Hi Everyone,

I was hoping that I could get some opinions on my hourly rate. I was going to revamp my website and was wondering if I should also change my hourly rate from 35.00 to 20.00 or even less. I feel that my rate is what is scaring clients away.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

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Stephanie Rodriguez - Human Resources Specialist / Admin Support
www.dsradministrativeservices. com

Stephanie,

We don't really discuss rates here on VAF.

I would suggest that you look at what other VAs are charging for the same services you provide.

Also look at your marketing...do you have a blog, do you have social networking pages and are you consistently marketing your services?

Clients will pay for the value your services provide. Don't under-value yourself.

If you want to pick up The Wealthy Freelancer and Get Clients Now!...there are great books which can help you set your fees and attract more clients.

Janine

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I agree with Janine but wanted to add that your rate should depend on what services you are offering and where your skill level is. It's smart not to under-value yourself but I've also started to develop the opinion that just because 'everyone else' is charging $35 an hour, doesn't mean that every service is actually *worth* $35 an hour...

I realize I am in a serious minority on this one, but I think it's important to be realistic.

However, at the end of the day - the fact is you can't really charge less than $35 an hour on average if you are running a VA business to make a profit and support yourself.

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Hi, Try this..it helped me..

http://freelanceswitch.com/rates/

Originally Posted by naeruj

Hi, Try this..it helped me.. http://freelanceswitch.com/rates/

Nice calculator! Thanks. My breakeven point is only $2 less than I was thinking about charging! Back to the drawing board...

The calculator is awesome. I am still not sure what to charge but I have saved it and will use it in future calculations for sure. Thanks!

good tool to use to help set rates, thanks

Thanks for the great calculator! I am going to pass that around to some of my friends who are also freelancers.

Thanks for the link to the calculator. It really helps.

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Gray VA Services - Virtual Business Support
www.grayva.co.uk

I have been wondering -- during these economic times with all the hardships that many small business owners, solopreneurs, and other executives out there who hustle to make a living -- do any of you adjust your rates?

I'm so curious as well regarding rates, and I do realize it's not something discussed "right out" on the forum. But I have been finding that with all the hardships going on, boosting a client's productivity while taking a small reduction in your normal rate -- is that not a good idea?

So many clients simply can't afford really high fees ... what should we do as an industry as a whole about accommodating our financially struggling clients?

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Patty