Yes, you are an expert.  What ever field you are in, you are an expert.  Well, you have to be an expert at something, right?  Think of something that you do really well.  There you go...you are an expert!

I'm an expert at a lot of things:

• Folding jeans perfectly (hey, I was visual manager for GUESS? for almost 6 years...I can do it my sleep, ok?)
• Folding perfect towels.
• Making marinara (C'mon, I'm half Italian and grew up on Staten Island.  There would be something wrong with me if I couldn't make marinara!)
• Organizing closets.

You get the idea....

Now that we've established that, I want you to think about the opportunities you've had to get paid for your expertise, no matter what it is.  How many people are willing to pay you to learn what you know?

As a home stager here in Atlanta, the only time I'm able to get paid for my expertise is when I perform a consultation, whether it be verbal or written, or if I get hired to perform a physical staging job.  {No, I do not fold jeans or make marinara when I stage.}  I love sharing expertise here on ActiveRain but the reality is, I'm not getting paid for it and neither are you.  Yes, you are getting the value from the Google juice and organically establishing your business online is an amazing thing to do...that is true.  But where's the moola? 

But, what if you could get subsidized for writing as an expert and still maintain your online presense?  Would you be interested?

If you are, check out EHow.  They have a Writers Compensation Program for those experts that share their knowledge of how to do something they know how to do well, with the rest of the world.  How cool is that?  You simply JOIN, establish a writers account and then create your profile.  VOILA...you're ready to start contributing!

Now, for record, I'm not abandoning ActiveRain nor am I encouraging anyone else to.  =)

And, I found this quote to be quite amusing:  Those who think they know it all have no way of finding out they don't.  -Leo Buscaglia