If you haven’t signed up with Skype yet, then you’re definitely missing out. I mean, never mind that it’s affordable to use Skype’s services to call your mother or long-lost-bestfriend anytime now — or to have them call you. In fact, you can hold small virtual reunions via Skype’s conferencing call system. But, never mind that.

I really believe that anyone who’s serious about establishing an online business should have Skype. It’s a great tool for networking and conferencing. And now, users can even do consulting or counselling. As a way to make money online!

Yes, through the Skype Prime feature (comes with Skype 3.1), you can configure a Skype account to be your virtual call centre. You can set your price and tie-in a Paypal account to your Skype account. Then, you promote your consulting/counselling/advice service. When someone connects with you via Skype Prime, they will be charged your requested rate. Skype gets a cut off the fees. Then, you get sent payment.

Anyway, I haven’t really tried it, as I no longer pursue this type of work at the moment. In any case, it sounds like a great D-I-Y solution for folks who want to get in to virtual counselling/consulting.

And, since Skype Prime is still only beta, it’ll be interesting to see what the final result will be like.

In any case, if you or someone you know has ever tried Skype Prime, please let me know.

This post is originally from Just Make Money Online. Please respect copyright.

Skype Prime

As an ex-online researcher for an outsourcing company, I thought back then that this it’s one of the easiest jobs I’ve ever handled. How lazy people could get I mumbled. I totally forgot that not everyone is internet savvy.

And until now, not all companies, especially startups can hire the services of specialized research firms. So, this might be the best time to consider starting an online business as an online research consultant. This job is, of course, not for everyone. But if you are definitely an Internet obsessed individual who knows his way around almost all of the online sources to get whatever information you want to get, then being an online research consultant might be one of your best career options.

I found this great resource for those who are planning a consultancy business – Consultant Journal. It can give you an overview of almost any consultancy career you’d like to pursue. It provides a nice FAQ for those aspiring to become consultants.

I haven’t made use of too many references, but the owner of the consultancy blog shared that references that online researchers can use may also include the following:

• government reports
• online databases
• trade journals
• census documents
• books
• magazines
• websites
• search engines

If you’d like to start your own online research consultancy business but don’t have any experience yet, starting with looking for contract work as a researcher via job listings like Craigslist won’t hurt.

[image from brancusi7]

This post is originally from Just Make Money Online. Please respect copyright.

Thinking of Becoming an Online Research Consultant?

I’ve been experimenting with online consulting services over the last few months. At this time, I’ve tried out two third party services so far: Keen.com and Kasamba. I have yet to review both services accordingly, but here’s my quick report so far:

One advantage of using third party services is that they have an existing customer base that you can tap in to. They also tend to engage in advertising their business, so there’s name recognition/branding.

However, I find that one big issue with both services is that they mostly cater to those who offer their services as Psychics/Astrologers. I suppose, it’s because this is the demand in these venues. So, if you’re able to give your services as such, then you might want to look in to signing up with them.

At this stage, I’m still signed up with both, but I’m tempted to stop using them and just come up with my own DIY set-up.

What about you? Have you considered getting in to online consulting? Whatever expertise you might have, there’s always a way for you to offer your services as a consultant.

Usually, there are four ways you can offer consultations online:

1) By email (only available at Kasamba).

2) By ‘live’ phone consultations (Keen and Kasamba).

3) By pre-recorded messages accessible by phone (only available at Keen).

4) By ‘live’ chat (I believe this is only available at Kasamba as well).

This post is originally from Just Make Money Online. Please respect copyright.

Online Consulting: Use a Third Party Service or DIY?

If you have an expertise in any subject – from archaelogy to zoology – you can become a consultant. Of course, some subject matters will be more sought after than others. Particularly on the Internet.

But, let’s say you’ve mastered the art and business of eBay and you’re a Power Seller. You might want to consider adding consultancy as another revenue, if you’re so inclined to teach other eBay seller hopefuls and beginners. This is just an example.

Other possible consultancy areas may include broad areas like: Education, Training, Internet Technologies, Marketing, Recruitment, Career and Web Design. Or, they may be more specific or specialised such as Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Google AdSense. I’m sure there are many other possibilities.

J. Stephen Pope, of Pope Consulting Inc., has an interesting article titled How Do You Set Consulting Fees?. It’s food for thought for anyone wishing to start an online consulting business.

This post is originally from Just Make Money Online. Please respect copyright.

Make Money as an Online Consultant