Finalizing last week's column on freelance websites (thanks to Mary Hunt, the guru of consumer ideas) to earn some money and, as an added bonus, personal and professional kudos, let's begin with a site for the - not me - super-organized.
Project Payday
While I'm certainly obsessed with organization, this doesn't mean I follow through with the principle. This particular site pays for the freelancer to sign up and to receive trial offers by agreeing to give your opinions and reviews of products and services. The kicker here is that you must be organized enough to both sign up for the free trial AND cancel before the trial period ends. Otherwise, you'll end up out of - rather than in - your pocket.
SpeakWrite
This website hires people to transcribe dictation, information, speeches, and shows. If you've got super dooper typing skills, then set your own schedule and get paid by the hour. Be sure to carefully read the guidelines.
Swagbucks
A great online rewards program gives users points ("Swag Bucks," or SBs) for various tasks; 100 points = $1. Trade your points in for eGift cards for more than 1,500 popular merchants like Amazon, Target, Starbucks, and Walmart. If preferred, redeem the points for cash via PayPal. A simple "reward" method, Mary says that Swagbucks offers members the everyday things they already do online like shopping, answering surveys and polls, watching entertaining videos, discovering videos, searching the web, and even playing games. First, create your free Swagbucks account and, once you're verified, your first five SBs arrive in your pocket. Then take a quick survey or watch a five-minute video; do as little or as much as you want.
Taki
If the hiree can help with tasks on a prepaid status, such as lawn mowing, moving, cleaning up a garden, or most anything one can dream up, then Taki's the one for you. Plus, speaking of "dream," you decide when you want to work!
TaskRabbit
Very similar to Taki, this service offers more assists than we can imagine. Sign up to be a Tasker and then bid on posted jobs through the TaskRabbit app. Look for a paycheck 24 hours after the completed task.
Textbroker
Paying as much as a nickel a word – really respectable compensation for freelancing - TextBroker's the place for those of us with certain skills and abilities with submission of a sample article as a sort of resume to determine our writing degree. Even better, we can submit and have accepted unlimited numbers of articles on any number of topics.
UserTesting
While I'm known for offering (whether wanted or not!) my honest feedback/opinion, I'm not necessarily comfortable navigating and testing websites. However, many others do feel at ease with this process. UserTesting is a company that tests websites to give feedback to site developers. A decent-paying job at up to $30 hourly, testers can easily complete three tests ($10 each) per hour. UserTesting needs people like us who aren't acquainted with those websites to test them and to provide valuable feedback from the typical user's standpoint. Once you sign up to be a website user tester, a qualifying test is a must. It takes two-three days to hear back from your submission; lots of folks pass it the first go 'round but try, try again if you don't.
Ellen Phillips Contact Ellen Phillips at consumerwatch@timesfreepress.com.