Loading ...A whole lotta Virtual Assistants are up in arms right now.
See, there’s this publicity expert who has decided to jump on the latest get-rich-quick, Virtual Assistant exploitation trend with her $500 training course designed to train Virtual Assistants on how to become publicity "experts" just like her in only four days.
At first, I thought this would be a terrific resource for Virtual Assistants, and this person is someone I have promoted on my Virtual Assistant organization as having great information.
However, this expert has made the egregious error of insulting at such a base level the very people who would be her students–it’s almost comical what a horrible mistake in marketing she’s just committed.
How she’s gone about this is in her marketing, instead of talking directly to the professional business owners (us Virtual Assistants) who would be her students, she instead has taken the tactic of addressing our clients, telling them they need to "send us" to her class–as if we were their employees. It’s like two people talking together about someone else’s future with that person standing in the same room as if they were invisible and had no say in the matter. The condescension and gall of it just blows my mind!
Then she’s developed some template text that she has provided to her affiliates (along with the attendant bribe of a "fat" commission) so they can help sell her program. In particular, there’s this sentence here:
"If you already have an assistant who does little more than administrative chores, it’s time to turn your assistant into someone who can assume many of the duties of promoting your product, service, cause or issue."
"Little more than" administrative chores?! That remark is so patently offensive.
How dare you demean and trivialize the value and importance of what we do in our profession, not to mention the real skill and knowledge it requires! Those "mere" administrative chores are the backbone of every single business, and it takes every bit of talent and intelligence to do well as any other profession.
Personally, I’ve spent 25 years developing the superior skillsets and knowledge that in turn benefits my clients and makes their businesses run more smoothly and profitably than they could ever accomplish themselves. Every single one of them will tell you that, too.
With all due respect to our clients, it’s not their place to "send us" anywhere or "turn us into" whatever they please. I run my business, and the only person who makes decisions in MY business and decides what services I’ll provide is ME. Period. If we TOGETHER decide something is beneficial for me to support them with, is something I feel I’m able to provide competently and am willing to provide, THEN and ONLY THEN does that become work they may delegate to me.
I am NOT supporting her in this program. Had she been more respectful in her marketing and how she spoke both to and about us, I would have supported it wholeheartedly.
Not now, though.
On principle I would not give her a penny because of the damaging and insulting way she is training people to think of Virtual Assistants and the work we do, and talking about us in the third person as if we don’t have a say in what training we will invest in our own businesses.
She’s made it plain as day exactly how little respect she has for Virtual Assistants. Personally, I’m done with her. She ain’t gonna be mining my pockets or those of my clients while demeaning and disrespecting me and my profession at the same time.
A few of my members have reported writing to this expert in an effort of professional courtesy in starting a dialogue, and received very dismissive responses. My members came up with the idea of unsubscribing from her mailing lists. I’ve taken their cue and also done so, and I’ve deleted her crap off our resource pages. She ain’t the only game in town and I’m sure there are much more respectful experts out there (Bill Stoller of the Publicity Insider comes to mind) who we can follow without debasing ourselves through the association with them.
Let me...
8 Comments
Way to go, Danielle! You tell ‘em.
I am no longer receiving newsletters from this “expert.” I hope if enough VAs let her know our displeasure, she will think before doing something like this again.
Vickie
Danielle, you’ve covered this offense well. I know I couldn’t believe what I was reading when I received the information about the training. As a publicity expert, her wording was insulting to the VA industry, the same audience she wants to train. I’m disappointed in the other VA groups that have jumped on board to promote this training.
I unsubscribed the moment I got the advertisement. I then saw at the VACOC that I was not alone in my opinion. The next day I got a notice from another well known VA group that this expert was giving a teleseminar to them on the self-same subject. I, too, am disappointed with this group and am rethinking my membership.
I’m sure this will bite her in the butt! Way to go. This is the best way for us to advocate for our profession. Attempt to correct the matter in a professional manner, then if nothing good results, pull our support.
Comment regarding a recent trackback: No Virtual Assistant needs to be held hostage by the erroneous belief that they have to take whatever is dished out to them in order to “not bite the hand that feeds you.” Personally, my values don’t revolve around the pursuit of money. And yet I do extremely well. Funny how that works. There’s also a whole great big wide world out there full of clients everywhere, both online and off. The markets we serve are only a fraction of those where clients can be found. No one needs to settle with attitudes and behaviors that demean them. I’ll take my business elsewhere, and they can take their business elsewhere as well. The saying, “with friends like that, who needs enemies” comes to mind. Who needs clients who don’t respect the work and service that you provide to them and the world? But the “not biting the hand that feeds you advice” does apply to those who want to mine the Virtual Assistant market. If you want to exploit us and make some money off us, it really behooves you to respect us as business owners and fellow professionals.
Hi Danielle!
Thank you for the comments on my recent trackback.
I am not suggesting that any virtual assistant should lower their standards or morals for anyone but I do think that using a bit of censorship on our blogs could be beneficial. I know there have been many times when I was upset about something that a fellow VA or a client did but I kept it offline. I knew that when the storm passed and I was ‘over it’, I wouldn’t have a trail on the internet of my anger.
I think that we all have to give some credit where credit is due. Joan has a skill and a talent that we as VAs do not have (and if we do, that is excellent but most do not have publicity skills) and I think that what she is doing is excellent. I know many VAs who would love to partake in something like this.
Is she a VA? No but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn something from her. I also think that she had some advice from VAs and some very powerful feedback before she launched this program. I was looking at her blog and I commented on a post of hers before she even launched her new program, as did you, and we both gave her feedback of encouragement on the program.
I find it more unsettling when people without those talents and skills try to sell something to other people without truly being an expert in it. Is she an expert at assistance? No, but she is an expert at what it is she’s teaching and she has two talented VAs to teach the rest.
My whole point about ‘not biting the hand that feeds you’ doesn’t just pertain to Joan and it doesn’t pertain only to a monetary value. It pertains to a whole perception from others on our attitudes, personalities and behaviors.
Sincerely,
Erin Blaskie
http://www.bsetc.ca
Thanks, Erin, for your perspective. However, I don’t happen to agree. Plus, you’re asking me to comment on things that I’ve already stated.
This isn’t about giving credit where credit is due, and it isn’t about getting clients. It’s about a market responding to someone who wants to make money off them. She blew it with her marketing tactic, and for that reason, she’s not the person I’m going to spend my money with.
As far as worrying about others’ perceptions, personally, that’s of so little concern to me as to be laughable. I don’t live my life using fear-based thinking; I certainly don’t live to please others.
“Ohmigosh, I sure better change my opinion or they won’t like me! Uh oh, my beliefs are too radical, better not rock the boat! Better shut up; better not be my own person! Gotta be assimilated into the herd!”
No, if someone has a problem with my opinion, it’s really easy–they don’t have to read it and they can go away. I attract exactly the kind of people I want around me. And I spend my money the same way.
Danielle,
I couldn’t agree more with your post.
The marketing approach was a major misstep and unfortunately, perpetuates the thought that Virtual Assistants are employees rather than partners. Just when I was getting over being annoyed at being asked for my resume all the time. Ugh.