Ether is a new site that lets you charge people for talking to them on the phone. You set your rate per hour that your conversation is worth, and Ether will charge callers. After a small fee is taken out for Ether, you get the rest.
You get your own phone number and extension. Calls to that number are forwarded to your private number, keeping your identity and private number safe. Also, you can log into the website and set the times you will be available.
Ether could be useful for people to use their personal expertise to make money.
I know it may be a bit of a long shot, but I like it.
What’s Missing
Two things that I do not see on the site, that would help this be a big successs (or, an even bigger success):
1. A directory of who to call in different categories.
I can see categories for “Home” expertise like plumbing, and an “Automotive” expertise in case someone would need quick home-fixup or car repair advice. Some other great categories would be technology/ computers, business, and financial/ investing/ accounting.
These are all categories where people often look for advice, but do not always know someone who is immediately available to get advice from.
I would expect that there would also be sub-categories under these larger categories, also.
2. A Reputation System I would like to know if past callers got good advice or not. After a caller is done talking to the “consultant” the caller should be asked on the phone – from an automated device – to rate the quality of the call (press 1 if the did a great job, 2 for an average job, etc..).
If a directory and reputation system is put into place, I could see where this site would have a shot for the long term.
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