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How low will you go?

October 12, 2008 By 15 Comments

I have an issue to bring to the table.  Cheap virtual assistant services seems to be a common thread on freelance sites.  There are Virtual Assistants outside of the western world that will outbid the most reasonable bid to get the job.  dreamstimefree 2106789 236x300 How low will you go?

When you partner with a VA, they are not your employee.  They are entrepreneurs that wish to make your dream business a reality.  They are the support you need to let you focus on making your small business all it can be!  By NOT being your employee they are also releasing you of much of the costs associated with a full or part time on-site employee. You are not paying for:

  • down-time
  • sick leave
  • vacation
  • benefits
  • office equipment/space/software
  • benefits

However, when you do pay your VA at their rate you are not just handing them a paycheck.  A chunk of that rate covers the operating cost for your VA to run his/her business.  Including but not limited to supplies, software, marketing and advertising.

VA service rates may vastly range from VA to VA,  anywhere from $15-$60/hr depending on the services they provide.  A VA does not just make up a rate (well, at least they shouldn’t).  They have done the research to figure out what the going rate is for their services, what it will take to keep their business running and a fair price for the qualifications they bring to the table.

So, with that said, how do VA’s offer their services on these freelance sites for $3-$4/hour?  More importantly how do companies justify hiring these VA sweatshops?  For $3-$4/hr you have not hired a partner that is committed to helping you grow your business, you have hired a work horse.  The success or failure of your business is not a concern, only your money.

A Virtual Assistants business depends highly on recommendation.  Your thriving business shows their ability to hold you up behind the scene.  Your business is what it pays for.  So, again I ask… how low will you go?

Sincerely,

Jen
Eco-Office Gals

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  • http://eco-officegals.com/ Eco-Office Gals

    This was recently re-hashed when I received an email asking me to help a company promote their overseas Virtual Assistant Services on my site. After using low cost VA’s they dicided to pack up and move over seas and start their own VA Shop with prices ranging from $4-$8 per hour. Needless to say, you won’t see a post about them on my site, and I sent them to this post to help them understand my views on this subject. SIGH!

  • http://how-to-get-rid-of.com/cold-sores mary@how to get rid of cold sores

    One of the best things about the blogging community is all the things people freely share. Thanks! :D

  • http://how-to-get-rid-of.com/cold-sores mary@how to get rid of cold so

    One of the best things about the blogging community is all the things people freely share. Thanks! :D

  • http://www.freelanceadminsupport.com Dawn Lawson

    Hi Jen. This is a big topic in one of the VA forums I belong to. The VAs overseas are making their money because of the conversion rates. I think I recall someone saying that $4.00 per hour is like $10.00 per hour in India which is great money there.

    But as a business owner, communication is KEY!!! And if you’re trying to get a point across to someone who doesn’t understand English fluently or has a very strong accent, then how can communication be effective and work completed efficiently? There have been numerous times I’ve called support services for one thing or another and find myself extremely frustrated because I can not understand what the person is saying, nor do they understand me. I ask myself, “Is this a VA from another country getting paid $3.00 an hour?”

    Another example is article submissions. It’s often obvious when you read an article from an author that does not write using proper English. Are you going to pay a non-native $3.00 an hour to write an article for you that doesn’t even make sense?

    Forgive me if I come across offensive because I do not mean my thoughts hurtfully or racist. I’m sure people on the other end feel the same way when there is a language barrier.

    What it all comes down to is, if you’re in an English speaking country and you want effective communication resulting in proficient project completion, you’re best bet is not to take the cheap route because you get what you pay for!

  • http://www.freelanceadminsupport.com/ Dawn Lawson

    Hi Jen. This is a big topic in one of the VA forums I belong to. The VAs overseas are making their money because of the conversion rates. I think I recall someone saying that $4.00 per hour is like $10.00 per hour in India which is great money there.

    But as a business owner, communication is KEY!!! And if you’re trying to get a point across to someone who doesn’t understand English fluently or has a very strong accent, then how can communication be effective and work completed efficiently? There have been numerous times I’ve called support services for one thing or another and find myself extremely frustrated because I can not understand what the person is saying, nor do they understand me. I ask myself, “Is this a VA from another country getting paid $3.00 an hour?”

    Another example is article submissions. It’s often obvious when you read an article from an author that does not write using proper English. Are you going to pay a non-native $3.00 an hour to write an article for you that doesn’t even make sense?

    Forgive me if I come across offensive because I do not mean my thoughts hurtfully or racist. I’m sure people on the other end feel the same way when there is a language barrier.

    What it all comes down to is, if you’re in an English speaking country and you want effective communication resulting in proficient project completion, you’re best bet is not to take the cheap route because you get what you pay for!

  • http://www.oneclickva.com/blog Yelena

    Jen, as you know, I’ve brought up this same issue on my blog and my view is much like yours. Now, it’s been a while since I talked about VA rates. Now I’m ready to publish a few more posts, specifically about offshore VAs and how to not get discouraged on Elance and Guru.

    I think Colin nailed it with the mention of a personal sales pitch. I did a fair share of competitive analysis when starting out my VA biz and every VA website I went to mentioned “financial savings” as the top reason to hire a VA. Yes, the savings can be substantial (or not, depending on volume requirements, etc). But there are other benefits of hiring a VA, such as the ones you mentioned in your post. But with the constant emphasis on costs, who can blame clients for trying to save even more.

