Welcome to another episode of the podcast that teaches you how to be a ridiculously good virtual assistant.
Today I want to talk about two things: what you charge, and finding clients who will pay.
Today’s Quote: Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are. – Malcolm S. Forbes
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Connect with Tracey D’Aviero, VA Coach and Trainer
Episode Notes:
Two of the most important aspects of running your VA business are setting your rates with confidence and finding the clients who value your expertise.
It’s important to understand how to price your services, and also how to attract quality clients.
I do lots of trainings on these two things regularly, but it’s an important message to keep on sharing so today we will talk about how the two fit together!
Have you heard my story about how I doubled my rates overnight and then booked out my VA business?
The two things really can go hand in hand.
When you make a bold move like increasing your rates higher than your current clients are paying, and you start connecting with more of your ideal clients, you can blow the lid off your business easily.
Why? Confidence is one of the driving forces. Value is another. We’ll talk about those and more in today’s episode.
Setting The Right Rate
When you actually set your rates at what your VALUE is, your VA business will thank you.
I tell you all the time to do the math – figure out how much money you want to bring in (or that you need to bring in) and you will be building the first foundation of a stable and profitable VA business.
Higher rates aren’t a rip off for your clients if you have done the math to show yourself that your business needs a certain amount of revenue coming in be profitable.
If you are talking to clients who can not afford your services, the solution is not to drop your rate.
The solution is to talk to clients who can afford your services.
Right??
Usually the biggest problem with setting rates higher than you are charging now is that we don’t think anyone will pay them.
How can we believe they will? We have never asked them to before.
But you know what, they are paying it to other VAs.
There are a lot of VAs who are charging appropriately for their services – and profiting.
What is your right rate?
If you don’t know, then you haven’t done the math yet. Go and do it.
I can almost guarantee you that it’s probably a lot higher than you are charging now.
Of course you have to consider the level of service you offer, the actual services you offer, who your clients are, your business structure, and that type of thing.
But you have to start with how much you need to start with.
How much do you need to earn for yourself? What are your expenses that you also have to cover? What about the people you might outsource to? All of those expenses have to be considered.
If you are charging $30 an hour, you might get clients, but you also might not be running at a profit.
That doesn’t mean you have to hike your rate up, or double it, but you do have to know where the money that comes in is going, and what’s leftover.
What is your minimum viable rate – the rate that you must charge? What about your desired rate – that which you want to charge?
You can charge by the hour, the project, the package – whatever makes sense for your business.
You just need to make sure that in every case you are profitable.
But what if I raise my rates and no one says yes to working with me? That’s a fear of rejection.
It’s not unfounded – you’ve never asked someone to pay you the higher rate. But if you know it’s the right rate, and you know that your value backs it up, then you need to get comfortable with rejection.
Like I said earlier, if you are talking to clients who can not afford your services, the solution is not to drop your rate.
The solution is to talk to clients who can afford your services.
So if you are struggling with saying the words, you need to practice.
If you can’t handle the reject, you need to get support.
If you don’t know where to find the people, you need a strategy and a plan.
You can do these things on your own, or I can help you do them.
I am The Confidence Coach for VAs and I want to help you get confident in every aspect of your business – that means rates and clients!
Attracting and Securing Clients
A lot of VAs push back when I tell them they should choose a target market.
Actually, if I ask them who their target market is, I often get a blank stare or an excuse ‘I don’t want to limit myself’, ‘I don’t want to turn down work’, ‘I like working with different people’.
These are some of the most common responses to that question.
What is your answer to that question?
Who is your target market?
If you don’t know, that’s your next step.
Here’s the harsh truth:
If you are struggling to get clients and you don’t have a target market, that is one huge red flag.
It’s one huge reason that you are struggling.
No one has any idea who you help and how you help them.
You have to choose. You have to get clarity around that. And that’s what leads to everything else.
Your marketing strategy, your networking choices, your business conversations, your content creation.
Everything is shaped around the people you can serve the best.
Why? Because those are the ones will pay anything to get your help.
Your best clients … Don’t. Know. You. Exist.
You are in a sea of vanilla, and everyone looks and sounds the same.
You need to stand out – and that doesn’t mean doing tiktok dances or dying your hair purple.
It means the language you use (written or spoken) and the places you put that language or use that language has to stand out.
If you say I can help you save time and money by taking the tasks you hate doing off your desk, you might get clients.
But if you say I help podcasters stick to their expertise by being the talent and host of their show, and I take care of all the other details like editing, publishing, promotion and sponsor acquisition, so their podcast gets more eyes on it. My clients get more sponsors because we are a well-oiled machine.
You WILL get clients – clients that are podcasters who love doing their podcast but spend too much time doing all the other stuff to make a profit at it.
When you can clearly state who you help and how you help them, that’s the message that spreads.
When you are looking for high value clients, you need to show them that you provide high value service offerings.
Getting your help should move the actual needle in their business. It should be noticeable to them that they have the opportunity to grow their business because they can trust you to run the back end.
To showcase yourself as a valuable VA (a ridiculously good one, actually), you can do many things. A professional headshot, a dedicated website URL and email, creating engaging conversation online, testimonials and other social proof, sharing how you have helped your clients in the past.
You also need to be having business conversations every single day, in the right places. Not with your VA colleagues, but in business places where potential clients are spending their time – online or offline.
You should also have a banging proposal that showcases your services for your chosen market. And you have to be confident following up with people. If they don’t need your services, they will tell you.
