Us Virtual Assistants have a big hurdle to overcome when we first venture out into the world of online business. 

Namely, how do we get paid what we deserve?

If there was one thing I could tell my newbie-VA self it would be to charge more. 

That’s what I’m going to persuade you to do right now.

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1. Raise Your Prices

In your Virtual Assistant business, you will go through a constant learning journey that will keep leveling up. You will gain expertise and get faster and more efficient in your skills. Which justifies higher rates.

So to grow your business, you must raise your prices regularly. Your prices must be directly proportional to the value you provide.

As a newbie, you may not have a wide array of skills. But as you progress in your business you will acquire a lot of skills. Make sure you charge more for the expertise you’ve gained.

The key is to have a justifiable reason to raise your prices.

Your client should be receiving that much more value from your services for them to be happy to pay you your revised rates. Avoid raising prices without raising the perceived value you provide.

2. Up-skill and offer higher-level services

Higher-level services will get you those dreamy, higher-paying clients that you wish for. As a new VA, you might be going about running your business as a generalist VA, but you need to start looking at what you’d like to offer as a high-end service. Niching down to a specialization in a high-end service will guarantee you a higher income. Most successful VAs start out as generalists till they figure out their strengths and niche down to charge higher for a specialized skill.

When you are an expert at a certain task, your client is not just paying you for your time. They are paying you for your talent, experience, and specialized skill. That’s why you need to charge more. They are paying you for the skills that they need. And they pay higher when they can’t do these tasks themselves because they don’t have your expertise.

Choose a specialization that’s right for you.

Become an expert.

Get paid higher!

Although simple, it’s easier said than done.

Start by evaluating your strengths and what you love to do.

Are you very creative?

Are you good at organization?

Perhaps communication is your best strength.

Or maybe you have a knack for tech.

Figure it out.

Choose the ONE thing.

Then stick to it. Because once you get one to work…

Everything else is so much easier to figure out.

You will get experience. Connections. Money.

It becomes EASY.

3. Stop charging by the hour, instead create monthly retainer packages.

You need to charge more because you are not only charging for those few hours of work. You are charging for the experience and expertise that you bring to the table. And that is worth way more than a few hours of your time. So move on from that hours worked=hours paid mindset. Don’t treat your VA business pay scale as a day job.

A good tip for charging more is to first contemplate how low you can go with your rate.

Think about what is the lowest amount you can comfortably earn.

Doesn’t mean you pitch this rate. Pitch higher.

But knowing your minimum rate will help in negotiations. 

Choose quality clients. Make your value known to yourself and your clients.

Start charging per project. Or bundle up your services rather than selling multiple skills at different prices. It’s more effective to combine them into a single offer. Usually, bundled skills complement one another and provide more value as well as cost savings for clients.

The convenience and more perceived value results in closing clients for good money.

It will make your earning potential infinite.

Pro tip: Include in your contract that pricing will be re-evaluated annually or bi-annually. Maybe even quarterly!

Pin this post to your business planning board on Pinterest and by the way, I created this Calendar Template to help you manage tasks each week to keep you on your way to your first client!

I would also love to see you in Build Your Virtual Assistant Business Bootcamp before the price goes up this Fall 2022! Click below to learn more.