In the past, I have talked about making money on Mturk. It provides a great way for anyone from almost anywhere in the world to earn some pocket money.
But the problem is that its just that, pocket money. Because of the low payment per task, it is very hard to make any decent amount of money as a worker on Mturk.
However, there are some things you can do in order to increase your earnings and make this a worthwhile money making job.
With that said, here are some tips and tricks that will help you make the most money on Amazon Mechanical Turk.
Participate in Mturk Related Forums
Mturk Forums are indeed very useful. These will allow give you real-time information on the going-on at the Amazon Mechanical Turk.
Joining or reading these forums will provide so much information including what other employees have experienced. Mechanical Turk workers are the ones who are setting-up , and running these forums.
They may not exactly be able to supply you with retorts against the rip-off requesters and scammers, but they can aid you duck the worst things that can happen to you at Mturk.
These forums can also lead you to the best requesters and practice.
Here are the 2 main forums:
Firefox and Google Chrome browsers also have an equivalent toolbar version. But I am not so sure about Internet Explorer since I was not able to find an Internet Explorer version in their website.
Find Good Paying Hits Faster with the “Sort By” Search Options
Use the search options for your benefit. For example, if you are searching for a new survey which pays more than 50 centavos, then you will need to type “survey” in the search box, then set the hit value to 50c.
You can then organize the results of the search according to the newest or freshest hits first.
This will definitely help save time which is important as there are more than a hundred thousand Mturk hits on offer at a single time. The last thing you want to happen is to go through each one of them.
Don’t Bother with 1 Cent Hits Unless…
It’s just not worth it. Sure, a 1 cent hit may take less time to complete, but it still takes time. And when you compare the amount of time you spend doing the hit and the amount of money you earn, it just doesn't look good.
The two cent hits are not that profitable either.
I personally only do low paying hits if the only requirements is clicking on something or copy and pasting a word or phrase.
Only Work on Hits with Worthwhile Payment
Evaluate first if a particular hit is really worth it before taking an Amazon Mechanical Turk hit. Take note that some hits would entail that you pass a qualification exam before you start working on the hit(s).
Others also have complicated set of instructions that will consume so much of your time. This in turn increases the likelihood that your hits will be rejected.
You may have a lot of hits to work on that pays well, but always make sure that you evaluate if these are really worth your time.
Understand the Requirements Before Accepting a Hit
Make sure that you do not often have hits returned to you due to the fact that you failed to or you do not want to finish a hit.
Remember that a series of failure to complete hits will affect your “hit return rate” negatively.
Also make sure not to complete and submit a lot of hits incorrectly, and have them rejected by requesters. This can be disappointing for the requester and actually wastes precious time.
Once or twice would be insignificant, but if done regularly, then you might end up seeing a limited range of hits that you can take.
Do as Many Survey Hits as Possible
Consider taking on the surveys you find on Mechanical Turk as these actually allow you to earn more compared to most hits.
Plus, the chances of being paid are higher too with these surveys since these are being solicited by schools colleges and universities, unlike other hits that are from virtually unknown people.
Some of the surveys you will find will let you get cash of $1 or even more for work that will only take five to ten minutes of your time. But also be vigilant, and watch out for those scam hits which pretends to be surveys.
For example, one scam survey will ask you to put your personal details by asking you to fill up a form in the guise of having you answer several question about their website.
Do Not Give Out Personal Information
Have you received any hits that requires you to give out personal information such as full name, email address, credit card details and the like?
Well, stay away from them. Otherwise, you might end up being spammed, or much worse, getting defrauded. Real Mturk requesters do not solicit for these information.
If it Looks Too Good to Be True
Have you seen those high paying Amazon Mechanical Turk hits?…
Well, beware as these are often placed by spammers. Come to think of it, no one will actually pay $20 in Mechanical Turk for you to test their website. Is it too good to be true? Then most probably, it is.
Those requester who are willing to pay $10 or $20 for a minute or two minute work such as asking you to check if their website is working, are in most cases not real.
Link Your Bank Account to Amazon
Amazon allows you to be updated on the amount of money you already earned as you keep using Mturk (Just take note that some requesters will not immediately pay you).
In your Amazon account, you can see the Mechanical Turk money inside the section referred to as Amazon Payment.
You have the option to change the money into a gift card money that you can use for purchases in Amazon. But if you prefer it in cash, then make sure to link a bank account to your Amazon account.
But the problem is that its just that, pocket money. Because of the low payment per task, it is very hard to make any decent amount of money as a worker on Mturk.
However, there are some things you can do in order to increase your earnings and make this a worthwhile money making job.
With that said, here are some tips and tricks that will help you make the most money on Amazon Mechanical Turk.