    Yelena´s last blog post..Great Marketing Idea

  • http://www.oneclickva.com/blog Yelena

    Jen, as you know, I’ve brought up this same issue on my blog and my view is much like yours. Now, it’s been a while since I talked about VA rates. Now I’m ready to publish a few more posts, specifically about offshore VAs and how to not get discouraged on Elance and Guru.

    I think Colin nailed it with the mention of a personal sales pitch. I did a fair share of competitive analysis when starting out my VA biz and every VA website I went to mentioned “financial savings” as the top reason to hire a VA. Yes, the savings can be substantial (or not, depending on volume requirements, etc). But there are other benefits of hiring a VA, such as the ones you mentioned in your post. But with the constant emphasis on costs, who can blame clients for trying to save even more.

    Yelena´s last blog post..Great Marketing Idea

  • Dan @ PowerDosh.com

    I agree with Colin. Any decent freelancer should spend time understanding what service they provide to their customers, and what makes them different compared to others. There will always be a place for high quality services next to cheap and dirty services. However, for some businesses starting out, cheap is all they can afford.

    Something I’ve noticed when hiring content writers is the social context of the host country. For example, an Indian or American writer is unlikely to fully understand the foibles of UK society. Sometimes, you need a local freelancer in order to get the right context for the work you need doing.

    Dan´s last blog post..What does the Credit Crunch mean to Businesses?

  • http://www.powerdosh.com/ Dan @ PowerDosh.com

    I agree with Colin. Any decent freelancer should spend time understanding what service they provide to their customers, and what makes them different compared to others. There will always be a place for high quality services next to cheap and dirty services. However, for some businesses starting out, cheap is all they can afford.

    Something I’ve noticed when hiring content writers is the social context of the host country. For example, an Indian or American writer is unlikely to fully understand the foibles of UK society. Sometimes, you need a local freelancer in order to get the right context for the work you need doing.

    Dan´s last blog post..What does the Credit Crunch mean to Businesses?

  • http://greenlovesgold.com Colin Wright

    It’s funny that you bring this up in regards to the Virtual Assistant world, because I’ve been trying to figure out how the Virtual Freelance Designer field sustains itself, as some of these ‘designers’ are willing to lower their prices to, as you aptly put it, sweatshop levels.

    I personally see this as a race to the bottom, not just in price, but also in quality. There are dozens of work sites (like Guru.com and elance.com) that I know simply aren’t worth my time because the rates that potential clients are willing to pay are incredibly distorted. Only willing to pay $50-200 for your business’ branding? You’ve got to be kidding me.

    That being said, we do live in a very flat world, economically, where Virtual Designers (and Assistants) from India or China are able to hawk their wares in the American market at a significantly lower price and still manage to make a living wage or more in their country.

    Taking a look at the issue practically, I don’t really see that there’s much that can be done about it other than to specialize and offer something that the bargain basement VD’s and VA’s can’t offer. Over time, I myself have become a specialist in sustainable design, in addition to being a multidisciplinary designer (working in print, web, motion, photography, etc). This has enabled me to seek out specific clients that are looking for something with a higher quality than what the elance.com and Guru.com’s of the world can offer. They don’t want something generic, they want something that stands out and has some sweat and a unique perspective in it.

    So I would say the best thing that VA’s could probably do is to figure out what their personal sales pitch is and refine it. Find something that they really do well and work even harder at it. Make it a specialty. Be the go-to person for that kind of VA work.

    It reduces the size of potential customers, but I think you’ll find that the customers that are no longer interested are not ones that you would want anyway.

    Colin Wright´s last blog post..LIST: Replacing Everything with an iPhone (part 2)

  • http://greenlovesgold.com/ Colin Wright

    It’s funny that you bring this up in regards to the Virtual Assistant world, because I’ve been trying to figure out how the Virtual Freelance Designer field sustains itself, as some of these ‘designers’ are willing to lower their prices to, as you aptly put it, sweatshop levels.

    I personally see this as a race to the bottom, not just in price, but also in quality. There are dozens of work sites (like Guru.com and elance.com) that I know simply aren’t worth my time because the rates that potential clients are willing to pay are incredibly distorted. Only willing to pay $50-200 for your business’ branding? You’ve got to be kidding me.

    That being said, we do live in a very flat world, economically, where Virtual Designers (and Assistants) from India or China are able to hawk their wares in the American market at a significantly lower price and still manage to make a living wage or more in their country.

    Taking a look at the issue practically, I don’t really see that there’s much that can be done about it other than to specialize and offer something that the bargain basement VD’s and VA’s can’t offer. Over time, I myself have become a specialist in sustainable design, in addition to being a multidisciplinary designer (working in print, web, motion, photography, etc). This has enabled me to seek out specific clients that are looking for something with a higher quality than what the elance.com and Guru.com’s of the world can offer. They don’t want something generic, they want something that stands out and has some sweat and a unique perspective in it.

    So I would say the best thing that VA’s could probably do is to figure out what their personal sales pitch is and refine it. Find something that they really do well and work even harder at it. Make it a specialty. Be the go-to person for that kind of VA work.

    It reduces the size of potential customers, but I think you’ll find that the customers that are no longer interested are not ones that you would want anyway.

    Colin Wright´s last blog post..LIST: Replacing Everything with an iPhone (part 2)

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