it is also worth looking through the internet to see how much other freelancers are offering, which is what I am doing at the moment.

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Julia Neal ...because we ♥ admin!
http://julianeal.wordpress.com

Actually, that was how I determined my rates

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Lily Chambers, The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
Author "How to Do Your Own Small Business Bookkeeping"

after looking at those rates, I am thinking of upping mine to £XX per hour for the basic services, £XX for PowerPoint, £XX for Excel; and £XX for Database/Basic Design...

[Post has been edited to remove pricing information]

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Julia Neal ...because we ♥ admin!
http://julianeal.wordpress.com

Have you actually thought about what you want to earn on an annual basis? I work on a formula of the annual rate, then deduct the hours needed for holiday leave, sick leave, and other items (as in a regular job), then work out the number of hours I would actually be working. You then come out with a basic hourly rate and need to factor in costings for overheads, i.e. your running expenses. This will help you.

Regards,

Kathie M. Thomas
A Clayton's Secretary
http://www.vadirectory.net

I had found a calculator online that helped determine how much per hour you need to earn. Maybe Tess can put her hands on the link...

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Lily Chambers, The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
Author "How to Do Your Own Small Business Bookkeeping"

Et voila! C'est ici! (Lily's link is here.)

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Stuck in startup? Stop dreaming. Start DOING!
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Adding on to what Rebecka was saying...

It's a bad idea to sell yourself short in the beginning. Keep in mind that you are self-employed and pay all your own taxes now. The worksheets are fantastic, as they factor in all those things. Remember that you aren't selling a product, and think about how valuable your time truly is. Why work for someone for $15 an hour when there's someone around the corner willing to pay $25? Don't go to low, and don't lower your rates to get a client...find out what their most important tasks are, and offer to take care of those for your normal rate to help them stay under budget. In the long run, you'll make money for them!

Just my thoughts!

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Brianna Young, VA and Graphic Artist
www.virtualsolutionsadmin.com
"It's not the piano that makes beautiful music. It's the person sitting AT the piano!"

The advice given has all been great. I think you should base your rates on your experience and what skills you provide. Checking out competitors web sites is a good way to see what the going rate is. But, you also need to decide how much you need to make in order to be happy. If you settle for less than what you really want, you won't enjoy your job as much. On the other hand, sometimes you need to give a little in order to get a little.

While I agree with my good friend Brianna, I must admit that I did lower my rates for one client. This was a calculated move on my part and although I took a cut in pay I traded it for experience gained. I have been moving my practice from traditional marketing assistance to online marketing assistance. I picked up my first online marketing client by lowering my rate with the understanding that she was getting a greatly reduced rate and I was gaining the experience I needed. It has worked out well. I have learned things I never would have been able to learn without hands on training and I got paid for it at the same time. I might not have made the hourly wage I would have preferred but at the same time, had I not given this person a great deal, I would never have had a chance to learn a new skill. I see myself as the winner in this case. However, now that I have the skills, I don't lower my rate for new clients.

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Shari Sultana
Online Business Manager (marketing for retail ecommerce)

thanks for that, I think I will go for £XX a hour, I don't see any VA's offering their services for anything less, especially in the UK. I haven't worked out my salary yet (i.e. my rate per hour), but I am hoping it will be around £X a hour.... (just as long as I get paid more than my standard job )

[Post has been edited to remove pricing information]

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Julia Neal ...because we ♥ admin!
http://julianeal.wordpress.com

I used one of those rate sheets and calculated my hourly rate using Kathie's method too. As I signed up more clients I thought "ok, I've reached my goal of 15 hours per week, I'm going to try for 20 hours". That was until a friend of mine (who is also a business coach) said "why not increase your rates instead?" So that's what I've done. For every client billing hour I do, I do an hour of marketing. So for me with three small children, I can't bill out 20 hours per week because that means I'll actually be working 40 hours a week and that's not why I started my business. I didn't want to have to work such long hours.

Think about it this way. Will you be duely compensated for the skills, knowledge and years of experience you bring to the project? Yes meeting your overheads is important but are you going to be able to pay yourself, pay for your taxes and put something away for retirement?

Kylie Short
Tilda Virtual Services

There is a lot of great information in all of your replies. You don't need to low ball your prices to make it, all you need to do is provide the best service. Word of mouth is your best marketing tool. It goes with networking and good customer service! I believe in being moderate with pricing and negotiating as needed. If your pricing to low for your quality of service customer's let you know, at least mine have!

John Runer

I have finally decided on my prices (thank god!!!) - I am going to start from £XX, top price is £XX (all rates per hour). retainer prices starts from £XX per month.

I used most of the calculators around, thanks for all the advice

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Julia Neal ...because we ♥ admin!
http://julianeal.wordpress.com

Glad we could help

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Lily Chambers, The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
Author "How to Do Your Own Small Business Bookkeeping"

Originally Posted by JRuner

I live in Idaho and have interviewed more experienced VA's about their rates. In Idaho it runs from as low as $XX per hour for very basic services (I feel thats too low) to as much as $XX hour for highly skilled VA's. After interviewing them and looking at myself as a rookie and new small business I settled on $XX an hour charged in fifteen minute blocks. My minimum covers all of my basic exspenses and allows for a small profit. How does this compare with your minimum? Idaho is known as low wage state so I am trying to maintain a moderate rate. Thanks, John Runer

My minimum rates range between $XX to $XX per hour. With thes rates very often independent professionals and VAs hire me for that jobs also.

These rates may be considered to low from the average rates being charged, However, since I am starting my career now in this profession, it is providing me required start.

Kajal

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hi. I have done a LOT of thinking over this weekend, and, even though the business is still going ahead (it was always going to go ahead!!!), I am deciding whether to move in 2008 to my favourite city in the UK (where there are currently zilch VA's!!!). I am asking what have you done for price inflation? for me to survive in my new city (i hope!!), I will probably have to inflate my prices by a couple of pounds per hour (as I am considering using half of the monthly rent on property from the company's funds). The est. price increase will be 10% (well, should be if/when I come to increase my prices). Will that be an acceptable increase? and, when should I go and increase my prices? (i.e. shall i increase after 6 mths of trading?)

I look forward to hearing from you; and, if you have any experience about this, please state!!

Julia

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Julia Neal ...because we ♥ admin!
http://julianeal.wordpress.com