Get Paid to Give Advice by Phone: Ether (2006) and Options Today
Can you get paid to give advice over the phone, without handing out your personal number? In 2006 I found a service called Ether that did exactly that: people paid to talk to you. This article explains how Ether worked, what happened to it, and how experts sell paid calls and consultations today.
Quick answer: Ether, from San Francisco company Ingenio, gave you a free phone number that forwarded to your own phone. Callers prepaid the rate you set, and Ether kept 15%. Ether is long gone, but you can still get paid for expert advice through paid-call marketplaces, booking tools that take payment upfront, or your own website and newsletter.
Table of Contents
How the Ether phone number worked
I found Ether through an “Arrange Call” button on a website. The concept was simple: people pay to talk to you. You wouldn’t want to post your phone number on the web for privacy reasons, and why should strangers call your mobile for free expert advice? Ether’s answer was a free Ether phone number:
- Call forwarding: your unique Ether number forwarded calls to your real cell phone or landline.
- Your own price: you decided how much your time was worth, per call or per minute.
- Prepaid calls: callers could only reach you after prepaying your rate, so there were no unpaid calls.
- Set hours: an automatic schedule stopped calls at night.
- Click-to-call button: an Ether button for your blog or website showed visitors whether you were available.
- Payouts: Ether billed callers’ credit cards and paid you by direct deposit or check, keeping a 15% commission (10% for beta sign-ups), with no monthly, setup or connection fees.
When I wrote about it in May 2006, Ether was in invite-only beta. I thought it was a great way to interact with readers and earn extra money doing what you love.
What happened to Ether?
According to TechCrunch (external site), Ether opened to the public in June 2006 as a service of Ingenio, a pay-per-call company that also handled paid phone calls for clients like AOL and Microsoft. In November 2007, TechCrunch reported that AT&T was buying Ingenio for its Yellow Pages advertising business. Ether no longer exists as a service.
How to get paid to give advice today
The idea behind Ether is now common. Experts sell their time in a few main ways:
- Expert call marketplaces: sites like Clarity (external site) connect people who want advice with entrepreneurs and experts for scheduled paid calls.
- Booking with payment: scheduling tools like Calendly (external site) can collect payment through Stripe or PayPal when someone books a session, so clients prepay just as Ether callers did.
- Video calls instead of phone calls: most paid consultations now happen on video apps, with a meeting link sent after booking, so your phone number stays private.
- Your own site: a “Book a call” page on your blog works like the old Ether button. Our tips on how to make money from a hobby blog and build an online business can help.
Tips for selling paid advice calls
- Pick a clear niche where people already ask you questions.
- Start with a fixed-length session (for example 30 minutes) and a simple price.
- Always take payment before the call, and state your cancellation policy.
- Keep a short intake form so you can prepare for each call.
- Collect testimonials and share them on your website.
Every expert starts small. My own lessons from my first $100 of blogging income apply here too.
FAQ
Does Ether still exist?
No. Ether was a 2006 service from Ingenio, and it no longer operates.
How can I get paid to give advice online?
Join an expert call marketplace, or use a booking tool that takes payment upfront and link it from your website or social profiles.
How do I keep my phone number private on paid calls?
Use video calls through a meeting link, or a call platform that connects both sides without sharing personal numbers.
How much should I charge for an advice call?
It depends on your field and experience. Check what similar experts charge, start with a simple fixed price, and raise it as demand grows.
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internet phones these days have very powerful and nice features, i bet they would add some more value added features in the fut `
Schemes make the system familiar with the people.By using the scheme people get profit from various points.Which help in making the savings.
If you think Ether is cool ….
You ain’t seen the best in this space yet :-)
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(www.talktrust.com)
No prepayment hassles for buyers, Ability to receive calls on any phone (landline, mobile or free internet phone), real-time call management and a lot more.
I am using multiple TalkTrust extensions for selling my stuff on eBay and Craigslist, as well as three separate social networking domains (including a dating site). And, can manage all of these in real-time.
I see TalkTrust as pushing the edge on these things!