One quick and easy option when it come to earning money from home is to take on a range of ‘micro gigs’, also known as micro jobs or side gigs.
By this I mean small tasks, each of which takes up only a little time but commensurately earns you only a small amount of money. The tasks could be all sorts of things, just as long as the outputs can be delivered to your customer digitally. So they may be carried out entirely online, or they could be carried out offline but with outputs that can be uploaded to your client in some way.
Typical tasks would be things like completing online surveys, doing small blocks of writing or transcription work, watching and commenting on videos, visiting websites and reviewing them, liking Facebook posts or following batches of Twitter feeds.
The benefits of micro gigs
Here are 8 good reasons to try micro gigs:
- You’ll get a bit of money in. A bit of money is better than a poke in the eye, especially if it didn’t take much effort to get it!
- It’ll get you going with working at home; chance to get yourself set up and get used to working on your own.
- You won’t have to interrupt any other work you’ve got, just fit in the gigs when you can.
- It’ll help build your confidence that you can earn from home.
- It can help you put together a portfolio of freelance jobs you’ve completed, and reviews from your happy customers.
- You can increase your awareness of what people want to buy.
- You’ll get some contacts with customers who buy the sort of work you can do.
- You’ll become clearer about which of your skills are most in demand.
The low down on micro gigs
The gigs are offered via specialist websites who act as intermediary, posting the jobs, handling disputes and administering payments from customers to the workers. I’ve been researching a listing of the best regarded sites for micro gigs, which you’ll be able to check out for yourself at the end of the post.
The sites operate similarly to the Freelance work sites you may have already looked at, and indeed some of the freelance sites will include projects that amount to micro-gigs. But unlike proper freelance projects the work is usually very simple and not requiring of specialist skills or qualifications.
You’ll need to be quick and efficient at whatever task you choose to make it worthwhile, and at the same time you’ll have to produce decent quality, accurate work or your submissions will be rejected.
The registration process is usually very simple and only takes a few minutes. In some cases, depending on the type of work, you will be required to complete samples or assessment tests to qualify for the gigs.
Payment for micro gigs
The per-hour rates for micro jobs are…not much. Each gig will only earn you a few £/$/€ at the most.
Unless you’ve got some magnificent software that can whip off micro-gigs in lightning time you’re never going to earn a fortune this way. In fact micro-gigs alone are very unlikely to even pay your bills. You should certainly never regard this as your main household income.
There will always be a minimum payout threshold, which varies between the sites. So you may need to complete quite a few gigs before you’re eligible to withdraw your earnings.
The sites pay either in cash – usually through paypal – or via gift cards or vouchers of some kind. I’ve also come across an odd one that offers payments by cheque.
Common vouchers on offer would be Amazon, itunes and major high street chains. Make sure the sites you sign up with are offering vouchers which are actually of some use to you, so that you can buy things you would normally buy rather than just some little extras you wouldn’t otherwise have spent money on. It needs to feel like a proper contribution to your household spending or what’s the point?
Where to find micro gigs
I’ve started compiling a listing of some of the most popular, proven places for finding micro gigs, which I’ll add to as I get chance.
The sites listed have a mix of different types of gigs and ways of operating so I’d suggest you click through and have a wander through their sites to see which appeal to you.
Good luck, and happy micro-gigging!
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