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Sure, you can hire a Virtual Assistant to help you out with your tasks...but how much does it really cost you in terms of dollars each day? I've heard of people paying $40-$70/hour, but I only pay my team about $3/hour (all of my team is under $5/hour maximum) to run my entire business for me! The only reason why someone people pay $40-$70/hour and I only pay $3/hour is because I've been doing this for a long time and know the ropes of the business. I'll show you exactly how I did it!
The main mistake that I hear of people making is being the first to name a price when interview potential assistants: never ever ever be the first to name a price when speaking to potential assistants from around the world. 99% of the time, the price that you name will likely be 3-4 times what the applicant would have happily accepted. The bottom line is that if you are the first to name a price then you will surely be loosing money. Once you've found a potential assistant that you're thinking of hiring (click here to learn more about how to find a virtual assistant),it's now time to start talking about money: how much are you going to pay this assistant hourly. As noted before, you should never be the first to name a price. However, you need to know what the price range should realistically be once your applicant starts naming prices. The main question is: How Much Does a Virtual Assistant Cost? The table below shows you some typical numbers for jobs that involve various tasks provided by Assistants in the Phillipines. Job Responsibilities
| Typical Hourly Wage
| -Communication: email clients and employees
-Voice Communicaiton: speak to you, not to clients or employees
-Research: Basic researchh via the internet. For example, you might request infomration regarding the comparison of two seaprate products or software. The Assistant would then research the two products online and provide you with an email report with their findings.
-Software Experience: basic computer experience and fluency in Microsoft Office products | $2/hour | *all the same requirements as noted above, plus additional noted below
-Voice Communication: inbound and outbound calls to clients and employees which requires professional and perfect english
-Sales Followups: email and phone followup with sales leads and brand new clients to arrange their new projects
-Billing: send invoices, followup on invoices, etc.
-Technical Support: Clients call in with questions regarding their project. The Assistant either answers it from personal or provided knowledge, or they schedule a time to call the client back after they've researched themselves and found the answers | $3-$5/hour
| *all the same requirements as noted in all areas above, plus additional noted below
-Web Design Experience: ability to complete any and all web design requests. These include HTML, Flash, and even PHP programming
-Graphic Design Skill: ability to work with Adobe Photoshop and other Adobe Products to create professional graphic design work from instructions of you or your clients.
-Project Management: ability to efficiently and effectively manage a project from beginning to end. This means that you can say "John Doe just purchased his service hours for his new project. Please ensure it gets started and completed correctly. Call me if you have any questions". | $5-$10/hour |
These are the rate that I have consistently paid while working with providers in Southeast Asia (specifically, the Phillipines), If you ever hear a provider quote you at a rate of $10 or more per hour, you can be nearly sure that there is a lot of bargaining room for you. The main trick to bargaining down the price is to know what you're talking about. Through this website, you should be able to know all that you'll need to know to start off strong with finding, negotiating with, hiring, and working with your new Virtual Assistant. Special Tricks When NegotiatingAmazon.com Widgets
(1) Never Ever Ever Ever Ever...EVER be the first to name a price. Simply interview the applicant to understand their skill set, explain the job position in full to the applicant, and then proceed to ask them what they'd like to make hourly for this job. If they will not budge in telling you a price first (which has only happened to me once), then you'll need to play a bit of hardball. I suggest saying $2/hour (regardless of the responsibilities noted above) so that you're starting way low and allows them a bit of room to negotiate you up and feel good about the deal they've made. I sugest saying "we generally start new team members in this job position at $2/hour, with the opportunity to increase to around $3-$3.50 within the first 6 months depending on performance". This lets them know that (1) you've done this before and know what you're talking about, even if you actually haven't done this before (2) there is room for the rate to increase if they perform well and (3) you've had other people apply and be hired for the position, so they should not let this chance pass them by. (2) Notify the Applicant After Interview Further Applicants If someone is playing a bit of hardball and you feel like you could be getting a better price, I suggest concluding the interview on a positive note and let the applicant know that you'll get in touch with them within 24-48 hours after you've been able to complete a few more scheduled interviews. Even if you don't have any interviews scheduled yet, this will let them know that you'll be considering other applicants, which motivates the applicant to budge on their price demands. Contact Virtual Assistant ProvidersThat I Personally Recommend and Provide!You can download a list of Virtual Assistant companies and invidual providers that I personally recommend.It took me 2+ years to learn how to find quality providers for great rates. I'm now offering you the ability to use the contacts that I've worked with so that you can race through the learning curve that took me 2 years. Click here to download the list of companies and individuals that I personally recommend Related ArticlesHow To Find a Virtual Assistant The Top 5 Mistakes NOT To Make!
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