BELAY (formerly eaHELP)

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BELAY is a virtual staffing solutions company that employs exclusively US-based assistants and specialists.

The company got its start in 2010 helping churches and pastors outsource their administrative work, and has since expanded to serve businesses (small & large) nationwide.

Note: This BELAY Solutions review is geared toward those looking to hire an assistant. Click here to learn more about how to become a virtual assistant.

Table of Contents

About BELAY Solutions
BELAY Founder Interview
Who is the Ideal BELAY Client?
How it Works
Services
BELAY Review
US VA Company Comparison Chart
Plans and Pricing
Press and Awards
BELAY Alternatives
Your Turn
About BELAY Solutions

BELAY understands that sometimes business owners feel trapped when they can’t find the right virtual team to grow their company. BELAY provides outsourced team members to grow your business and eliminate chaos, so you can go back to enjoying your work.

In 2017, BELAY brought several different business support companies under one roof and under one brand. The most well-known of those was eaHELP, which you’ll see referenced in many of the reviews below.

(The company gets its name from mountain climbing; a belay is a means of supporting a climber so he or she can continue safely without falling. Similarly, they aim to support your proverbial climb as well.)

BELAY Founder Interview

Bryan Miles, the founder of BELAY, is focused on delivering superior service to his customers. The strategy seems to be paying off, with business growing rapidly and a host of marquee clients. In fact, the company has earned glowing endorsements from author Michael Hyatt and other Fortune 500 companies.

I had the chance to sit down with Bryan and ask him a few questions on what sets BELAY apart from the competition, who their target customers are, what areas of work they specialize, and who should NOT use their service.

(The free copy of The Virtual Assistant Solution mentioned in the video is no longer available, but you can grab it on Amazon.)

Who is the Ideal BELAY Client?

An ideal client wants someone to provide administrative, bookkeeping, or web support.

When business owners don’t use a service like BELAY, they:

Struggle to complete their work.
Don’t have time to enjoy their business or life.
Limit the growth of their business.

BELAY’s contractors have extensive experience, college degrees and are located in the U.S.

When business owners use BELAY, they get:

A dedicated team member without the cost of an in-house employee.
A support network to help grow their business.
More control over their business.

With so many changes in our economy and hiring strategies, Bryan argues it may be time to rethink your approach to staffing. In fact, he gives 9 reasons to consider going virtual for your next hire in his free ebook (email opt-in required, but worth the read).

How it Works

For new clients, BELAY guides you through a proven on-boarding process.

1. Talk to a Solutions Consultant

This is so the company (and you) can discover your unique needs so they can understand how best to help you — or point you in the right direction if it’s not a great fit.

2. Meet Your Client Success Consultant

A Client Success Consultant helps you discover who you need using a multi-step process and a team of people on a mission of finding the best specialist for what you need.

(When I went through this, it included a full-blown personality screening to make sure my assistant and I were compatible.)

3. Work With Your New Team Member

Your successful start with a BELAY specialist is their number one priority.

The Success Consultant guides you through best practices for working with your remote BELAY specialist.

Services

BELAY’s menu of services includes 3 main categories:

Virtual Assistants
Web Maintenance
Bookkeeping
Social Media Strategists

1. Administrative

BELAY executive assistants are highly skilled administrative professionals trained in a variety of support tasks.

Their goal is to match you with a virtual assistant who will work cohesively with you and your existing team even though they’ll be working remotely. BELAY strongly believes that every leader thrives with the support of an intentionally matched VA.

Some of the more common jobs BELAY VAs do include:

scheduling and travel planning
research
preparing presentations
social media admin
project management
other ongoing business support functions.

The idea is to let someone else handle what they’re good at, so you can focus your time on what you’re good at — or what you need to do to grow your business.

The BELAY model is known as a “staff leasing” arrangement. Where other virtual assistant companies may assign your tasks to whoever is available at the moment, BELAY gives you a dedicated/assigned assistant so you can build a one-on-one relationship and gain the efficiencies that come with it.

