Recently, I read an article focusing on how much does a Virtual Assistant (VA) cost. It kind of stopped me, because I’m interested in where we rate ourselves, cost and value-wise. However, reading the things that people were worried about with a VA made me cringe, and realize there was a bigger problem here then they were laying out.
In this article, they gave the range that VA can be between $1-$100 an hour. That is true it really can depend on the skill set, the efficiency, effectiveness and the goals behind why that VA is doing the work. Yet in the same article, they said you should track your VA’s time and if your worried about what a VA is charging you for you can ask them to use a Performance Monitoring Software. That scares me.
If you are with a VA and you know they do not value your business, value your time, or value what your company’s and customers want, then the amount you pay is not your biggest issue.
I built my business because I LOVE to help people.
I love the feeling of accomplishment at the end of the day when I finish all my work. I have no trouble going back making changes and edits because I know my work does not always reflect the customers 100%, but that’s my goal.
My goal is to have clients who trust me and I know enough about their business that I can get a single email asking for something, giving me very little input beyond the goals of what they want, and I turn around and give them ideas, options, and/or just make their request work.
When someone asks what I charge, for YEARS I paused…. thinking can this person afford me, do I need to give them a lower rate. And each and every time, one of my amazing clients’ words come back to me… “not everyone has the issues with money you do“. But they do want to feel like they are getting their money’s worth.
I have clients ask why some things take longer than others, and what made their bill higher this month and it’s never an inconvenience for me to explain or share my time tracking log. I save everything, I only input time when I’m actually doing “work”, and more than that I want my clients to feel the value I hold for them and the work they are doing in the world.
