Mechanical Turk: What it Is and What it Ain't

Mechanical Turk is a subsidiary of Amazon.com and first started in November of 2005. Like anything else, has its supporters and its detractors.

When you look at the website, you get the spiffied up version of what Mechanical Turk is. Basically, it’s a way to make money doing menial computer tasks. And to a lot of people that sounds great… until you understand that some tasks pay very little. As in .10 or less for some. There are others that pay much more ($10 and more); however, these may require certain skills and passing certain tests to get approved for them.

Mechanical Turk has been praised as a way to make a little money while sitting on the phone surfing the net since a lot of the jobs don't really require all that much brain power. Others object to even bothering with such drivel, calling it a "virtual sweatshop". 

What it comes down to is realistic expectation. You have to know that there is a difference between "working from home" and "making money online". If you need to work from home and want something that can pay the bills, this ain't it. If you feel like it could be good or a little fun to at least make forty or fifty cents here and there filling out questionnaires and the like, what the hey-- go for it. 

Beware that some users have reported doing a job and not having the work accepted or getting to a certain amount of money and having their account suddenly suspended.  Others report (ahem, foolishly) offering personal information and then being on the receiving end of solicitations from insurance, roofing and siding companies. This article reports that nearly 40% of tasks on the site are now nothing but spam.

Just like any other make money online or work from home opportunity, when considering Mechanical Turk, DO YOUR RESEARCH in order to figure out if it will be something that works for you.

Good reads for this subject:  

Top 10 Amazon Mechanical Turk Tips and Tricks

Amazon.Com MechanicalTurk Cheats Online Workers of Earnings

Can You Actually Earn Reasonable Money from Mechanical Turk?

Ways to avoid MTurk scams

Don't Feel Guilty Just Because You Make Easy Money

We all want to make easy money online. We all want to sit down at the computer for five, maybe ten minutes, do a little typing and then wake up in the morning and see that several million dollars has dumped its way into our bank accounts. Now come back to reality and look around. If that were really possible, would we all be living in a crummy economy right now? Probably not. But you can still, nonetheless, make easy money for yourself by working from home online. Whether it’s because you want enough to get those bills paid each and every month without leaving yourself high and dry or you simply want to afford yourself that new toy or some extra special pampering.

There are a number of ways to make easy money while sitting in the comfort of your home in front of your computer. The question to answer is what kind of money you want to make and what your definition of easy is. Some individuals are just fine going the route of filling out surveys, posting links or writing product reviews as a way to make easy money. Others need something a little more solid such as a part time work from home data entry or customer service jobs, in which- if you don’t have previous experience- can start you out at minimum wage. Considering that gas and other expenses aren’t coming out of what you make, this type of job is quite popular with many who work from home.

There are other perks as well when you choose to make easy money online. Most people look to the internet for extra income because, by working from home, not only do you not have the hassle of worrying about making it to your second job on time, the hours of jobs on the internet are wonderfully flexible. You can work when you want to (or can) and don’t have to when you don’t want to (or can’t). This means if you want to work in the middle of the night or just on weekends (or any combination thereof), you will still be able to make easy money.

A work from home job is a great option for retirees, stay at home moms, students, those who have been laid off and others who find themselves in situations where certain factors interfere with trying to make ends meet. In this day and age, our lives have become very full which is what draws so many to the internet to make easy money with online jobs. We have become a society that is so used to pushing ourselves to our limits that the opportunity to make easy money almost makes us feel dirty. However, when the opportunity is there and the bills are due, you would be a fool not to grab it.

Even over time as the economy eventually gets back on its feet, with the convenience of online jobs and working from home, it is likely many will stick with the internet as a way to make easy money for themselves.

So How Do You Really Make Money Online?

