setting your rates Archives

Should you change your prices to suit your virtual assistant clients?

February 15, 2018 By Alicia Jay 1 Comment

When you’re just starting out in your virtual assistant business, figuring out your prices and getting clients can be big stumbling points. They definitely were for me.

A lot of that had to do with a mindset shift that needed to happen. I had to go from thinking like someone’s employee to thinking like a business owner. That didn’t happen overnight.

A particular question came up again the other day in my Virtual Assistant Empowerment Facebook group, and it received so many great responses that I felt it important to share the conversation.

Yadi Ray York of yorkvirtualservices.com got our conversation started off.

Here’s the question:

“How do I handle a client that wants to pay less than what I proposed? I don’t want lose a potential client, but I don’t want to cut myself short.”

Let’s be honest—we’ve all thought about this before. You’re new. You don’t have any clients yet, or maybe you have one and you’re looking for more. You have experience from your past job, but you haven’t officially done this work for an actual client in your business yet. And you really want this whole business thing to work. You want to get started.

So, what do you do?

As I mentioned, the number one thing at play here is mindset.

You need to remember that YOU are the business owner here and YOU set your rates—not someone else.

Crystal Curran of revaville.com really drives the point home about how you let people treat you in your business and how they perceive you:

If you’ve worked out what your rates should be, and they reflect your skills as well as the amount you’ve decided you want to make in your business, then there’s no need to feel bad about the numbers you’ve chosen.

If you’re targeting your ideal client, you’ll find the match you’re looking for.

Yolanda Crowley of crowleyassistant.com echoes this sentiment:

What about giving discounts?

Again, it’s YOUR decision to make. This is not to say that you should never offer a discount to a client, but it should be on YOUR terms. But just remember that starting out at a discounted rate with someone could set you up for the expectation of always providing them with “deals” instead of focusing on the outcome of your work, and the benefits and solutions that you provide to your clients.

What’s the best solution?

All in all, here’s my favorite way to handle it. If this does seem like a good client fit for you, but the cost is an issue for them, adjust what services you can offer them in order to meet their budget.

Here’s what Cindy Bidar of virtuallythriving.com has to say about this:

Think about it like this. You might have to remove some things from your initial quote. But when the client sees the results you’re getting for them, they may very quickly want to bump up to your next package.

In the end, it all comes down to how you want to run your business and how you want others to treat you as a business owner. You’re the one who gets to make those decisions.

I like the way that Joseph Holmin of josephholmin.com sums it up here:

What are your thoughts? Have you dealt with a situation that made you question your rates? Leave a comment below.

Virtual Assistant Rates: Turning Hourly into Packages

August 1, 2016 By Alicia Jay 2 Comments

A New VA Advice community member emailed me asking for more details on how to go from charging hourly to creating packages in her virtual assistant business.

She realized that the hourly model would not bring her the income that she really desired for the quality services that she provided, and that she’d eventually hit a cap by pricing her services in that way.

Rather than just giving her an explanation on how to make the switch, I also included for her a detailed example of exactly how to turn one of her services into several different packages in order to really benefit her clients as well as provide her with monthly ongoing income.

And then I realized that I needed to make this answer into a blog post so that everyone could benefit. So, here’s my answer to her, but in a better, more organized blog post-ier kind of way so that it’s easier to read. 😉

The first thing to do when switching from an hourly pricing model to a package is to make sure you know your base hourly rate.

Your base hourly rate isn’t just a number you’ve pulled out of the air divided by how many hours you work in a week. There is a MUCH better way to come up with this figure.

I created a totally free resource that will help you figure that out.

Click here to read more and grab the worksheet that will help you set your base rate.

I strongly suggest that you take this step before going any further. And even if you aren’t ready for packages yet and you’re still charging by the hour, fill out the worksheet. It will help to ensure that you’re charging what you really should be charging.

Okay, did you do that? Great! Now keep reading.

Now that you have your base hourly rate figure, you can use that number to plug into some calculations.

The example I’m going to use is for creating social media packages.

You can create some basic packages for monthly social media management. That way, you have some steady income coming in from monthly clients.

