Often times the simplest way to get started making money using your computer is to find easy tasks that pay. There are several ways to go about finding places that will pay by the job – no matter how small the job. Some places will even pay a penny or so just to “Like” a page or click a link in an email.
A penny doesn’t sound like much, and it isn’t, but it adds up and more importantly, you start to get a feel for how it all works.
What to Look For in Jobs Online
Along with some suggestions of what you can do and where to go, please also note a few of the cautionary tales that you are about to read. I’ve yet to be paid by some of the places that I’ve tried out.
Penny clicking sites will pay for clicking for likes, traffic, and they will even pay you to click on paid email links. Paying people to click and open emails is actually how some people get traffic and build their lists. As an aside these folks aren’t super qualified buyers so I don’t recommend it as a way of getting traffic.
Other methods that will pay a little more are surveys and opinion polls.
I don’t have any sites to recommend for the penny-a-click style. If you have been offered or recommended one I would suggest you do a google search with the keywords of the url of the site + the word “ripoff”.
Getting Paid for Surveys
I had heard good things about CashCrate for paying out for surveys and more. I signed up and tried them out and yes they did pay.
Surveys can be a pain in the butt because you can spend time filling in the qualifying bits just to find out you aren’t the demographic they are looking for. You probably won’t get rich but a $200 – $300 cheque at the end of the month for doing something a little extra while watching TV isn’t anything to sneeze at.
There are survey companies that will also pay you to watch videos or to even play poker.
Examples of other types of tasks you can get paid for are website testing. People and companies will pay for fresh eyes to comb through new websites, and even established sites, for feedback.
Data Entry is another thing you can find payment for. They might pay by the hour or the task.
Task Jobs Offline
Did you know that some people will pay by the job? You don’t need to have an entire housekeeping service. Some people just need a “thing” done from time to time. If you are flexible in your service this could mean extra bucks.
Some examples of this are;
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- – putting up bandit signs for real estate style companies
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- – spring laundry at the local laundromat
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- – detail a car
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- – clean up after a party or wedding
- – running errands like picking up dry-cleaning or grocery shopping
Getting Started with Small Jobs Online
The two most popular sites where you can get started quickly offering your own services online are: Fiverr and Upwork (formerly called ODesk).
Basically Fiverr charges $6 plus a service charge. The person doing the work makes around $4. Upwork on the other hand you can post your fee’s or negotiate a fee for a job. There are also higher rates you can charge as well as offer group incentives and custom offers.
Fiverr people come to you for the service you advertise. There is also a way to see where people are wanting to hire people for services. This is where you can offer and bid to do the work for them. With Fiverr there are so many things you can do. Everything from mailing postcards, putting up flyers, even making silly videos. People will pay for just about anything.
There are people making full-time income on these task orientated sites.
There are ways to use them for other purposes too. Fiverr can be a great way to sell affiliate products and build a list. Although you aren’t allowed to directly ask for someone’s email, you can deliver a completed gig and have a link they can go to to sign up for a *bonus* in exchange for getting them on your list.
Another good thing about using the task services is you will get paid. People can request a refund or refuse to pay but usually they won’t be allowed to get away with that unless you ripped them off.
Once in a while you will meet some unreasonable folks who expect too much for $5 but not often.
There are things you can post to make yourself stand out too.
Keep Safe from Online Scams
As noted above you should do some of your own research before you sign up for anything. Especially if you are asked to part with money first. There are legitimate jobs that require you pay for a “membership” but for the most part you shouldn’t have to pay money if you are the one doing the work.
Some may sell you marketing programs and software designed to help you make more business too.
Going it Alone
You can put yourself in business by selling stuff on places like eBay or Amazon. Using the Arbitrage method you can do stuff like buy things at flea markets and sell on Craigslist or Kijiji.
If you have a special skill or service you are willing to provide you can post that on the free advertising places too.
Another idea is to make up flyers “Wash your car $7” and put them on the dirtiest cars in the parking lots. Of course this may not be allowed in some places so you have to check.
Try contacting website owners and offer writing services. Actually ones that are looking for writers are probably advertising on their site too. All you need to do is do a search with the keywords “Write for Us” and a list of potential jobs will show up in the results.
