Expert research
How to ask an expert online: forums, paid calls and expert networks
Compare four ways to get an expert's answer online, from free forums to paid calls and expert networks, and learn which fits your question.
There are four main ways to ask an expert a question online: post it on a public forum or Q&A site, book a paid call through an advice marketplace, hire an expert network to find people for you, or send a paid request directly to someone whose experience fits. Forums are free but you cannot choose who answers. The paid routes cost money and differ mainly in who picks the expert and how much of the work is done for you.
This guide is about business and industry questions. For a personal medical, legal or tax problem, speak to a licensed professional who can take responsibility for advice about your situation.
Here is a hypothetical example. Lena is building software for independent pharmacies. She wants to know how a pharmacy owner chooses a point-of-sale system and who else is involved in the decision. A forum post may get replies, but she cannot easily check whether the people replying have owned a pharmacy. What she needs is 20 minutes with two or three people who have made that purchase recently.
Compare the four routes
| Route | Who chooses the expert | What it costs | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public forums and Q&A sites | Whoever decides to answer | Free | Common or technical questions many people can answer |
| Advice marketplaces, such as Clarity | You, from listed advisers | The adviser's per-minute rate | General business advice from someone listed on the site |
| Expert networks, such as GLG | The network matches and recruits | Not published; ask the firm | Larger research projects, especially with compliance needs |
| Direct paid requests, such as Instant Expert | You, from people matched to your question | A payment for each booked call | A specific kind of firsthand experience |
Public forums and Q&A sites
Forums work well when many people know the answer and you can check it yourself, such as a software error or a tax form field. They work less well when you need a particular person's experience, because you cannot choose who replies and it is hard to verify their background.
The long-standing guide How To Ask Questions The Smart Way still applies: search the forum's archives and the web before posting, describe the goal and not only the step you are stuck on, and be precise about what you have tried. Forums are public, so leave out anything confidential about your company or customers.
Advice marketplaces
On an advice marketplace, you browse listed advisers and book a call. Clarity's how-it-works page says you propose three times and a reason for the call, the expert has 72 hours to respond, and you are charged the expert's per-minute rate after the call. Clarity charges experts a 15% service fee, deducted from the amount charged to you.
This route suits general advice from someone who has chosen to be listed. It depends on the right person being on the site. Clarity's etiquette also asks members to come for advice and not to sell. Our Instant Expert vs Clarity comparison covers the differences in more detail.
Expert networks
Expert networks find and recruit people for you. GLG's expert calls page describes matching, custom recruiting by service teams, a self-service search through myGLG, compliance screening before experts join a call, and optional written follow-ups. The page asks you to fill out a form to get started and does not list prices.
Choose this route when you need many calls across different roles, want someone else to run recruiting, or work somewhere that requires formal compliance checks. For one or two short conversations, it may be more service than you need. See Instant Expert vs GLG for a side-by-side.
Direct paid requests
If you know the kind of person you need, such as a pharmacy owner who bought a point-of-sale system in the last two years, you can ask them directly and offer to pay for their time. Instant Expert finds people whose work matches your question. You review them, it sends the invitations and you pay for each call that gets booked.
This suits Lena's question because the answer depends on firsthand experience of a specific purchase. It does not include managed recruiting or compliance services like an expert network. Our guide on choosing the right expert explains how to check whether someone's experience fits before you book.
Write the question the same way on any route
Whichever route you choose, the answer is only as good as the question. State:
- What you are trying to decide. "Whether to sell to single-store pharmacies or small chains first."
- The experience you need. "Someone who chose or replaced a pharmacy point-of-sale system recently."
- What you already know. List the public facts so the expert does not repeat them.
- The specific question. "Who was involved in the last purchase, and what nearly stopped it?"
If the question fits in one line and many people could answer it, try a forum first. If it depends on a particular person's recent experience, pay for a conversation with someone who has it.