Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Crossloop

Are there any remote help companies that I could earn residual income for by signing people up for their service?

schindyguy — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:38:07 -0800

Are there any remote help companies that I could earn residual income for by signing people up for their service? (not just disguised as a BS affiliate program) I currently have 15-20 clients that are basically computer illiterate and they pay me 80/hr (or sometimes flat rates for certain things) to do on-site stuff like memory upgrades, setting up new computers, backing up to a new hard drive, wireless networking… Of course I also get all the software problems like spyware, viruses, how to crop and reduce redeye in a picture, where did all my email go, etc…

For things that I can get done remotely, I have installed the free version of LogMeIn on their computer and I can fix their problem if they are connected to the internet. Ideally, I would like to not do the problem solving with the remote connection but find some company, resource, or team of techs that I can the farm the job to. I could set my clients up on a monthly plan (somewhere from 30-50 bucks with a limit of the amount of time spent; anything over it would be more) and earn residuals for getting more accounts. I could still do all the onsite stuff, but the spyware, software, configuration, basic computer problems could be solved by others remotely.

I have looked into LogMeIn’s Rescue program that allows someone like myself to create an IT helpdesk with “instant remote support to customers and employees.” It costs 99/month if I pay for a year and 129/month if I go month to month. I have found this company who is actually using Rescue to be doing what I want to do, but I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t be willing to give me residuals for sending people their way (I have contacted them with no response yet).

There is also the competing GoToAssist Beta which is currently free and would only cost $48 a month or $462 a year once it launches. But once again, these are just the software backbones of how the network would work, not the people/techs to power it. This link gives some more good ideas on the backbone. Also BigLankyBastard’s answer on this askmefi was pretty insightful, but doesn’t answer my questions.

I have also researched companies like Zolved, Crossloop, MyComputerWorks, SupportSpace and PlumChoice. There are problems with each, however. For example, MyComputerWorks affiliate program gives you $100 for each person you refer, no residuals at all. In any case, I would basically need to create a team on one of these networks (available 24/7) that service my client base if they ever needed help. Then I could pay them (maybe on a retainer) or by the amount of time they worked. Most of these networks have “helpers” that could solve these common problems that my clients have, I just don’t know a way to make it work. I have even thought about contacting some of the top “helpers” on the network and asking them this same question I am asking you guys. I am stuck…

Of course there are issues of reliability (someone being available at all times), privacy (making sure they don’t snoop thru files), and possible screwing up the computer worse than it was to start. Although I don’t really think I would have these problems if I went with one of those companies that have helpers because they have a feedback system that rates the helpers (or in other cases large companies have their reputation/name on the line as well).

Thanks for the hives time…

What does someone who wants to be an entrepreneur do after college?

schindyguy — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:59:18 -0800

I am trying to figure out what do with my life after college for money and in general. I have a couple ideas like remote tech support and web development, please give me your wise advice (very long explanation) After reading lifehacker.com’s “ask metafilter roundup” several times over the last year, I decided last week to actually become a part of this great community (or aka as the hive, right?). I spent my $5 to get on here and want to introduce myself and ask for a little guidance from those wiser than me. After just graduating summa cum laude from the U of Arizona with a marketing/business degree in May, I am now in limbo between partying and real life. I used to be able to drink, get high, drink some more and stay up until 7 AM doing nothing, but now I feel my life should start. I have now moved back in with my two wonderful roommates (mom and dad) to my hometown in Los Angeles (Calabasas… if your unfamiliar with the area: known for Incubus, the Menendez brothers, Will Smith, Howie Mandel, reality shows like Jessica Simpson’s, Denise Richard’s, and the Kardashians). There are a lot more celebrities and powerful people that live and have lived here, but I won’t dwell on that because I don’t think you really care . As I digress, my point is that everyone I live around is very successful (in terms of money).

I have always been motivated by making money (especially on the internet); when I was 12 I first opened up a website selling turbo antenna boosters for FREE (with 4.95 shipping and handling—hope none of you fell for that). It was a great little scheme until the popularity of those things died out (making 5k when I was 12 was amazing). Then I moved on to selling U.S. car flags on eBay immediately following 9/11 (made some nice cash there too). I can relate a lot to another’s post (which I can’t find right now) about having everyone around me think that I was going to cure cancer or start the next Google by the age of 21. My family and friends all still believe that I am going to be the next Bill Gates and its hard for those thoughts to escape my head because I have been so brainwashed by them.

Anyway, my main business has been credit card processing for last year. It earns me some good residual income, nothing that I am proud of, but it covers some very minimal expenses. I plan on working very little on that, just supporting the service for current clients and adding others from WOM. It’s a side thing for me.

