Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I don`t know if this has been done, so I`ll post the idea for anyone who wants to run with it. It would take a Web-savy person who also has strong experience or background as an office admin or administrative assistant.

Here`s what I`m starting to see. There`s a rapidly growing world of small business owners who simply haven`t got the time, or they aren`t at all skilled in any way as to organizing their entire business. They don`t need a secretary, or a conventional office administrator or manager. They need a personal manager...or a personal assistant to run everything. In some cases, even their regular life (since they don`t have a life....they`re always working).

I`ve seen the explosive growth of the virtual assistant (VA), and the ongoing need for what used to be called an Executive Secretary. I`m also seeing the collapsing budget for these skills, in businesses where there simply isn`t the revenues.

So here`s the idea.

Build a consolidated meeting place and exchange for Office Admins.

This site would offer training for corporate admins who never had to deal with EVERYthing....as they would in a standalone 1-person office/business. There would be a forum for "Help...How do I develop a form to do this thing?"

Another forum would be "Fast ways to solve problems with low-tech solutions." These would be solutions where corporate budgets don`t exist. For example, 1-owner companies often get flooded with business cards. A corporation can easily buy a business-card scanner and software, and not even notice. But an entrepreneur may not have the money.

Solution: Use a binder with business card inserts, and maintain that.

There`d be a forum for technology help, when the owner can`t afford ongoing tech support on a retainer basis. Can`t afford house-calls, and can only afford "dire emergency" help.

It would be a place for softward developers to put up shareware (or freeware) utilities designed specifically to help with a MPITA (major pain in the ass) problems.

This would have the same global attraction as Startup Nation, but not for entrepreneurs---the owners. Instead, it would be the entire support infrastructure for the cottage industry sector.

Here`s an example forum/site for PowerPoint users:
  PPTools

It was started for people with PowerPoint problems, mostly to sell a suite of useful utitilies. It`s become a major support area for all kinds of bizarre problems Microsoft won`t or can`t explain.

It`s just limited to only PowerPoint. I envision a site where I could post a question: "I have an Olympia manual typewriter and don`t know how to make it type in bold. Anyone ever use one of these? My boss needs forms done all the time on it, and they won`t work on a computer as far as I know."

People could post instructions, or could post workarounds they`ve come up with. And so on.....

Great idea for a new forum!  FREE IDEAS  I sometimes have ideas for new businesses (some crazy, some viable), but I would never follow through with them.  What a nice idea to put them out there for some one who might.  

CraigL

Will you be able to get this in industrial strenght for the MOST MPITA problems? I like this idea it would be a great time saver not to mention all its other benefits.

drbob

 

:-) Hi Dr. Bob....

I have no idea what would happen with the site. I`m not going to develop it, I just see a rapidly growing need for something like it.

I`ve seen Web sites that do grammar checking, editing, and proofing. Instead of only selling to the open market, this type of site would offer a venue to sell on the site--to help office admins proof letters, or examine other forms of copywriting.

The Office Administrative Assistant has become the All-Things person in today`s office. They`re expected to be a whiz on Excel, PowerPoint, and Access, not to mention be a professional writer, editor, receptionist, logistics manager, bookkeeper, and psychiatrist. All for around $15/hr...or less in many cases.

Who`s going to answer questions and provide help?

I remember working for a temp company, where in order to give the impression I was competent, I was told to not call the client`s IT department for help. Instead, this company maintained a full-time tech support group only for temps. If I couldn`t figure out some sort of software problem (not only technical, but also procedural), I called a hotline. Someone helped me get it done, all without the client knowing.

There also would be problem-solving in general. For example, someone posts a topic, "I have a form that involves this and such. It isn`t working. What would be a good way to keep track of this situation, where here are the things that are involved."

In other words, a world community of Admins, all helping each other to get through a day where anything can happen, none of which is in any ordinary course on how to be a successful admin. ;-)

You`re right! That`s a great business idea!

I know that as a Virtual Assistant I started out doing admin work and then changed the name of my business to Virtual Associates because at this point I know so many people that if a client asks me about something I don`t know the answer to, I know someone that does.

Or I know someone that knows someone that does.

I think that the Virtual Assistance industry is becoming the filler for that particular need. While I`d love to start a paid membership website for however much a month...lives and situations and businesses change...and my Access expert today may not (read=will probably not) be my Access expert six months from now.

I know there are others out there (many) that have built relationships so that they can be Johnny-on-the-spot for soup to nuts...but there doesn`t seem to be a term for it.

Consultant? Not quite...there is a lot of baggage that comes with the term and it doesn`t seem to fit.

Project Manager? Well...in a sense...but not in the "whip out my MS Project and  PMBOK" kind of way.  

