Making money with micro-gigs

Dear WAHFAQ,

Have you heard of Fiverr? Is it legit? Are there other sites like it? Can you make money with it?

Fiverr is one of many “Micro-gig” sites where people can make extra cash by completing tasks in their spare time. A brainchild of the 2009 recession, these types of sites are turning average job-seekers into entrepreneurs by showing various ways to make earn income.

Micro-gigs are very small and quick services that can be completed virtually or in person. For example, you may not need a personal assistant for 20-40 hours a week, but you really need someone to pick up your dry cleaning on the day that you’re just too busy to do it. Or, let’s say you’re an entrepreneur that really needs help with the recent changes in Facebook, (because there are always recent changes in Facebook). These “micro-gigs” can be posted and completed by people locally, nationally, or even globally. Here are a few of the more popular micro-gigging sites:

Fiverr.com The whole concept behind Fiverr is “what people will do for five dollars.” There are folks who will write a press release for you, record voice-overs, give Spanish lessons, or map your family tree. For just $5. They have expanded their offering so that you can increase your earnings by up-selling to $10, $15 and more, but all pricing starts at $5.  These gigs are mostly completed online (no shipping or handling of products) and Fiverr makes their money by charging $1 per gig.

Gigbucks.com Much like Fiverr, Gigbucks lists services and items mostly completed through the web. On Gigbucks, gigs range from $5-$50, and payment is delivered through Paypal or AlertPay/Payza.

TaskRabbit.com is currently in 43 metropolitan areas with more to come. Their focus is primarily on simple tasks that a personal assistant would do: laundry, grocery shopping, delivery, office help, party help, etc. They also have tasks that focus on skilled labor (carpentry, sewing, yoga instruction.) The service providers (also known as TaskRabbits) have been vetted with a background check by the company before being allowed to make offers on tasks that are posted. Once the task is completed, payment is processed online. Most tasks are around the $20-$30 range, and TaskRabbit’s fee is 15% on average.

Mechanical Turk (mturk.com) is owned by Amazon.com, and specialized in digital tasks that are very simple for a human to do, but cannot be automated by computer. You earn money by completing Human Intelligence Tests (HITs) which range from voicemail transcription, to identifying items in photos. Some HITs pay as little as $0.01, and others go up to $99. You can be paid either by transferring your earnings to your Amazon Payments account which can then be sent to your bank account or used as Amazon credits.

While none of these “gig” sites will make you a millionaire by completing tasks, they are a good resource for when you run out of things to sell on eBay, and you need to earn some income quickly. Five dollars here and there may not seem like much, but over time, you’ll be able to help pay down debt or save for vacation. Not bad trade for helping people out with their “to-do” list!