Earn Extra Income Online with Micro Job Sites like Fiverr and Jobsfor10

What are Micro Jobs?
For those of you who have not heard of "Micro Jobs" (also known as "micro contracting"), the term may sound a little strange. Basically, micro jobs can be defined as a form of commerce that usually involves the sale of a product or service at a fixed cost and for a relatively small amount of money.

Some people may disagree, but I would define the maximum amount of money being transferred as part of a micro job at around $50. Some may say that is a little high, some may say a little low, but in general it is somewhere around that price point. For the sake of this article, we also define micro jobs as work that is being initiated and delivered over the web.

Some examples of micro job sites include fiverr, Jobsfor10, and PeopleStox. Later in this article we will discuss in more detail the fiverr and Jobsfor10 micro jobs sites.

How do Micro Jobs Work?
The concept of advertising and delivery work over the web has been around for several years. Websites like Guru.com, Elance, and oDesk were the pioneers in connecting customers having a need with skilled staff that can fix their problem. These sites typically rely upon a process where potential customers list a job and independent contractors place bids for their work.

The initiators in this sense are the customers - they can provide specific details about exactly what they are looking for on a project basis and contractors bidding for the work can choose to sell their skills how they feel fit. Typical bids could be in the hundreds or thousands of dollars for a particular project.

Micro Job sites generally operate a little different than the traditional web-based contracting sites discussed above. They provide essentially a reverse bid process where the seller of the product lists some skill, service, or product they would like to sell at a fixed price and then tries to compete with other sellers for potential customers.

Another distinction between micro job sites and the more traditional web-based contracting sites is the type of work. Generally, the web-based contracting sites offer professional services related to things like programming, writing, and marketing. Micro job services range from the professional to the absurd. Micro job sites seem to have a lot of services and products that revolve around promotion and marketing, which is definitely different than sites like Guru and Elance.

At many micro job sites, there is only one price that a service or product can be sold at, usually something like $5, $10, or $25. This makes it easier in one respect for both the buyer and the seller because price is taken out of the equation. On the other hand, It does make it more difficult for the seller because they have to find some unique way to distinguish themselves from the thousands of other people that are selling their skill, service, or product.

After a buyer had decided to purchase a service or product the funds are held in escrow by the micro job site. The seller usually then has a set number of days (defined by the seller) to deliver the service or product. After the service or product is delivered satisfactorily to the buyer, the transaction is completed and the funds are typically held for 1-2 weeks and then deposited into the seller's bank account. The micro job site also takes a cut of the revenue (usually 20%) to cover their expenses.

The Nuts and Bolts of Selling
The trick to selling and making money on micro job sites is to set yourself apart from other sellers. There are several ways that you can do this, but the most successful methods usually revolve around three main themes:

1. Being active on the site by participating in discussions and posting many services,
2. Offering a service or product that someone actually needs, and
3. Providing great customer service.

Since most micro job sites rely heavily upon user feedback, it is important that you provide good customer service.

One important aspect of the micro job sites is to adhere to the terms of use. Most micro job sites allow sellers to only interact with buyers through their website. If you try and exchange or provide an external email address, you will be flagged and your account may be shut down.

Its also always good to check the competition before listing a service or product. I was able to have some success through my TechJotter brand on a couple of micro job sites selling technical support and programming services for spreadsheet applications (You can check out my Fiverr profile here and my Jobsfor10 profile here.) I was able to find a niche and exploit it. In a couple of months I made around $150 between the two sites, for about 8-10 hours worth of work.

Microco job sites are really great for leveraging talents that we all possess but were never really able to monetize before sites like this started popping up a few years ago.

Which Micro Job Sites to Use?
A natural question after reading this hub is which micro job site is best? I can only speak from my own experience with a few of the sites, but I definitely prefer both Fiverr and Jobsfor10.

I like Fiverr because it has one of the larger user bases out there, so you have a good chance of getting some exposure for your service or product. I like Jobsfor10 because they offer jobs at three different price points; "Half-Jobs" for $5, Jobs for $10, and "Double Jobs" for $20. I place my smaller services that I can provide quickly at Fiverr and the services that require a little more effort (like programming) on Jobsfor10. I've had a good experience with both of them and I think they both provide good customer service.

In additions to the two I've mentioned here, there are literally dozens of other micro job sites that you can check out also.

In Conclusion
I think micro job sites provide a nice way for people with unique skills to monetize their talents. Being active on the sites, providing good customer service, and focusing on a niche will help potential sellers build their sales and reputation.

Please comment if you have other comments or sites that you would recommend.