First, you want to list every single task you do for social media clients. Mark down how much time each of these tasks take you. Then apply your hourly rate to each task. Be sure to include some extra time in this equation for things that may go wrong or take longer than you think.

Once you’ve listed everything and assigned each task an amount of time and dollar figure, add up all of those prices. This is the basis for your package rate.

When looking at that number, think about the value you are providing your clients with ongoing social media management.

In order to encourage someone to buy one of these packages, you need to focus on the end result they’re going to get or the pain point that you are resolving for them.

Will your package help them get more website traffic? More subscribers to their list? More people into their sales funnel? Focus on their ultimate goal. For many of your potential clients, that may be increasing their reach in order to gain more followers that ultimately turn into paying clients.

Now that we’ve discussed what value really means here, look at the rate that you’ve come up with for your package.

Should your number be higher? Lower? If you’re looking at that number and thinking that no one will ever pay you that amount, but you know that you absolutely rock at this and get results, then you might need to do some mindset work.

You’re going to see prices out there from virtual assistants that you consider to be high, low and everything in between. You don’t need to be as concerned about where your numbers fit in with everyone else’s. You should be more concerned with focusing on the unique abilities you bring to the table with your clients and the value they get out of working with you.

An ongoing monthly social media package could include things like:

–Coming up with a plan for WHY they’re using social media (Are they looking to grow their list? Gain new followers? Make product/service sales?)

–The actual posts and scheduling them

–Updating their social media profiles

–Creating graphics for the posts

–Replying to comments, posts and retweets

–Creating weekly or monthly social media content calendar

–Tracking results

You could also offer different levels of this monthly package.

This will depend on how much time you need to spend and whether or not you’re creating content for the client. Keep in mind that it’s up to you as to whether you’d like to help provide or research to create the actual content for the posts or if they need to provide that to you.

Those monthly packages can vary based on how much they’re getting from you. For example, you could have a basic package that includes posting so many times a month on X number of social media platforms. Then another that includes more posts and you responding or thanking people for their engagement. Then another package that includes all of that plus content creation or research.

For example, you could have 3 different monthly packages based on how much value you offer in that social media package, and they would be offered at 3 different price points.

In addition, you can offer a “starter” setup package for people who are just starting out on social media where you offer things like:

–Evaluation to see where they are with social media right now

–Help them discover what platforms they really should be using based on the clients they want to reach

–Set up of profiles on the platforms, including brand continuity

–X number of starter posts on those platforms

As part of your free consultation process, you might consider offering a free social media evaluation. You can create a checklist for yourself of things you’ll look over when evaluating a potential client’s social media presence. Then, after your free evaluation, you suggest to them which package would fit them best.

Another key point is to be sure to reevaluate your package pricing regularly.

As you begin working regularly with social media clients, revisit your pricing structure. Are certain things taking you longer than you originally estimated? Have you taken a new course that’s provided you with more expertise in a certain skill?

Then be sure to update your pricing accordingly.

If your pricing and packages are listed on your website, update that information so that new potential clients visiting your site see the latest info.

Add into your contract with clients that you will evaluate your services provided as well as rates every six months or year, with price increases as a possibility, so there are no surprises.

Let’s recap.

To convert your hourly prices into packages, take the following steps:

–Configure your base hourly rate

–Break down the package into tasks with dollar figures assigned to each

–Decide on your price based on value

–Offer an initial package as well as monthly packages in order to achieve ongoing income

–Evaluate your package pricing regularly and adjust as needed

Is this the only way to create packages? No. But as I tell my coaching clients all the time, you need to use what resonates with you and apply it to how you want to run your business. This is definitely a method that works. It can help you figure out those numbers if you’re at the beginning of this process and you’re not sure where to start.

If you want a more detailed course that walks you through this entire process, this is the one that I recommend. (Disclaimer: This is my referral link for the course, and I make commissions from sales, however, I only recommend people and products that I know and trust.)

Now it’s your turn.

Do you have questions on this process? Have you made the jump from hourly rates to packages? What has worked best for you? Leave me a message in the comments or start a discussion in the Virtual Assistant Empowerment Facebook group.

