Technology Blog

Recently, I read an article about getting paid survey work from online sources. A click here and a click there and within a matter of minutes I landed on a “free” survey site. Surveys and claims that you can be compensated by participating in surveys have been around the internet for as long as I’ve been online. In fact, I’m sure that beside this blog entry, the adsense ads on this likely have advertisements to various survey websites.

The free survey website I went to yesterday guaranteed that if I completed their 10 buck challenge, they would promptly send 10 dollars plus a 3 dollar bonus for signing up straight into my paypal account. So, what did I have to lose?

What I lost was time and interest. I was amused by performing this stunt. I landed on sites for “free” ipods, “free” digital cameras, sign up incentives for casinos, sign up incentives for *other* survey sites. I was spinning around and around so fast, to various sites all pointing to similar survey sites, that it reminded me of landing on (or I confess) searching for adult related websites. It was the ultimate circle jerk. This is a rather vulgar metaphor, so rather than have you thinking I’m a dirty pervert, I’ll quote from my favorite website for information: Wikipedia.

They can refer to a situation, often in the workplace, politics or academia, where people are stroking each other’s ego without producing anything of value.

Quite honestly, survey filling can be rewarding if you know where to find these. I don’t have that talent, or more to the point, I don’t have the interest. It wasn’t long before I realized that pointing me to other survey sites was making this guy about $1.00-1.75 per referral. In other words, he kept his website free because he found ways to be compensated. I would have to sign up for about 15-20 websites to receive 10 bucks from him. You do the math. He was going to essentially keep half his money.

Are free websites therefore as scammy as paid ones? I’m not sure I have an honest answer to this question. I’ve decided to keep TechJobs free for now, because I firmly believe there are jobs out there available for telecommuters that do *not* involve paying a cent for this information.

If *anyone* has ever stayed on a survey site long enough to actually get direct payment for your opinion, I’d love to hear your experiences. Incidently, if you spam me with your affiliate link, I’ll simply ignore and delete your comment.

My little venture yesterday only did one thing for me: it brought me close to poking my own eyes out with the sharpest tool I could find on my desk. I concluded that as hard as it is to build a website up or a blog, I find this kind of work 1000 times more rewarding than filling out my personal information over and over again for…… essentially nothing.

I got spammed today, about 12 months after I initially applied to a transcription based website. Kudos to them for not spamming me constantly, but over a year of waiting for an opportunity to type at home?

A friend of mine worked for them in the past, and while they may have a new website, new name, etc, the service is probably the same. I’d also caution anyone from considering this work at home opportunity unless you’re in 1) in serious need of money and 2) can type faster than the requisite of 65 WPM.

The biggest beef I have with this organization are their requirements.

Have at least 24 months of intensive word processing or transcription experience, not more than five years previous to the date of application. (General office experience, data entry experience, accounting experience, etc. are not sufficient.)

Why isn’t any kind of data entry acceptable for them? Are they kidding me? The truth behind my typing speed hasn’t been the result of intensive data entry. I’ve been chatting and writing on the internet as well as other online services since 1989. To be sure, if you want to get up to 65-70 wpm with 100% accuracy (which is roughly where I am not at my typing ability), all you have to really do is own a computer and learn to type on your own.

I have no qualms about their legal typing requirements, but I do believe they need to be a little slack in their general requirements, particularly if you can show proficiency in spelling, grammar, and score well on thier typing test. I also feel that $10-12 per hour is somewhat optimistic.

YMMV. If you’re looking to pick up a bit of work on the side, it’s possible this opportunity could be of interest to some people out there. But you’re going to have to work probably harder with them than you likely would in an office environment. I believe this statement is applicable for most people living in North America. Review the cost of living and minimum wage in your area.

I shouldn’t be a naysayer but I am. I have a lot of skeptism when it comes to a lot of work-from-home opportunities on the net. Odd, from someone who’s been working online since 1999, and working fulltime without outside employment since 2001. Still though, consider this a healthy warning.

If you’re still interested, let me know in a comment. I don’t get any kind of compensation directly from the company. (If I did, I’d name them on the spot. LOL!) But I know there’s people out there looking for opportunities.

I’m just suggesting that this may not be the best one for most.