No means no for now. Follow up until someone tells you not to follow up with them anymore.
I had a client sign on to work with me 3 years after we met. Three years! They just weren’t ready for my help when we met, but they became ready and when they were, they called me.
It all comes down to value and confidence though.
You need to constantly be assessing your rates. If you can’t afford to take a training or go to an event, or hire a coach – it may be time to look at your rates.
Not because I’m a coach and trainer, but because if you don’t have a little extra to invest in your business, how can you learn how to grow your business? You need to bring in enough to do yourself that favour!
I don’t pressure anyone to work with me, but I really don’t like it when people want to work with me but they say they can’t afford it.
Your rates are THE thing. You need to earn enough to run a profitable business.
And you deserve to have your business support the lifestyle that you want.
You didn’t start working from home so you could eke by and struggle.
You started working from home so you could have a flexible schedule, you could earn as much as you want, you can help people, you can manage your family schedule around your business.
Give yourself the revenue that will help you do those things.
If you need to earn $3000 per month and you are charging your clients by the hour and your rate is $30 an hour, you need to work 25 hours per week – that’s 5 hours per day. What if your child gets sick, or has a field trip?
But if you need to earn $3000 per month and your packages are based on a billable rate of $45/hour (but you charge by the package), you could instead work 15 hours per week – a lot less.
Your high value clients don’t care how long it takes to do something.
It’s the ones with the smaller budgets that are so stuck on hours. They have a budget in mind, they know what you charge by the hour, and they run that budget crazy. They want to know how much time they get.
High value clients want to know what you can get DONE for them.
Can you do all my newsletters and my social media? Great. How much?
Yes they still need to know how much it will cost them, but they don’t care how many hours you work. They care how many times you will do something.
It’s a mindset shift and you need to make it first.
Because you don’t need to help your clients make the mindset shift – they are already there. Looking for you. Wondering who can help them get their stuff done.
All you have to do is get them to notice you.
You need to stand out, and you need to be telling them that you help people exactly like them.
Let’s circle back to today’s quote:
Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are. – Malcolm S. Forbes
Where are you now? Are you seeing more value in what you ARE? I sure hope so, that’s my job!
Confidence in your rates comes from truly understanding your value – and your profit.
Finding great clients that value you requires intention and excellent positioning.
You can get started today by evaluating your rates and identifying your ideal clients.
If you don’t know your next step, that’s where I come in.
I’m right here. It’s the only reason I’m here at all is to help you become a Ridiculously Good Virtual Assistant.
You can do this. It’s time. I’m here to help. It’s the only reason I’m here at all, is to help you become a ridiculously good VA. But it’s you who has to take that first step.
It’s the only reason I’m here at all, is to help you become a ridiculously good VA. But it’s you who has to take that first step.
I have helped hundreds of VAs who are stuck get moving forward. I offer private coaching, and a variety of group and self study training and coaching options that help them get there.
Take the first step to join The Virtual Circle today. Membership starts at just $49 per month and you will get the support, training, resources and community that you need for your VA business.
Check it out at yourvamentor.com/TVC and drop me a message if you want to chat about how to join us.
Do You Need Help?
If you are looking to build the kind of business I’m talking about – a 50K and beyond VA business, that’s where I can help. I am here to help you become a ridiculously good VA.
I have helped hundreds of VAs who are stuck get moving through private coaching, my monthly mastermind group The Virtual Circle, my group coaching program 50K Bootcamp, and my self study trainings like my Getting Started program, my monthly email membership The Virtual Toolkit, and more. If you are ready to get my help, let’s connect on a Cut to the Chase call. You can book yours at YourVAMentor.com/chase
Thank you again for trusting me to teach you and to guide you. I truly love to be here for you every week.
If I could ask you a favour – to subscribe to the podcast or leave me a review if you haven’t already. That’s something I should say every week and I never really do. But it matters and it will make sure that I know you are finding value in what I create just for you every week.
What You Need to Do Next:
PRIVATE COACHING: Let’s work together privately to get you to your really big goal. It’s the fastest way to get results and we can start right away. Learn more about private coaching here.
GROUP COACHING MASTERMIND: The Virtual Circle is a group coaching mastermind option that costs less than private coaching, and can help you achieve the goals you set for yourself. . Check it out here: The Virtual Circle Group Coaching Mastermind for Virtual Assistants . We’d love to have you join us!
50K VA GROUP COACHING PROGRAM: If you have been struggling to build your VA business, get in on this live coaching program where we will help you create the framework for a business that can earn you 50K a year and beyond. LAUNCHING FALL 2024, stay tuned!
MONTHLY EMAIL MEMBERSHIP: I also have a brand new low-cost monthly membership program that will help you build your VA business – and it doesn’t require you to be on social media! It’s an email membership that I call The Virtual Toolkit! Every Monday morning you’ll receive a lesson and a downloadable resource in your inbox, that you can use to take a step further in your VA business. Get more details and sign up here now!
SELF STUDY PROGRAM: My self study program Getting Started as a VA can help you get your VA business started easily and quickly too. You can sign up right away and be on your way to getting clients by the end of the program, with all the right foundations in place. Check out the program here.
COMPLIMENTARY CONSULT: Reach out to me if you need to talk about where you are stuck and what the right option might be to get you moving. It’s literally all I’m here to do is help you get to where you want to go. Book a complimentary Cut to the Chase call with me here.