If you’re the kind of person who always has the right answer in Final Jeopardy… or you always bring home the jackpot at trivia night down at your local watering hole… or you’ve been banned from playing Trivial Pursuit with your friends because you always win… there is a quick and fast way you can start making money from your overabundance of useless knowledge.

And no, I’m not talking about auditioning for a game show or hustling trivia games for cash.

And by the way, if you’re useless at trivia but have high-level knowledge of a certain subject or if you just like the idea of making a quick buck by doing a little online research… this opportunity is for you too.

Information Junkies Needed

In this age of high-speed internet and Wikipedia, it might seem like any piece of information is but a few clicks of the mouse away. But that’s not always the case.

Sometimes, people need specific information. Sometimes, they need an answer to a very singular situation. And they don’t have the time nor inclination nor know-how to use Google. In some cases, it’s un-Googleable and only those with “insider” knowledge have the answer.

That’s where you come in. Here’s how it works…

You can join various websites (I’ll list a few below) by taking a brief test that certifies you as an expert. At that point, your advice will have currency. When you answer a question, you get paid.

If you’re familiar with Yahoo! Answers, you know the basic premise: someone posts a question and a community of users offers varying answers.

But the problem with Yahoo! Answers and other services like it is that literally anyone can give advice. And that often means wrong information. If someone wants to be assured that their question is given serious thought and consideration, they’ll turn to a pay website and get their answers from an expert. That means you.

Here are a few of the websites I’m talking about:

•    www.kgbanswers.com (very cool, answers can come via smartphone)

•    www.justanswers.com (this site requires more proven background experience… and pays more accordingly)

•    www.chacha.com (also powered via texting)

•    www.askdeb.com

•    www.webanswers.com

And these are just a few of the many sites that will pay you to give accurate, knowledgeable answers. You’ll be helping folks in need and getting paid, too.

Many of these sites offer subscription services for users – which means you’ll get a steady source of income based on how many answers you supply – or they also offer a flat fee per question. Answers start at 10 cents and go up from there. May not sound like much – but it adds up. And besides, answering such simple questions takes just a few minutes of your time.

Your earning potential is entirely up to you.

Identifying Your Area of Expertise

If you are going to pay an expert good money for advice, doesn’t it stand to reason that you would expect a qualified answer? That’s why I suggest sticking to subjects you’re already familiar with. If you find tons of well-paying offers for tax advice but you were audited by the IRS two years in a row, it stands to reason your advice isn’t worth a whole lot and your reputation as an “expert” will take a beating.

So stick to what you know. Current events, celebrity trends, sports stats, financial markets, legal areas… the sky is the limit. Think of your hobbies and interests, as well as education and work experience, when considering the areas of expertise you can offer.

You may take your wealth of knowledge for granted – it may be such a part of your personality that you can’t imagine someone would actually pay you for doing something so easy.

But that’s the truth: information is worth its weight in gold. And I guarantee you possess knowledge others are willing to pay for. Good at finding travel deals? Money in the bank. Love your town and know all the hot spots? More money. Familiar with natural health cures? You’re golden.

To give you an idea of what sorts of questions people are getting paid for answering, check out this sampling from the KGB Answers site:

•    What are some movies with aliens in them?

•    What white oval pill has H on one side and 115 on the other side?

•    Does apple cider vinegar work for a mosquito repellent?

•    What is a chromatogram?

•    How do you cook crab legs?

As you can see, a great variety of questions in all subject matters. And if you don’t know the answer right off the bat, you can find it easily with a quick Google search.

And if you do find a particular subject people are clamoring for advice on, do a little legwork, research that subject online (maybe even take a trip down to the library and look in a book!) and become an expert. By using the websites I listed above and dozens more just like them, there’s no reason you can’t start putting your so-called “worthless” knowledge to work for you.

I wish you the best of luck!

John Hollister

P.S. I’ve just given you all the tips you need to become a well-paid internet expert. But here are a few resources to help you find those clients and line your pockets with cash.

Resources

Answer Networks You Can Join

www.kgbanswers.com

www.justanswers.com

www.chacha.com

www.askdeb.com

www.webanswers.com

www.fluther.com

www.mahalo.com/answers

www.snippets.com

Tips on Becoming an Expert

http://mashable.com/2009/10/27/industry-expert-how-to/

4 Unexpected Methods for Becoming an Authority on Nearly Any Subject