Making Money Online: Just Answer Questions
74Do I really make money answering questions online? Yes I do!
Do I really just scroll through the website, look for interesting questions, and just answer whatever questions, I want? Yes, I do!
WebAnswers.com is an amazing site that gives me the freedom to make money by simply answering questions online. You just scroll through the questions, answer what you can, and if you do a good job, then you get paid for answering questions online. But you really do want to do a good job!
Freelance writing has come a long way in the past decade. A decade ago, freelancers could make money writing for magazines and newspapers, but times have changed. Now, writers are making money writing online content.
Answering questions online has become a new internet busines for the freelance writer. Using visitors' questions into a way to make money is surprisingly simple, and any writer can easy research a topic and produce a quality answer. The trick is creating a high quality answer that actually helps the original requester.
Sites That Pay For Answers
Question and answer sites have become the reality TV of the internet. In just under three years, these question and answer sites have experienced a drastic market change: instead of simply helping those in need, these sites have created a market niche. Visitors in need now turn to these sites looking for a solution, and professional researches are instantly on hand to offer a viable alternative.
Numerous sites have appeared over the years to provide online jobs in freelance writing, including Ask.com, Yahoo! Answers, WebAnswers, and Cha Cha. All of these sites are free to visitors, and only a few of these sites pay for freelance writing. These professional writers earn money online via advertising revenue.
In my experience, I have been well paid by both WebAnswers. I used to be paid well by another site, but it has since changed its terms and I'm not sure it even participates in the question and answer game anymore. Other writers have discussed Cha Cha, but I have no personal experience with them.
How to Answer Questions
Answering questions is much more difficult than it seems. This market niche is a specific internet business, and does take hard work. Before answering each question, open a window in your word processor so you can take notes. Use the internet to research the topic using highly reputable sources. Reference and citations will provide better results, websites' visitors can see that you've done a professional job. You are, after all, a professional freelance writer.
Avoid using Wikipedia as a reference. This site is fine for your original research, as you try to gather information in the beginning. As your next step, use the information that you have gained to determine whether the source offered accurate information. The best sources are government sites, hospitals, and other reliable institutions.
Use several sources so you can provide the best possible answer, and provide your own personal answer whenever you can. The best answers are honest, thorough, and consider the thoughts of the original poster.
Earn Passive Income By Doing Research
Create Your Own Work
While you've heard numerous teachers tell you to "use your own words," it has never been more critical than when you are trying to work online. Sites like Google use special technology to research the content of the internet. When sites have the same text within an article, Google may assume that the articles are not original text. Even worse, they may assume that the words were either copied, or the article has been mass produced. In either case, it lowers your score on the page ranking (PR). A lower page ranking means less visitors. Less visitors mean less money. The secret of how to make money is to work hard and speak with your own voice.
Over the past few months, I have noticed that people who are new to freelance writing tend to quote or borrow text from other sources. However, professionals never borrow words from others, unless they use quotes and they cite the source. For the reasons listed above, you shouldn't even quote others. Never cut and paste and answer. It doesn't look good for you or for the site for which you are writing. And it may negatively affect your ability to make extra income.
What Sites Have You Used?
What question and answer sites have you used?
See results without votingAdd Credibility
When you work online, the easiest way to add credibility to your answer is to provide a source. Instead of stating that up to 5% of children under the age of five have food allergies, you can rephrase it to sound more authoritative. Instead, state that, according to XYZ Children's Hospital, up to 5% of children under the age of five have food allergies. You are still getting your point across, but you have referenced a very credible site. Thus, anyone who is looking for the original information can easily visit the site owned by XYZ Children's Hospital and can read the entire article themselves.
Additionally, you may wish to stick to government agencies, educational institutions, and other very official sources. Everyone already knows that Apple firmly believes that the iPad is an amazing product. Since it's their product, they will absolutely stand behind it. However, it will be more powerful if you quote a scientific organization who believes the same thing. They are unbiased, so their beliefs hold more weight.
Pictures are Valuable
Make your answer more readable and more professional by adding a picture. You can add a picture that you have taken yourself, or you can even use a license-free picture from the internet. Before including any photographs, make sure that you have the right to use them.
Photographs add a special touch to your answer. They make your text more welcoming, inviting readers to continue into the passage. In addition, they add a bit of authority, as photos are truly the work of a genius.
Hey Donna I use webanswers as well and it's a great site for earning money online. Thanks for sharing the additional information.
Very good hub - I didn't even know that such places exist - I shall take a look at Webanswers and the others and maybe make some money online at last ! Thanks for the info. - you got my vote :-)
Although the sites are legitimate, I think Cha Cha is only available for US residents.. Thanks for the article
Thanks again. This is the best explanation of the topic that I've seen.
Very informative and well written hub that touches on yet another way to make money online writing. Who would have thought answering questions could be so lucrative (and in my mind, quite a bit of fun). I've actually participated in all the sites you mention (except Cha Cha) and prefer WebAnswers in spite of some personal issues I have with the site's administration - lol.
Very thorough and well written article. The absolute best. Thank you.
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vanchen 24 months ago
Great informative hub. This is a definitely going to be bookmarked for later use.