One of the toughest questions to answer as an entrepreneur is and always will be “what price should I charge?” If we overprice we will turn away potential clients, but so too is the same true about underpricing. It is a fine line that we walk when we try to determine our price and many times it may be a system of trial and error before we determine just the right price. The biggest factor in determining our price is “what is the client willing to pay”, but the answer to this is much harder to determine than you realize. So too must we consider is how the way our client will conceive us based on our price even before they take a second look at what we are offering. This term is called the “psychology of pricing”.

There is a ton of information on the internet just waiting to be found on the psychology of pricing. When I googled the term “pricing psychology” there was over 460,000 sites just waiting for me to visit. These sites all pretty much said the same thing … perception is key to setting your price. Even though you only save one penny, $9.99 will always seem like a much better price than $10.00.

However, let’s keep in mind that psychology also covers other areas as well besides just saving a penny, there are a number of other psychological factors to keep in mind in setting your price:

1. What is the competition charging?

When setting your price you want to be in-line with the average that is being charged for your services/products by your competition. If your price is one of the lowest, people will wonder if you “know your stuff” or have an inferior product/service. If your price is on the higher end of the scale, people will automatically expect you to have a lot of added value for them to agree to pay that price.

2. What is your USP (unique selling proposition) or the added value?

When people are determining whether to purchase from you, they want to know that there is a good reason to go with you. A justification, if you will, for when they tell their friends about you. If you can provide them with a good reason to purchase from you, price will be secondary. If you have a specialized skill that you can provide you are more likely to be able to charge more than someone that the client feels provides a service they can “handle” on their own.

3. What’s in it for me?

Many people buy with pain in mind. They are looking for the underlying value. When you can sell them on the product or service based on appealing to solving a pain, again price will be secondary. For example, as a service provider, if your client had to do the task on their own, what would their investment of both time and money be? How do you make their life easier? With a product, why must your client have that product and what great benefit will they receive?

Sometimes it can take several attempts to find the “right” price. Don’t be afraid to “test the waters” and then try something new. Another approach is to ask your potential clients what they see as the value in the service or product you are providing. Many times we are so close to the situation that we undervalue ourselves, our services and our products.

How many times have you stared at a blank computer screen or a blank piece of paper just waiting for the words to come? One of my favourite tasks to provide for my clients is my writing services, but I am often asked what types of things I would write for my clients. Here are just 10 of the writing services I am asked to provide:

• Business Letters

Are you introducing a new sale or product or looking to let your clients in on an upcoming promotion? A Virtual Assistant can help you to find the right words for the letter and can even take care of distributing it to your clients.

• Web site copy

Web site copy can be a very involved process, especially if you want it to be search engine optimized. Creating impressive and persuasive copy takes more than just telling someone that you have a product or service. You need to answer the question “What’s in it For Me?” and you need to do so in a unique way to set your web site apart from your competition.

• Marketing materials

A Virtual Assistant can assist you in finding the right words to portray your message in all your marketing materials including brochures, information sheets and business cards. A Virtual Assistant can also assist with preparing the copy for your marketing package as well as assembling and mailing these packages to potential clients. Keep in mind that not only can your VA put together the perfect words, but he/she can also format them and add design elements that will make your marketing materials appealing as well.

• Articles

Article marketing is fast becoming a great way to prove to your potential clients that you are an expert and know your stuff. It is also an additional way to market your product or services indirectly through your article by-line. As blogging is becoming more popular, people are often looking for quality content and turn to article sites for their content. There is a potential for a well written article to reach thousands of potential clients. Not only can a Virtual Assistant assist you with writing this article, but they can also handle submitting your article to the article directory sites.

• Press Releases

Another great way to tell others about your product or service or about an upcoming event or promotion is through a press release. Keeping your press release non-adversarial can be difficult, especially when you have a personal stake. Just as with articles, a Virtual Assistant can also assist you with submitting your press release to the necessary submission sites.

• Autoresponder series

Many people are setting up autoresponders as a way for keeping in touch with their existing clients. Especially where a product has been purchased, an autoresponder can send out reminders at suggested intervals. It is great to have a Virtual Assistant not only write the autoresponders for you, but also set them up and maintain them. You can also utilize autoresponders for ecourses as a way of producing a residual income.

