Hey all,

I just got a hold of this blog post with subsequent comments and thought I'd bring it over here to see what everyone else thinks or how it makes them feel. I was going to post my own comment but decided to stay out of it because, honestly, I'm not sure I feel qualified enough to put my own two cents worth in. However, the post and comments made me feel a lot of things and good was not one of those things.

Just for a bit of background on this post (by the way, I received my newsletter from Jan King which is how I found her blog post which directed me to read the bad one): Basically, this lady (an author) bashed the VAA course offered by Jan King and identified it as a "scam" and "pyramid scheme" to rob both aspiring VAAs and author's of their $$ without ever really doing her research. All of the people who commented jumped on her little bandwagon full-heartedly (ok, how the heck do you spell that word?) and wouldn't let the VAs who posted get a leg up. It was almost embarrassing (for them, not the VAs). The thing I took the most offense to (really there were a couple of things, but this is probably the most offensive to the industry as a whole) was the person that implied VAAs and graduates of the VAA course were scammers themselves:

Quote:

I hear you Anon 11:48, well said. I am sure the AA's posting here would not risk all their years of hard work and reputation scaming self publishing authors but not so sure that this is not some of the intention of this course (again because of that phrase of teaching the student how to find those hidding authors)

Basically, a lot of these people are claiming that the VAA course is teaching VAs how to scam clients into paying for unnecessary services which is an extremely unfair assumption IMO.

Oh, and getting back to them labeling the VAA course and it's graduates as a "pyramid scheme"... Wanna know their justification in believing this? They came up with this conclusion because the website offers an affiliate program. Obviously they don't know a whole lot about the definition of a pyramid scheme or affiliate programs if they made this connection... ut:

Also, they are insisting that the course which, in all fairness, does sort of claim that it can take your VAA business from 0 to 60 in 30 days (BTW, Jan even addressed this in her post and recognized that she may need to clarify who's a good fit for this course in her promotional materials), cannot possibly teach people without any skills how to become a VAA. It just cannot happen...period! Well, I disagree. I may not have been a VA for the past 20 years but I have a ton of skills to build on and a love of books and writing. Authoring and the publishing industry are things I have been interested in for years and just never really knew where to go to gain inside knowledge of the business of writing. DO NOT tell me that I don't have what it takes to learn this. You don't know me or what I'm capable of. I am not a stupid person. I take any "sales pitch" with a grain of salt and don't believe everything I read or hear. Nothing is that easy. But, at the very least, I will have gained some valuable knowledge that I can build upon until I do have the experience that I need. If there are areas, after taking the course, that I feel I need more development in, I'll figure out how to do that. The main thing is that I feel that this course will at least give me a well-rounded basis to give me a bit more direction and to build upon. Do I honestly believe that my business will take off after taking this course? Of course not (no pun intended...lol)! It's still going to take hard work on my part to feel confident and to make my potential clients feel confident enough to work with me. I am not doing this for the certificate or to "get rich quick". I am doing this for my own knowledge and with a goal of niching in an industry that I have a great interest in and can actually use the knowledge in my own writing endeavors some day.


Anyhow, I think I've vented myself out and I have a webinar that I'm late for so I'll quit right now (I reserve the right to add thoughts at a later time...lol)

What are your thoughts on all of this. Not just the VAA training (although I'd love to here from other VAAs and people who have taken the course), but just the whole idea of "you can't teach someone how to be a VA" of whatever niche and VA related courses?

Thanks for listening

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Stephanie
New VA in the research phase :daisy:

Hi Stephanie! I'm also setting up a VA business focusing on authors and publishing. I haven't taken this course yet, and I've been curious to see if it was really "worth the money." But I agree that some of the posters apparently have no clue what they're talking about. How can offering a service that will allow a business to focus on their core strength be a "scam"?

There are some people that just enjoy seeing their name on a website, even if their "thoughts" make no sense...

I work for authors and I have a strict confidentiality agreement that they absolutely love. I would never "steal" or up-sell services that they do not need. Most authors, the ones I work with at least, know exactly what they want, how they want it, when they want it and that makes my job much easier.

I didn't need a course to teach me how to work with them and I would not take one.

I would however take a course on writing, ghost writing etc, although I do not need one, if I were not experienced in doing so.

If you want to learn more about publishing you can visit http://www.bowker.com/ as this is the place where self publishers get their ISBN numbers and education for self publishing.

There are so many ways of teaching your self these skills it is just about research, research and more research.

Andrea~

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Action Jackson Virtual Assistant|

I too work with authors and I did not take the course. However, that is not to say that it will not benefit you. I actually took two mini classes on publishing and self publishing as well as read several books provided by my first author client.

Most of what I do for my authors is on the marketing end. Setting up virtual book tours, organizing their events and such. I took the classes to get come additional inside information from those who were published and self-published. So if you feel this course is beneficial then by all means take it. Just be aware that there are alternative learning sources which are not as costly.

This does not justify the tone of the blog but everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

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Lee Drozak
My Office Assistant

Thanks for the information! I'm more inclined to learn things for myself rather than take these kinds of courses unless it will specifically help me get clients. And, of course, money is always a concern - if I were rolling in money I'd just volunteer and not work for a living!

I am an author and also work with other authors. I am taking the course mentioned above to reenforce what I already know and to learn some things I might not know. So far, even though the course is expensive, it has been money well spent. I don't know all there is to know about anything and am always willing to put out a few dollars if it might mean I can give my clients a bit better service. Researching and reading tons of books are excellent ways to learn new things but if all this is packaged into a course, it is much more cost effective for me to take the course than to spend time putting the information together from scratch. For me, time is money and I want to use it wisely.

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Jenny McKinney
http://www.offsiteofficepro.com

Thanks for the replies, everyone! It has definitely given me some food for thought (and several tasks over the next couple of months...lol). I was planning on taking the VAA course at the end of January or beginning of February (the "author" I'm currently working for leaves town for the winter so this is the best stretch of time for me). In the meantime, though, I think I'll try to do some more research on my own to get a better feel for what seems right for me (self taught vs paying for a course). At the moment, my feelings have been leaning towards what Jenny said: The value gained by taking a "packaged course" is worth the money to me, if I can swing it, to give me a good jump start.

My ranting was more against people who seemed to be stereotyping their idea of what a VA is and a VA's worthiness. They seemed (IMHO) to be giving a whole lot of hurtful opinions without being completely knowledgeable about this issue which I think is wrong. I think I need to get a thicker skin. I think my feelings got a little hurt for Jan King because I know if this was all directed at me, personally, my feelings would definitely be hurt. (I really need to quit being so sensitive especially when it has nothing to do with me...lol)

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Stephanie
New VA in the research phase :daisy:

I know this is an older post but I've been wondering about this particular certification since I discovered it a couple of days ago. I have a book review blog that has put me in touch with a few authors and I thought being an author's assistant would be an interesting niche to develop. I just didn't know if it would be a legitimate, and beneficial, use of money.

To chime in on the concept that VA's are scammers - these bashers apparently don't know anything about the VA concept. A recent injury sent me into the virtual world seeking income. I do some proofreading, express reviews, and create content for some websites that bring in some much needed supplemental income and constantly get asked by some if I'll be looking for a "real" job.

I guess that certain types of people will always view 'virtual' work as a scam or rip-off.