1. Service Offering and Pricing

What services will you provide and how will you charge your clients for your support?

Service Offer

Before you can decide on your service offer, packages or even try to narrow down a niche; it’s important to evaluate your overall strengths and weaknesses.

Start the process by writing down all the things you are good at doing, the things you hate doing and evaluate the transferable skill sets you possess. 

Most importantly, you want to envision how you want your business to operate. 

Knowing this information will determine the kind of projects you take on.  

For example, I knew I was good at researching, organizing, planning and writing. I also knew that I wanted the flexibility of not having “set times for work”

So I focused on areas such as email marketing, inbox management, event planning and travel research which allowed me the flexibility I needed to plan my day on my own terms. 

Are you a creative individual? How many hours per week are you available? Do you want to work with clients that specify set times? You have copywriting skills but is this something you want to offer as a service? 

It will be more meaningful in the long run to offer a service that will bring you as much enjoyment as it brings value to the client. 

Check out this list of 100 services you can offer if you are still in doubt.

Newbie Friendly Services 

It’s absolutely possible to break into the VA industry even if you have no transferable skills. 

If you’re a proactive self-learner, who’s trustworthy, detail-oriented and have excellent communication skills (Written & Verbal) – then you already have what it takes to be a Virtual Assistant (VA). “

There’s lots of newbie friendly services that can be learned within a few days, so you can start getting your feet wet. 

Services such as: 

1. Data Entry

2. Social Media Engagement

3. Transcription

4. Research

5. Invoice Creation

6. Customer Service.

7. Proof-reading

Improve your skills 

While you are offering those newbie services you can work on learning new skill sets through platforms like Fiverr, Skillshare and Udemy.

Many of these platforms offer free trials, so take advantage of the offer.

Be sure to investigate what services are in high demand while comparing them to your overall strengths and weaknesses to find a good fit. 

Pricing 

There are three main pricing structures generally used by freelancers. 

• Hourly 

• Project 

• Monthly Retainer

Hourly

Charging your client a standard rate for the number of hours that it takes to complete their given tasks.

Pro: 

• Hourly billing allows you to offer your client concise reports of time spent on their project.

• It’s a flexible option for the client.

• It provides wiggle room for the evolution of a project, especially If you’re not sure what you’re getting into.

• Get paid for the time spent

• Easy to budget time

Con:

• No stability, especially without a retainer agreement or contract.

• Hourly rates limit your income as you’re not guaranteed a minimum payment for the project.

• You are not paid for the value that your project has to the client.

Project 

 A project rate is when you charge the client a set price for the scope of work that is completed regardless of the number of hours required to complete the project. 

Flat rates are ideal for projects that have finite deliverables.

Pro:

• Project rates reward freelancers who are efficient and complete the work on time. It means more profit If you can quickly finish tasks faster than you estimated.

• Flat rates are easier for the clients to understand as the clients know up front exactly what they have to pay for. This means you can set the prices based on the scope of work and accommodate the client’s budget for specific projects

Con:

• If you’re a newbie, it’s difficult to estimate the project rate.

• Certain clients insist on hourly invoicing.

• Flat rates can open you up to negotiating and haggling with clients over prices.

• For charging a flat rate, you need a solid portfolio and references that show you are worth the rate.

Monthly Retainers

A retainer fee is an amount of money paid in advance by a client to assure your services will be available to them for an extended amount of time. The client pays a lump sum upfront, or makes a recurring monthly payment, and you work with them on a long-term project, or provide them with access to services each month.

Retainer agreements are best suited for long term clients and can be combined with both hourly and project packages as needed. 

Pros:

• Bring stability to your business and keep you from needing to win projects all the time.

• More reliable pay

Cons:

• Scope creep can be an issue if you have not taken everything into account for the project. 

• With retainers, you run the risk of being unintentionally overworked by your clients. 

Monthly retainers can get a bit tricky if contracts aren’t airtight and ironclad.

For monthly retainers it is wise to make:

• Make Provision for changes 

• Set Tier options 

• Define payment terms 

• Monthly reporting and reviews

• Develop an off boarding strategy

Retainers seem to work best when the nature of the work is less project-based and more generic in nature.

Project-based work tends to have its own timeline and costs that may or may not fit naturally within a retainer’s block(s) of time and pricing.

My Recommendation: 

If you’re a new freelancer/VA I recommend an hourly pricing with tier packages of hours.

For example:

1 Hour – US$32/hr

10 Hours – US$300

20 Hours – US$500

40 Hours – US$800

(Think about your monthly goal and calculate your hourly rate accordingly). 

• Ensure that you outline the scope of work in the proposal. 

• Have the client pay for the hours upfront.

• Track your time using a tracker such as Toggl. 

• Delivery your job along with the tracking report. 

This is by far the quickest and easiest way to start making money freelancing. This option also works best for short-term projects. 

For long term clients I recommend a combination of your hourly packages along with a retainer contract. 

For example, 

You have a 4 month contract with a client, maximum hours are 40 per month at $ Rate , which is paid at the beginning of each month. 

You can also add that the hours do not roll over to the agreement. 

Please take into consideration the other important factors mentioned above for retainers in general. 

Once you have developed a project-based service offer, you can use the project pricing option for scalability.