Ideas

I read the "inspiration" and knew this idea had to be from PsychSplash :-)

I think it's a good idea. I'm not sure how feasible it is to re-use the above mentioned sites - they may be receptive, they may not.

Still +1 from me. Some refinement ideas

* Add in "setting up a company" sites for different countries.
* Replace PayPal with TomW's idea (http://www.cambrianhouse.com/idea-warz/idea-promoter/ideas-id/sGyPNku/).
* Replace FreshBooks with my idea
(http://www.cambrianhouse.com/idea-warz/idea-promoter/ideas-id/iQ521jj/).

Cheers Aidan - I always appreciate your +1 cause I know how much thought you put into it.
I would hope the above sites would be receptive, but if not as you have indicated, the consulting suite could in fact be an amalgamation of CH produced programs.
LOL regarding the inspiration - yeah I think I have the psych bit wrapped up in this community. I certainly know there is a market for good online counselling software options. Our literature is growing with examples of successful internet counselling studies. I am sure that many professionals would use the consulting suites if the features were there. I like campfire, but I need the payment, invoicing and networking options.

PsychSplash, great idea.

Some suggestions that might create added value to your idea:

1. Use/integrate a service like Ether ( http://www.ether.com/ ) where you can charge people when calling you. You can schedule your own office hours.
I believe the ability for people to call in to consult someone is invaluable to a consulting service. Also, people will sooner accept to be charged for a certain rate rather then using eg. credit card/paypal.

2. Launch additional services linked to your consulting suite.
Examples are :
a) "Personal coach" where someone pays more to have exclusive & dedicated consulting + active follow-up.
b) "24h consulting team" where different people team up to offer a 24h consulting service with eg. a dedicated team of 7.

Imhotep

Your ideas are great. I especially like the use of timed phone calls to add to the consulting options.

There are multiple possibilities for how the consulting suite could be used. You hit upon a couple with coaching and 24 chat services (which do exist). I have been thinking that professional associations (particularly in health areas, e.g.,psychology, nutrition, counselling, coaching, personal training) could set up simple profiles for their members and use these as the launch sites for the consulting suite, i.e., each member of the association gets their own consulting suite and personal profile page.

This would also work for supervision, where you can organize to network outside of your own university with someone who specializes in your area. I must admit, of my ideas, this is one that I get really excited about cause I know there are psychs waiting for something like this to happen and I am sure other professionals are as well. Think of the number of bloggers who could add a consulting suite to their blog??!!!!

Psychsplash,

It seams you also have JyvePro ( http://www.jyvepro.com ) which basically does the same as Ether and includes a categorized directory list of professionals. This directory list is quit nice + each professional can also be contacted through instant messenger, voice mail & mail.

The main disadvantages with JyvePro are :
a) skype only :
- This limits your options as not everyone has skype
- Skype is less secure : VOIP can be hacked
b) They ask for a 20% comission instead of 15%

I would offer pre-packaged ready-to-start websites that are dedicated to certain professions, otherwise it will be difficult to differentiate from a service like JyvePro.

Thanks Imhotep - I appreciate both links. It is helpful to see different takes on a similar theme. I think both services address the consulting side but not the networking/referral side.

Think of it like this:
* Customer visits website of professional and reads about that profesional's services and skills.
* They contact the professional through a contact form expressing interest in learning more about what the professional offers.
* Professional responds to them via email, and suggests a time they could "meet" in the consulting suite. They organize a time.
* Professional and client meet in the consulting suite either using IM or Skype (can handle both). Consulting suite at the professional's end contains all the various documents/information/questionnaires they may wish to give to the client. Professional shares the relevant files with the client. They can both read and edit files in teh consulting suite in real-time (aka writely).
* Professional and client agree to a treatment/consultation contract. This is drawn up immediately in the program (they can both see it and edit it). Price is negotiated and consultation ensues with appropriate invoicing.
* Consulting suite (at the professional's end) also contains list of other similar professionals so that referral and sharing is possible between professionals, that is a quasi- social network but specifically focused around professionals in particular areas who consult. Not only can professionals consult with clients in consultation suite, they can also consult with colleagues and students etc.
* No reason why consulting suite can't integrate with email, calendering, bookmarking etc so that key resources are always fed into their consulting suite.

As you can see, the consulting suite is far more than just a means by which to charge for services. It is actually a central place from which that professional can organize their business. As the software grows, the feature-set can grow.

Ooooh - just describing it gets me excited.

Wicked Awesome :)

one service i think i could make use of...

You could add an option for people who don't yet have a site.