This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
If clients are really happy with how fast you're doing the work, but you're still billing like a beginner, perhaps it is time to level up. Let's talk today. How do you price your work for true value? Hourly pricing feels safe when you're new, but months later, you're kind of boxed into cheap helper status. So if you're charging $30 an hour like our caller today, or even if it's $50 or $100 an hour, the specific amount doesn't matter so much.
The point is as you get better at what you do, now all of a sudden you are delivering more work for the same rate, which is why it's often better to price based on a deliverable. We've got this caller who's delivering lightning fast inbox management. She is really good at virtual assistant work. And now she's trying to figure out, what do I do? Do I need to raise my prices?
Can I change the model somehow? My goal is to show her how to calculate her true market value. That's my objective. Stay tuned for her detailed question and my response. [Music]
Hi Chris, this is Elise in Spokane, Washington.
When I launched my virtual assistant business last year, I copied the going rate from a competitor, $30 an hour. I've stuck to it ever since, even as clients rave about my speed and add more tasks. Deep down, I suspect my work is worth more, but I'm terrified of raising rates without data. How do I figure out pricing based on my value instead of someone else's sticker? What factors like turnaround time or specialized software skills, justify a premium?
And how do I communicate that increase without scaring off the clients who got me this far? [Music]
Elise in Spokane, thanks for calling in. So my first advice is you probably should raise your rates. I know we're talking about trying to create a more true market value and basing your work on outcomes, which I'll come to, but I do think it sounds like you copied the going rate from a competitor and everybody's happy and you're actually working really fast. Definitely sounds like you should, first and foremost, go from $30 to, I don't know, $50 to $60 an hour.
Perhaps even more helpful is gonna be packaging your rates. I think you should do a retainer package of, well, it depends on how many hours people are booking, but something like $1,000 a month for up to 20 focused hours. So that's a $50 hour rate. And the key part of it is it's up to this number of hours. So basically you're gonna agree with clients about your specific tasks and deliverables and so on.
Then you're gonna go and do those very fast because that's how you do. You're not gonna worry, and they're not gonna worry about how much time it takes. They're gonna be happy because they're getting their stuff done. And I can say this as a client. I've worked with a number of virtual assistants.
I really don't care at all about watching the clock or keeping up with some sort of time log. I care entirely about the tasks and the outcomes. And so if they get better at their work and they become more efficient, then by all means their hourly rate should be higher. So that's how I pay for these services, and it's pretty normal to pay for it based on a package of up to X hours. That alone is gonna help you even more than just raising your rates outright because now as you continue to become more efficient and effective and such, you will earn more.
That's the number one thing you can do. Price the outcome, not the clock, but do it in packages for this type of service, a clear new rate or package, and communicate with a results first email. Good luck, Elise. Everybody else out there, good luck. I'm wishing you well.
Hope you're having a good week, a holiday week, a holiday weekend for a lot of us. But wherever you are in the world, I hope you're taking care, and I hope you'll continue to listen. New episode out tomorrow. My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
from the Onward Project.
