Product Description

Virtual Assistant - The Series: Become a Highly Successful, Sought VA stands alone as the leader in books on starting a virtual assistant business. As the longest standing book in the industry, it's often referred to as the VA Industry Bible, and cited as a "must have" tool for all VAs, new and aspiring. Leaving no stone unturned this book sets the stage for starting, operating, and growing a successful and PROFITABLE virtual assistant business. It has been instrumental in the success of administrative and executive assistants, word processors, and other corporate professionals realizing their dreams of becoming an entrepreneur. Along with their personal experiences, the authors also include words of wisdom, tips, and tricks from numerous industry professionals through the ever-popular "In Their Own Words" section at the end of each chapter and featured throughout the book. This will enable you to see how others are making their businesses successful and provide you with a blueprint on how to do the same with yours.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #319317 in Books
• Published on: 2010-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .51" h x 11.02" w x 8.50" l, 1.27 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 246 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780974279084
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Review
When I designed a college course of Virtual Assistant training almost 4 years ago, I looked at many books that were available at the time in consideration for selecting a text for my new course. I chose "Virtual Assistant - The Series" by Kelly Poelker & Diana Ennen for several important reasons. First of all, the contents covered topics often overlooked by other books, such as deciding if you are right for this sort of self-employment, creating a disaster plan to avoid interrupted services, and juggling the demands of home life and career under the same roof. Another import reason for selecting this text for my classes is that there is an accompanying workbook available where the student answers questions and records their thoughts and notes about the content of each chapter. This approach is very useful in validating what was learned in each chapter. Each chapter in the book contains a section called "In their own words" where leading virtual assistants make comments from their own experience. This is like having a team of professionals at your side offering suggestions as you proceed through the course! My final decision for choosing this book for my classes was based on Internet research which produced some glowing accolades about both authors of the book, proving to me that this book contained useful and relevant information derived from the personal successful experience of the authors. Since then, I have taught the Virtual Assistant course many times, both lecture and online, for two different college districts in the San Diego area, and have found that the layout of the chapters and the length of the book is ideal for a 16-18 week college semester. I just added my own lecture notes and provided some hands-on exercises based on the reading, and the students have been quite happy and successful, and many are now working as a virtual assistant after reading this book and completing the course. I will recommend this book without hesitation to any college or business school desiring to offer such a course, or to those of you who choose to purchase the book and learn the virtual assistant business on your own. --Tom Smerk, College Instructor

Virtual Assistant - The Series is a complete reference guide and more for new and experienced virtual assistants. Diana Ennen and Kelly Poelker have successfully touched upon all aspects of being a virtual assistant --Mona Lisa Safai, TCM Reviews

If you are wondering what a virtual assistant does or if you are interested in starting, owning, and operating your own VA business, this book is for you. With sections on getting started, planning, and operating a business, establishing a website, marketing, and service suggestions, this VA guide covers every subject that would be important to someone in the VA field. It even includes comments and opinions from many different assistants at the end of each section. Overall, Virtual Assistant - The Series: Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA is a great reference, and I would highly recommend it to aspiring virtual assistants who have a desire to succeed. --Karen Schwietzer, Business Majors Guide, About.com

From the Author
Before buying this edition please check out the latest 4th edition, ISBN 978-0974279084

About the Author

Kelly Poelker and Diana Ennen are the authors of Virtual Assistant The Series (4th ed, Another 8 Hours Publishing), Bizy s Guide to Starting Your Own Virtual Assistant Business, and the Bizymoms Cookbook. Diana is also the author of Success From Home: The Word Publishing Business (published by Adams-Blake Publishing), Words From Home: How To Start and Operate a Home-Based Word Processing Business. With a combined history of working at home of over 40 years, these two women have contributed to the success of many word processors and virtual assistants alike. Additionally, they have been included in a number of books, articles, and interviews by Mompreneurs, Jan Melnik, Liz Folger, Woman s World, Home Office Computing, USA Today, Priscilla Y. Huff, Entrepreneur Magazine, HOMEBusiness Journal, MomsTown.com, The Chicago Tribune, and many others. Both are active in the virtual assistant community not only as business owners but as mentors, message board managers and chat hosts. Together they remain on top of the latest developments in the virtual assistant (VA) industry. Diana Ennen has been in the forefront of the work-at-home word processor and virtual assisting world since opening her practice, Virtual Word Publsihing, Inc., in 1985. Kelly Poelker, a recognized leader in the VA industry, has been operating a successful virtual assistant business, Another 8 Hours, Inc., since early 2000.

Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful.
Disappointing
By A. Designer
There is a lot of general business information in this book that you can find in just about any business-related, how-to book. You'll find the typical marketing advice, typical Web site advice, and typical advice on writing a buisness plan.

The virtual-assistant Web sites listed in the "You're Not Alone!" section are mostly outdated, although I realize the author has no control over that.

There is some useful information in the book, such as the sample marketing letter and the sections on choosing services and setting fees. There also is some useful advice from other virtual assistants. However, I'm not sure those things make the book worth its cost. It may be worth the cost for someone who is totally unfamiliar with business practices.

Frankly, if you're interested in offering writing services through your virtual-assistant business, I would recommend reading the book titled "The Wealthy Writer" by Michael Meanwell.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
Thorough Overview
By T. Gwen Nicodemus
This book is okay. I am coming from an engineering background into the realm of virtual assistance, so much of the book to be "yes, I know that, let's get onto something new already." I imagine if I had been coming from more of a straight admin position that I would consider the book to be excellent. The authors pull together just about everything you need to know to start you own virtual assistant business. They talk about business plans, training, web sites, skills and services offered, and marketing.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful.
Lots of Good Information
By Danielle O'Donohue
I'm just getting started as a virtual assistant and the information in this handbook has helped me set up my company and plan for the future. The information in the chapters is very well-organized and provides comments from actual virtual assistants in addition to the authors, so the reader gets several points of view.