Semi-experts: profit by saving us time
2009-07-01
Here I am, thinking, “Just tell me what to do.”
My kindred Chris Guillebeau is visiting every country in the world, on a surprisingly small budget. He shares what he's learned in two great e-books: “The Unconventional Guide to Discount Airfare” and “How to Become a Travel Ninja”. They're filled with advice on how to get the lowest rates, which airlines and airports are best, how to fly around the world for $1000, and much more.
Matthew Bennett writes a monthly newsletter called First Class Flyer full of strategies on how to get first class seats for the same price as economy.
They've both done a great job at summarizing thousands of hours of experience into a quick overview you can read in a few hours.
But what if I don't even want to spend a few hours?
I need to go to London, Australia, and India for three conferences in July, September, and November.
I want someone who's thoroughly read and understood these guides to hook me up. Get me a free upgrade to first class. Make me a Platinum member. Get me a pass to the red-carpet lounge. Take advantage of every loophole to get me the the best possible deals.
A commission-based travel agent couldn't take care of all of these loopholes. They get no commission for getting me these freebies. So it needs to be someone who knows all this info, so they can tell me what's best for me.
I'm sure if I were to call Chris or Matthew they'd know off the top of their head. But that doesn't scale.
But thanks to these great summaries, someone can become a semi-expert for under $100 and a few days' time, then offer their semi-expertise at $20 per hour to all those people (like me) who just want someone to tell us what to do. They could be anywhere in the world, working from home in their spare time. At that rate, anyone who travels would be silly not to spend $10 for them to tell you the benefits that apply to you, or another $10 to have them take care of it.
This applies to all industries. There's so much info out there, so cheaply, that anyone looking for a self-employed career could become a semi-expert at anything.
For example, someone could read How to Be Your Own Booking Agent, Tour Smart, and The Tour Book in a week, and become a pretty good booking agent the following week, available for $20 per hour. Hundreds of musicians would use them.
The pitch is a humble one: “I'm only doing what you could do yourself, if you felt like taking the 100 hours to learn how. But if you don't, I'll be glad to tell you what to do, or do it for you.”
Know anyone doing this?
Damn, you're on to something...again!
Sorry I don't get out of bed for $20/hour
Then this isn't for you. But there are many places in the world where $20 USD per hour is a big big deal. Since this would be done online, they could be anywhere. So this is a bigger opportunity for those of us in cheaper places than those of us in expensive places. -- Derek
Doesn't expertise, or semi-expertise, come from practice? Rather than reading a book?
At least the picture you (for some reason) chose aptly summarizes the quality of service you will get from a booking agent with 2 weeks of experience.
Exactly! Big difference between expertise and semi-expertise. Sometimes all you need is a semi-expert. Someone who's read up on the basics and will take care of something cheaply. -- Derek
I just used the online service www.justanswer.com to get a question answered about an HVAC thermostat swap I was doing in my house. Cost me $9 to get the question answered, but saved me much time and money as a result.
This reminds me of the side-bar in The Four Hour Workweek where Tim Ferriss describes how to become an acclaimed expert in anything. Very cool idea.
-- Derek
Append the ideas from E-Myth Revisited, and maybe you have a method of creating small but scalable businesses.
http://muckwork.com ?
Derek that's great. A lot of us would do this for the involvement. A lot of us don't need to be paid to get out of bed.
Looking at the photo, earning 20 an hour at under 5 years old has to be good - once you take time off to play.
Really appreciate your postings. Thanks
the (non) surprising thing is that so many people who could certainly use the cash would rather whine or lay low than show up here and grab the opportunity.
$20 x 2000 hours a year = $40k. And you can still gig at night. Plus, as you get better at it, you can charge more!
Sigh.
Will some semi-expert teach that kid how to hold a phone receiver, please?
I'm traveling to Thailand with the family in November. Do you know a semi expert I can hire today? I'm planning to buy the tix this week.
This is exactly the motivation I was looking for today!
Brilliant, elegant, simple, as always.
Thanks man.
PS: If there's anyone who want's to stay in bed while I do their 20/hr job, I'm totally up for it. Sweet dreams. :-P
As usual, I agree with what Seth said.
Also - thanks for the props! All the best from Lima, Peru.
Derek, yea muckwork except I think it could be more general than that. Or rather, it could be a general mechanism for creating a bunch of more specific businesses than muckwork.
Every single time I come to your blog, I leave happier and more able to bring my gifts to the world. This post is close to my heart. The concept of being a semi-expert and being able to give people what they need quickly without them needing to do all the legwork is what my music career has morphed into.
Maybe more men should shave their heads and start blogs.
Sounds great if you can find enough work.
I am a semi-expert at so much stuff --
And someone else can help me!
I can tell you how to put a business plan together, organize your goal planning, put together marketing plans, online marketing, event planning, tour planning and logistics, how to organize a photo shoot, how to put together promo materials, how to prep for studio and how to put together an album, design - all that good stuff. I can also come up with a lot of good solutions and ideas when you are stumped for some. My mind is *full* of information and ideas. I've read a lot, listened and learned from others, been out on the road and done a lot of these things myself, and have professional experience as well. I keep thinking I have to be a great success myself or help other people to be great successes first to actually have the 'credentials'. I find it SOOO much easier to help other people than to help myself.
Maybe if you need a muckee, I can help out - lol!
Also, you need to raise your pay to at least $25/hr. Seeing as it would be contract work and not with benefits (and tax will eat a huge chunk).
