Whether it’s around the holidays, to pay down debt, or help getting through a hard financial time, having a way to make extra money can be a huge help, even if it’s just a few bucks here and there. And although you might not have a ton of it, even a couple of hours offree time each week can turn into extra money everymonth.
Short task sites usually work on a crowdsourced platform which is just a fancy way of saying they have a list of work/gigs/tasks that a pool of workers have access to.Jobs are accepted and completed on a first-come-first-served basis. This means you’ll never know how many or what kinds of jobs are available at any given time.
I’ve used several of these short task sites over the years as a way to supplement income, but I’ve also known a few people who make quite a bit of their income by completing one short task at a time.
Amazon mTurk
If you already have an Amazon account, you can use it to set up a Mechanical Turk account. When you sign up with mTurk, you gain access to hundreds of thousands of HITS (mTurk lingo for jobs) that you can complete when and where you want.
I’ve seen just about every kind of HIT posted on mTurk (research, writing, image sourcing, transcribing, labeling images). Some HITS on mTurk come from companies who require you to pass qualifications in order to work on them. In fact, some companies send all or most of their work to Mechanical Turk. For example, a couple of transcription companies that hire beginners use Mechanical Turk to post transcription projects. These are short files (I’m talking a matter of seconds) which don’t pay much, but if you’re quick, you can easily make a decent payout in no time.
It takes some time to get used to the Amazon Mechanical Turk platform, but once you do, it is always a reliable source of micro jobs just waiting to be completed. Once your HIT is approved, your payments are sent to your Amazon Payments Account(if you’re a U.S. resident, you can transfer earnings to your bank account from your Amazon Payments). You can also request an Amazon Gift Code Tasks start at just a penny and go up from there.
ClickWorker
To complete jobs with ClickWorker you have to take and pass base assessments as well as project assessments to work on specific jobs. Unlike Mechanical Turk, there aren’t jobs always available. You’ll find at ClickWorker that available jobs will vary depending on which clients have submitted projects.
But when work is available, it’s mostly writing, translating, collecting data and researching. Workers from around the world can sign up at ClickWorker. Payments are made once a week through PayPal or once a month for bank transfer as long as you have met the minimum payout amounts ($5.00 for PayPal and $10.00 for bank transfers).
Crowdflower
The sign-up process at Crowdflower requires you to create an account and then sign in with your Facebook account to actually work on tasks. So, if you don’t have a Facebook account, you can’t work on micro jobs at Crowdflower.
New jobs are uploaded all the time, so it’s best to check back daily to see what’s available. Most tasks start out at just a penny, but after you successfully complete tests, you can become a Skilled Contributor. A Skilled Contributor has access to more tasks, higher paying tasks, and gets to review the work of fellow Contributors. Payments are made through PayPal as long as you’ve met the $10.00 minimum payout.
OneSpace
Formerly CrowdSource, join OneSpace and create your own WorkStation to start earning money in your free time. Much of what OneSpace has available involves writing and editing. You will have to pass “courses” (which are just tests) in order to work on some jobs. When you pass one course, more courses will be “unlocked” and you can work on more jobs and earn more.
If you’ve ever worked on Upwork and have taken skills tests, you will be familiar with the courses available on OneSpace. The passing score will vary from test to test. If you fail, you can retake the test in 48 hours (up to two times!). What’s neat about OneSpace is that they work with some big-name companies like Walmart, Staples, and Overstock. This means you just might see some of your work appear in campaigns for these mega-retailers!
You can actually make some decent money on Onespace if you can pass the tests. For example, the Junior Copywriting Course lets you work on jobs that pay $1.25 per a 50 word description. You should be able to finish those in five minutes or less which works out to about $15.00 an hour.
Fancy Hands
I’ve worked for Fancy Hands in the past as a Virtual Assistant (and would not hesitate to work for them again!). The tasks found on Fancy Hands will probably take more time than the other sites listed, but should still take no longer than 15 to 20 minutes to complete. Payments per task range from $2.00 to $7.00. I made a decent part-time living as an Assistant and have known many others who have, too. You could very well turn a gig as a Fancy Hands Assistant into a full or part-time job!
Tasks are available 24/7. So no matter if you’re a night owl or early bird, there’s always work available. Fancy Hands payments are made through Dwolla every two weeks.
Store Hours 24
Store Hours 24 is the largest directory of hours of operations for stores in the United States. To keep their directory growing and updated with accurate information, they pay users to upload store hours. Each entry isn’t worth much at just $0.05 (5,000 points) but it’s easy to do and you can quickly rack up a decent payout. To sign up, you just need an email address and a username. Payments are made via PayPal or Skrill.
Short task sites and micro jobs are a super-flexible way to earn extra money. Although some tasks may not be worth much, you can actually start earning some decent payouts if you make it a habit to login frequently and perform tasks whenever you find you have some down time. You can start saving for a rainy day, help pay off some balances, or just use it for “fun” money. Either way, I love micro jobs because they let you monetize your down time!
Have any questions? Leave them in the comments below. You can also reach me at ashlee@workfromhomehappiness(dot)com.