• Newsletters

Finding content for your newsletter can be a daunting task and as such, often our promises to send periodic newsletters become overwhelming. A Virtual Assistant can not only assist with writing valuable content on your behalf, but they can also provide the services to produce and maintain your newsletter to ensure that your promises are kept.

• Blog entries

Blogging is fast becoming a great marketing tool for business. However, many business owners are finding it hard to keep up with the demands required to maintain the blog. Just having one or two blog entries per week can mean providing enough content to establish a readership. A virtual assistant can not only write that content on your behalf, but can also prepare the entries and maintain your blog comments.

• Thank you notes

So many of us forget to take the time to say thank you. However, so many of us say that we love to receive a thank you and acknowledgment from others. A Virtual Assistant can handle writing and sending out your thank you notes so that your clients (and friends) can see that you truly do value them.

• Ghostwriting of E-Books, special reports, etc

Creating a residual income can be a great way to grow your business without having to put in more hours in a day. Many of us, as business owners, are sitting on a great deal of knowledge and expertise ~ we can come up with the ideas, but lack the time or skill to convert those ideas, knowledge and expertise into a tangible product. Working with a Virtual Assistant is a great way to do this. Utilizing your ideas, they work with you to put your thoughts into words and create a tangible product for re-sale.

Keep in mind that all Virtual Assistants come with their own skillset and services and not all will provide writing services, however the next time you are staring at that blank screen or paper, remember a Virtual Assistant can assist you to find the “write” words.

If you, like me, have several clients, how are you keeping everything separate? The system I have created works for me, but I would love to hear how you are keeping your clients organized and separate. Are you utilizing a software program, a folder system, a filing system? What systems have you tried that have or haven’t worked for you?

The system that I have found works the best is a binder that has the separators for each client. Within each separator, I have placed binder paper for note taking. The first page is a page where I have all the crucial information such as contact information, passwords, etc.. Then I follow that with a copy of my contract and the procedures and systems I use for that client to perform the tasks they require. Finally I have blank papers for note taking.

Each time the phone rings I take the binder down and turn to the appropriate clients separator. I then write the date and take notes from our phone call. If they send me an email then I print the email and insert it into the binder. As tasks are completed and instructions taken care of I write beside the date and time that the project was completed.

This system has allowed me to quickly go back and find things at a moment’s notice. It has been a great system for keeping my clients separate and myself organized. However, I am always open to hearing new ideas so please let me know what works for you.

London, Ontario, Canada - The Virtual Assistant industry is gearing up for the 3rd annual Online Virtual Assistant Convention (OIVAC), which will be held from May 15, 2008 through to May 17, 2008. The highlight of the event will be the International Virtual Assistants Day (IVAD) celebration on Friday, May 16, when the announcement of the winners of the prestigious Janet Jordan Achievement Award and the Thomas Leonard International Virtual Assistant of Distinction will occur.

Co-Authors of the book “Managing Your Thriving Business for Success”, Sally Kuhlman and Yvonne Weld, have each been recognized by their industry as nominees of these awards. Kuhlman for the Thomas Leonard International Virtual Assistant of Distinction and Weld for the Janet Jordan Achievement Award.

The OIVAC website states that the Thomas Leonard International Virtual Assistant of Distinction is to “honor a Virtual Assistant who has been in business for at least 5 years and who has contributed to the industry in such a way that it has provided a positive impact on many others and helped them to build a successful business.” The OIVAC website also states that the Janet Jordan Award is to “honor a newcomer Virtual Assistant who has been in business for less than 5 years and has reached a milestone in their short career in the industry. This milestone needs to be an accomplishment that has helped to boost their new business to an overwhelming success.”

These nominations that prove that Weld and Kuhlman truly know what they are talking about and they also give their book credibility. Many books on the market today are filled with repetitive materials that are unsubstantiated. In other words, not too many authors “practice what they preach”. The fact that these authors have been nominated for these awards goes to show that they are truly running successful businesses and are being recognized by the industry as leaders and role models.

“My goal in writing the book was to share with business owners the elements of my business that have attributed to my success such as goal setting, boundary setting and good time management”, Weld stated. “Many business owners struggle to determine why their business isn’t working without first looking at themselves and the management style they bring to their business.”