You want to make money online but you’re not quite sure what that really entails. Well, don’t go feeling like the Lone Ranger. If you’re new to the idea of working from home or how to earn money online, the information you find on the internet can be a bit overwhelming. There’s everything from postings for something called data entry to ads making fantastic claims that you can make hundreds of dollars per hour filling out surveys. How can you know what is real, what is bogus, what is legitimate and what is not? When you really need to make an income- and make an income now- these things are important to know.

First off, you have to decide what kind of money you want to make online. Are you wanting to pay for concert tickets or have some extra spending cash when you go to visit your Aunt Lucy in Florida? Then the best way to make money online in that case would be to take a look at filling out surveys, reading emails or writing product reviews. There’s plenty of websites that you can sign up with to get this done- and you don’t have to be all that computer savvy either. The big rule of thumb with this type of work from home job- or any work from home job, actually- is to never pay someone so you can work for them. Most websites let you sign up for free. If the one you find doesn’t, move on to one that does. Also, be sure to read the fine print and find out what you get paid and when. You shouldn’t be putting in hours of work just to get paid a few cents.

If you need something just a little more solid to make money online because you have credit card bills that are eating your lunch, check into things such as work from home customer service jobs. While some companies require previous experience or certain types of skills, a lot of them don’t and offer to train new employees. However, with this type of work from home job, you will likely have to invest in a headset, have a dedicated phone line and a quiet place to work to avoid distracting background noises. These jobs offer full and part time positions and generally start out at minimum wage.

Then there are those of you that have been hit by the economy and just need something- anything- to bring in an income. This can take some doing but you can actually create yourself a whole new career if you have any kind of inclination towards writing, graphic design, web design and things of that nature. In fact, anything that puts you in a freelance career can help you make money online. There are websites dedicated to helping freelancers find work.

In the end what you’ll find is that the internet is a big place- and as long as you resolve yourself to being resourceful you will find a way to make money online.

A Candid Look at How to Make Money Online

You’re surfing the web because you want to know how to make money online. You don’t want to tell anybody because you think they’ll laugh at you. They’ll say that making money online is not realistic; that it’s not a real job.

But they’re wrong.

You can make money online doing any number of things; and while it’s true some online moneymaking opportunities won’t pay very much, there are still other ways to make good money online that will more than prove the naysayers wrong. Incidentally, most who insist you can’t make money online are generally those who never learned how to make money online to begin with. They chose an idea, gave it a halfhearted shot and then called it quits when they found they couldn’t get rich overnight. (Or they didn’t watch what they were doing and got taken advantage of.) Honestly, all it takes is a little bit of time, a little bit of effort and an inventory of your skills and experience to find something that will get you on the way to your income goal.

In your search for how to make money online, you’ll find all kinds of ads and listings and posts for work from home jobs. Some are fairly easy. They require no prior experience or advanced computer skills and they don’t ask for a resume. All that is required is a valid email address. Once you sign up, you may find yourself filling out surveys, posting links, writing product reviews or blogging about assigned topics. These are great ideas for creating that little bit of extra income each week that can be used for paying down that high interest credit card; or, if you prefer, you can use the money to do all the little things that will make next Friday night’s date extra special.

Let’s suppose you’re looking for something more than some extra cash. You want to create something for yourself where you’re actually working from home during the day and paying the bills on time. This is the time to stop and think what it is you have experience in. CAD drafting? Customer service? Web or graphic design? Computer programming? Teaching? Tutoring? Foreign languages? Photography? Marketing? Writing? Anything? Because whatever skills you have, that will be your answer to how to make money online. Granted, going this route will not be as easy as signing up at some website and just filling out one survey after another but you want to pay your bills- and real rewards take real efforts.

Whether you’re filling out surveys or creating your own work from home job tutoring English lit to online students, when you are doing what comes naturally to you, you’ll find that creating your work from home endeavor yields into a rather smooth process. Keeping expectations realistic and understanding that there is no such thing as ‘something for nothing’, you will find yourself on the path to making just the type of income you’re looking for. And that is how to make money online in a realistic and responsible manner.

You Can Make Money Online Now!

