Virtual Assistant Tops Today Show’s Work At Home Business List

O’Fallon, IL – March, 2008 When a Kansas City woman sought advice from The Today Show on supplementing her household income with a part-time job, Today’s Money 911 reporter Jean Chatzky topped her recommended work at home list with Virtual Assistant. Who would have thought? Finally, Virtual Assistants are gaining the respect they deserve.

Virtual assistants around the globe who have repeatedly promoted the industry as individuals and as groups are beginning to see an impact on their efforts. Virtual assistants have been talked about, written about, interviewed by, and seen in the likes of Entrepreneur, USA Today, Time, The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Reader’s Digest, CNN News, and more. “We’ve come a long way from the deer in the headlights, wrinkled forehead look once received when offering up ‘I’m a virtual assistant,’ after being asked our profession,” states Kelly Poelker, Director of Academy of Virtual Professionals and co-author of the Virtual Assistant – The Series books. “Each and every article and interview put us one step closer to educating as many people as we can on what a virtual assistant is, and how a business can benefit from our services.” It’s an exciting time to start a virtual assistant business, but there are still a number of people just discovering the profession as a result of the growing media coverage.

“I couldn’t tell you the number of people who comment they have been doing this for years and just didn’t know it had a name,” shares Diana Ennen, Poelker’s co-author. Poelker and Ennen would know, too. They have helped thousands of virtual assistants get a foothold in the industry with their Virtual Assistant – The Series books, mentoring, and coaching. Over the years they’ve seen a constant increase in the number of colleges adding a virtual assistant program or course to their curriculum. For example, Red Deer College in Canada has been utilizing the book for many years. The authors state they are seeing about a 5-10% growth in the number of U.S. colleges adding VA programs each year. Most recently, Poelker founded Academy of Virtual Professionals, an online training center dedicated to educating virtual professionals whose signature course is a 16-week program based on the publications.

Poelker and Ennen are available for media interviews. To learn more about how to add Virtual Assistant – The Series to your college curriculum, to obtain a review copy or free sample chapter send an email to authors@va-theseries.com. For more information on upcoming classes at Academy of Virtual Professionals, go to http://www/AcademyVP.com.