Pricing Models for Freelancers: How To Create Virtual Assistant Packages

Wondering how to create virtual assistant packages? No matter what freelancing niche you’re in, learning how to price your services and create virtual assistant packages can feel like a struggle.

But especially when you’re just getting started.

You’re looking around at other people’s rates comparing your prices to theirs.

Doubting how much your work is actually worth.

Wondering, “Am I doing this right?”

😩 😩 😩

I started out my online business career working as a VA offering a TON of different marketing services.

I come to you now, as a happily-niched-down content creator and content manager who has had my fair share of packaging and pricing woes.

In fact, I have tried every single one of these models before landing on the right one for me and my business, so trust me when I say I can give you the FULL run-down on the pros and cons of each.

4 Strategies For How To Create Virtual Assistant Packages

If you’re in the middle of deciding how to package and price you’re offers or you’re feeling like you need to change your existing rates I want to tell you this:

For the first time ever I finally feel like I’m in a good place with my pricing. Everything feels aligned and I feel confident in how I am valuing my time and energy.

There IS a model out there that can give you this feeling of alignment and confidence in your own business, so let’s dive in and see what options are available to you.

Hourly Rates

The first model I want to get into is often the very first model freelancers start with.

It’s definitely how I got my start as a brand new baby VA.

This is the hourly rate model.

It’s just SO easy to get started. You pick a rate and you’re good to go.

So if you’re brand new and you really just want to get your foot in the door and get some experience, it can be a great way to start – but very, very quickly, you are going to start to see the negative sides of working hourly. 

Here’s the thing: working hourly punishes you for efficiency.

The problem is that the more you do something the better you become and the FASTER you become.

So what ends up happening is that the better you get at your job, the less money you make.

And – I don’t know about you…but to me, that sounds a liiiiitle counterintuitive.

I am so much quicker when it comes to writing content than I was when I first got started. If I were still working hourly I would be making NOTHING. 

Of course, I’m eternally grateful to my past self who took the leap to start my own business working hourly, but there’s also another downside to this method.

Here’s what used to happen to me: I’d track my hours and send them off to my client at the end of the month.

Most of the time, the client would be really chill and professional and send me the payment a.s.a.p.

But sometimes, a client would be shocked at how many hours something took and would be upset at how much I was billing them for the month.

This method set me up for messy client relationships and fear around asking for payment for my valuable services.

Not. Fun.

I would definitely say that if you’ve been in business for a little while, you’ve gotten your feet wet, (even if it’s just for a few months) it might be time to move away from the hourly pricing model.

Instead, start thinking about how you can create value for the client and then have them pay for that value appropriately.

Hourly Retainers

After working with the hourly pricing model, I was like, “Ok, I’m done losing money because I’m getting better at my job, I’m done with the inconsistency, I need a new model.”

At that point, I moved on to the hourly retainer model.

The hourly retainer model is when your clients buy a fixed number of hours per month. Often 10, 20, or 30 hours.

This model can be nice because you get paid on the first of every month and you get a better feeling of consistency and stability.

But – what I found when I used this model is that often clients didn’t have a solid understanding of how far their purchased hours actually went.

More often than not clients were using, either WAY, less than their monthly hours or asking for WAY more work than their monthly hours would allow.

If they didn’t use their hours up then it was always a conversation around if those hours would roll over into the next month.

Or if they wanted more work done they might be upset that I couldn’t possibly fit all their tasks into their hourly retainer.

Even though my schedule was more consistent than before, I STILL wasn’t where I wanted to be. 

Yet again, I was in a position where my income was fluctuating way too much for my liking and I was constantly having awkward conversations with clients at the end of the month.

I know this is a very popular method for freelancers, but I’m sure you can see how easy it is to find yourself in a similar situation when using this model.

Project-Based Quotes

The next model I tried out was the project-based model.

This means that you have to come up with a quote for each project that you take on and that you and your client have to agree on this quote.

This model is great for freelancers who do not want to work within someone’s business every single month, but want to constantly be changing it up.

If you are looking for the true freedom that comes with being a freelancer, this model might be a good fit for you.

What I found when working with this model, was that – again I was lacking the consistency that I was looking for.

I felt like I was constantly having to chase after new clients to work with me for the next month and the next month.

