• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, July 11, 2013

It pays to connect. At least for site members who have connections on Directly.me. The London-based social search engine pays members to connect others with their contacts, getting paid for who and what they know.

The pay-per-message social engine asks users to log on and add the names of people they want to contact, add the fair price for that person to read the message, and other site members help get the message into the in-box of the correct person.

The site generated more than 2 million direct connections while in private beta.

Directly.me allows site members to contact anyone outside of their immediate network to share ideas, ask for advice, or propose a project or to gain a new client. The site, which launched this week, optimizes its Web site home page with the title tag "buy or sell your experience," giving users a sense of its purpose.

The site refers to the financial offering or commission for making the connection to gain information a "bounty." Signing up requires giving the site authorization to connect through Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. Connecting through Facebook means giving access to your public profile, friend list, email address, relationship interests, birthday, work history, education history, hometown, interests, current city, religious and political views, Web site, personal description, likes. It also means providing your friends' relationship interests, birthdays, work histories, education histories, hometowns, interests, current cities, religious and political views, personal descriptions and likes.

Directly.me claims that site members gain access to information otherwise not available through search engines and blogs, and its users can connect two people in or out of their network. If the concept sounds vaguely familiar--think LinkedIn with a twist. LinkedIn charges users a monthly or annual fee for premium services to contact anyone using mail.