Geek Money: Get paid to think

Posted by The Technocrat | Filed under Geeky, Home & Auto, Web

If you’re a pro Geek like some of the authors here at GL, you probably get co-workers on a daily basis asking about their home machines, etc.  I don’t mind helping them, but I always feel a little guilty, since I’m not being paid to help them with their home computer problems…it’s just not fair to the company.

On the other hand, there are sometimes those people that have problems that really aren’t problems, they’re just lack-of-problem-solving-skills issues.  These are the ones that get most Geeks I know a little agitated.  You know the type… they could easily find the answer, but they throw out the “but you’re really smart and can do it faster than I can, can you just take a few minutes and do it for me?”.  These requests usually end up becoming habitual, since all the requester is learning is that you’ll do things for them if they don’t feel like learning.

In yet another display of the true meaning (not just rounded pastel corners) of “Web 2.0″, Ether allows you to set up an account and get an (888) number + 8-digit extension.  The idea is that you go into your account, set up what times you’re available by time and day, and people can call you.  Before they are connected, however, they agree to prepay whatever rate you wish, and Ether handles the processing of their credit card.  They also take 15%, or 10% for beta signups (currently in beta, of course)

In addition, the same process is available for digital content, where you can have people prepay for any type of file or media, and Ether handles everything.  ATTENTION MUSICIANS!  How does getting 85% of the profits sound, compared to being skimmed by a record label?

When you earn money with Ether, they can do Direct Deposit (woo hoo!) or mail a check (bzzzt, tiiimberrr!).

Here’s a few ideas, just off the top of my head on how I personally could use this service:

  • schedule the times for when I’m in the car, going back and forth to work.  Maybe actually make money on my commute.  Maybe even pay for the phone bill I’d be racking up on the cell phone.  (I only charge $30/hour for consultant work…I know, cheap, right?)
  • Put my obsession with designing well-balanced computers together at a certain price point.  I think someone might pay for the hard work it is to design the ultimate gaming machine at any specific price point…  (sounds easy, but I can’t tell you how often I’ve been sweating the details between two chipset feature sheets…)  Maybe even offer to build it for ‘em…
  • scan in those 30 rolls or so of my b&w photography work at super-high res, sell prints
  • start up my own record label, offer to give artists 75% of the sales and sell it via un-DRM’ed mp3 for $0.10 per song, no contract needed.  Put my 10% towards recording gear and the site.
  • put my recent work in Google SketchUp and eMachineShop to good use – sell the plans for furniture and other gadgets.

What else can you guys think up?

Comments (9) | June 3rd, 2006

9 Responses to “Geek Money: Get paid to think”

  1. E@zyVG Says:
    June 3, 2006 at 2:45 pm

    Interestin’ – this, or service like that, might be a tool for me in future.

    Just gotta remember that it’s there.

    BTW, Andrew can start using this for his business now.

  2. Allison Says:
    June 4, 2006 at 8:56 am

    This will be great for my consulting business. It would make billing clients for tech. support calls much easier than tracking my time and then invoicing and waiting for the check to arrive.

    The 15% fee is not bad considering I know there are times I forget to document calls and end up not billing the client for my time. Yeah, I know – bad! It is usually for those 10-15 minute calls when I am on my cell phone and busy with something else.

    Only catch will be convincing the clients to use a credit card.

  3. AtariBoy Says:
    June 5, 2006 at 6:54 am

    Damn that is good, I’m going to test this out with Laurens photography, selling pics and stock photography.

    See how it goes and report back, thanks for the great link dan :)

  4. taoski Says:
    June 8, 2006 at 5:49 am

    I signed up yesterday and will use it for charging for helping to fix peoples blog design probably (amoungst other things).

    Just need a proper invite code now…..

  5. Instant Payday Formula Says:
    March 20, 2009 at 5:13 pm

    Wow this post help me learn more about finances, and changed my mind towards making money, investing, etc. Thank you man.

  6. Stacey Lackey Says:
    May 23, 2010 at 8:09 am

    Cool, I enjoy reading the report, too. It?s easy to understand that a journey like this is the biggest event in ones :-D

  7. Penrose Says:
    August 26, 2010 at 10:36 am

    Thanks. Very informative.

  8. Teresita Tullius Says:
    September 2, 2010 at 7:33 pm

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