Thanks to the economy, many are looking for a way to make money online now. That’s because when the phone, credit card or any other bill is due, creditors want their money now- whether you’ve got it or not. Finding ways to make money online helps span the gap and make sure nothing bounces and you’re never left short. It’s not only about making sure the bills get paid or having extra cash at the end of the month; it’s also about providing a sense of security and not having to deal with the financial related stresses that have become so commonplace these days.

With so many work from home options, it’s easy to wonder which one will allow you to make money online now. There’s no shortage of ads and postings that make fantastic claims about how to make easy money online. However, only the naïve and the inexperienced fall for the ‘make millions overnight’ statements. The average person is looking for legitimate work from home jobs that will give them an actual income they can rely on. This means taking an inventory of your skills, experience and doing homework to make sure the work from home company you’re considering is established and not a fly by night operation.

Although it can take some time to get the ball rolling with such things as blogging, data entry or work from home customer service, many have found the best way to make money online now is to seek out reliable websites that have a low payout and pay weekly or biweekly. These sites can be for everything from product reviews to filling out questionnaires- whereupon an individual can be paid upward of ten dollars or more per assignment. Granted, this may not sound like much but small amounts add up to bigger amounts and it is these bigger amounts that can help add cushion to your bank account at the end of every month.

Anyone can join survey websites and it is free of charge. Avoid any kind of work from home website that offers to help you make money online now but then turns around and asks for a fee or upfront payment. While there are some exceptions, legitimate online work from home jobs do not require this. Usually all that is required is a valid email address to get started. For such things as product reviews, it may be necessary to have an established blog. Another thing that will be required is a PayPal account as the vast majority of work from home websites use PayPal as a way to pay you for your work.

Paying the bills is one of the parts of grown up life but it shouldn’t have to be an all-consuming effort. Working from home online is a convenient way to get this responsibility accomplished without weighing yourself down any more than you have to. As many have come to find, it is more than easy to make money online now and have money for later.

Yes You Can Make Easy Money Online!

Thanks to hard times, everyone is looking to make easy money online. While you’re not going to make a million dollars overnight like some ads would have you believe, it can be easier to make money online than you think. Unfortunately, most people are caught up in that ‘somethin’ for nothin’ mindset. If you want to make money online, then you’ll work at it. You just have to know what to look for and clearly determine what kind of work you want to do. This alone will be determined by whether you’re looking to pocket a little extra cash or if you’re looking to support yourself full time.

If you’re looking to make easy money online, there are quick ways to do it. Some of the most popular work from home ideas are blogging, filling out questionnaires or writing product reviews. These won’t likely have you making a six figure salary but some have managed to actually create a pretty good part time income doing one or a combination of the three. In the end, those who do well are those who are consistent in their efforts make money online. Those who are not successful are those who begin an online work from home endeavor and give it up just because they don’t see the money rolling in overnight.

Thanks to its ease of use, blogging has become one of the most universal ways to make easy money online. One does not necessarily have to be computer savvy, nor does it require any kind of training. People pick a niche- or something they are very knowledgeable about- and just start writing to share information. Programs, such as Adsense, can then be attached to the blog whereupon ads relevant to the information will be posted. Should a reader click on an ad- voila! Revenue is then shared with the writer. It is extremely important to understand the Terms of Service of whatever ad sharing program a writer decides to use when going this route.

Established blogs are also a good place for writing product reviews. There are websites that offer up to ten dollars or more for an individual with a qualified blog to write a review of a product or service. All that is required is for the author of the blog to be able to follow specific instructions for each requested review. Not only do these websites allow an individual to get good writing practice, they also offer a great way to make easy money online at the same time. While some websites require that a certain amount of money be reached before payout, there are those that also pay right away or weekly. Filling out questionnaires is also another way to make money online. These surveys can be for products, services or simple information gathering.

One thing that is utterly important to have with any work from home online job is a PayPal account so that you can get paid for your work. There is no point in trying to make easy money online without one!