My friends I need your advice!!!

I have a client that requires email managment. I am not sure how to calculate time. My client purchased a 5 hour time block from me and now am stumped on how to record time on the emails. So my questions are as follows:

1. My client requires that I check the email 3 times a day. If no emails are rec'd do I calculate a few mintutes for logging on and checking? If emails are rec'd do I calculate time from the minute I log in? For future how should I bill her for email managment?

The clients rate is very very low but I wanted to get my foot in the door with life coaches and there is potential for many referrals. Did I make a mistake by accepting such a low rate client?

Help please

I think it would be to hard to round it off to the minute. However, you could do that and use myhours.com and livetimer.com. Both of these online programs I found from other VA from this website.

Another option you can do is set a block of time everyday and bill in 15 min cycles. From 9:00 to 9:15, 12:30 to 12:45, 4:00 to 4:15. etc. There will be some days when you won't have any emails and some days it may be heavy. But should balance out thru the month.

I think you did the right thing by getting your foot in the door and this will be a great learning curve. I have a client that I use as a test client, so the rate is really low but the feed back is very helpful.

Good luck and let me know how it works

Julian

I would bill in 15 minute increments, as Julian has suggested...unless you advertise that you bill to the minute in which case you may want to revisit the logistics of this project with your client (so they're aware of the change in billing procedure)

It's not necessarily a mistake to have accepted a lower rate client when you're just starting out - many of us have...just be sure that you're using the experience to not only service your client but truly grow your business. This is a great way for you to learn more about your own expectations, boundaries, etc. so take full advantage of it!

__________________

Thanks so much guys! I don't want to loose a client that can bring me many referrals. Now I know what to do.

I have a client where I check emails and also her voice mails daily. I use TimeSlips, so I am able to turn on a time clock as soon as I pick up the phone or log into the email server. If there are no messages, l log out and stop the time clock. When I log in and check messages later, I start the time clock where I left off the last time. If there are no messages the two other times your total time will more than likely be less than 15 minutes. So, I charge the 15 minutes for the day. I've been doing this for over a year, and I think it is fair.

However, if the time clock says it took 18 minutes to check three times a day, then I round that up another 15 minutes, for a total of 30 minutes billable to the client.

I also have my sub-VAs use MyHours. There is no start and stop time clock feature (that I'm aware of), but it is a great FREE service and you might want to start out with it. You can also invoice your clients through MyHours, too.

You will be surprised how the time quickly adds up and if you don't keep a record of it, then you will be giving away your income. I have been using TimeStamp (from Syntap) and just open the time file and click start when I work on that client and stop when it's done. Definitely advise working out a simple minimum increment. I am used to doing timesheets in my previous life, so 6min increments are standard for me. I set up an hourly rate that's easily divisible by 6 and round up at the end of each job. It's consistent and the clients can see that it's also comparable to other businesses, so they are happy with it. Hopefully, this will lead to bigger and better things for you! Good luck!

Marie

__________________
Marie Chandler - your virtual assistant
www.officesupportonline.com.au

Marie, I'd be so interested in learning more about your 6 min increments and relative invoicing practices - if you're up for it I'd love to talk you into starting a new thread about it in the Billable Hours section
I've been contemplating a way to bill my clients more accurately without also creating a headache for myself - your method sounds spot on and is totally new to me.
Thanks for sharing this with us!

__________________

I tried My hours and to be honest i do not really like it much. I have my own template that I make in Excelt that works really well for me now. When I am more established with this client it will be easier to use online time tracking. I love excel so my heart is kind of stuck in it

thanks so much guys I really appreciate it. I am also interested in hearing about your 6 min billing.

Hi, I'm happy to start a new thread and put down the explaination of how I work things. It certainly does make the client feel that they aren't being overcharged. I'll get onto it now :-)

__________________
Marie Chandler - your virtual assistant
www.officesupportonline.com.au

I have to admit myhours is not the best program. I do a lot of mobile work for some of my clients, and I use my smart phone. I love when i go to the site (coffee house, venue, etc) i log on and start my clock and it really help me alot. I getting better at no always pulling out my laptop and working from my smart phone (notes, powerpoints, etc). When I am done, stop the clock and when i return back to my home office, I spend 1 hour updating notes, etc.

Like i said it's not the best, but it work. There is a charge of $5 a month for it, so it you the free verison it is limited.

Thanks
Julian.