Get Paid in Multiple
Ways for Your Expertise
by Marcia Yudkin
Whether
or not you have formal credentials, if
you have years of experience in your
line of work, you may be able to cash in
on these four innovative ways of
delivering your expertise. For each
option, I’ve provided two links for
learning more.
1.
Expert Witness
A number
of authors whom I know have served as
legal consultants or paid witnesses in
lawsuits involving the industry about
which they'd published a well-regarded
book. While those I know were approached
without having put any feelers out for
this type of work, you can increase the
odds of becoming an expert witness by
listing yourself in the directories that
attorneys consult.
Besides answering questions on the
witness stand, you might be requested to
make a pre-trial deposition. While this
sounds glamorous and pays very well, you
must have a personality that can
withstand the kind of harsh questioning
and clever trip-ups that you see in
courtroom dramas in the movies and on
TV.
Expert Witness Network - http://www.witness.net/
Experts.com - http://www.experts.com/
2. Pay
Per Question
A few web
sites are serving as intermediaries
between experts and individuals with
questions for experts. Either the site
sets a fee per question or experts offer
bids on a specific question at hand.
Problems with this business model
include the difficulty of payer and
payee judging appropriate pricing for an
isolated question. Also, in my
experience a question that might seem
simple may require an in-depth
consulting session to give a
professionally competent reply.
Internet researcher Mel White launched a
pay-per-question service, 5 Minute
Mentor, with a very simple cost
structure and pay system: five dollars
for a five-to-ten-minute reply, roughly
2-4 paragraphs. You email her your
question, she emails you when she has an
answer ready, you pay and then she sends
you the answer.
Uclue - http://www.uclue.com
Ask Dr. Tech -
http://www.askdrtech.com/
3.
Talking Head
Wanna be
a pundit? Most experts who appear on TV
do so gratis. But some, designated as
"consultant" in their on-screen credit
line, get paid to be accessible for
interviews in their area of expertise.
Luck plays a part when a scandal,
accident, controversy or crime erupts
and you happen to know more about the
background to the events than most
people on the planet. Who could have
predicted that specialists in the
impeachment of Andrew Johnson or in
Florida election law would have their
fifteen minutes in the media spotlight?
Getting your foot in the door for such
opportunities has to do with making
yourself accessible and responding
immediately to a call from the media.
You should also live close to a major
metropolitan area, be quick with pithy
and provocative comments and be willing
to set aside other plans when the
network needs you.
Punditry for Dummies -
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/tony/snow071299.asp
How to Become a Pundit -
www.sims.berkeley.edu/~hal/Papers/2004/how-to-make-a-scene.html
4.
Script Consultant
Hollywood
films, TV dramas and feature-length
documentaries often include a
behind-the-scenes role for content
experts who advise on the likelihood of
plot lines, the authenticity of props
and procedures and factual background in
everything from medicine to corporate
takeover strategy to furniture. Lots of
people would undertake such an
assignment for the glamour and ego
gratification alone, but you'll be
compensated nicely for your
contribution.
As with becoming a talking head,
cooperativeness, accessibility and
flexibility matter just as much for
succeeding in this sort of gig as does
your knowledge. Your work might amount
to a concentrated, one-time advisory gig
or a long-term contribution to an
ongoing series.
Carole Lieberman, M.D., Psychiatrist and
Script Consultant - http://www.drcarole.com/
Peter Schwartz, Futurist and script
consultant - http://www.gbn.com/PersonBioDisplayServlet.srv?pi=23910
Marcia
Yudkin is the author of 11 books,
including Persuading on Paper and Web
Site Marketing Makeover. Discover how
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