Online jobs:
It used to be that in order to work online you had to have mad skills with a computer. While that does help, there a jobs now where the average user can earn a little extra income. I will list a few I have experience with.
-Amazon Mechanical Turk (skill level: 3/5)
Amazon's "Artificial Artificial Intelligence", In this job you are matched with tasks to perform based on your level of expertise. The longer you work for them the more they allow you to do. The tasks are menial jobs that are too easy for the company to be bothered with but require human intelligence and thus cannot be shucked off to a CPU. The harder the job, the better it pays. Sounds pretty boring but some of the tasks are entertaining and best of all you can PICK the ones that interest you and ignore the others. Also many companies will reward good work with a bonus payment. I once received such a payment because the reviewer thought that my answer to a question was funny! There are universities that post their psychological studies for Turks to complete for their research that tend to pay well as well as websites that post topics to write articles for. You can request payment from Amazon at any time so long as you have earned more than $5.00 and have it deposited into any checking account you have on file. Or if you don't have a account to send it to you can use the balance to shop on Amazon's site. For books, of course.https://www.mturk.com/mturk/welcome
-ChaCha (Skill Level 1/5-3/5)
If you've ever wanted to ask a stranger "Should I wear a blue shirt or a red shirt today?" You've probably used ChaCha (and were probably told to wear the red unless you work for a guy named Jean Luc Picard). ChaCha is a text-based service that sends answers from real live people to you. In order to get so many real people, ChaCha is willing to outsource a little. You can work for ChaCha as a Guide as freelance work. (i.e. you work for them but you aren't an employee, you're not responsible to them nor they to you). There are different jobs to choose from:
Vetter
Vetters are an integral part of the world’s most unique Rapid Response information squad, spinning out answers in real-time to millions of people on the go!
The action is always fast and exciting for Vetters, whose main task is to match incoming questions with the best available answers. Tap into menus of facts, jokes, news, trivia and more as you keep ChaCha users across the country plugged into the information they need. Whether you’re an early bird, mid-day worker or night owl, there’s never a dull moment!
Expeditor (me)
As part of the world’s most unique Rapid Response team, Expeditors answer questions, real-time, for people on the go. With over 1 million questions coming in each day, you cover a lot of territory … and get to connect with people all across the U.S., sending answers directly to their mobile phones!
Be ready to dish out advice on love & relationships, or tips on which movies to see. Whether ChaCha customers need a phone number they left back at the house, a fact to settle a bet, or a quick joke to lighten their day, you've got menus of great stuff to choose from. The pace is quick and the questions are always lively!
Generalist
Generalists are the ChaCha version of the know-it-all, the renaissance man/woman, or the resourceful friend everyone calls. You are able to comprehend, research, and answer any question thrown at you, regardless of subject matter.
Though you possess many of the same attributes as a Specialist, you enjoy the thrill of the unexpected, and possess the Internet search skills to make you seem like an expert even when you’re not. You are resourceful with a capital “R” and enjoy helping customers while continually learning new things.
Transcriber
Transcribers are the Guides who make ChaCha’s voice answer service the absolute smartest one anywhere. As a Transcriber, you listen to the voice questions that customers call into 1-800-2ChaCha and convert them to text questions.
You’re knowledgeable about people, places and things, and have sharp ears to interpret even muffled questions (possibly from a crowded subway or noisy restaurant). In other words, you’re far better than any computer at deducing what our customers are asking, and correctly interpreting nuances and names. (Note: This is not like being a telephone operator — you hear only recorded audio.)
Each job has a different difficulty level and pay. The harder it is, the more you make per question. There are also competitions and bonuses. It is a great job for students as you can log in from any computer (with Modzilla Firefox) whenever you want for as long as you want. It's great for killing time between classes.
It's a little like playing timed trivia to me, only you get real money. You won't break the bank with this job, my pay is $.02/question so I generally make about $20 a week which is enough to pay for a night out at least. Not bad for money made in my spare time. I usually run ChaCha in the backgound on my computer while I do other things. It alerts you with the sound of a doorbell when you have a Q.
The method of payment is better now than when I started. Before, if you wanted instant payment, you had to get a bank account with the First Internet Bank of Indiana, get a ChaCha debit card, and make transfers to that account. The bank also charged a fee per transfer. The other option was to transfer to any other bank account with no fee but you could only transfer if you had $150+ in earnings. Now you can do an instant transfer through PayPal for $1, which is much much easier.
Here's the application link: http://becomeaguide.chacha.com/
If you want, use my email when it asks who referred you and you will be added to my team. leaora@yahoo.com
I have more options that I want to list, but it is late (no longer Wednesday sorry) and I have homework due in the morning so stay tuned for Earning Tip no.2!