So after reading through this post I realized I could really benefit from setting up a similar service myself. I do computer support for about 15-20 family and other clients (they are always asking me if they can recommend me to others, but I say no because I am too busy with other things). I usually install the free LogMeIn on their computer and they call me up when they have a problem. I get $80/hour which seems very high in comparison to the poster’s proposed rates. However, unlike the poster, I would rather get a virtual team together that could log into my client’s computers and fix whatever basic computer problem they have (they should be shifts that will allow 24/7 support). I haven’t worked out the pricing, but somewhere around 20 bucks/month for a certain amount of time spent for help (spyware, MS word problem, printing pictures, installing drivers; anything over that specific amount of time would be more money hourly). I know “LogMeIn’s Rescue” could allow my clients to click on & be able to connect with someone on my team that can solve basic computer problems (the problem is that Rescue is expensive at $200/month which might be nothing in the future but is significant now). Crossloop has what’s called helpers in their network but I don’t know how it would be configured to work properly. There is also GoToAssist (Express Beta) which is currently free and does what I would want it to do, but will eventually cost money. If I went with LogMeIn or GoToAssist, I don’t know where to find qualified techs to be online and available 24/7. This post gives a lot more examples of software to use, but I dont know how I could get that team together. Eventually and down the road,
I would like to do 0% of the actual computer fixing
Oversee customer service/acquisition of new contracts/handle accounting
Have my virtual team be available 24/7 for 100% of my client base.

I have also been making money doing web development off and on for the last 10 years (since turbo antenna). No programming or writing code but using Dreamweaver and templates. I am at the point now where I would like to just be able to middle man the situation and get competent and qualified people together into teams to get these projects done when people ask me. For instance, I have this hotel owner in New York that needs a redesign of his site to include virtual tours, videos, a reservations system, and clone the look and feel of delano-hotel.com website. So if I charge the owner $4000 for the site, I would like to get it done for around $2500 (35% profit). In essence, my profit could be attributed to acquiring the client (finders fee), figuring out the scope of the project and its requirements (alongside developer), drawing up a proposal, handling correspondence/updates with client and team, and payments. I even posted a job on metafilter for this a couple days ago but no hits yet.

Mainly I am looking to put together a team(s) that can get any type of web programming done (web 2.0 design, CSS standards /compatibility testing, backend programming, flash programming…everything) Like if they aren’t the best at doing it, they know the best or a very qualified person to get that part of it done. I have talked to several startup owners like popdeck.com, rocknclothing.com, branders.com and they all told me about Indian development (which may fit my needs or may not). I have looked to online freelance sites (getafreelancer, guru, odesk, elance). Im not sure if Im too critical, but the quality of work and logic doesn’t seem to be there (common sense stuff). I am thinking of a project team that has maybe a manager, designer, variety of programmers, and tester that I can just give a task to and they will complete it. Maybe I should have a couple different teams that could accomplish different aspects; like one team for design, one for programming, and one for testing. Or maybe it needs to be divided along programming types. Most of those Indian guys act like they are one-stop shop solution for web development; they are the best at programming flash and the best at developing a iPhone app and they are also the best designers (and then they show me a mock of their site built in frames/tables). But at the same time I am open to having it programmed overseas if the quality is good and the client will be happy. I am sure that someone in the U.S. knows of good developers overseas and has good enough logic/communication skills to take my input and turn it into something good.

So to wrap this long rambling post about my current life situation:

What path do you think I should take? Should I try putting together the remote support team, the web development team, or stick with the credit card thing? I clearly can’t put 100% into everything.

How should I go about putting together these teams?

What suggestions do you have for current situation I am in?

Thanks for your time and once again sorry for the long post.

Help Desk Remote Support Software Experiences

enfa — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 07:56:15 -0800

Experiences with remote desktop software for help desk troubleshooting? I've used a few variations of VNC, and Remote Desktop, but our organization that supports a 20k+ users base running every networkable OS is looking for something with a little more ooomph. The nice wikipedia comparison chart has been helpful. I'm looking into NTRGlobal at the moment - care to share your experiences with this or related software? Ideally, the perfect software would:

Work on XP and Vista - OS X would be a nice bonus

Have built in encryption that wouldn't require a separate firewall

Be crazy simple to install on the client end (and be easy to uninstall, too)

Allow the client to see what is going on while the tech is working

Allow the client to easily disconnect the session at any time

Require the client to initiate or at least confirm the connection is OK before the technician can connect

Log the technician's session for later playback

Be nimble enough to work through assorted firewalls

Make it very difficult for anyone other than the intended technician to connect to the client's machine

Keep our security department from yelling at us

Thoughts? What has worked for you?