Kuhlman believes “most people can be taught good management skills and, by utilizing those skills, run a successful and thriving business.” “We don’t want others to make the same mistakes we have and wanted to provide a resource that would give entrepreneurs the tools they needed to run a successful business.” Both Kuhlman and Weld have learned their management skills through trial and error and life experience.

About Yvonne Weld
Yvonne Weld is the owner of Canadian based ABLE Virtual Assistant Services which opened in April 2004. Yvonne brings knowledge from a number of resources including personal experience (8 years in her previous employment as an Office Manager), education (graduate of several courses at the Small Business Centre, London, Ontario) and her love for information through reading and internet research. For more information visit the Web site at www.ableva.com.

About Sally Kuhlman
Sally Kuhlman is the owner of Virtual Simplicity located in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has been providing virtual support to entrepreneurs since 2002. For over 15 years she has been professionally engaged in business management and administrative work. Sally has a bachelor’s degree in Social Ecology specializing in Psychology and Human Behavior. For more information visit the Web site at www.virtualsimplicity.net.

About Managing Your Thriving Business for Success
For more information about Managing Your Thriving Business for Success and how to start organizing your time better, visit the Web site at www.thrivingbusinessmanual.com/managing.

About OIVAC
The 3rd annual OIVAC is to be held from May 15-17, 2008 and will include several training teleseminars and workshops as well as an opportunity to network with Virtual Assistants from around the world. For more information visit the Web site at www.oivac.org.

I came across this quotation about success and just had to share …

Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.
~ Robert Collier

There are so many of us, as entrepreneurs, looking for that one big thing that is going to skyrocket our business and truly get others talking about us. However, if you take the time to concentrate on the little things that keep our business going each day such as pleasing our clients, producing quality work and righting our wrongs, we can truly be a success.

When you take the time to concentrate on consistently building your business instead of looking for that “overnight” success, you will find the success you are looking for!! Your business will only truly be a success when you have clients that are happy and you are providing a quality product or service that other people take notice of. It will be at this point you have truly created a thriving business. Besides, how many “overnight” successes seem to be a “one-hit wonder”?

We all have a great deal to be thankful about, so what are you most thankful for? I would be happy to post your thankful thursday message with a link back to your web site. Just send your message to yvonne@ableva.com and I will be sure to post it here.

In the interim, today I am thankful for all the job and career experiences (both good and bad) that have led me to where I am today. I believe that everything happens for a reason and I believe that I was meant to start my own business. I was able to do that because of all the things I learned in the “corporate” world and through each and every one of the jobs that I held. Each job was filled with practical and personal growth experiences that have made me who I am today.

Some of my prior experiences have taught me to be strong and I am not going to say I haven’t learned really good lessons along the way through trial and error … I believe it is these experiences that allow me to have such a strong foundation to my business and will allow me to continue to have a successful and thriving business.

As Virtual Assistants and business owners, we often wonder how we can get more clients. For most service based businesses, the way we find the majority of our clients is through word of mouth. We get our clients because satisfied clients are referring us to others that they know. However, this is not the only people that can help to increase your client base through word of mouth. Anyone and everyone could easily promote your business on your behalf.

Take the time to tell everyone about who you are, what you do and who your ideal client is and then give them an incentive for telling someone what you just told them. The best way to do this is to offer them an incentive or a reward.

So I’m putting it out to you now … do you have a referral program you would like to share? What is working for your business and how are you rewarding others, including your clients, for spreading the word?

Well I am just coming back from an awesome weekend at FoVA (Forum on Virtual Assistance). Barb Lang did a fantastic job and I cannot believe that she put this all together on her own … kudos to you Barb.

I thought I would share with you (without giving away the farm, because hey you didn’t pay (wink, wink)) some of the things I took away with me from the weekend.

