September 10, 2008 – 10:00 am
Dear Gritty VA:
One question I have found no answer to is pricing. For instance, in a job setting, I made $75,000/year as a legal assistant in Southern California; however, in Everett, Washington, I found that I couldn’t even land a job for $10/hr., so how does one price across the board for New York firms versus Kansas City firms? –GC
The simple answer is that you don’t price for different markets. For every Virtual Assistant, there is only one market–the one that you define as your ideal client and target market. As an ideal client, a key aspect of that profile is that your customers are necessarily only going to be those who have the ability to pay your fees. Same thing with your target market.
What you want to do is flip your thinking around. Right now, you’re looking at it from (what you think) are their needs. Don’t do that. Instead, you need to first meet your needs, as a professional and as a business. Figure out what YOU need to pay the bills, earn a salary and create profit for the business, and then price accordingly.
The rest will fall into place. Those who are attracted to your message–your right clients–will find you and will be willing to pay. You can’t work with everyone in the world so don’t worry about the ones who don’t fit (including those who don’t properly budget for skilled, expert professional support).
Remember, the cost of your support is but a fraction of the value your work and expertise instills in your clients’ businesses. Focus only on clients who "get it." Don’t make the poor business acumen of those who don’t your problem.
September 8, 2008 – 10:00 am
Today I’m grateful that I’ve engineered a business and lifestyle that allows me to follow my own timetable. I wake up according to my own internal clock, and I follow my natural energy rhythms.
I used to be somewhat of a night owl, but lately (in the last year or more) I seem to be a bit of a morning person. As soon as I’m up, I love to get right on the computer and get things going. I have a lot of energy and concentration at that time of day. I’ve already sorted the previous days work requests and have them qeued up and ready to go so I can dive right in.
The afternoons is when I take time out to go on my jaunts, hikes and bike rides. If I have errands to run, I usually do these before or after. When I return, I like to go through my email box, sorting things and handing others off.
Between 3 and 5 pm, my energy usually wanes and I love that I’m able to take a little catnap and just wake up when I wake up.
We like to take walks in the evening after dinner. Depending on what else we might have going on, I often am back at the computer in the evening.
Of course, with my guy semi-retired, there’s been a bit of disruption to my routines, LOL, but it’s all good!
September 4, 2008 – 10:00 am
What is up with self-appointed "industry leaders" teaching your marketplace to think you should charge less if you are a "new" Virtual Assistant?
For the most part, the folks who enter this industry (and what the rest of the industry expects) are highly skilled, vastly experienced and led accomplished professional lives in the workforce (our survey indicates an average of 15-20 years in upper-level administrative positions) before opening their businesses.
That qualification doesn’t disappear just because you open a business. In fact, it’s generally the reason you felt qualified to open your business in the first place. Just because you are new to the industry does not diminish the skill, talent and expertise you offer one bit. The value of the support you provide to clients and what it helps them accomplish in their businesses has nothing to do with the age of your business.
It’s a crock and you should be outraged by any "leader" who is telling the marketplace that "newbie" Virtual Assistants should charge less. Those people aren’t looking out for your interests or the profession’s.
And by the way, "newbie" is such a disrespectful term. If you’re a Virtual Assistant, you might be a new business owner, but you ain’t new to the work. At the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce, if we have to make distinctions at all for the sake of a conversation, we prefer "freshman."
September 3, 2008 – 10:00 am
One of the things I’m always curious about my fellow Virtual Assistants is why they are in business.
Are they in it, plodding along (perhaps without much passion, joy or fun), just to earn a living? If so, that money surely represents something… what?
Or is there something more to it, something beyond money that being in business for yourself gives to you? Is there an aspiration to do, be, have or get somewhere specific?
What was it that spurred you to go into business for yourself and what is it that drives you to keep going, particularly if you aren’t yet where you’d like to be?
What things aspect of being in business excite you? What are the the ideas, activities or what-have-you that get you motivated and jazzed and moving forward?
September 2, 2008 – 10:00 am
As of this writing, we have 461 participants in the Virtual Assistant Industry Survey. We’re shooting for 500 so we’re going to hold the deadline over to September 5. You can help get those last 38 by encouraging all your Virtual Assistant buddies to participate. Shoot an email to the Virtual Assistants you know, and post announcements and reminders on the forums and listservs you belong to. Lots of folks want to participate but forget and will appreciate the reminder.
I occasionally view the statistics to see what trends are emerging and thought I’d share a few of the more interesting trends with you:
- There’s a growing Virtual Assistant presence in South Africa.
- Virtual Assistants affiliated with the VACOC and AssistU are commanding higher rates and making leagues more money in annual earnings than the rest of the Virtual Assistant body while at the same time working with fewer clients (almost predominately on some form of monthly retainer).
- The majority of Virtual Assistants in the mainstream Virtual Assistant body are making less than $10,000 a year.
- Those who identify themselves as Virtual Assistants, but who work on a project basis, report working with multitudes of clients, yet are still predominately earning less than $10,000 a year.
Definitely some food for thought, isn’t it?
PS: Our U.K. and Ireland Virtual Assistants are not well-represented. If you belong to any of the U.K. or Ireland associations, listservs and forums, please let everyone know about the survey and encourage them to participate. I know that the U.K. is one of the top areas for Virtual Assistants, but they won’t rank on the survey unless we get more participation on there. As it is, South Africa is beating out the U.K., Ireland and Australia in the rankings and that’s what will get reported in the media.
September 1, 2008 – 10:00 am
I have a lot to be grateful for, I surely do.
I constantly marvel at what a blessed life I live. I literally am happy every single day.
I love my work and find so much meaning and purpose and fun in what I do… for myself, for my clients and for the world at large.
I am personally and intellectually stimulated every day.
I’ve created a business that is easy and uncomplicated to operate, that has a huge margin of profit, and at the same time gives me great freedom and flexibility (these last two are due to smart business practices and operations, as well as devising and sticking to my standards and policies).
I make fantastic money and work with some smart, witty, fun, cool-ass clients who challenge and motivate me.
I wake up according to my natural clock.
I can take a nap when my energy tells me to.
I get to take off for long weekends and vacations when we feel like it.
My business and lifestyle allow me to take great care of myself and go on a walk, hike or bike ride every day.
These things and more are what I’m celebrating today! How about you?
Thanks for commenting. Yeah, the virtual assistant term is really completely idiotic to...
