For the past 40 years, entrepreneur Tom Antion has worked out of his home long before remote working was mainstream.
“I started selling on the commercial internet in 1994 when it started,” he said. “By 2000, I was a multimillionaire.”
In 2009, Antion started the Internet Marketing Training Center in Virginia Beach because so many people were eager to learn from him.
His hands-on e-commerce courses include training in social media, email marketing, shopping carts, search engine optimization, blogs, videos and all of the actual nitty-gritty, Antion said. Students receive a certification at the end of three semesters.
Up until the pandemic, the licensed vocational school had a physical location on South Independence Boulevard near Mount Trashmore. Nowadays, all of Antion’s five employees work from home and students study via asynchronous distance learning.
“It’s low quantity, high quality and high touch,” he said. “Most of my students want to apply it to their own business; they use it because they can save a fortune on their online presence.”
To date, Antion has helped thousands of people start, run and improve their online businesses through his mentorship program. He also has a podcast, “Screw the Commute,” to inspire others to start their own business or take their business to higher levels.
“People are realizing it’s not hocus-pocus working from home,” he said.
And now, Antion has started a pilot program for people with physical disabilities.
“I’ve always thought what I have is so great for people with mobility problems because not only can they legitimately learn from home, they can legitimately be hired from home or start their own business,” he said.
He established a GoFundMe page in June to help raise money to provide scholarships to five people with disabilities. As of Sept. 8, $17,883 of the $76,625 goal had been raised.
Charlie Collins, an inspirational speaker from Connecticut, was one of the selectees.
Legally blind for the past 41 years, Collins said in a video on the GoFundMe site that is he excited to have the opportunity to go to a school that will teach him how to build a website from the ground up.
“This platform, I’ve never ever experienced anything like it,” Collins said. “I stepped into something that, wow, step by step I’ve learned so much. I can do this, because I want to.”
Antion plans to hire people with disabilities to help administer the program.
“I want to prove the concept. I can get these people hired in good paying jobs and/or start their own business,” he said. “I want to help these people, and whatever it takes, I’m going to get the job done. I’m going to change their lives forever.”
Sandra J. Pennecke, 757-652-5836, sandra.pennecke@insidebiz.com
