Virtual Assistant - The Series 4th Edition
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 InstructorVirtual 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 ReviewsIf 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