I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I do an internet search, I type things like “how to fix broken fan.” Why? Because I’m looking for answers. And frequently, no matter what search engine I use, I find Yahoo Answers popping up in the results. What is Yahoo Answers, who answers these questions, and can I make money on Yahoo Answers?
What is Yahoo Answers?
Yahoo Answers describes itself quite simply as “a place where people ask each other questions on any topic, and get answers by sharing facts, opinions, and personal experiences.” Seems simple enough. But who are the people who answer the questions? Anyone can answer questions, but other people vote on those answers and the question asker even gets to select the best answer. As you participate on Yahoo Answers, you gain points and start to increase in levels. Better answers always get more points, and amazingly, the best answers do rise to the top. It’s amazing that casting out your question into the wild can crowdsource the best answer.
So are these points worth money?
Sadly, no. These points are just internet points that mean nothing. Yahoo Answers says that it rewards its best participants in its own way, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to make money. Maybe you just enjoy helping others or are looking to share what you know about a particular subject. But with a few more steps, you can start making money on Yahoo Answers.
Then how do I make money on Yahoo Answers?
Making money on Yahoo Answers is a two part process – you need to have good answers to questions, but you also need to have a website to drive people to.
To make money on Yahoo Answers, find a niche subject that you know a lot of money about. In your answer, you’re going to have a link that drives traffic to your website. Now you have to have a way on that website to make money. In previous years, you might have been able to simply use banner ads and rake in the cash. Internet ads don’t pay like they did in the 00’s. Instead, the best way to make money on Yahoo Answers is to drive traffic to your website where you do affiliate marketing.
An easy example of Affiliate Marketing is having an Amazon Associates account – you sign up for an account and put specific links to various products on Amazon. Every time a person buys a product through that link, you make a small amount of money. It’s not a lot, but it will certainly add up. There are other companies that do affiliate marketing or affiliate networking as well.
If you have a monetized YouTube page, you can also try driving answer-seekers there as well.
Can you sell your own products?
Yes! Selling your own products is also a great way to make money on Yahoo Answers, especially if those products are going to answer a question that people are asking. Some great things to sell are often inexpensive downloadable products. Have you written a guide to something? Maybe you have some PDF budgeting sheets that you love. Maybe you’ve got a workout plan to share. I’ve definitely spent money on inexpensive downloadable items, and even if you’re selling at under $10, you’ll make money on every download for very little expense (only covering the hosting).
Is it worth it?
This, unfortunately, isn’t just a “set it and forget it” method of making money. You’re going to want to stay active on Yahoo Answers, but if you’ve got the time to setup a website, it can definitely be worthwhile. And if you’ve already got a monetized website on a specific topic, get in there and try it out!
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Megan is a 40-something government employee in the Washington, DC area. She got interested in Personal Finance when she got out of college and realized that her paycheck wasn’t going to go as far as she had hoped. Since starting this blog, she has managed to buy a house and make a solid start on her retirement goals, and hopes to help others do the same. Here is her story:
In 2007, I was a gainfully employed 20-something with no debt but not a lot of knowledge about personal finance. It was a co-worker’s comment about Roth IRAs that sent me to the internet, searching for information. It was then that I realized that I really didn’t know a whole lot about personal finance and that my current financial situation was due a lot to inherent frugal tendencies, generous family members, a fear of debt, and good luck. While that was working for me, clearly I needed a better plan.
While I had no debt, I was also pretty much living paycheck to paycheck and not worrying about going over budget (I say this as if I had a real budget) because I had an emergency fund set aside to cover any overages.
Except that’s not what an emergency fund is for.
So I did a lot of research, read a lot of blogs, and decided that I needed a plan. I needed to budget. I needed to know what I was spending my money on. I needed to prepare for the future.
I decided to create a blog not only to make myself accountable to others but also to share the knowledge that I gained along the way. I’ve learned so much from my fellow bloggers, and I hope that my readers can find something useful in what I have to share as well.
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