moment servicing greater than 10,000 shoppers.
Belay has a six-step course of so that you can get your VA:
- Meet together with your Options Marketing consultant to establish your actual wants and ache factors and decide what’s best for you. If Belay is an effective match, you’ll be despatched an settlement to signal, and then you definately’ll be paired with a Consumer Success Marketing consultant.
- Meet together with your Consumer Success Marketing consultant for a deeper dive into your process, instruments, tradition, and character necessities.
- Your Consumer Success Marketing consultant will vet and interview candidates from its pool of round 2,000 specialists, and you’ll be matched inside one week.
- You, your Consumer Success Marketing consultant, and your new Belay Specialist have a kick-off name to satisfy one another, set preliminary targets, talk about communication plans, and mainly set yourselves up collectively for achievement.
- You’re formally onboarded, and your Consumer Success Marketing consultant stays near offering Belay’s signature distinctive service, guiding you thru the onboarding course of.
- You get pleasure from ongoing check-ins to assist each you and your Belay Specialist all through your partnership.
Belay’s pricing is just not revealed on its web site. Trade sources present that its Primary 20 Belay Options plan begins at $1,600 to $1,800 a month for 40 hours of service. This interprets to $38 to $45 per hour.
Greatest for round the clock digital assistant companies: 24/7 Virtual Assistants
Dwelling as much as its identify, 24/7 Digital Assistants offers uninterrupted, round the clock digital help for shoppers with versatile plans and an intuitive interface.
Primarily based within the U.S., with an offshore workplace in India, 90% of their shoppers are additionally from the U.S. The U.S. workplace in Cinnaminson, New Jersey, handles all advertising and gross sales, whereas the Indian offshore workplace handles all on-line digital assistants.
Their digital help companies embrace administrative assist, back-office options, knowledge mining, e mail advertising, inbound gross sales, on-line advertising, and lead era, reside assist, cell and net design and improvement, on-line branding options, actual property options, social media and digital advertising, and lots of extra companies to assist shoppers develop their companies.
They’ve three varieties of plans: Offshore, U.S., and Internet Plans. The Offshore Plan begins at $349 a month with the Entrepreneur Plan, for 30 hours a month, a month-to-month membership, and 24/7 help. The U.S. Plan begins at $399 a month for 20 hours a month, a month-to-month membership, and 24/7 help. The Internet Plan begins at $600 a month for 20 hours a month and a month-to-month membership.
To trace your digital assistant service subscription utilization, you’re given a every day process report. Additionally, you will be supplied with login credentials to the 24/7 Digital Assistants’ login portal, the place you may generate a every day, weekly, or month-to-month process report back to see how the hours are getting used.
Enterprise subscription plans might be shared with different customers, sharing the allotted month-to-month hours within the plan. In case you have any remaining unused hours on the finish of your month-to-month cycle, 25% will likely be rolled over to the subsequent month.
You may unsubscribe anytime by contacting 24/7 Digital Help earlier than your subsequent billing cycle.
Hiring A Digital Assistant
How a lot do you have to pay for a digital assistant? What’s the widespread hourly charge for a digital assistant?
These questions usually come up from enterprise house owners significantly contemplating hiring a digital assistant. With the numerous digital assistant platforms on the market providing completely different options and pricing plans, how have you learnt you’re making deal?
In america, the average virtual assistant rate is $25.04 per hour, with a median vary of $25 to $35 per hour. In India, it’s 106 rupees ($1.27) per hour, whereas within the Philippines, it averages at PHP 83.54 ($1.44) per hour.
It’s clearly approach less expensive to safe digital assistants from the highest two outsourcing capitals on the planet, with high quality expertise, experience, and professionalism. India is thought for its technological experience, whereas the Philippines is thought for its people-centered companies, with its individuals having a excessive degree of proficiency in English.
Is It Value Hiring A Digital Assistant?
If you end up and your group spending tons of hours working in your corporation somewhat than on your corporation, it’s time to rent a digital assistant.
Hiring a digital assistant:
- Reduces your hiring and coaching prices
- Reduces micromanagement
- Makes it simple so that you can rent substitute expertise
- Boosts your effectivity by outsourcing non-core however crucial enterprise assist duties
- Lets you acquire entry to specialised expertise from all around the world
- Frees up your time for strategic pondering and nurturing your consumer relationships and rapidly scales your corporation operations
- Enhance your corporation’s probabilities of success; and
- Helps you acquire extra peace of thoughts as you keep away from burnout.
The important thing factor to recollect is that you’re clear about your particular enterprise wants for a digital assistant. Study extra about Toptal’s advertising digital assistants HERE.