Pricing: What to Charge as a Virtual Assistant

December 16, 2015 By Alicia Jay 9 Comments

Figuring out pricing and rates in your virtual assistant business can be a struggle. It can be a confusing and often taboo subject.

But it’s still something that’s a necessity in order create your business. Hopefully this article will take some of the mystery out of it for you.

Photo credit: FreeImages.com/Svilen Milev

Keep in mind, there are so many different ways to figure out rates for your virtual assistant business—this is just one method that has worked for myself and my clients.

Step One: Come up with a base hourly rate

First, you want to come up with a base hourly rate you need to charge in order to make money in your business—the amount you feel that you need in order to be successful.

That number is different for everyone, but here is a simple formula to figure it out:

Start with a yearly income figure that you’d like to make.
List all expenses for running your business and assign a yearly dollar amount to them.
Add the yearly income amount and the expense amount together. This is now your new income goal.
Figure out your billable hours. Start by noting how many hours you’ll work per week. Then subtract time from that number for things like vacation, sick time and business admin time. The number of hours left will be your final billable hours.
Divide your income goal by your number of billable hours. This number will be your hourly base rate.

Ready to try it? Here’s a free worksheet to get you started:

Step Two: Create packages from the hourly rate

Here’s where it gets interesting. I don’t recommend that you just slap your hourly rate on your website and ask clients to sign up with you per hour.

A better idea is to come up with value-based packages that compile a number of your services in order to really help your clients and have you bring in a steady income.

This way, you’re not trading dollars for hours (because you’ll get better and faster and what you do, and then you’ll be stuck on pricing). Instead, you’re offering serious problem solving for your clients, and they’re paying you in advance every month.

Here’s how to do that:

Think about the services that you regularly provide for your clients over and over again. Can you bundle some of those services into a monthly package that will be a no-brainer for your client?
Could you come up with a setup package for new clients and then a monthly maintenance package?

Example: Let’s say you’re a social media VA. You could offer an initial online marketing setup package that includes setting up profiles, creating a consistent brand message across social media channels, setting up an online marketing plan, etc. Then you could offer a monthly maintenance package that includes things like posting for them, monitoring comments, keeping track of stats and their overall marketing plan, etc.

Now list all of the tasks that you’d have to do in this package and how long it will take you to do them. Remember to add in time for things like client communication, research and unexpected issues.
Now add up the number of hours in the package with your base hourly rate. For example, you might create a package that will take you 10 hours to complete. To figure out the cost, it’s 10 X your base hourly rate.

Click here for more details on how to create packages.

Photo credit: FreeImages.com/artM

Step Three: Wrapping your mind around this concept

My coaching clients find this exercise extremely helpful in creating their rates. But when they do the work and actually write down that number, sometimes it can be scary.

They say things like, “Wow, I can’t charge that amount! It seems so high. Who is going to pay me to do that for them?”

This is when it’s time for a little mindset altering:

Before they do this exercise, many women that I work with will already have an hourly rate in their head that they think they should probably charge. Where does that number come from? They look at their salary in their full-time job and translate that to an hourly figure. But if you did that, you’d never make enough money to have a successful virtual assistant business. Remember, you’re not receiving a regular paycheck anymore that already includes deductions for insurance, retirement and sick time. You need to figure that all in to your base rate.
What’s your time worth? You are really good at what you do. You are providing awesome value to your clients and you deserve to be paid well for that value.
Remember that you’re solving a problem for your clients. They are good at what they’re good at, and you are good at what you’re good at. In other words, the things that come naturally to you don’t always come naturally to others, and they’re willing to pay you to take care of those things.

Example: A business coach might know how to send out her newsletter, but that’s not her area of brilliance. However, you rock at all things email marketing and have already thought of a whole list of things she can do to enhance her newsletter and bring in more clients. That’s why she’s hiring you.

You could also offer a lower introductory rate to new clients in order to feel things out. Then see how long it really takes you to complete the tasks. Once you work with someone who is willing to pay for your services and you have that experience under your belt, your confidence will increase—and then you can increase your package price with confidence!

Those are my 3 steps on figuring out what to charge in your business.

Recap: Configure base hourly rate, create packages, know that you can do this!

Try it and let me know how it works out for you!