1. When making a decision for your business, determine the best solution for your business based on one simple thing … would you care if your solution was tomorrow’s headline in your local paper? For example, which headline would hurt your business more … Virtual Assistant screws up, fesses up and loses client anyways - OR - Virtual Assistant screws up, hides error and client leaves after learning of the coverup
2. It is great for increasing your on-line presence and possibly attracting clients for you to answer questions on forums as an “expert”, but not as a sales pitch for your business. The clients will come in any event because you know your stuff and not because you have pushed your services down their throat. This is one of the most effective on-line marketing tools if you take the time to make social networking work for you
3. It is okay to change your niche market as your business changes and evolves. It is also okay to decide that you would like to offer new or different services as you develop more skills. However, make sure that you have the expertise you require to do this first. Nothing can ruin your business faster than offering a service that you know little or nothing about
4. Every person has their own unique personality and once you learn to accept we are all different and embrace these differences, you will be amazed at how far your friendship and business circle can grow. If you want to understand personalities more the book “Emotional Intelligence” by Daniel Goleman was a suggested must read.
5. Without looking to alternative streams of income (passive revenue), every service based business is restricted by the number of hours in a day. The difference comes from taking the time to create an idea from the skills you already possess - there is an endless amount of possibilities for creating passive income that are only limited by your imagination.
6. The only way to make a business work is to be willing to let go when and if you need help. After all as Virtual Assistants aren’t we asking our clients to do the same? What message do we send when we are overworked?
7. Always plan for the future. The most successful businesses have a plan in place to “save” them from every conceivable “disastrous” situation.
8. We must work together to educate the masses about what Virtual Assisting is and must keep in mind that we are a new industry. By working together we can strengthen our industry and add credibility to the words “Virtual Assistant”.
9. There are a ton of technologies out there (more than we ever imagined) that can make our life more simple - you just have to find them and you can do that by asking because as VAs someone is likely to be using a technology you are looking for and will have an opinion on it.
10. We are in an industry where others within our industry are supportive and truly see us as collaborative and not competitive. The next time you have a question, don’t be afraid to ask.

Most importantly, I learned the value in attending a convention and I am already starting to save for next year. I am sure that next year’s conference will be bigger and better than we could ever imagine possible.

Without a doubt as a business owner, we all know the value of good customer service, but I really wanted to share this article with you by someone I admire, Seth Godin. Here is a direct link to this blog post. This article states it like it is and what I took most from this article is that if the customer is wrong then we, as small business owners, don’t have to work with them. Afterall we started our business to be happy and enjoy what we do and no one says that we have to work with people that make us unhappy or cause us to stop enjoying what we do. You read this article and let me know what you think.

The Customer is Always Right

Stewpolicies Greg writes in and wants to know if that’s really true. What if the customer is an amnesiac, a jerk, a difficult blowhard badmouther? What if the customer is the sort that wears his LL Bean khakis for a year and then sends them back?

In our ultracompetitive markets, how can you possibly have a chance in the face of enormous consumer power?

The answer might surprise you. It’s the unwritten rule 3 on Stew Leonard’s famous granite rock:

If the customer is wrong, they’re not your customer any more.

In other words, if it’s not worth making the customer right, fire her.

Successful organizations (and I include churches and political parties on the list) fire the 1% of their constituents that cause 95% of the pain.

Fire them?

Fire them. Politely decline to do business with them. Refer them to your arch competitors. Take them off the mailing list. Don’t make promises you can’t keep, don’t be rude, just move on.

If you’ve got something worth paying for, you gain power when you refuse to offer it to every single person who is willing to pay you.

In 1988, my book packaging company had about six weeks worth of payroll in the bank. Yet we fired our biggest customer, someone who accounted for more than half our revenue. I still believe it was the right thing to do. We ended up happier and more successful, making up the business in a few months time.

If you treat a customer like he’s wrong, he’s going to leave, and probably tell a bunch of other people. Before you take that route, be direct, straightforward, polite and firm, and decline to sell to them.

So yes, the customer is always right. And if they’re not, then one way or the other, they’re not your customer any more

I’ve heard so much from so many about how important it is to attend conferences for your industry so this weekend I am off to FoVA (Forum on Virtual Assistance).

I am looking forward to meeting so many Virtual Assistants that I admire and respect and those that I already consider to be good friends. I am sure that this weekend will only strengthen our friendships. However, more importantly I am looking forward to the seminars and listening to such great speakers.

So off I go and I will be sure to take some time next week to tell you all about it …