Virtual Assistant Forum: Rates - Virtual Assistant Forum

Hello All!

I am new to the forum and new to the VA profession and I'm having a hard time setting prices for different services.

I know this might be a touchy subject, but can anyone give me some ballpark figures for where to price projects such as logo design, business card design, correspondence, newsletter design, brochure set-up, web design, mailing services, bookkeeping, etc.?

Thanks!

This is left up to the individual VA to figure out. I would suggest emailing Naomi (Naomi@TopShelfVA.com) and ask for a copy of her rates spreadsheet. This will trully help you alot.

Becki beat me to the punch. Thanks Becki. Feel free to e-mail Shona and I will send you the spreadsheet. It will help you determine what your rates should be based on your situation and your goals.

One thing I would like to suggest, don't set your rates by the project or piecework. I know some VAs work this way; however, my experience is that it is far more fulfilling working in a long-term relationship with a client. This relationship covers almost all aspects of administrative responsibilities with that client. I have an hourly rate and bill in one minute increments. It is much easier to have an hourly rate and tiers, than pricing everything out by project. For instance right now I have two tiers (actually three), January I have decided to go to three tiers (actually four).

PAYG - X amount of dollars an hour, two hour minimum, invoiced at the end of the month.

10-hour retainer - X amount of dollars paid in advance for a 10 hour guarantee, hours do not roll over and any hours over 10 are at X amount of dollars per hour (the monthly retainer divided by 10), invoiced at the end of the month.

5-hour retainer - X amount of dollars paid in advance for a 5 hour guarantee, hours do not roll over and any hours over 10 are at X amount of dollars per hour (the monthly retainer divided by 5), invoiced at the end of the month.

Web Design and Maintenance - X amount of dollars an hour, one hour minimum for the month service was provided, invoiced at the end of the month.

Naomi,

Do you give a % discount on your hourly rate for the retainers?

Mine goes like this:

For one-time website design only I give project rates (so many pages X $price per page)

For VA retainers: (they get use of all my services from website design, internet marketing to administrative)

Virtual Assistance Starter Plan
This plan gives you 10 hours of monthly services at a 5% discount.
That's 1 hour free!
$XXX/month 5% savings!

Virtual Assistance SOHO Plan
This plan gives you 15 hours of monthly services for the cost of 14.
That's 2 hours free!
$XXX/month 10% savings!

Virtual Assistance Executive Plan
This plan gives you 25 hours of monthly services for the cost of 21.
You get 4 hours free!
$XXX/month 15% savings!

Virtual Assistance Corporate Plan
This plan gives you 35 hours of monthly services for the cost of 28.
You get 7 hours free!
$XXX/month 20% savings!

Shona,

You've gotten some good advice regarding rates and retainer fees. The only thing I would add, is to make sure your rates will support your VA practice. Don't quote lower rates just to be lower than everyone else, or because you think you have to be really "cheap" to get business. You need to be charging enough to be able to pay your bills and stay in business. When you price yourself too low, or lower your prices because someone complains that you charge too much, you're making a statement that your services have no value. Your services have great value, but if you don't believe it, no one else will either.

Best of luck!

Terry Green

Exactly Terry! Saying that to charge between $25-$50 per hour is a good basis if you want your business to be profitable. Anything below will (in my opinion) never get you outta the red!

Tawnya

Hi Tawnya:

I also recommend checking out www.salary.com to help set your prices. Search on your "jobs" and in the area your prospective clients are and I'd choose somewhere between the medium to high range. Probably closer to the medium range when you are just starting out.

HTH!

Heather

I have a link to salary.com on my website so that visitors can see what they would have to pay (in salary alone) if they hired a permanent employee. That way, they can see the cost-effectiveness of partnering with a VA.

Terry

That is very good idea. Can I use it?

Michelle,

It isn't on my site any longer, and I can't remember where I got it. Maybe someone else knows where you can find it.

Sorry

Or ... just go to salary.com and see if it is there.

Try using this http://freelanceswitch.com/rates/ to help figure out how much you need to be charging per hour to make a profit. Then, estimate how much time it will take you to actually perform each task - remember to pad it a little to allow for the snags you will inevitably run into with each project. Take your hourly rate and apply it to the estimated time for each project and there you have it! If some of your services are more niche oriented and require more training/upkeep/knowledge than general admin then I'd suggest increasing your hourly rate for those calculations. Clients are paying for your knowledge, not just your time.

I really like this structure... can you help me though think how I might be able to adjust it for my newest client? He came to me a bit over six weeks ago needing a VA for what he estimated might be 20 hours a week for customer service calls and follow-up, constant contact management, assistance completing paperwork, and other miscellaneous tasks. I set a reduced and trial hourly rate and contract period of 30-days, which I now need to significantly modify.

We have gotten off to a very rocky start. The first couple of weeks were spent staying tied to the phone waiting for him to call me to complete some orientation and training on his system that he was actually just implementing. He would say he would call at 1:00 and then not call until almost at the end of the business day. As I understood his busy schedule and interruptions, I spent 2 evenings working with him late just to get started.

I need to better structure my availability and implement a retainer fee structure that would cover the miscellaneous tasks that only take a few minutes here and there, as well as compensate me for holding my schedule for him. I just don't feel right charging him for hours that I don't actually work. The reality is the hours have ranged from only 1 to just over 6 hours in a week. At the same time, I need a basic rate for working normal business hours and a rate for working evenings. At this time, I have been billing him weekly, but he just ran 3 weeks late - but has paid me for all 3 weeks at once.

Hmmm... not sure how to go from an hourly structure to a retainer structure... can you please help me??? Thank you.

Thank you everyone and all the information in this posting it has helped me out a great deal with pricing information, Gosh I love this forum

What about subcontractor rates? Are they lower?