Re: How to Start a Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant Service - by Victoria Ring
Victoria Ring has written many instructional guides for different topics. I have NOT yet read this one, and I intend to do so, but I have read another one by her... and I hope that her experience in the VBA field is much more reliable than in the Notary Public Loan Signing field. I am also a Notary Public/Loan Signing Agent and I've known about the author for quite a few years now.
She wrote a training manual called, "How to Start, Operate and Market a Freelance Notary Signing Agent Business." The book contained information that was freely available in many places. When it came to actually being a Notary Signing Agent... she had, at most, a few months of experience. In that field, that's nowhere near enough. The book itself was a bit self-serving and full of religious references that really turned people off. Also, some people felt as if she misrepresented her experience. In the book, she claims to have started her NSA business in 2001...yet published the book in 2004. Finally, some of the advice she DID give was downright wrong or misleading.
She also ran a website (which she heavily promotes in her book) for notaries, which was basically a notary directory. She got a LOT of people upset with her when her "lifetime membership" that she sold for $15, "expired" and she started charging hundreds after a "system upgrade". It wasn't too long after that, she essentially disappeared from the notary field and stopped selling the book. She sold her website in 2007 and that was the last the notary industry saw of her. Most people were happy she left because they felt she was doing a disservice to the community. This is all information that is freely found online from individuals who dealt with her.
BTW... Regarding the religious references, I know that she still does that on some level. I don't mind that a person is religious. I am myself. But, when you're writing training materials for things like Notary Services, Loans and legal matters like bankruptcy -- why even bring it up? It may be inspirational to the author... but will likely annoy some readers, whether they have the same religious point of view or not. I just don't see why Biblical verses belong in a training manual for professional services. Unless, of course, said services are actually of a religious nature or specifically geared to an audience who you KNOW would appreciate it.
That said, I suspect that she has other people preparing most of her material now, and she's more of a marketer than anything else. If you read her bio on her website, that's pretty obvious. She's a great marketer. But marketing is only part of the battle.
Also, her LinkedIn profile said she studied for her Associates paralegal degree from 2001 to 2006. Yet her website bio said she got the degree in 2001.
I only mention this because I think it's important for all of us to be aware of not only how we spend out money but where the advice is coming from. I trust that Andrea's opinion of the book is genuine... and that's why I'm going to read this book, too, because the VBA field is very interesting to me. But, since I am familiar with the author from other circles it does give me pause about the quality of the advice in the book and associating myself with the work. In other words, is the information here something that I can find for free elsewhere? What to experts in the field say about about the material? Does the author write from true experience or from a self-serving point of view?
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