Our search feature provides a weekly report advising searches carried out. I thought I’d link the most popular (but possibly not the most obvious) ones to point you in the right direction.
- ABN – if you’re in Australia it’s a good idea to register for an ABN (Australian Business Number) but you don’t have to have one before you get started. Best to check with your accountant as soon as you can for the correct guidance.
- ACS email address – please email kathie @ vadirectory dot net.
- ACS logo – on the affiliates page
- Can you meet me before joining? I’ve had a few requests of this nature. There really isn’t any need. All the information you require is on this site and you can email me, or call me if you need to. I cannot possibly meet with everyone who asks – I need to be able to work too. But thank you for your thoughts.
- Credit card payments – many members do accept them. If you’re an ACS (“A Clayton’s Secretary”) member seeking this please contact the head office for information.
- Curriculum vitae – we don’t keep copies of resumes or CVs of members on the website.
- Edit membership page – Members get a login so they can create and edit their own profile pages.
- HomeGrown Secretary book – available to ACS members free at the members’ only forum or purchase at our VA Shop listed in the menu.
- How much do I get paid as a VA? That is up to you as a VA. An information pack is sent out to all of our members giving them guidelines on how to choose rates that are right for them, based on their past experience and their current cost of living. No one rate fits all.
- Job Leads Any eligible person may apply to join our team to receive the job leads from clients. All job leads are promoted to members of the team only. You can see the latest on what’s been received via our twitter feed on the front of this website.
- Marketing Assistance – if you’re a VA looking for information on how to market your business, click here.
- Members forum – for VAs who want to get to know other VAs and learn more about our industry.
- Membership fees – we have the one rate for all members for a 12 month period. We also have an additional rate for extras. Please don’t ask if you can pay it off or work it off. We cannot give free membership nor do we allow the fees to be paid off. We are running a business and the fees keep the network, website and advertising running. The fees are not high and they are fully tax deductible – please check with your accountant for details.
- Medical secretary – we have several who can support you with this need.
- No mail – if you are an ACS member wanting to edit receipt of email, then please go to yahoogroups or the VADirectory Forum to make the changes there.
- Rates – we don’t list rates for jobs on this site. This is because we have members in several countries with different currencies and varying skills, experiences, and costs of living. In placing a job request, or contacting a VA direct, rates are then discussed per job.
- Posted jobs – The listing is available via our Twitter feed and only members of the ACS Network get access to client contact details.
- Recruitment – as per vacant positions.
- Resume – a copy (or a business bio) must be submitted with your application to join our team. If you’re looking to get one typed up, then please go to our job request form.
- Sample contract – we don’t have them on this site but if you join our VAIG list you’ll be able to view what’s available in the files there.
- Remove from VAIG list – please go to the source of the list (yahoogroups) to do this.
- Templates – same as for sample contract above.
- Typing Rates – see Rates above.
- VA Flyer Sample – there are none on this site
- Various suburbs – you’ll find them all linked under their states
- Vacant positions – we don’t advertise positions. Any eligible person may apply to join our team. All team members are self-employed operators and not employees. All job leads are promoted to members of the team only so please don’t ask us to outsource to you – you need to join the team first.
- Web Designers – we have several members who do web design. Please go to the Client Support link in the menu above to place your request.
- Web Hosting – we have a service at acs-webhosting.com.
- Yellow Pages Program – this has been discontinued as of 2011. Calls from the Yellow Pages have greatly decreased over the past 12 months and we no longer feel this is a viable way of spending our advertising dollars.
Below are queries we have received and our answers to them.
Q: I know that your company is an Australian VA referral site. In reality, what is the percentage of US referrals you give per month/year? Are most of the referrals in your area? Obviously you can’t guarantee work or referrals, but I am trying to gauge if it is realistically worth my time. I use several venues for ‘exposure’ and am currently doing a marketing assessment.
A: Our head office is based in Australia and many of our team are in Australia but we are a global network and we have members in 11 countries, including the US. While we don’t get the same percentage of US based referrals as we do Australian ones, we do definitely get US referrals quite regularly and that is growing. As a VA you would be aware that often you don’t have to be in the same location as the client, so the more important question would be how much ‘virtual ‘ work do we get that a VA could do anywhere? The answer is we get a lot and if you provide virtual services, such as digital transcriptions for example, you would be offered a lot of jobs. See Jobleads for examples – truly virtual jobs are marked with *, although it should be noted that very few jobs require someone onsite and could realistically be handled via phone, fax, mail, courier and other means. Just sometimes the client needs to be educated about working virtually first.
Q: Is it only women who do this type of work?
A: No, men do too.
Q: Why does it cost to join? There are so many scam sites out there that charge fees but give nothing in return.
A: This network is operated as a membership based organisation. There is work involved in maintaining the website, managing the marketing and promotion, supporting members and responding to their requests, and holding their hand when needed. There is a lot of time involved in supporting the members of the network and that time cannot come without a cost. We also provide client introductions to our members – VAs invoice the clients direct and we do not get any percentage of those payments. Membership fees are tax deductible, same as any industry association membership is. And you get a lot of member benefits for your fees. Why not read the member testimonials at our site and our blog?
More information can be found at these pages:
For Clients:
- Job Requests (information included on how to use a VA)
- Job request examples
- Locations
- Services
For VAs:
- Joining the team (application form)
- Accreditation
- Affiliate program
- Member benefits
- Membership details
- Membership renewal
- Job request examples
General items:
