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By Salem Lorot
Forget all the scam sites that promise so many U.S. dollars for such mundane tasks as typing out some text in some data entry jobs or such other things. Forget all those get-rich-in-a-day schemes. Now think about honest ways of making hard-earned money online which don’t pay fortunes but reward you for your skills.
After trawling so many sites which offer these services, I want to list a few tips for you to make ends meet for just sitting before your computer screen and doing what you love best. First, let me say that you must be passionate about something—it could be literally anything, from writing poems to repairing watches to taking pictures or to selling movies—and finding ways in which other people could pay for it.
I understand what joblessness means. I appreciate the situation of so many unemployed people. But the internet has completely revolutionized things. With the right skills, creativity and the ingenuity to market those skills in the internet, there are limitless possibilities for anyone who wants to make money. The bottom-line is to identify what you love doing and running away with it. I was reading somewhere of an alcoholic who identified his ‘skills’, wrote to a newspaper advertising his ‘wine-tasting skills’, got the job and over the weekends when he got inebriated he was actually doing his job! Or putting it differently, if you love watching movies, how about writing reviews about them or actually starting a movies rental shop? What about if you are a football fan—how about writing articles about them and getting paid for them or even coming up with a website? I will leave everything to your creativity.
But here, let me list a few sites which will help you move towards the right direction.
i) Academia Research : If you love writing academic papers, then you would do so in this site and be paid for it. There are numerous assignments on all fields of knowledge. What you need is the patience to apply, do a test question and submit assignments within strict deadlines. If you have a laptop or a desktop computer and the requisite skills, then this is the path for you to make money.
ii) Research Writing Centre: Like Academic-Research, this is another credible writing site for freelance writers to make their skills pay.
iii)Triond: If you love writing articles of any kind, then your main worry should be to create them and sending them to Triond. Triond worries about where to publish them while your main worry is to write. Triond has a vast network of relevant sites for your articles. All revenues gained by your article by way of advertisements and such related matters are shared between you and Triond on 50/50 basis.
iv) Elance: If you have skills in any field, then join Elance and sell your skills there. Customers usually need some jobs to be accomplished for them at some fee. All you need to do is to make a proposal to them and if accepted, you set down to work in the comfort of your room rest assured that you will be paid.
v) Survey Spot: If you would be interested to fill up surveys at some fee, then this is another alternative. You should however make sure that you constantly visit your E-mail so as to fill up the surveys on time.
vi) Deviant Art: If you are an Arts person then this is the site for you. It is a place to showcase your talent and getting customers to pay you for your paints, drawings and everything else that your creative surge will lead to.
vii) Fiverr: While visiting this site, I loved their concept. Every skill is sold and bought at $5. If you think you have the craziest skill which you feel somebody could pay you for $5, then visit that site. For instance, there is one that goes: I will scream your message while flipping on a trampoline for $5. Or this other one: I will be a silly Fingee singing a happy birthday song for $5.
Or just may be something like this: I will hang your photo on a DOG’s mouth in a funny way for $5
Why not swing into this, catch the thrill and be rewarded for it?
Viii) Amazon Mechanical Turk: This is something you could do while taking a breather in-between some major tasks you are doing. It consists of work which computers can’t do. They are pretty simple tasks taking seconds and which pay 0.05, 0.04 U.S. dollars and above. They consist of HITS. The more HITs you click and do the more you get. So in the long run, if you do this for an hour you get something reasonable, right? Plus, it is fun to do. Creating an Amazon account is a big initial step before embarking on the ride.
ix) Cloud Crowd: This is a good one for the Facebook Addicts. It brings together companies that need work done with people who want to work and get paid. When a company gives them a project, they break it down into a smaller set of tasks that they complete using their Facebook work application. One is to select the tasks they’d like to work on, and are typically paid the same business* day via PayPal for each approved task.
One can also make more money when friends one refers sign up and complete tasks.One can build a Personal Crowd that's three levels deep, earning money whenever any one of them completes a task.
There are general Writing, Marketing Writing, or Editing jobs for you.
But here is the rider: You must have a Facebook account. But that is easy, especially for you, the Facebook addict.
x) Dealfish: This is the Kenya’s e-bay, gumtree or Craigslist. Visiting this site will help you discover so many things you could offer or buy. It is a one-stop shop for anything Kenyan to be sold or purchased. It is a place where you could market your skills.
BONUS:
Due to my heavy bias in writing jobs, here are others you might also explore:
a) 4 Writers
b) The Pensters
d) All Writing
Salem Lorot is a lawyer currently pursuing a post-graduate diploma in law. He is a published poet with a running blog, echoes of the hills, a writer and an avid reader. He has written extensively on a wide range of issues on law and society. He is a connoisseur of the music in East Africa, fashion, cuisine and his regular staple is the entertainment industry with the manifold twists and turns. His interests are informed by themes of social justice and interactions with diverse groups in Kenya.
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