Scaling To $50 An Hour: Supply, Demand, and Positioning Your VA Services

By 2025, the global virtual assistant market is expected to grow by $4.15 billion. In 2020 alone, the U.S. based virtual assistant market was estimated at $9 billion. Our little industry is exploding as the need for intelligent, dependable professionals continues to grow. 

That said, growing your business beyond your first few clients can feel like hard work. It can be hard to stand out among the crowd and communicate how you’re different. Why should anyone hire you over so-and-so who charges 3x less?

It’s all about understanding what you bring to the table, effectively positioning your business, and leveraging the good work you’ve already done to increase both demand in your services, and your rates.

Make a Communication Plan

Now that you’ve done work for a few clients, you likely have a better idea of what you like to do, what you’re really good at, and what you don’t like to do. You may even have a clearer idea of the type of business you best serve.

If you haven’t thought about it yet, make a list of those things. Then ask your clients about their experience working with you. 

What was happening in their business before they started working with you?

How were they feeling in their business before your work together?

Why did they choose you?

What did they like about working with you? 

What was something unexpected they got out of your work together? 

The words they use, as well as your own observations, will help you better communicate your value to future prospective clients.

What you like, what you’re good at, and what your clients think you’re good at can also help you niche your services.

Is it Niching, or is it Providing More Value?

As my friend and previous client Beck Keen said to me, it’s not about niching down. “It’s niching UP.” When you choose to specialize, demand becomes more concentrated. You can dive deeper with your expertise. And you can charge more.

You see this across all industries. A GI doctor’s waitlist and bill is larger than a GP’s. My waitlist is packed for strategy and business management. My hairstylist specializes in natural color and she’s thriving despite fashion color trends. My friend Brenna McGowan’s bookings skyrocketed when she committed to helping clients solely with their pre-launch. 

My point is, don’t be afraid to choose a niche. Because really, choosing a niche isn’t about working solely on one thing forever; it’s about being able to more clearly communicate your expertise and value to the people who are looking for that specific expertise or value. 

For example, my social media manager Mary often says she needs a “calendar mommy”. She wants an admin who will not only defend her schedule boundaries but pay attention and gently point out where she could make better use of her time. That’s an unquantifiable aspect that adds a ton of value to your services. Clients will pay more for that.

What are some ways you can niche your VA services?

Where do you provide immense value that makes you indispensable to your clients? Here are some examples to inspire you.

Specializing in a Tool

There are some amazing tech tools out there! While it definitely pays to keep up with the latest and greatest tools so that you can ensure your clients are using what best suits their needs, it can also pay very well to become an expert in one robust tool.

Did you know that some InfusionSoft experts charge $250 an hour? Similarly, if you’re experienced with a certain software, know all of its quirks and glitches, and know how to get the best out of it, you can charge more for those services. Check your favourite software to see if it offers a certification program.

Specialize in an Area

What information can you include to inform and add value for your client in your area of expertise? 

If you’re specializing in social media administration (not content creation), maybe you stay updated on algorithm news, report trends, and what other businesses inside and outside of your client’s industries are doing. 

If you’re specializing in general admin, maybe you can pay attention to your client’s energy levels and creative cycles and build their calendar to reflect and make the most of those cycles.

Positioning and Communicating Your Value

The simplest way to increase demand for your services is to become an expert at whatever it is you want to do. Become the expert in that field to bring so much value to your client, they don’t bat an eye at your rate or your terms.

It’s not that you just schedule things for them. It’s that you manage their time and make sure they feel calm, relaxed, and not overwhelmed.

It’s not that you handle their social media. It’s that you answer all their questions about the wild West of social media and figure out a strategy that gets results.

It’s not that you load emails. It’s that you understand how their system works, how it interacts with other systems, and you make sure they use their system to their best advantage.

It’s not that you support them during their launch. It’s that you understand launch strategy, know what numbers to watch for, and know how to pivot when you’re not reaching the numbers.

That’s how you become an indispensable, #EpicVA and scale to $50 an hour (or more).

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