Virtual Assistant? It`s sketchy, because most people think that if you`re a VA it`s admin-only (and customer service *cringe*) and that`s so not what I`m trying to accomplish with my business.

Virtual Associate? May as well call me a Virtual Assistant..it`s such a fine nuance.

So...while I think this is a great business idea...maybe it already exists and just needs a good name. What do you get when you roll an EA, a PM, and a VA together?

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Jennifer G
Just smart enough to be dangerous since 1989.
---------------------------------------------
www.atypicalva.com | www.marketingcurve.com

I agree with Jennifer.  Maybe the business already exists and maybe, we as virtual assistants, need to promote this aspect of our industry a little better.  All VAs are experts at something and if we don`t know how to accomplish something for our clients, we ask each other and, if necessary, hire someone to be the expert.

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Right-Hand-Man
Virtual Assistant Services
www.righthandmanva.com

"Partnering with you for YOUR SUCCESS!"

Great idea, Craig!

I just read an article recently, 10 Rules to Keep Your Website Visitors Engaged.  #6. Don`t use guest books, testimonials etc. These are so Web 1.0 concepts. Use a forum. Let your customers interact among themselves. Develop a value network. You get into the insights of your customers` minds by reading their posts and your visitors know your products and services by talking to each other. As a result, you will be able to provide improved products and services and ask for a premium price.  It was mentioned having a message forum, versus testimonials, so that your clients, peers, visitors, anyone, really, can post within your forum.  Forum sub-categories could be Software, Hardware, Process Improvements, Phone, etc. basically anything that would involve your visitors to read your forum, post their thoughts, and it could become a networking event all within your site.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

I found this very interesting and thought provoking.  I don`t believe I would leave off testimonials, though, as some wouldn`t bother to venture within the forum.

Thanks for sharing your idea, Craig!



-------------------------

Tracey DelCamp, Owner
My GoTo Gal Virtual Assistant Services - the reliable resource for your business needs!
www.MyGoToGal.net
info@MyGoToGal.net

We have a community member, Tawnya, who has a sort of overall VA networking site. I`m not sure if she`s still active, but she`s got a consolidated site for a whole lot of things.

Here`s a thread from awhile back: "VAs: Virtual Assistant," the provides a huge amount of information, and would relate...maybe...to Office Admins.

But I think I`d like to see a more "things to do, help for you" kind of place, like SuN, where there`s a constant flow of dialog with help and ideas for solving specific problems.

Even better, would be to administer the site so that as topics begin to shake out into categories, they get archived into a type of wiki, with articles that gather the information into a gigantic "handbook for the Office Admin."

Craig,

You are right about my VA Networking site. The Virtual Assistant Networking Association (VANA) already has a forum with over 6700 contributing members to over 66,342 posts varied in business topics.  We very much are a consolidated meeting place and exchange for Office Admins and growing rapidly as the most popular, friendliest, informative, educational & resourceful network for VAs from Virtual Assistants to Virtual Achievers globally.

We help each other who work through the daily questions of working for our clients from what software one would use to remotely access a client`s email to how does one add an autoresponder to their client`s shopping cart.  We have over 50 forum topics all related to specific areas that will help our clientd ie) Blogging, Web Design, Email, Microsoft Office, Marketing, SEO, etc.

Saying that, we are network to help each other as Virtual Assistants who then in turn helps their clients with their business concerns.  Although marketed directly to Virtual Assistants, we do welcome business owners to come in and ask our VAs any questions they have.  Being a free network, its just a matter of joining and asking your question.  We actually have a feed, "ASK Our Virtual Assistants" feed for business owners to get their business answers: 

Business owners can add this to iGoogle or their RSS feeds to have instant access to any of our expert VAs on board.  Business owners can also submit RFPs for jobs they have and we will announce them to our board

I`d love to have your input Craig (emailing you privately) regarding how we could further improve on our VA network for better consumer relations and satisfaction. 

We actually celebrate our 4th year anniversary in September and have many  exciting things for the month happening so check us out.

For a very knowledgeable person, with some software skills and has a "go-to" network, this sounds like an excellent idea for a priced-right membership site. Price it low for more members to share the question load, or price it modestly high if you have a team of QUALIFIED experts available...

The are several membership site software packages available that would do just fine. The best of the lot costs under $200... and you do not need any "training programs or systems" to get it going. There is ample free info around to learn that which you need to sharpen up on. I bought one from `the lady in UK`... and like it. There is also a shareware version that I haven`t tested, but have heard good things about too. Google it and it will become obvious which ones I`m talking about... or, I might share a link with the truly desperate.

I say go for it - if you can.

Nick