I might have missed it, but a great book for Virtual Assistants and prospective clients is The Obsolete Employee by Michael Russer. I think this is a great book and I had the privilege of proofreading this book and even getting my name in the acknowledgment section of the book.

Lisa

I hadn't read this one yet Lisa - sounds interesting - care to tell us a bit more about the book itself? How is it a beneficial read for VAs and potential VAs? Looking forward to learning more about why I should buy this book!

__________________

I'll add this one to my required reading list, Tess! Thanks! Right now I'm reading "My So-Called Freelance Life" and I have to tell you, I'm finding this one better than "The Two-Second Commute"..so far, anyway!

__________________
Barb
Iken Organize

Lisa, I'm so sorry. My last post should have been directed to you. I looked for this book through my local library and (not surprising) they don't have it. I will check it out on my next trip to the book store. How awesome that you got your name in the acknowledgement!

__________________
Barb
Iken Organize

Let me tell you a bit more about the book. It's not geared towards telling you how to become a Virtual Assistant, but it does a bit into how employees can get out of the rat race and start to work on their terms.

It's main focus is how businesses can acquire more talented individuals such as hiring multiple Virtual Assistants since you may have one that specializes in marketing and another that would handle more general admin. duties. I think the best part is that the book explains in detail to business owners how having a Virtual Assistant/Professional saves them money and helps their business to grow. This is what we Virtual Assistants often have to show prospective clients since many have not even heard of Virtual workers.

Lisa

Barb,

No problem! Yeah, it was a fun proofreading job and I was surprised to find my name even mentioned in the book (and I received an autographed copy too)!

Lisa

What a great sounding book. I will be looking for this on my trip to the bookstore later this week.

Thanks for the info. It's now on my reading list!

__________________
Jen Scoggins
www.virtual-jen.com

Congrats on the acknowledgement Lisa! I have heard of this book and as Jen mentioned it's on my reading list. Thanks!

__________________
Kasey P. Lian, Owner, KL Virtual Office Solutions
http://www.facebook.com/KLVirtualOfficeSolutions

I am reviving this thread. I couldn't sleep last night and I read more out of The Obsolet Employee. While I am enthused that he is encouraging businesses to look toward partnering with VAs he said something that actually concerns me.

He talks about using only Elance or Guru. And of course, the big VA organizations (NO mention of VAF which was disappointing. Then he went on to say that if a VA leaves Elance or Guru to go out on their own: beware!, he says, because there is no accountability. This concerns me because so far he seems to be the only author that has focused on outsourcing to VAs in such a focused manner. I am afraid that employers will look to his advice and not give a VA (especially a new one) that is not a member of these sights and on their own a chance.

Just want to know what you think.

__________________
Diana Buchanan
When You Don't Have the Time