Do Real Freelancers "Turk?"
If you're not familiar with the term, consider yourself lucky. I stumbled across it in this article from WalletPop.com on how to make money online. The term comes from a program started at Amazon.com (yes, the online mega retailer) called Mechanical Turk. The program is billed as "a marketplace for work." Amazon describes it as a place where they "give businesses and developers access to an on-demand, scalable workforce." As a worker, you are able to select from hundreds of tasks and work when and as often as you like. Once you complete a job, the money is deposited into an account and Amazon cuts you a check when the balance of the account reaches or exceeds $10. It sounds a lot like a job site for freelancers. Right? Not quite.
Don't misunderstand, it is definitely a source of legitimate freelance opportunities. But, after a quick perusal of the available "tasks" and the amount paid for each, it's easy to see that you might just have to work the equivalent of a full-time job to collect that 10 bucks in your account. In fact, most of the tasks were worth under a dollar - with many offering mere pennies upon completion. The exception was a list of several writing jobs that were paying $4 each for articles that were 350 to 500 words each.
Granted, the idea for the site is based on offering simple tasks that can be easily completed in a short amount of time. And while many of the tasks were indeed pretty easy, they hardly seemed worth the effort. I doubt many established freelancers would see value in this online marketplace. For those of you launching a freelance business, or just looking to pick up a little work on the side, I think there are better ways to build a portfolio, earn a fair rate for your services.