08/16/2010

More virtual work

You may have wondered why I don't write more regularly in my blog these last weeks. The reason is, that I was busy researching more into the domain of virtual working.

You may have read my articles on Amazon's mechanical turk and the virtual worker platform vWorker.com. From long years of experience, I already know that it's not enough to know the URL of a working platform. You also have to build up a workflow to be able to get the most attractive offers from each of them.

I have now extended my view into other virtual working platforms. One that I have revisited, because I have already used it some years ago as an employer, is eLance.com. It's very similar to vWorker.com but it has some restrictions for workers who are searching work on this platform. For a free eLance account you only have 10 so called "connections" per month. You must use these to post your proposals for a job. Each job will use up at least one of these connections (depending on how high the budget for the job is) and you can't apply for another job if you have used up your connections.

eLance also offers paid accounts where you can get more connections per month. I'm not sure if I really like the idea to pay upfront just for the option to apply for a job. Many employers just ignore the applications, so that your 10 connections will get used up very fast.

Another platform that I have newly found is oDesk.com. This one is a bit different because they don't guarantee that you will get paid when you apply for a job. I have to investigate further into their system but it seems that they don't use an escrow system like vWorker and eLance where the employer have to pay money beforehand into an escrow account. At least not for work that has a fixed price. But it seems that they offer to handle payments and arbitration for hourly jobs.

In the meantime I have acquired some useful knowledge on how to improve my workflow to find the best jobs on mechanical turk and vWorker, and I also have earned some money in the process. I'm thinking about writing an ebook about all these little tips and tricks that I have found in my research. This could help others to earn money on these virtual working platforms.

I'm a little reluctant to start writing, unless I know that there is a demand for it. So I have decided to write it only if I will get at least 50 requests from people who would like to read (maybe buy) such an ebook. It would be an ebook with valuable tricks on Amazon's mechanical turk, vWorker and other virtual working platforms.

If you are interested, please write to heddesheimer@gmail.com with subject "ebook virtual work" and tell me why you may be interested in such a book, what aspect would interest you most and if you would be willing to pay a small fee to download such a book.

Permalink 08/16/2010 14:37:26, von Marian Email , 516 words, 54 views   English (US) Categories: Articles, quick tips

08/05/2010

Google Wave is Dead

This was just in my news feed today: Google Wave is Dead. The editors from readwriteweb.com reported that Google had announced, that they will discontinue development on Google Wave.

I think it's a bummer because Wave was really a remarkable product. But it seems that people did not use it as much as expected by Google. This seems to be another example that it's not enough to have a good product, you have to have a product that people like and use if you want to be successful in the internet business.

Permalink 08/05/2010 08:26:10, von Marian Email , 93 words, 68 views   English (US) Categories: News, quick tips

07/29/2010

Free Webinar with Jason Fried (today)

I just found this in my email inbox from the Brazen mailinglist:

FREE WEBINAR WITH JASON FRIED
Thursday, July 29, 11AM EST | 8AM PST
In this webinar you'll learn:

* Why you can't work at work.
* How to break a big idea in half.
* What drug dealers can teach the digital world.

http://www.brazencareerist.com/webinar/jason-fried/watch

Permalink 07/29/2010 15:49:18, von Marian Email , 57 words, 67 views   English (US) Categories: quick tips

07/23/2010

Mechanical Turk (again) - Why can it only be used by Americans?

Mechanical TurkI must say that a service like Amazon's Mechanical Turk really fascinates me. I already wrote a blog article some days ago where I explain how it works. I'm not sure how Amazon is making money out of this. I think that they will keep a commission on the paid rewards that a requester pays out for the workers.

=> Read more! (Mechanical Turk (again) - Why can it only be used by Americans?)

Permalink 07/23/2010 22:18:09, von Marian Email , 288 words, 89 views   English (US) Categories: quick tips

07/21/2010

Computer workers: relax your eyes

LivehackerThis is another article that I found today on livehacker (another website that I can recommend) where they write about a good method to avoid health problems if you are staring at your computer screen all day.

It's called the 20-20-20 rule and means that you should pause every 20 minutes, look at some object that is at least 20 feet away (I prefer a view out of the window) for 20 seconds.

Maybe it's not a high-tech news but I believe it's still important and I know I have to apply this rule to my working habits as well. The website also recommends software tools that can help you to find out when the next break is due (so you can even find some high-tech in this, can't you?)

Permalink 07/21/2010 13:45:24, von Marian Email , 126 words, 77 views   English (US) Categories: quick tips

07/20/2010

Stealing images now much harder, thanks to tineye

TinEyeDid you ever experience this? One of your pictures, that you bought from an image agency or that you made by yourself will show up on other people's websites? If they just link directly to your image, you can find out by checking your web-server log-files. But what if somebody made a copy of it and maybe even changed it?

=> Read more! (Stealing images now much harder, thanks to tineye)

Permalink 07/20/2010 12:43:42, von Marian Email , 473 words, 91 views   English (US) Categories: quick tips

07/19/2010

Free Sound Effects

free sound effectsI found this link last week in my newsreader. It is a blog post from "Free Technology for Teachers" about a new site where you can download sound effects.

=> Read more! (Free Sound Effects)

Permalink 07/19/2010 13:41:31, von Marian Email , 194 words, 100 views   English (US) Categories: quick tips

07/18/2010

Book Recommendations: Cory Doctorow

Cory Doctorow, For the WinToday I want to recommend two books from one author: Cory Doctorow. Both are available as free download but you can get them as printed books on Amazon as well.

=> Read more! (Book Recommendations: Cory Doctorow)

Permalink 07/18/2010 09:22:25, von Marian Email , 857 words, 147 views   English (US) Categories: quick tips, Books

07/16/2010

Scut Work 2.0: Amazon Mechanical Turk

Amazon Mechanical TurkDo you think, wages can be lower than what you have experienced by outsourcing work to foreign countries? I already have written an article on outsourcing work on the internet for project work, but could you imagine that people are willing to work for just one US-cent per several minutes of their working time?

=> Read more! (Scut Work 2.0: Amazon Mechanical Turk)

Permalink 07/16/2010 12:59:48, von Marian Email , 1760 words, 235 views   English (US) Categories: Articles, quick tips

07/14/2010

Ten Inspiring TED Talks for Startups

10 TED VideosThis one was just in my Google Reader RSS Feed this morning. You may already know the great videos that are offered from TED Conferences. You can find them also on youTube. Their programme is highly recommendable to everybody. It's a series of conference speeches from famous people coming from business, technology or other domains of knowledge like Seth Godin or Malcolm Gladwell. The only problem that you may have here is to find the right videos that you are interested in.

=> Read more! (Ten Inspiring TED Talks for Startups)

Permalink 07/14/2010 12:37:04, von Marian Email , 297 words, 116 views   English (US) Categories: quick tips

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