So, along with the dream I have of one day having a publicist, my own patent attorney, and my own image stylist (ha!), I sometimes long for a capable assistant who can handle the details and allow me to focus on the important (I really mean fun) stuff.

Zirga is an interesting entrance into the virtual assistant marketplace, popularized by Tim Ferris in his provocative book the 4 Hour Work Week. For $95, they will complete 35 tasks a month. They work all year, all day, and are US-based. They track the tasks on the website and as long as they are not waiting for a response, they will complete the task in an hour. The examples they give are things like travel arrangements, gift buying/sending, waiting on hold, etc. The kinds of things you would probably ask an assistant if they were handy and capable.

I think that these types of services have an untapped market in Moms. Rather than targeting jet-setting executives who need to arrange travel arrangements on the spur of the moment, why not market the services to busy moms (working or full-time moms) under the tag line "because they haven't invented cloning yet." The tasks would be making dentist appointments, finding a private French tutor, finding a spot for your parent's 50th anniversary party, or sending out birthday cards. Now, that is an untapped market!