I was spending SO much time marketing myself, onboarding new clients, and negotiating quotes that I was doing WAY more work than I was getting paid for.

If you are considering working in the project model remember that it will give you lots of freedom, but you will have to pour your everything into filling that lead pipeline to make sales in your business while also delivering high-quality services to your clients.

Service Packages

The last method I want to dive into is also my personal favorite for how to create virtual assistant packages. This is the service package method.

What a package is, is a bundle of deliverables that a client is going to pay a fixed price for each month.

To create this bundle you are going to want to take stock of what things you can offer repetitively each month for someone’s business.

Be specific. Know exactly what services you are able to offer your clients.

Here’s the mistake I made when I first started packaging: 

I was doing custom packages for every single client.

Someone would inquire about my services – at the time I offered everything from website optimization, to social media management, to Pinterest management, to content writing, and MORE. 

The potential client and I would hop on a call together and chat about their needs. Then, I would go away and make a quote for them based on the customized package for their specific business requests. 

And this worked okay for a while.

It was definitely a step up from working hourly.

It helped me be more efficient with my time, I was making more money per hour and not being punished for working fast.

But it was still EXTREMELY stressful.

This is because there was no consistent package. 

I started dreading discovery calls.

I stayed up all night working so hard on a quote and a package proposal and then I’d price it all out and still wonder, “Am I gonna lose money on all of this because I didn’t calculate my time properly?”

Spoiler alert: I was losing money with this method because I was spending so much unpaid time on packaging and pricing a custom bundle for each and every client I worked with.

Here’s how I shifted my virtual assistant packages

Since then, the way I package and price my offers has completely shifted for the better.

Everything changed in my business when I started having a signature offer. In my opinion, this is the #1 best strategy for how to create virtual assistant packages that put MORE money in your pocket.

A signature offer is a specific bundle of services at a fixed price that does not change from client to client.

And, friends, this is what I highly recommend doing if you’re looking to streamline your workflow,  have more time, make more money and be less stressed.

I really want you to understand that this does NOT mean you can never stray from that signature offer, but it completely eliminates the hassle of building custom packages and prices for every new client.

Every single time you sign on a client you know that you have put so much thought into how your signature offer is priced and you can be confident that your pricing is perfect and profitable.

Is having a signature package boring?

When I was first considering developing a signature offer I had the exact same question.

I got into freelancing because I loved the variety and the freedom to work in so many different areas.

I definitely thought it would be boring to have a signature offer.

But honestly, I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I actually LOVE having the signature offer and the way I structure my content repurposing packages.

The way I work has gotten so much simpler so that I can go even deeper into the things that interest me, rather than dabbling in so many different areas like I was doing before.

I’ve loved the journey of becoming more of an expert on one specific thing and my confidence has gotten so much better because of it.

Since I went from offering multiple services to having one signature offer, my business has grown so much, my income has increased, I’ve had more time and I’ve cut down on SO many administrative costs.

Here’s how I avoid feeling restricted by my signature offer

First things first, I have a signature offer, and then I have a premium offer.

This offer includes all the same deliverables as my signature offer, but with even more support and specialized services.

But on top of that, I have add-ons. 

That way if my clients need an extra newsletter or extra show notes for that month, I have fixed price add ons that I can supplement their regular bundle with to give them that extra support.

This takes away the stress of having to customize each bundle. 

They start from my signature offer and if they need to, they can add on from there.

As you can probably tell, my pricing journey has been eventful, to say the least – but I am so happy with how I’ve landed on using my signature offer to build my business.

All three of these options have for how to create virtual assistant packages have their pros and cons and can be great for freelancers at different stages in their careers.

So take some time to think about what YOU need to help you get your freelancing career growing and scaling the way you want it to.

Looking to get your feet wet in the world of online business? Try out hourly rates.

Wanting a little more consistency? Maybe give hourly retainers a try.

Looking to put the ‘free’ in freelancing? Test out project-based quotes.

Or are you ready to ditch hourly rates or complicated service packages?

If so, you might want to join the waitlist for my Content Powerhouse Academy program where I’ll teach you how to create a signature content repurposing offer.

That way you can start feeling confident that your packaging and pricing is ACTUALLY profitable.

Got questions about the program or packaging your services as a Freelancer? Pop them in the comments or shoot me a DM over on Instagram.