The Internet is continually opening up new ways for people to make money while they stay at home, travel the world or simply just choose when and where they want to work.

If you’re a coach, consultant or an expert in anything, here are three new ways to make money from your expertise.

1. Ether.com
Ether offers two ways for people to buy your services.

You can list your unique Ether phone number anywhere - say on your business card or in a yellow pages ad.

Or you can add a special Ether button to your blog, website or email.

You decide where you put your Ether phone number and buttons – you aren’t placed in a directory. You earn money because someone sees your number and then calls it. The amount you receive is based on the rate you’ve set and your phone only rings when someone is willing to pay you.

You can choose whether to take the call there and then or to defer it until a specific time later.

Ether will take a commission before paying you through your bank account or by check.

2. ClickNwork.com
ClickNwork is not quite so cutting edge as it’s been around since 2000.

It’s more like an introduction bureau to match professionals such as writers, researchers or analysts who prefer to work from home with large corporations who need specialist help.

Assignments can be one-off but are generally longer term and ClickNworkers may work a few hours a week or effectively full-time. They just choose when and where they do the work.

Unlike many standard freelancer or outsourcing websites, ClickNwork takes a close interest in the people it introduces to businesses.

Potential ClickNworkers receive testing and training before being matched with companies.

3. Bitwine.com
This service has a bit more in common with Ether in that you make money by offering your professional expertise over the phone. However it’s different in that you register with them as a specialist and download a special toolbar.

Bitwine customers will search for advisors using keywords or in listings for specific categories such as technology, health, relationships or travel. They then select someone based on their profiles.

Contact is normally through the internet telephony service Skype.

There’s an introductory phase to the discussion, which is free to the caller, to make sure the needs and expertise are matched.

When a match is agreed, the customer makes a payment through PayPal or by credit card based on the rate set you set - which can either be a fixed rate for the specific task or a set amount per minute.

After the consultation or advice session, your customer provides a rating on the service they have received so it also has a bit in common with Ebay.

The advantage of this approach is that it also gives both parties most of the benefits of a face-to-face consultation (as it can use webcams) without the travel time.

We’ll no doubt see many more services like these developing and some will endure, while others don’t catch on.

One of the challenges in this type of environment is to set the right fee for the task - especially if it is being charged per minute. The secret is to check out what the competition are charging and then not to sell yourself too cheaply.

If you’ve had any experiences with any of these services or similar ones, let us know what you think.