If you’ve always wanted to make money online, there’s a new sheriff in town: Amazon Mechanical Turk. Mechanical Turk is a great place to begin your search for online income for several reasons. First, Amazon is a reputable company, and in a sea of spammy sites promising get rich quick schemes, you can rely on them to pay you for your work. I’ve already gone through the process myself and made $6.00, so I can attest to the fact that you will receive your money as long as you follow the guidelines. However, as with any online venture, you should definitely weigh the pros and cons before deciding to open an account.
Pros:
1. Easy Set Up
If you want to set up an Amazon Mechanical Turn account, simply go to their website, find the section where it says “Make Money on HITS (Human Intelligent Tasks)” and sign up. It takes 48 hours for approval, but once you get it, you can immediately start making money. You can search for jobs in a variety of ways. I just look at the ones that are right on the homepage to start out just to get an idea of what is offered.
2. You Can Work From Anywhere
Whether you are waiting on the bus, sitting in a doctor’s office, or hanging out in front of the TV, you can be making money with Amazon Mechanical Turk, as long as you have a computer (or tablet) with a wifi connection. You can access your account from any computer anywhere, which makes it really simple to quickly and easily rack up money.
3. It Has Flexibility
Mechanical Turk doesn’t require you to meet a specific earning threshold to keep your account open. You can also create your account and close it whenever you want to, so there are no strings attached. Complete tasks at any time of day or night. Your schedule is completely up to you.
4. There’s No Limit
So far, there’s not an earning limit on Mechanical Turk. You can learn earn as much money as you want, as long as you are willing to put the time in.
5. There’s Not A Lot of Skill Required
While some companies that provide work on Mechanical Turk prefer people with certain backgrounds and skills, most don’t. So, you don’t have to complete a degree to be eligible to work. In fact, as long as you are over 18 and meet basic requirements, you should be able to set up an account relatively easily and earn money the same day.
So, now that we’ve gone through all of the pros, it’s only fair that we weigh the cons.
Cons:
1. The Pay Is Not High
If you get paid over $1.00 for a competed Mechanical Turk task, that’s good. Of course, the tasks shouldn’t take you very long. Most of them range from a few cents to $0.25. So, you won’t get rich off of it, but you can definitely put in a few hours worth of work and save up to help pay for something you want, like a video game or a new book.
2. You Can’t Quit Your Day Job
A lot of people work online jobs in hopes that, one day, they can quit their day job. While I’m sure it’s not impossible, it’s also not likely that you will be able to work solely on Mechanical Turk. Really, it’s just something that you can do in your spare time to supplement your income and help you purchase a few items that you want.
3. Not A Lot of Room For Advancement
With many online work opportunities, there is room for advancement with different perks opening up for different levels. With Amazon Mechanical Turk, you can complete various tests to be certified in certain areas, but as of right now, there are no specific rewards for completing a lot of tasks and doing them well.
4. Some Questionable Opportunities
One type of job I saw offered on Mechanical Turk was that people can get paid to click on ads on various websites. If this is for personal gain as opposed to business research for the people advertising this job, it is actually against Google’s terms of service. I’m not saying every person who advertises this type of job is doing something unsavory, but please do your research before completing certain tasks.
Ultimately, how much or how little you can make from Mechanical Turk is completely up to you. While it may not be beneficial to seasoned freelancers who are used to a higher hourly rate, it can definitely be great for college students or those who are currently unemployed to try to make a few extra dollars. With a focused effort and a strategy to pick only high paying opportunities, you can definitely make minimum wage with Mechanical Turk. In a down economy when jobs are hard to come by, I think it’s a great option to pad your monthly income and enable you to purchase a few things for yourself.