You'd think more people would take advantage of the vast opportunities out there yet they don't. Many don't realize the world has changed in favor of the entrepreneaur and many that do find excuses instead of opportunities to overcome. I was able to create a company by outsourcing the design and development to India... they worked on it while I slept and I worked on it while I was awake. It cost me a fraction of what it would in the US. Meetings were free using Skype. Instead of hiring IT I outsourced to a hosting provider. This is an amazing time to be an entrepreneaur we need to seize the opportunity.
Another observation... when we are young we have all the time in the world and no $$$. As we get older we have no time and more money. That means instead of reading a book for a couple days many would rather have the time and pay for the semi-expert. Hang on... I hear opportunity knocking
And THAT sir, is why I have you in a folder in my feedreader called 'Liberating Notions'--along with Seth and Tim F.
Thanks Derek, I'm in my small pad in Bali teaching myself/learning how to never 'go back' and do things just for money again. As noted in the comments, this is a brilliant time not just for entrepreneurs, but for the entrepreneurial spirit in all of us...
Daily immersion in the suggestions and practical philosophy of reliably inspirational people like you is a huge part of keeping myself on track. Thanks again.---Tom
I've survived translating even though I don't have a degree or certification. It does take that time to become a semi-expert on how things work, as you say. Your suggested approach to customers comes across nicely.
When you're in a situation and need to make some coin, 20 an hour beats the hell out of 10, which is the going rate for jobs where you work like a b. to not really survive(in Canada, anyway).
Too many people are in situations that leave them literally too tired to think. At that point,it's people with contagious energy, a fascination with life and a journalist's need to share what they know that pull some of us out of the abyss. You really are like salt water and the beach, but Steve's first sentence says it better.
Gen
The hard part is finding the resources like the books you link to. You have covered two interesting areas, travel and concert booking, but there are so many other areas out there that could use semi-experts.
Any commenters know of any other books that will teach you how to become an expert in something?
It's a real big deal. I had no idea what a "liberating notion" was until I'd been on a beach with 4 children, swearing not to go back but, going back around 11 p.m..
Then brilliant people give you ideas.... Liberation is not to be sniffed at. It's nice that you are willing to inspire great and small people. Often you never know who you have liberated or how much it has meant to them. Sorry. That sounds depressing but it really isn't.
Brilliant idea, Derek. If you combine it with the thought that "nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care", you realize how great this idea is.
The $20 figure forces you to think what you can do to help others without immediately thinking "I want more for that". The trick perhaps is finding something you ENJOY and can do quickly, so everybody wins.
For instance, I would not mind doing numerology readings for $20, or giving quick advice on Bach Flower remedies or quick ayurvedic tips.I know and enjoy those things.
I could also do translations from English to Spanish or Italian and vice versa because I am fluent in those languages. And it would be still "OK" at $20 per hour. But the subject should be interesting to me, otherwise it would miss the fun part. However, if I did the English or Spanish subtitles for a good Italian film, then it would be fun.
So talent +help people +quickly +fun = real benefit
Ultimately, the true success is the joy you feel at doing things.
Thank you for the inspiration.
Is this the fabled muckwork come online?
In case you start someone translating, Javier, you can actually make more like 40 an hour translating without credentials,but the all important point seems to be more about no overhead or real capital costs when trying to start up? Internet and a good dictionary. Sometimes not even internet. The lo-fi principle! Fax machines and specialized dictionaries and business cards and portfolios can come later.
Musicians with equipment would have a NICE edge because you can do voice overs easily and well without hiring a studio and you can make 1500 doing a voice over that cost 300 to translate.
Start anywhere and wind up somewhere. And that's a nice point that what draws us should be enjoyable.
@Seth 40K/year is roughly the salary of a Haskell programmer - not bad for someone who just answers phones
http://www.simplyhired.com/a/salary/search/q-haskell
Brilliant as usual!
I think the people who do this will encounter a lot of grief from the semi-expert snobs. Remember how we experienced that first-hand at sxsw? ;) "Better" experts often get intimidated by people charging lower fees. However I definitely believe there is room for everyone, although I'm not sure if "semi expert" would be the right way to market it to buyers!
I think that once again i got the point, Derek. Here it's a matter of changing our traditional way of thinking the concept of "JOB". And these are good, excellent examples on how to totally change the way we think and start find opportunities out there! Thank you.
You're right. It's so straightforward to start a business. People make it out to be this HUGE UNDERTAKING. You can start something profitable in your spare time instead of watching that extra episode of LOST. You don't need to quit your day job, just do something small, and do it today.
I just happened to see this on my way out from today's post (power of no reward)
Ties in to my comment exactly!
Which is why I will gladly pay someone 5 bux for fried chicken instead of doing it myself.
Muckwork indeed!
I'm not too proud to get out of bed for $20/hr.! That's more than most musicians make on a gig. I'm certainly up for it, and like Sean said the involvement factor alone is great. If you are helping someone that's a great thing; I like sharing what I know, and if it helps somebody - even better.
I have been a little hard to reach the last few weeks due to moving, but I'm now semi-settled. (I'm a semi-settled semi-expert!) Ok, sorry, too much coffee...
Derek, you've got my info, so if you need web/design/video editing skills...
Thanks for this Derek, it makes me more confident in quitting my stable day job, for an unstable income to make use of the knowledge and experience I have. My biz model is based on the concept you talk about!