Remember the days when you were a third grader and would meekly raise your hand in Mrs. Smith’s class because you had a question? As an online entrepreneur or a decision maker in an organization, you have probably answered thousands of questions not only for others but also for yourself. Little do we realize that we often spend a considerable amount of time each week pondering over questions about our businesses, our families and ourselves. This process of ongoing introspection often helps us to take sensible decisions that are based on facts and figures and not merely on emotions and intuition.
The Almighty Internet to the Rescue
Like just about everything else, the Internet’s Q&A knowledge repository offers a mighty storehouse of answers to questions of all types, shapes and sizes. We are not talking about the frequently asked questions or FAQs that we tend to spot on just about every website. FAQs have their own role to play by way of providing valuable intelligence and feedback on issues pertaining to their respective websites. Online platforms where you can post your questions and expect to receive answers from other individuals and like minded surfers ranging from novice to expert are called answer boards or answer sites. These answer boards are different from forums in that their primary purpose is to answer questions posed by sight visitors. Answer boards generally do not promote in-depth discussions of topics that are divided and further sub-divided into threads in the way forums do. The relationship between a question poster and someone who responds to that question is typically one to one.
Popular Answer Boards
There are many. There are several kinds. There are some which do not restrict themselves to a specific domain or vertical such as technology or medicine. Then there are others that do. There are still other answer boards which compile answers from other answer boards and aggregate them for their site visitors. Regardless of the type of answer board you explore, one thing you will find in common is the fact that they tend to be highly informative, usually accurate and extremely entertaining. Did you know that Google was among the first to set up a full spectrum answer board on the Internet? Google subsequently shut down its answer board in 2006. Observers attribute this demise to the fact that Google not only expected site visitors to pay for the answers they received, they were ahead of their times in that few Internet users would venture to make their private issues public in those days. The most popular answer board today is managed by Google’s #1 competitor, Yahoo. Many of Yahoo’s answer sites are either region or country specific. Posters get to rate the answers posted and experts with high ratings are publicly recognized for their interventions. Other popular answer boards include FunAdvice.com, Answerway.com and WikiAnswers.com. These sites contain answers to millions of questions on just about every conceivable subject neatly arranged under categories and topic heads. These Q&A reference repositories are all searchable and browsable. Chances are that you will find answers to questions in minutes. You are always welcome to post your question if you do not. Websites such as Query Cat and Wise Geek take a slightly different approach. Query Cat compiles the best answers from other answer boards and aggregates them. On the other hand, Wise Geek presents more than 40,000 questions in the form of full-length essay type answers.
Leveraging the Answers Gold Rush
You are already an online entrepreneur and an Internet expert of sorts so why not volunteer your time on one of the answer boards and share your wisdom and experience with the planet? There are two other advantages in addition to the fact that you are being a socially responsible corporate citizen. First, your website URL can become a part of your signature which means you get valuable back links and lots of targeted traffic. Some restrictions do apply and you would need to examine the site’s policies carefully. The other advantage is that once you establish yourself as an expert in a given subject area, you are gently allowed to plug your business once in a while. The answer boards usually look the other way because they value the immense contribution you may have made to that website. In either case, it is an excellent idea to volunteer at least one hour a week of your time and participate on the boards.
Google’s Contribution to the World of Yellow Pages
Google’s take on Yellow Pages is a tad different. You can list your online business for added visibility in local search results through Google Local as long as you can tie your online company to a physical address. You will need to go through a routine verification process after which your company will be displayed prominently in local search results.
Resource Box
Fun Advice: http://www.funadvice.com
Answer Way: http://answerway.com
Query Cat: http://www.querycat.com
Wise Geek: http://www.wisegeek.com
Wiki Answers: http://wikianswers.com
