Other sites like Mturk

I Tried Microworker but I think its only paypal I got nothing against getting payed by paypal but I rather directly in my bank account.

 

I also tried microworkers, it's okay but I didn't like the setup. I've continued to try and find other sources of work...but I kept gravitating back to mturk... :/

 

Yes, I've tried almost all.

Amazon is the WORST when it comes to backing workers, IME. Everyone else provides a human review of disputes between workers and clients. Some flat-out side with workers, almost always (Odesk).

That said, Amazon has the most work available, legit and otherwise.

 

Have you tried textbroker?

http://www.textbroker.com/

They're honestly the best online company I've worked for.

 

I have worked for ChaCha in the UK but not long ago I got an email saying they had taken their system down. I don't know if it is still up and running in the US. Personally, when the world and his wife has access to Internet on mobile phones now, I can't see how SMS answer services can survive. I've also worked for 63336 in the UK (another SMS Q&A) but they do not approve new workers now and slashed the amount paid. My friend has just stopped working for them as the work is drying up.

Microworkers jobs are too spammy or gamey for me (people paying for products/app reviews, sign-ups, FB likes, votes etc etc.) If you want to dish out your personal info everywhere (or have a second, anonymous FB or Google account for example) then it might be an avenue for you. It's not my thing.

Is Cloudcrowd the one in a Facebook app? I have tried that one and there's rarely any work. One time there was work it was a case of cutting/pasting digitised book text but it was impossible to know exactly how it was meant to be done and my work kept getting rejected for contradictory reasons. Asking in the chat was a nightmare and when I said "I'm not that stupid" about myself I got a telling off from some Indian chick who said we can't use bad language LMAO. Given no-one could provide me with an accurate answer as to how to do the work I gave up on it. I think 20% of the ones I did were accepted.

I think it is fair to expect that people who are looking for work to be done by crowdsourcing are determined to pay the smallest possible amount for that work to be done. Hence oDesk, for example, seems to be swamped with people who specify the applicants are only from certain countries where people seem to be OK about doing work for next to nothing (Eastern Europe, India, Philippines) and/or they try to get work from you without having to pay for it at all (I was asked to submit a "test" that was rewriting 6 300-word articles, and no I never heard from the guy again after providing it. If each one of his 80+ applicants did that test he got away with a shedload of free content.

I'm sorry, we are desperate for an acceptable second income and for various reasons getting real work in the real world is very difficult for me. I have been trying to earn a living on-line since 2004 and the only reasonable job income-wise that I had was as a community manager (remote working from home) for a games developer but the company went bust.

I am not saying everyone will fail to find good paying work on-line. It's just very, VERY difficult especially if you have a sound moral bearing.

ETA: Sorry, the stuff I wrote about CloudCrowd was actually not them, it was mobileworks.com

 

Are you seriously saying that or are you promoting a website lol its hard 2 tell

 

I've used ChaCha, ClickWorker, MicroWorker, vWorker, oDesk, ELance, and Textbroker. And Fiverr. Forgot that one.

vWorker is the only one I've made a decent amount on. ChaCha was awesome until they stopped doing their Red Alert bonuses. Had a few nibbles on oDesk but nothing solid yet, although I haven't put much effort in over there. The rest, I don't think I put in enough time. That's the problem (to me anyway) with those sites -- you can put in boatloads of effort and spend all your free time trying to win jobs and still end up with nothing. I really only head off mTurk when things are REALLY slow.

ETA: The upside to the other sites is they almost all have security measures to protect the workers as well as the employers. The downside is the workers take a pay cut because of it.

 

Hi Athena

I signed up at textbroker and wrote their sample piece they ask for and only got a rating of 3 with no explanation as to why or how it could be improved.

There was no work for people with a rating below 4.

There was no option to re-do the sample.

Within a month my account has been removed (my email is no longer recognised in their system).

Can you advise how to write a sample that makes a 4 grading? I wrote what I thought was a good little piece about my home city. I don't know what they wanted!

 

hmmm... I haven't but I'm going to look into this...thanks. I love to write.

 

I'm seriously saying they're good to work for. For real. They almost always take the side of the worker in disputes (and they give a human review to every article submitted.)
TB pays kinda crappy compared to $ made by private writing clients, but it's still at or over 1 cent a word for good writers, and you'll never get screwed.

 

They start everyone off at three. (Well, maybe not the poor, 2 star writers, but all good writers start off at 3.)

It's weird that there's no three star work now. There used to be much more three than 4 star work!

My only advice is to email them and explain clearly your situation with them. They might go over your sample and decide to just bump you up to 4 stars? They have been known to be cool like that sometimes.

 

That sounds promising, Its crazy that mturk doesn't back workers we're doing all the work hello.

 

Thanks Athena, I checked every day and there was nothing for 3s and I didn't realise they start everyone off there, maybe that's their way of saying they don't need any new writers? I might email them and ask, as you say. Thanks again, really appreciate it.

 

@Athena I forgot to say thank you! I'm always looking for new ways to make cash while sitting on my butt in my pajamas!

 

ClickWorker's interface BLOWS DONKEY **** and they wanted me to use IE. I did get paid 10 cents for filling in some silly thing or another and it was sent to my PayPal account wayyy after I'd dismissed it. Fiverr is funny to look through. If I had a schtik(?) I'd totally be there.

 

With textbroker, there's also the aspect to understand about how they try to keep supply and demand in an equilibrium. They will close off work to new workers when they have more workers than work to be done. That's great if you're already "in", but I'm sure it sucks if you're trying to get in.

One thing I know: Google's Secret Sauce Algorithm keeps making good writing increasingly more valuable. That might be why textbroker-proven 4 or more star writers are in demand more now than ever (and nobody wants the three star stuff.)

Just email them, a few times if necessary, ie. Make sure your emails use correct grammar (yeah, I think they're weird like that) and I bet you'll get in.

 

Yeah, content spinning won't work anymore and linkwheel crap isn't effective. It makes me really frustrated what types of writing work people put up on mturk for less (sometimes way less) than a penny a word. The quality they're getting here can't be effective regarding google.

 

Totally. And I wish google the best.
A couple of years ago I'd write something and go around to different places to see how my SEO was doing compared to other sites/writings.
I'd rather just write.

 

From seeing the type of work available at other sites, I've been able to write requesters here (formally, good punctuation, grammar, tone, content blah blah blah) and let them know what I can do for them - understanding their needs vs google. eidting to add (letting them also know i don't work for .3 cents a word)

It hasn't produced anything yet, but knowing the market is definitely a benefit.