Mechanical Turks is a really handy system when you need a project done, but don’t want to hire a temp or employee to do it. What they let you do is post a project like writing a review, making comments on blogs to link to your site (if you do that make sure they are dofollow blogs), or just about any related task. You can also get paid for doing these tasks, and you can pick which ones you want (and which ones pay decently).
This is really good if you need immediate income and like doodling around on the Internet anyway. Some of the jobs pay too little to be worth it, and others a few dollars for a few minutes of time. All money changes hands through Amazon.com so it’s much safer than doing work at other places. They are at mturk.com and require an Amazon.com account which is free to sign up for.
I plan on using this for backlinks and maybe some paid reviews to create buzz for products I sell. There’s even qualifying tests you can take to be able to do work that requires certification. I started thinking about this place after talking to people who’s state has a %20 unemployment rate. If you check it out, I’d sort the jobs by the best paying, some are really low (like clicking a link for 10 cents) and not worth doing, but the ones that pay a few bucks may be a good way to get a part time income going.
Not everyone has the time or money to start an Internet business these days, also if you want to get an army of people working for you without hiring, this may be a good choice. There’s also Elance and Rentacoder, but those are really more towards programming, technical writing, or web design. Mechanical Turks is geared towards the average person without specialized skills.
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October 22nd, 2009 at 12:54 am
Mturk is pretty good except if you want to make money doing it you’ll want to get certified with all the tests they have available. Some are really local and others pay peanuts. Pass on the drudgery jobs that pay 30 cents, I only do ones that are $1 or more and even then… If you’re out of work like me then it’s not a bad idea compared to some of the junk out there that pay nothing.