2. Bookkeeping

As a national leader in church and non-profit bookkeeping services, BELAY understand the unique needs and challenges of non-profit and church bookkeeping.

These services were previously offered under the MAG Bookkeeping brand.

BELAY bookkeepers provide:

Bank Reconciliation
Accounts Payable
Payroll Services
Cash Flow Management
Financial Statements and Reporting
Account Structure
And more
3. Website Support and Maintenance

BELAY provide clients with all the critical support needed to keep your WordPress site running smoothly, such as:

Hosting Support
Backups
Domain Management
Software Updates
Improving Site Speed
Hacking Prevention
And more

The webmasters at BELAY can also create landing pages and do graphic design tasks. They offer unlimited site edits per month, along with expert advice and ongoing analysis of your site. You can work with their webmasters to make all the changes needed to get your site up to a high standard, or build a new site from scratch.

Typically, the clients that engage this service are business owners who have decided it’s time to outsource the maintenance of their site so they can focus their time elsewhere.

Others have outgrown their original website and are struggling to keep up with the maintenance and need to expand.

4. Social Media Strategists

A Social Media Strategist is responsible for the overall strategy of your social media from a big picture perspective. Here are some tasks that a BELAY SMS can do:

Create Content Calendars
Schedule Posts
Develop Strategy
Drive Engagement
Create Brand Conversations
Provide Reporting
And more

A Social Media Strategist can help manage these needs and build a strong online presence to get you back to what you love most: running and growing your business.

BELAY Review

With dedicated support and All-American executive assistants, BELAY is positioned as a premium service in the competitive world of cloud staffing. But instead of racing to the bottom on pricing, they want to help your organization race to the top, with hand-picked VAs matched against your needs (both professional & personal requirements).

The company offers monthly service plans and the sign-up process begins with a free consultation and personalized price quote.

A flat monthly fee gives you access to your VA week in and week out, without having to worry about overhead, timesheets, and billing headaches.

US VA Company Comparison Chart

Boldly Time Etc BELAY Zirtual
Customer Rating

Established 2009 2007 2010 2010
Hourly Rate $37-43 $24-27 $38-45 $28-33
Minimum Package $430 for 10 hours $270 for 10 hours 10 hours a week $398 for 12 hours
Dedicated Assistant

Minimum VA Experience 7 years 5 years 5 years 1 year
Team Access

*

Rollover Hours

Free Trial

Learn More Learn More Learn More Learn More
*Specialist services are available for an additional charge.
Plans and Pricing

As you might expect, BELAY is considerably more expensive than many of the overseas virtual assistant options. In some parts of the world, you may even be able to find a full-time virtual employee for a lower monthly fee. But BELAY believes you get what you pay for, and clearly isn’t targeting the same customer who’s looking for the $5/hour VA.

As of October 2020, their hourly rates range from $38 – $45.

The good thing is that these rates are “all-inclusive,” in that you don’t have any additional employer burden costs to pay on top of it, like you would with a traditional W-2 employee.

BELAY offers a variety of contract sizes for each service line with a 30-day cancellation notice.

Press and Awards

BELAY is a stalwart on the prestigious Inc. 5000 list, which ranks America’s fastest growing private companies. They’ve earned a spot on the list every year since 2015.

In addition, CultureIQ and Entrepreneur Magazine named BELAY #1 among small companies in their 2017 Top Company Cultures list.

BELAY Alternatives

A few other virtual assistant companies operate on a similar model with home-based American assistants, including top-rated firms like Time Etc and Boldly.

Boldly has similar (though more transparent/flexible) pricing options, and Time Etc is the most affordable of the three.

For the website maintenance and support service, you might consider Zen WP.

Your Turn

Have you worked with BELAY (or eaHELP, Render, Ellipsis, or MAG Bookkeeping)? If so, please consider sharing a review below to help others with their decision.