You charge how much per hour?!!? Often acquaintances (who don’t use virtual assistants) are amazed at how much I charge for my virtual assistant services. They wonder how I can find any clients at all with my outrageous hourly rate (which actually isn’t all that outrageous… when you consider overhead costs…) I don’t have any trouble finding clients. I think that is because I am very clear with my clients about the unique value that I ( as opposed to a different virtual assistant) can add to their business.
Like all virtual assistants, I do much more than just taking care of administrative and online tasks for my clients. I am a sounding board and a partner in my clients’ businesses. That level of involvement is not for all business owners, but having a partner in crime is a true added value to my clients. I also come from a public relations and marketing background and can use that background to help my clients. Again, not everyone needs additional PR help, but it is an added value that I can offer to my ideal clients.
In Lousiana, there is a concept of Laginippe (i.e. a little extra). My little extra is my brainstorming and PR background. I make this clear in my website and marketing materials. The clients who want what I have to offer are the ones who contact me via my website.
Here are some questions to ask yourself to figure out what your “little extra is:
1. What do you LOVE to do? Can you offer that to your clients in a unique way?
2. What do people ask you how to do all the time? (hint — what seems dead simple to you might be really complicated to someone else.)
3. What did you do before becoming a virtual assistant? Can you leverage that knowledge to help your clients beyond what would be expected from your average VA?
4. Who do you love to work with? Coaches, internet marketers, health counselors, consultants? Narrowing down your market will help you to attract clients who appreciate your value to your site and to your practice. Often this is called a niche.
5. Where you might be able to help your clients set up systems? As you grow as a VA, you’ll get certain processes down to a science. Your value grows as you can share these processes with other people.
As you learn the answers to these questions, your value as a virtual assistant will appreciate and grow. You don’t need to know that answers to start out and your answers can change over time. But, if you keep thinking about the answers to these questions as you grow your practice, you’ll be able to articulate your additional value to your clients.