Participate in Mturk Related Forums
Mturk Forums are indeed very useful. These will allow give you real-time information on the going-on at the Amazon Mechanical Turk.
Joining or reading these forums will provide so much information including what other employees have experienced. Mechanical Turk workers are the ones who are setting-up , and running these forums.
They may not exactly be able to supply you with retorts against the rip-off requesters and scammers, but they can aid you duck the worst things that can happen to you at Mturk.
These forums can also lead you to the best requesters and practice.
Here are the 2 main forums:
Take Advantage of the Turkopticon Toolbar
The Turkopticon toolbar lets you view how past Mechanical Turk workers have evaluated a specific requester.
You may want to browse through the reviews of other workers before deciding to take a hit or not as these reviews are absolutely helpful.
Some reviews answer the following questions about requester they have worked with:
The Turkopticon toolbar lets you view how past Mechanical Turk workers have evaluated a specific requester.
You may want to browse through the reviews of other workers before deciding to take a hit or not as these reviews are absolutely helpful.
Some reviews answer the following questions about requester they have worked with:
- Have they rejected a hit without justifiable reason?
- Did they pay within a reasonable time frame?
- …
Firefox and Google Chrome browsers also have an equivalent toolbar version. But I am not so sure about Internet Explorer since I was not able to find an Internet Explorer version in their website.
Find Good Paying Hits Faster with the “Sort By” Search Options
Use the search options for your benefit. For example, if you are searching for a new survey which pays more than 50 centavos, then you will need to type “survey” in the search box, then set the hit value to 50c.
You can then organize the results of the search according to the newest or freshest hits first.
This will definitely help save time which is important as there are more than a hundred thousand Mturk hits on offer at a single time. The last thing you want to happen is to go through each one of them.
Don’t Bother with 1 Cent Hits Unless…
It’s just not worth it. Sure, a 1 cent hit may take less time to complete, but it still takes time. And when you compare the amount of time you spend doing the hit and the amount of money you earn, it just doesn't look good.
The two cent hits are not that profitable either.
I personally only do low paying hits if the only requirements is clicking on something or copy and pasting a word or phrase.
Only Work on Hits with Worthwhile Payment
Evaluate first if a particular hit is really worth it before taking an Amazon Mechanical Turk hit. Take note that some hits would entail that you pass a qualification exam before you start working on the hit(s).
Others also have complicated set of instructions that will consume so much of your time. This in turn increases the likelihood that your hits will be rejected.
You may have a lot of hits to work on that pays well, but always make sure that you evaluate if these are really worth your time.
Understand the Requirements Before Accepting a Hit
Make sure that you do not often have hits returned to you due to the fact that you failed to or you do not want to finish a hit.
Remember that a series of failure to complete hits will affect your “hit return rate” negatively.
Also make sure not to complete and submit a lot of hits incorrectly, and have them rejected by requesters. This can be disappointing for the requester and actually wastes precious time.
Once or twice would be insignificant, but if done regularly, then you might end up seeing a limited range of hits that you can take.
Do as Many Survey Hits as Possible
Consider taking on the surveys you find on Mechanical Turk as these actually allow you to earn more compared to most hits.
Plus, the chances of being paid are higher too with these surveys since these are being solicited by schools colleges and universities, unlike other hits that are from virtually unknown people.
Some of the surveys you will find will let you get cash of $1 or even more for work that will only take five to ten minutes of your time. But also be vigilant, and watch out for those scam hits which pretends to be surveys.
For example, one scam survey will ask you to put your personal details by asking you to fill up a form in the guise of having you answer several question about their website.
Do Not Give Out Personal Information
Have you received any hits that requires you to give out personal information such as full name, email address, credit card details and the like?
Well, stay away from them. Otherwise, you might end up being spammed, or much worse, getting defrauded. Real Mturk requesters do not solicit for these information.
If it Looks Too Good to Be True
Have you seen those high paying Amazon Mechanical Turk hits?…
Well, beware as these are often placed by spammers. Come to think of it, no one will actually pay $20 in Mechanical Turk for you to test their website. Is it too good to be true? Then most probably, it is.
Those requester who are willing to pay $10 or $20 for a minute or two minute work such as asking you to check if their website is working, are in most cases not real.
Link Your Bank Account to Amazon
Amazon allows you to be updated on the amount of money you already earned as you keep using Mturk (Just take note that some requesters will not immediately pay you).
In your Amazon account, you can see the Mechanical Turk money inside the section referred to as Amazon Payment.
You have the option to change the money into a gift card money that you can use for purchases in Amazon. But if you prefer it in cash, then make sure to link a bank account to your Amazon account.
