Chris Pyle is an automotive mechanic who worked on transmissions at a Ford dealership. Now the 45-year-old from Tennessee answers auto repair questions on JustAnswer and earns more than ever as a mechanic. Pyle agreed to share the secrets of how this engineer earns $12,000 a month with what was a simple side effect.
And while you may know nothing about auto repair, Pyle’s knowledge can help almost anyone earn a generous income from this unique online platform. Experts in everything from taxes to home repairs can earn thousands of dollars a month with JustAnswer. The website says the average salary for active animal health and care experts is $3,000 – $4,000 per month. legally, about $6,000; estimates, $9,000. But success is not guaranteed.
Here’s everything you need to know — what you can do. how much can you win? and how does it work? and the keys to success.
What is JustAnswer?
JustAnswer is an online platform that connects independent experts with people who need to solve a problem, from fixing a leaking washing machine to understanding a home assessment. Consumers sign up for the service, sometimes through a $5 offer, and generally opt into a monthly subscription.
Monthly subscription prices vary depending on the type of question you ask. Most questions are billed at a monthly rate of $55, but legal questions are $79 per month and tutoring is $125. For this, you get unlimited replies and up to two phone calls.
How it works for experts
Experts like Pyle, sign up and provide information about their background and specific expertise. After you register, the site conducts a background check to ensure you have the proper credentials to answer questions in your stated area of expertise.
In other words, if you say you are a legal expert, the site expects you to be a practicing attorney. Assuming you pass this background check, the site will accept the application and install you on the site.
At that point, you’ll have access to questions of your stated major, which you can choose to answer or ignore.
Pyle started working with Just Answer 18 years ago while still working in auto repair. And within a few months, he was earning over $1,500 a month. He stopped answering questions for a few years when he started his own business. But he came back in 2012 and started answering questions full-time.
Hours
JustAnswer is an international platform so you can connect and ask – or answer – questions at any time of the day or night. Specialists do not need to commit to specific hours. You simply log in when you want and determine if there are any open questions when you’re working that you’re able and willing to answer.
Pyle divides his work day into two sections. He works from noon until about 5pm and then takes a break to hang out with his family and do other projects around the house. He signs again at 11 p.m. and stays until about 4 am. Why;
“The night shift is quiet. But I’m usually the only car expert on the internet at the time,” he says. “I can take whatever questions I want to grab.”
How the fee works
JustAnswer experts are paid by the answer, not by the hour. The site is secretive about the pay-per-answer range, however, experts say most questions now pay at least $7 and can pay as much as $24.
The amount of pay you get for each answer depends on the topic and the “rank” of the expert. (See “Expert Patches” below.) So, for example, let’s say you answer general wellness questions and you’re at the lowest pay level. You can earn $7 per answer, while a top expert in the same category could earn $16.
Customers can also consult their experts.
Experts are paid once a month.
Answering questions
Standard questions require 2 to 10 minutes to answer. Questions that take more than 10 minutes get progressively more money, experts say.
However, you are not paid an additional amount to follow up to ensure that your customer has resolved their issue. Pyle says you should follow along anyway for four reasons:
- It is the right thing.
- Your customers will be more satisfied and likely to rate you highly, which can affect your ‘rank’.
- It may lead to a tip.
- And, customers can ask you for future answers, which creates an ongoing source of revenue.
In general, experts can answer any questions that arise during their work. This is to ensure that customers receive quick answers to their questions.
The only exception is if the customer requests an answer from a specific expert. When this happens, the featured expert has up to 12 hours to respond. After that point, the question could be put to the other experts in that group.
Big, complex questions
What if a question is too long or complex to answer? There are a few options.
Experts may suggest that the client break the question into bite-sized pieces. Or they may suggest that the customer pay for a premium service, which may include a web conference, document review, or phone call. If the experts recommend a premium service, half of the client’s payment will go to the expert. The other half is maintained by JustAnswer.
Expert levels
JustAnswer has five “levels” for experts, ranging from the highest tier — “platinum” to the lowest level, “tin.”
New experts generally start in the middle tier and can move up (or down) based on their answers and the number of questions they receive. By providing good answers to the vast majority of questions you receive, you move up the ranks. However, if your answers get worse or you get a bunch of questions that you don’t bother to answer, you can also drop levels.
Answers are judged based on a combination of ratings and artificial intelligence.
And every Monday, the experts are informed of the level they landed on as a result of their answers the previous week.
How this engineer earns $12,000 a month
Pyle’s recipe for success starts with a lot of work. He usually works 10-hour days, split into two five-hour shifts. And it works almost every day of the year. Even when he’s on vacation, he’ll log on to the site and check if any of his regular customers have popped in with a query, he says
That’s important, he says, because he has several regular customers who ask him. But even when a customer requests a specific expert, they only have 12 hours to respond. On any given day, Pyle says he could have 5 to 15 questions waiting for him when he logs on.
“When my family wants to do something, I’ll change my work hours,” he says. “I still have a normal life. I just don’t have a full 24 hours without working.”
On the bright side, he mostly works from a lounger in his living room and never comes home covered in oil or transmission fluid from that job, he says. So, despite the long hours, he loves the working conditions.
Get details
One of the challenges of answering auto repair questions online is that you can’t see, hear or smell the car. So Pyle asks his customers to be his eyes, ears and nose. If the car is missing, he can ask the customer to film and show the gauges while driving. If it’s a strange sound, it can ask for a sound clip.
In other words, he asks a lot of questions before answering a question. This improves the quality of his answers.
“I always ask questions before I answer,” he says. “You have to be committed to listening.”
Check back
The other thing Pyle says he does regularly is check in with his past customers to make sure they’ve resolved their issue. This does not necessarily generate income for him. But it creates a loyal customer base that returns to him time after time.
“I have a customer in Hawaii who buys used cars, fixes them up and rents them out,” says Pyle. “I think I’ve answered 3,000 questions for him alone. He asks maybe 20 questions a month.”
3/4/2024
