The Sounding Board

I’ve been around alot of online forums, social networking sites, and business building groups in the last few years. It’s something of the nature of the beast, so to speak, when your business is based primarily in Cyberspace. Some of the groups I have joined have been great, some not so great. Some have led me to wonderful friends and colleagues. Some have led me to new clients, or new skills, or new resources. But most of them have been simply…blah, for lack of a better description. Nothing outstanding to write home about.

However, I was recently introduced to a social networking site exclusively for women business owners. From the moment I was invited to join, I was made to feel welcomed, valued, and most of all, appreciated simply for showing up and being a part of the community. What a refreshing change from the usual “lost in the crowd” feeling I generally get when I join a new network - especially if it’s a larger network.

So, as my way of giving back to all those who wished me well and were so welcoming with their whole hearts, I just knew I had to send out a little link love in return. For all those ladies over at Divapreneur, thanks for giving this Diva a soft spot to land and hang out with other successful biz owners. I greatly appreciate the wonderful community you all have helped to build. And what kind of link love would it be if I didn’t mention Ms. Elaine Biss, founder of Divapreneur. I just love her artistry! The fact that she founded Divapreneur is the perfect compliment to her Diva style.

While you won’t catch this particular Diva wearing rhinestone tiaras or sporting taffeta anything, I can truly appreciate the Diva power behind a group of smart, creative, business savvy, and truly passion-driven women. Folks who know me would probably not consider me a “diva” per se, but I do know that there is definitely something to be said for ‘girl power.’

If you’re new to the Virtual Assistant (VA) concept, you might or might not know that most VAs charge by the hour. There are varied options out there - PAYG (Pay As You Go,) retainer packages, per project rates, but all are based on billable hours. This is much the same practice as consultants, attorneys, and other freelance professionals. It’s a decent, basic system. If Jane Doe VA does 10 hours worth of work, you pay her for 10 hours. Pretty simple, right?

As a professional having to actually track my billable hours? I can tell you…it really isn’t that simple. In fact, I’ll tell you a dirty little secret in the VA industry. Most VAs hate tracking hours and aren’t that great at remembering to check the time they start or the time they finish. They do alot of guessing. I know because I’ve done the same thing (usually to my own disadvantage because I always under-guesstimate the amount of time I actually spent on a particular task.) But aside from that? Tracking every minute you spend on things is just a royal pain in the rump. At least it’s a task I’ve always hated trying to keep up with.

Back at the start of this year, I opted to create a flat-fee based rate scale for my practice. I wanted to focus more on results and less on minute-by-minute time tracking. There are those in the VA industry who would think me daft for going to a flat-fee rate. How are you going to keep from getting run over by clients who take advantage of the fact that you don’t track your time? Um…let’s see…you’re working with clients in a partnership-type relationship, you talk on a regular basis, you keep each other’s needs and expectations out in the open so you both know what to expect and what is expected of you, right? That’s the ideal relationship to have between a business owner and their VA, right? Well then, you shouldn’t have much of a problem. If you know how to articulate boundaries and expectations, and most importantly - stick to them!

I have found that in my practice, the flat rate fee has been well-received by clients. They don’t have to worry about how much time their newsletter is going to take, and if they’ll have enough time left this month to get assistance with their new blog launch, or to get those shiny new press releases uploaded on their site, or get their new ebook loaded into their shopping cart software. Time is no longer an issue - results are where we focus our energies. It’s more beneficial to the client, and in truth? More beneficial to my practice.

In the past, I spent close to 10 hours per month tracking hours, sending invoices for overage hours, corresponding with clients on what projects to prioritize in order to stay within our allotted hours, etc. Not to mention countless amounts of time “guesstimating” how much time I spent proofing an email campaign, or uploading new images and site pages, or simply going back through my time tracking software to make sure I had everything entered. That 10 hours per month is now used to get better results for clients by spend a little more time tweaking a new site page, or proofreading a newsletter article just one more time, or otherwise putting the finishing touches on a project.

The industry may baulk at the audacity of charging a flat rate…but my clients and I know…it’s a win-win for us both.