In my day job, I write for magazines. So I always have questions — millions of questions on an endless variety of topics. Getting to ask every question that pops into my head – to experts who know what they are talking about – is my favorite side-benefit of this job. (And I love a lot of things about this job.) I was recently writing a piece on consumer rights when warranty coverage companies go under and one of the people I spoke to for that – a consumer rights lawyer – was very helpful and knowledgeable. It turns out he is also in the business of selling his answers to the public for a reasonable fee at JustAnswer.com.
Huh? This got me started with more questions, of course. The first being, how does that work?
And it turns out that it’s a pretty frugal way to legal advice, medical answers, pet training advice, technical support, and answers to just about anything you want to know – like what to do to get that baby to stop spitting up. You post your questions, choose the type of expert you want, say how much you are willing to pay for an answer, and wait for the counsel to start rolling in. People seem to be asking very specific questions, like how to get a TV fixed and what could be wrong with a car that’s making a funny noise.
For those smarty-pants of you out there who are looking to make a little extra income, note that you can sell your answers here, too. I’d love to hear from anyone who is selling answers here since we all want to know about (legitimate) ways to make money in our spare time.