Nora Curl has a long history with antiques — both as an appraiser and as an appreciator.

The 52-year-old went antique shopping with her parents as a kid. She studied connoisseurship in fine and decorative arts at Christie's postgraduate program then went on to work in magazines, the gallery space and as artist Nelson Shanks' assistant.

In 2012, she started working on JustAnswer doing online valuations of antiques. The site lets users ask a range of experts, like lawyers and veterinarians, relevant questions, with experts getting paid per answer they give. Curl quickly started making money on the site and now works on it seven days per week, about three to four hours per day, averaging five questions per hour, she says.

In 2022, she made six figures on the site. In 2024, she made as much as $8,700 per month.

When it comes to career advice Curl would give anyone looking to find success in 2025, it's to find "that one niche that really keeps you going and earns money."

'I got that advice in 2014'

Curl's old boss from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine gave her the same advice a decade ago. "You need to find one thing," she says he told her, "one lane that you enjoy and that you're good at, and that one lane that makes you the most money."

It took a while for Curl to heed his words. In the meantime, she tried buying and selling antiques online and doing appraisals on multiple platforms. But "I was spreading myself thin," she says. And she quickly realized where she was making the most.

Sending out a package of an item she sold for $30 on eBay took time. Meanwhile, she thought, "I just missed 10 questions that came in [on JustAnswer] and I could've made well over $100."

"I got that advice in 2014," she says about focusing on one lane. "I didn't take it till 2017."

'I think trying a lot of things' is key

When it comes to figuring out your own best moneymaking avenue, Curl recommends starting with some trial and error.

"I think trying a lot of things and making a lot of mistakes and learning lessons is part of how you get to success," she says. It was trying all of those different websites that helped her home in on JustAnswer as the best path forward. Many successful entrepreneurs go through similar periods of trial and error.

Once you do narrow in on that promising, well-paid gig, the only step left, says Curl, is to "have the bravery and the willingness to drop everything else."

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