What: Maven links clients in need of professional advice with independent experts who have relevant expertise.

Expected pay: You set it

Husl$core: $$$$

Commissions & fees: paid by client

Where: Nationwide

Requirements: 18 or older

Review:

Maven links clients who are in need of consulting services with independent experts who can provide it. Consultants are encouraged to sign up and create a profile, listing their background and experience. Like many other consulting platforms, your actual name is obscured to visitors. Clients only find out who you are after you’re hired.

You are not allowed to consult with competitors of your current employer. You are also required to read the site’s ethics guidelines to ensure you don’t breach any confidentiality agreements.

High hourly pay

Maven offers a calculator to help you set an hourly rate. It will suggest that you charge between two and four-times your current earnings. The actual rate is up to you, however. This doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll earn a fortune, though. 

Why? The site offers six types of “micro-consulting” arrangements. This includes in-person engagements, telephone consultations and electronic surveys. Your hourly pay governs in-person consultations and telephone meetings. But you are far more likely to qualify for electronic surveys.

These surveys are offered at a set price, which is likely to be less than your one-on-one consulting rate. That said, if you get a job here, it should pay well. When testing the site, our editor was immediately offered an electronic survey that promised $30 for 15 minutes of work.

Referral fees

Referral commissions are also generous. If you refer another expert to the site, you’ll earn a 10% commission on that consultant’s fees. Importantly, the commission is not taken from the consultant. It’s added onto the client’s cost, as are all of Maven’s other fees.

Commissions are higher when you are referring someone for existing work. If there’s an unfilled contract on the site and you bring in the right person to take it, you earn a 50% commission on that particular job.

Recommendations

Nothing in the site’s terms raised red flags. But we found few user reviews. We suspect that’s because its tough to find frequent work on the platform. If you want to find consulting jobs, we suggest you sign up with numerous sites, including this one, Zintro, Gerson Lehrman Group and FlexProfessionals. You may also want to check out our blog post on finding part-time professional work.

What their users say (from Indeed)

Maven offers an excellent platform to find companies in need of my expertise. I can chose what assignments I take, the length of the assignment, and the compensation.

*updated 11/20/2020

Try Maven