Loading ...As a Virtual Assistant, if your only selling point is how little you cost or how much cheaper you are than an employee, you’ve already failed in business.
I get it… many people are new to business. They just don’t know how to market themselves. They see what everyone else in the Virtual Assistant industry is talking about on their websites and think that’s what they should be talking about, too. Little do they know that most of those people they are mimicking are struggling, making very little money and attracting all the worst kinds of client traits (think cheapskates and nitpickers, the kind that do not make for a happy nor profitable business).
Let me ask you: Is it your rate that improves the businesses of your clients? Is it your rate that does the skilled work that allows clients to move forward? Is it your rate that streamlines their businesses and helps them run more effectively? Is it your rate that creates more precious time in their lives?
No? Then why do you continue to focus clients on nothing but your price? Surely there is more reason to work with you than the fact that you charge so little or that you are “affordable” or “cheaper than an employee.” Isn’t there?
And for that matter, why do you think that value (i.e., skills, expertise, knowledge and all the host of solutions and benefits that clients reap from those traits) should cost nary a thing?
Sure, you might have clients beating down your door, but are they the right clients? Are they the kind of clients you will enjoy working with? Can you build a real, sustainable business and make an actual living from the amount of money the cheap-seekers want to pay? How long do you think it will take before you resent not making enough money or burn out before barely breaking even?
If you don’t work to understand this dynamic, you are going to forever be stuck on a hamster wheel chasing down clients, attracting the worst kind, and still never making any money. You can’t be (or stay long) in business if clients are the only ones who benefit. Your business absolutely must benefit you equally as well. Otherwise, you don’t have a business.
I encourage you to keep thinking about the real value you bring to the table. How exactly does your support put your clients in a better place in their business than they were before? Hint: It has nothing to do with how much you charge.
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