VA services rates and money

What is Billable and What Isn’t?

One of the things I find comes up often in VA conversations is what you should be billing your clients for and what you should absorb as your own expenses. For me it’s a simple answer (everything you do for a client is billable), but I’ll get into some detail to help you navigate through this issue for your own business. First of all, it’s important to remember that when you start working with any client, you are an independent contractor. You are not an employee and you should not act like an employee. Although this gets said very often, it can be difficult to do in everyday practice. It is simply our nature in a support profession to …… Read More »What is Billable and What Isn’t?

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Does This Bother You?

One of the most important decisions you will make in your business is what you charge. Revenue is what drives your business. Without money coming in the door, your business can not sustain itself. But what is the right rate? What is enough, but not too much? What takes into account your value, without being exclusive? What are you and your clients comfortable with? These are the questions that you need to consider when setting your rates. But many VAs don’t have the confidence to simply make that decision. They have to ask lots of others what their opinion is. And that’s okay, don’t get me wrong. Advice is good! But once you ask around, you still have to be able… Read More »Does This Bother You?

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Is Finding a Niche For Your VA Business Really Necessary?

One of the things that comes up quite often in my discussions with VAs is whether they need to find a niche to be successful. My answer to this question is a definite YES and NO. Choosing a niche is a personal choice, like everything else in your business. There are advantages and disadvantages to deciding to work with a particular group of people. If you’re not sure what I mean by finding a niche, it’s basically choose to segment a group of people to target your networking/marketing/work with. You can choose a group by the industry they are part of (ie travel industry), orby type of person they are (married with families, female solopreneurs) or the service you provide (WordPress websites).… Read More »Is Finding a Niche For Your VA Business Really Necessary?

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Pricing Your Virtual Assistant Service Packages

We have talked before about how to make up service packages for your clients. Service packages help you to get paid for your expertise, they help you to specialize your services for a select group of clients, and they help your clients know exactly what they will get for their money. It can be a challenge to nail down your packages if you offer a wide variety of services, but once you do, the next step is to price them accordingly. If you are accustomed to billing by the hour, then you will actually be able to do this part more easily than you think. To set your rates, you first have to determine a billable rate. Your billable rate… Read More »Pricing Your Virtual Assistant Service Packages

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How to Build a Virtual Assistant Service Package

Are you stuck on creating service packages for your Virtual Assistant business? You’re not alone. It’s one of the questions I get asked most often – how to create service packages. Virtual assistants know that when we charge clients for a package of services, we all benefit. Trading hours for dollars is not a bad business model, but there are downfalls to it. One of those downfalls is that you max out how much money you can actually earn. Because it is based solely on your time, and you only have so much time, you hit an earnings ceiling, and sometimes that happens very quickly. Or, if you choose to work 60 to 80 hour weeks to earn more money… Read More »How to Build a Virtual Assistant Service Package

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Make a Decision Now – What Do You Want to Do?

Do you like vacuuming? I can’t stand it. I tend to do it quickly to get it overwith so it makes me all hot and sweaty. Just probably my least favourite household chore. I do a decent job but I often take shortcuts because I just dislike it that much. I also don’t like ironing, but I’m good at it so there’s that. I tend to iron as we need things though, instead of doing it all at once like my Mom used to do. I do like dusting. I have this amazing furniture polish from Melaleuca that I really like. It smells great and it really does a beautiful job. And I quite enjoy doing the laundry. I get into… Read More »Make a Decision Now – What Do You Want to Do?

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How Much Should You Charge as a Virtual Assistant?

Probably the most asked question in the VA industry is ‘how much should I charge?’ Whether you are starting out, or you have been in business for a long time, the struggle around rates always comes up. I think there are a couple of reasons for this – mainly we have trouble seeing our own value, and also we have even more trouble asking people for money. It’s not a flaw in our character, it’s actually very natural. To be apprehensive about setting our rates is perfectly normal. So I try to take the emotion out of it and explain the logic behind setting your rates in this week’s training video. In this Back to Basics training session, we look at rate… Read More »How Much Should You Charge as a Virtual Assistant?

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How Much Should You Charge as a Virtual Assistant?

Figuring out your rates is probably one of the scariest things you can do as a VA. Not really, but it sure feels like that. How do you put a price on your value? This is one of the most often asked questions in the VA forums and by my coaching clients. You decide to open a VA business. You know what services you can offer. But you have no idea how to price it. How much is too high? How much is too low? The truth is, it’s actually pretty easy to figure out. I developed a simple rate calculator many years ago that helps you look at your rates easily and figure out what makes sense for you. Check… Read More »How Much Should You Charge as a Virtual Assistant?

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