amazon mechanical turk-how i work at home
Work at home offers an attractive option to working in an office, but sometimes you might be too hesitant to take the plunge. I am writing this article because I can offer some insight into what it’s like to work at home through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), which I have done part-time since the beginning of 2015. The best part about MTurk is that it lets you work whenever and wherever you want—all you need is a computer and an internet connection!
Get an Amazon Mechanical Turk account
Working from home and making a few extra bucks—what could be better? There are plenty of opportunities to make money on Amazon Mechanical Turk, but you might not know where to start. If you’re new to Mechanical Turk, don’t worry; we’ve got your back. This guide will walk you through all of the basics, including how Mechanical Turk works, how much money it can earn you and how to get started for free.
Launched in 2022, Mechanical Turk (MTurk) is a service that connects employers and workers for completing tasks. It’s owned by Amazon Web Services, so in order to use it you need an Amazon account. You can set up your own account or use an existing one; either way, be sure to use a unique username and strong password. You’ll also need a bank account or credit card to earn money from MTurk—which we’ll discuss more later on.
Once you’ve got your MTurk account set up, it’s time to decide which tasks you want to work on. You’ll typically be asked to complete surveys, transcribe text and photos, identify objects in images and much more. It all depends on what your employer needs and how much they’re willing to pay for each task. Before you start working, take a look through some of your previous HITs (tasks) that were accepted. How long did it take you? Did you learn anything from completing them? Which ones are easier than others?
Accept A Task On Amazon Mechanical Turk
If you've never heard of Mechanical Turk, it's a site Amazon launched in 2022 that allows anyone to sign up to complete micro tasks. These tasks range from things like checking someone's grammar to transcribing something they've said, but they all have one thing in common: They can be completed very quickly and usually pay around 10 cents each.
If you're good at completing them accurately and efficiently, it can add up to decent money for just a few minutes' work. Most of these tasks will take 5 minutes or less, meaning there isn't much of an opportunity cost associated with doing them. Plus, since most people already shop on Amazon regularly (I know I do), signing up is as easy as clicking on a button.
To get started, all you need to do is sign up for an Amazon Mechanical Turk account. You can do so by clicking here and verifying your email address, but note that because Amazon Payments is required for payment, it will take around two days to verify your account. Once you've done that, you'll be presented with tasks from a variety of different employers who need help completing tasks they can't do on their own. From there, just click on any task that interests you and get started! As I mentioned earlier, most of these tasks only take a few minutes each so it's great if you have some downtime to kill or are on your lunch break at work.
If you’re really looking to make some quick cash, Mechanical Turk isn’t going to be your best bet. However, if you’re looking for a few extra dollars on top of what you already earn, or just want to try something new and interesting, it could be worth giving a shot. Plus, there's no harm in getting started—you can always quit after your first couple of hours! It's worth noting that Amazon is constantly updating their site so I recommend heading over there now and seeing what they have to offer before they add even more tasks.
Complete the Task
When I started my work from home career, I did my homework: I looked at forums, read articles and conducted hours of research. To me, it was a full time job researching work from home jobs! After that, it took no time to figure out what I wanted to do. Today, I make a living working as an online research assistant. All because of that forum where someone asked how they could find legitimate work from home jobs! Plus, when you work as an online research assistant, there are lots of different tasks available which keeps things interesting.
If you’re still not sure what to do, it can help to take a look at what other people are doing. Forums and Facebook groups for parents looking for work from home jobs or stay at home moms are great places to find ideas and start brainstorming! Then, look into your own interests. After all, it will be hard to get excited about a job if you aren’t passionate about it! Once you have an idea of something that interests you, see if there are any positions available. When I looked for my job as an online research assistant, I found plenty of positions available so finding one that works well with your schedule shouldn’t be too difficult.
They pick an idea, but can’t quite figure out how to make it work for them. That’s fine! There are lots of options to consider: your own site or social media page, freelance writing opportunities, working from a job board such as Amazon Mechanical Turk or even setting up your own freelance marketplace on sites like Fiverr! Once you have a better idea of what kind of jobs are available, you can find what works best for you!
Get Paid
Mechanical Turk is a great option for someone who wants to make money working from home, but there are a lot of other options out there. It’s easy to get started making extra money by completing small tasks online, such as taking surveys and typing data into spreadsheets. And you can find all sorts of companies that will pay you to take care of things like social media promotion, mystery shopping or product testing. In many cases, you won’t need any experience in order to land gigs that offer payment. If you do some basic research and find out what companies are currently looking for, it might be possible to start making some income within days of signing up!
