Answer Questions Online for Money

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.

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 and Mahalo. Other writers have discussed Cha Cha, but I have no personal experience with them.

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.

If possible, 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.

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.

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.

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.