Direct from the horse's mouth

This is the age not only of the internet but also of video, when it seems that many of those who produce online content feel their messages have little chance of being clicked on, and thus seen and heard, unless they are delivered as moving pictures.

But beyond watching videos, listening to podcasts or simply reading text, the internet offers at least one other way in which one can learn, and that is getting in touch directly with experts in various fields.

Of course, you will have to pay for that help, but in many cases you may consider it money well spent.

Have you ever dreamed of owning a cafe but have little clue about where to start? Join the club. So I booked a consultation of an hour for 199 yuan ($29; 26 euros; ￡23) with Liu Yinqi on the app Zaihang.

Liu is an angel investor and vice-president of a startup incubator called Guo'an Maker in Beijing.

He was also the manager of the 3W cafe, which Premier Li Keqiang visited in 2015.

"Forming a community is the key to a successful themed cafe," Liu says when we meet in his office.

3W became well-known by marketing itself as a place in Beijing to hang out for the technically switched-on.

"People go to cafes to meet and talk with others, not to drink coffee," Liu tells me. "Coffee is just a byproduct."

That is why 3W chose to open in Zhongguancun, the heart and birthplace of many of China's successful internet companies, he says.

Once you have opened your cafe, you need to organize events with a focus??talks, roadshows and even job fairs involving internet communities, he says.

The daily operations, such as hiring staff, making coffee and taking care of all the chores, need to be done by a third party.

"That's difficult and consumes time and energy," Liu says.

"You just focus on the event planning, execution and marketing."

Liu also suggests I talk to well-known people in the industry, telling them my vision to draw like-minded people into this business endeavor.

As Liu talks of his experience, time flies, and the one hour session is soon over.

"I have many resources, and I can help you connect with them," Liu says at the end.

"A lady who came to me last year has now opened a cafe in Guangzhou."

The app's name, Zaihang, means "be good at" or "in the trade", and it has about 8,000 experts who provide their knowledge and experience on hundreds of topics, from self-improvement to real estate investment.

The charge for a session ranges from several hundred yuan to several thousand.

Zhihu is a Chinese question-and-answer website, similar to its English counterpart Quora, where people post questions and wait for professional answers.

The Chinese name can be translated as "Do you know?" The website has attracted a large community of professionals since it was launched in 2011.

About a year ago, it opened a channel called Zhihu Live, which helps professionals turn their knowledge into money by offering online audio Q&A sessions.

I registered for a session early this year titled Three Students at University of Pennsylvania Tell You the Charm of Communication Studies.

I paid 19 yuan for a two-hour session held by three doctoral students of the university's Annenberg School for Communication.

About 300 people joined me in that live event.

Fang Kecheng, a journalist-turned-academic, was the host.

Fang graduated from Peking University and worked at the newspaper Southern Weekly for three years before he went to the United States in 2013 to study communications.

The event started on time, at 10 am sharp. Fang and the two other students talked of their backgrounds and of the Annenberg school.

"I believe that if people are well-informed, they will make better decisions collectively, and thus contribute to a better society," Fang said during the event.

"That's why I chose to become a journalist in the first place, and it is why I am studying communications now."

Then they talked about the many disciplines and their research interests in the field.

They also fielded questions from the audience: What is the most important thing if you want the school to accept you for enrollment? Does the school have a professor in a certain specialty? Can I apply for communications studies if I am a college student of another major? What are the books I should read to known more about health communication?

The 19 yuan I paid was chicken feed, but the firsthand information was a great help for someone considering further studies.

In April, Zhihu Live said more than 2,900 live sessions had been held in the past year, with 3 million people taking part, and the average income that a host makes reached 11,000 yuan per hour.