Zirtual is a US-based virtual assistant provider to professionals, entrepreneurs, and small corporate teams. It follows the same “shared economy” model as Uber and Lyft.
Having an assistant who works half a globe away may have communication challenges. Last-minute tasks, having your virtual assistant observe a meeting and take notes, and even daily phone conversations are considerably easier to arrange in US time zones.
While it is true that non-US-based virtual assistants are less expensive, there may be communication difficulties and a lack of familiarity with American culture. With Zirtual, you may choose a US-based assistant that works Eastern or Pacific time zones, ensuring that they are available when you need them.
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Brief Background About Zirtual
Maren Kate Donovan founded Zirtual, but only until the company’s demise in 2015. Donovan started her first business selling jewelry on eBay during her freshman year in college. While working as a bartender to help pay for education, she started a second company, a social marketing agency powered by offshore assistants and remote college students.
She began the blog “Escaping the 9 to 5” during this period. Donovan created the Zirtual business concept in 2010 while enrolled in The Founder Institute’s four-month entrepreneur training and startup incubation program and launched the firm following graduation.
Zirtual received a $2 million initial investment in January 2013 from Tony Hsieh, creator of Zappos.com, the VegasTechFund, and the Mayfield Fund.
TenOneTen Ventures and Melo7 Tech Partners invested $250,000 in Zirtual in October 2014. Zirtual raised an additional $2 million in December 2014 via a convertible note from TenOneTen Ventures, Mayfield Fund, Structure Capital, 10.10.10, Jason Calacanis, VegasTechFund, and Recruit Strategic Partners.
A day after it closed in 2015, Zirtual was bought and saved, and the business informed previous clients that operations would resume on August 17.
Donovan explains what went wrong with the finances during an interview with Fortune.com. As mentioned above, Zirtual was purchased in an all-stock deal by Startups. co, Launchrock, Clarity, and Fundable.
The new ownership changed the pricing structure and rules as VA became an independent contractor rather than a full-time employee to save on payroll and other fringe benefits.
How Zirtual Works
After you sign up for a monthly account, you will be given a dedicated VA to whom you may assign tasks related to administration and organizing, internet research, and writing and transcribing.
US-based virtual assistants work in Pacific or Eastern time and are responsible for many administrative duties.
Zirtual is designed for straightforward and routine activities and explicitly avoids specialist services and talents like search engine optimization, lead creation, social media administration, and inbound phone calls.
Since assistants are US-based, Zirtual can do a comprehensive background check on each applicant to safeguard their client’s security and confidence. Many of their customers have met their VAs in person.
Your Zirtual assistant will do a search using the requirements you provide. For instance, if you ask your virtual assistant to evaluate the costs of tickets to Hawaii, they would almost certainly recommend the least costly choice.
By providing your assistant with all pertinent information (for example, whether you prefer direct flights, particular airlines, or departures at a given the time of day), they will provide you with the most relevant results to your requirements.
Services
Zirtual employs virtual assistants as independent contractors. They allocate VAs to do administrative duties for numerous customers within their time zone.
However, each customer communicates with a single, devoted virtual assistant who does a variety of activities such as:
- answering emails
- organizing meetings and appointments
- researching
- purchasing goods
- arranging trips
- planning events
- conducting market research
Pricing
Zirtual has 4 different pricing plans:
Entrepreneur Plan of Zirtual
- $449 for 12 hours a month ($37 an hour)
- Your virtual assistant dedicates 12 hours a month
- 1 user included
Startup Plan of Zirtual
- $749 for 24 hours a month ($31 an hour)
- Your virtual assistant works on your social media accounts 24 hours a month
- 2 users included
Small Business Plan of Zirtual
- $1099 for 36 hours a month ($31 an hour)
- Your virtual assistant works for 36 hours a month
- 3 users included
Team Plan of Zirtual
- $1499 for 50 hours a month ($30 an hour)
- Your assistant works on your social media accounts 50 hours a month
- 4 users included
Any contract does not bind you.
You may downgrade or upgrade your plan as needed.
When you request a plan modification, it will be included in the next month’s billing cycle—the same thing with your cancellation.
You may cancel at any time.
Please keep in mind that it will also take effect the next month, but there won’t be any refund or prorate unused hours.
Pros
- US-based college graduate VA
- At least 2 hour response time during business hours
- Direct contact to your dedicated VA through email or SMS
- Kickoff delegation strategy call for assistance
- No setup fees
- Can downgrade, upgrade, and change plan
- 14-day’ risk-free’ period (money-back guarantee)
Cons
- No rollover hours
- Plans are relatively higher
Other Job Platform Alternatives
Suppose you want to compare Zirtual with other US-based outsourcing platforms. In that case, you can go for Time Etc, which can offer you outstanding US-based virtual assistants so that you can wave goodbye to your time-wasting and stressful business tasks.
The company is proud of the virtual assistants that they provide for work assignments. Less than 1% of the candidates are selected to go through a rigorous, 10-step screening procedure.
Another platform for US-based virtual assistants is Fancy Hands.
For companies that want only to work with remote American workers but don’t want to hire and maintain full-time employees, working with them is a win-win solution. With Fancy Hands, hiring employers can access top talents working in the US without incurring additional overheads.
Overall Review
At Zirtual, they realize how time-consuming and costly it is to employ an assistant.
You want someone competent and experienced, and you need them to be available to begin work immediately.
Comparing outsourcing VA costs would be a lot easier if it were as easy as determining the least costly choice.
However, to really make an apples-to-apples comparison, a more in-depth evaluation is required to determine if you receive the most outstanding deal with your virtual assistant.
By outsourcing the work to your VA, you save wasting time and energy sifting through hundreds of VA applicants that would best fit your business requirements.
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