CleverX
CleverX Review
CleverX is a platform which enables professionals to offer their services as ad-hoc consultants. By creating a CleverX profile you can be contacted by companies looking for real-life expert advice through video calls or phone calls. These engagements are usually around one-hour long, but you could also be contracted for longer-term consultations. You can decide your own consultation rate when signing up and your profile information and work history are automatically extracted from LinkedIn when you sign up.
Sophie – Our Expert Network Specialist: Sophie is from Hamburg, Germany and is our specialist on Expert Networks. After several years of working as a top executive, Sophie is now an independent consultant and is signed up as a council member of several networks. When she is not helping HuginX write Expert Network reviews, she can often be found enjoying thrilling Nordic noir crime series.
“At CleverX, we refrain from using any third-party panels and collaborate with experts who are 100% legitimate and a part of our community. With people coming from diverse locations and industries, our clients find it easier to conduct their studies in a much more strategic manner — ensuring genuine and original data.” CleverX
Importing your LinkedIn profile is convenient when signing up:
How much can I earn with CleverX?
CleverX usually offer two types of engagements to potential consultants when they reach out to them:
- Traditional 1-hour consultation by phone or video with a client about a topic of your expertise. Usually in the range from $100 to $500 per hour.
- Web-based B2B surveys earning rewards of anywhere from $20 to $200
How do Expert Networks operate?
New to expert networks? Here is a quick guide to 10 key steps networks take when matching experts with clients for ad-hoc phone consultations.
Expert Networks explained in 10 steps
1. Client request recived
Expert Network receives specifications from client.
2. Search for candidates
Internal network checked for matching candidates
3. External resources utilized
Additional external candidates are sourced if needed
4. Vetting of candidates
Candidates are vetted over phone or through screener questions
5. Compliance and confirmation
Candidate undergoes compliance training
6. Scheduling of consultation
The phone consultation is scheduled
7. Consultation takes place
Phone consultation is conducted, usually on a single blinded basis.
8. Post-call confirmation
You receive confirmation of compensation amount after the call
9. Request payment
You'll fill in your payment details and request payment
10. Payment received
You receive the payment. Usually through bank-transfer, PayPal or pre-paid credit card.
Read more about how expert networks operate
How do I get paid through CleverX?
There are two ways to get paid by CleverX
- Consultation calls: For regular consultation work you’ll get paid through Stripe which helps you transfer your earnings into your bank account.
- B2B surveys: For B2B surveys you’ll usually get paid through a prepaid debit card or gift card.
CleverX promises that all payouts will reach your Stripe account within 24-48 hours.
Is CleverX legitimate?
Yes, CleverX is a legit business. At the same time, this is a startup with a few hiccups, so make sure to follow up until you see the cash in your bank account.
To which extent is CleverX really AI-driven?
AI is the great buzzword these days, and CleverX claims to be at the forefront of using machine learning when matching clients with experts. This sounds great on paper, but there’s clearly a lot of manual work involved in identifying experts. Many people are contacted through inMail on LinkedIn, which is hardly an automated process. Many companies similar to CleverX claim to be fully automated technology platforms. At the same time, they have an army of “Research Analysis” sitting in places like India, Pakistan, and the Philipines, spending their day contacting people in the good old manual way through email, phone, and messages on platforms such as LinkedIn.
Featured B2B Survey Sites
- High rewards per survey
- Relatively easy to qualify
- Several rewards options are available
- No minimum payment threshold - you get paid for every engangement
- Survey invitations arrive sporadically
- No member area for survey takers to log into
- Keep in mind compliance rules vs. your employer
- Signing up is free and easy
- A well-known business
- Earn points that can be exchanged for gift cards.
- An invitation-only service.
- Outdated, retro interface
- It takes time to generate significant gift card revenue.
- Sometimes customer support is inefficient.
- High rewards per survey
- Relatively easy to qualify
- Transparent platform
- Great for independent consultants and freelancers
- No minimum payment threshold - you get paid for every engangement
- Infrequent invitations
- Still lack scale in terms of client base
- Reports of experts having to chase payments after participating in B2B surveys
- Join-Bonus
- Automatic miles transfer
- Earning MileagePlus miles Without Spending Money
- Hard to Qualify for Surveys
- Low Compensation per Survey
- Quick Account Suspensions
- Many Profiling Questions
- Professional survey topics relevant to your experience
- Higher rewards than standard survey sites
- Hard to qualify
- Very high redemption threshold
See all the best B2B survey sites.
Any negatives?
While it might be a good idea to earn money on the side as a consultant, keep in mind the compliance rules. You should refrain from discussing your current employer and watch out for topics that could cause a conflict of interest. And, of course, never share confidential or non-public information on the calls you attend. If in doubt, we recommend you check with your supervisor or HR department before signing up.
Also, remember that your CleverX profile will be visible in search results on Google, Bing, etc., by default. This is one of the drawbacks of the open and transparent expert network platforms as opposed to traditional “closed” networks such as GLG, AlphaSights, and Third Bridge, where your profile is kept more confidential. Depending on your work situation, you might not want the whole world to know that you are offering your services through the CleverX profile.
You can always go into the settings on your CleverX profile and turn off your public profile, but your profile will also be hidden from clients searching the CleverX database. It’s a classic catch-22; if you want many engagements, you’ll need exposure, but your profile will also become very public.
We also have feedback from experts being contacted on LinkedIn to participate in B2B surveys, saying the payment process through prepaid debit-card could be faster.
What we like about CleverX
CleverX is a transparent platform that puts the experts on the front stage, which we at HuginX are big fans of. This might be a challenge for employees looking to do a discreet side gig, but for independent freelancers and consultants, this could be a great platform to extend their services. We like the fact that experts can decide on their own rate and the high level of transparency. There is no clear winner in the B2B research space yet, but if CleverX continues to refine its platform, it might become a serious contender in the race to “own” the online B2B space.
Note that your consulting payout is prorated based on the minutes you contribute as a consultant:
This is how we review gigs
Disclosure: While HuginX is editorially independent, we may earn commissions on sign-up links.
Our Values
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We don’t accept payment to provide positive reviews, and providers will never have a say in how we choose the best sites. Our aim is to put you, the reader, first and foremost at all times.
A list of practices we never engage in:
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