It’s possible to find a few companies that offer data entry jobs from home, and The Smart Crowd, formerly Virtual Bee, is one of the better known.
Data entry work you can do from home is quite popular as you don’t really need much in the way of qualifications and you can earn some extra cash.
In this review, we will see what’s involved in data entry jobs and if it’s really worth your time joining The Smart Crowd.
Product: The Smart Crowd
Overall Ranking: 40 out of 100 or 2/5 stars
Price: Free to join
Owner: Lionbridge Technologies, Inc.
Website: https://thesmartcrowd.lionbridge.com/
Background
The Smart Crowd was formerly known as Virtual Bee, and before that, Key for Cash. Key for Cash offered data entry work from 2001.
The owner of The Smart Crowd is Lionbridge Technologies. Inc who specializes in providing translation services.
Lionbridge took over Virtual Bee in 2012 and ran two data entry platforms side by side for a few years. They decided to merge the two into The Smart Crowd in 2015.
They currently employ about 100,000 multi-lingual people worldwide for their data entry and translation platform. A couple of facts that surprised me were that more than one-third of their workers are over 55 years old and more than 90% have a degree.
I wonder why these people are willing to spend a lot of time working for very small rewards? In my opinion, there are better ways to earn money online from home.
What is data entry?
Data entry can be applied to a number of tasks, but usually, it involves inputting data, via a computer keyboard, into a company’s database.
Although the name “data entry” might sound a little scientific or specialized, you don’t need any previous experience or qualifications for most of these jobs.
Here are some of the sort of the typical sort of tasks you might have to complete:
- Typing
- Transcription
- Verify and correct data
- Prepare and organize documents for data entry
- Enter data from documents into the required format
At The Smart Crowd, the type of work they offer is divided into three categories:
- Data services – which involves typing, data cleansing, digitalizing data, updating data or data tagging
- Global testing – testing new products to make sure there are no glitches prior to launching. This might involve testing products in different countries, as with mobile devices.
- Language services – this might include translating a website, reviews, videos, live telephone translations or actual in-person translating.
In this review, we will only be considering the data services.
You may also like: UserTesting – Is this a Legitimate Way To Earn Some Extra Cash
Who is this for?
Data entry could really be for anyone over 18 years old and from almost anywhere in the world.
You don’t need much in the way of formal education; the most important qualification is to be proficient in using a computer.
You should also have some knowledge of using a word processor, and in general, the faster you can work, the more you can earn. The only requirements in the way of technical equipment are a computer and a high-speed internet connection.
This may sound good so far. However, you will be asked to take an evaluation before you are offered a job, so you should have some basic skills:
- Be able to type fast and accurately
- Good spelling, grammar, and punctuation
- Work quickly and accurately
- Have a good comprehension of reading matter
There is a lot of competition for these jobs, and you may be kept waiting a while (several months) before you are finally offered some work.
You are not paid per hour, but by task, and the pay isn’t that good. Therefore, you shouldn’t consider this as a full-time job or count on this to pay your bills.
You are not employed directly by the company; you are a freelancer or independent contractor.
Should you consider The Smart Crowd when looking for work online?
The Smart Crowd does provide some legitimate work opportunities, and there is no charge to join, which sounds okay. However, before joining this data entry program, you need to consider several things.
- You will have to take an evaluation and depending on the result you may be offered some work. Even if your results are very good, in the upper 90s, you will probably be put on a waiting list. There’s a lot of competition for the work that’s available, which means you may only work very occasionally.
- The pay isn’t good, you will probably be working below the minimum wage. The pay may be anything from 20 cents to 60 cents per 1000 keystrokes, many workers report being paid 30 cents per 1000 keystrokes.
- You cannot rely on this to provide a regular income, each month you will be offered different work. This might be for just a couple of hours one month and the next month 30 hours, you never know. You might have to wait a few months before you are even offered some work.
I signed up just to see what was involved with the evaluations. I tried a couple, and as you can see in the image, there are quite a few different tests you can take with more languages than are shown in the image. The evaluations take just a few minutes to complete.
The two I took were comprehension tests, and I managed to make a mistake in each, lol. Good job I wasn’t really looking for some data entry work!
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Free to join
- Work when you like
Cons
- Not well paid
- You won’t always have work
- Evaluation, when you join, doesn’t guarantee work
- Not very interesting, can be repetitive
Summing up
Data entry may sound appealing, you can get started immediately with no outlay, and if you have the typing capabilities, you have nothing new to learn.
Nonetheless, this is a very shortsighted way to earn money because you never know how long you will have work, that’s assuming you manage to get work in the first place, and the pay isn’t very good, usually less than the minimum wage.
You could only use this type of work to supplement your existing earnings. The Smart Crowd provides legitimate work and is not a scam, but at the same time, I can’t recommend making money this way. Too time-consuming for too little pay.
What I recommend
If you are ready to spend a few hours a day doing data entry work and earning very little, why not consider creating your own business.
My favorite business model is affiliate marketing, you can build up your business over time, and there is no limit on your possible earnings.
Another advantage is you can build your business around one of your passions or hobbies, now that can be a really enjoyable way of earning some money online – nothing like boring data entry work.
If you think you might be interested, you could check out the platform that taught me how to build this site. One of the great things about this training platform is that it’s completely free to join; you don’t even need your credit card details.
On top of that, you are given 2 free websites and 10 lessons on how to start your own affiliate marketing business. If you decide to go further, you have the option to upgrade to a premium member, which is $19 for the first month and then $49 per month. Below you can see just some of what is offered. If you have tried data entry, how did you find it? Is it worth the time? I would love to hear your opinion or if you have any questions, leave them below.
Thanks,
Peter
Respected Sir,
I am karthika from india. I have completed $19.53 [ 10/16/18 ] . But I have not received in my payment. Please Clarify my account.
PayPal and thesmartcrowd mail id is same. But I have not received my payment. PayPal office is contact transaction Id number is tell me. please reply me.
Hi Karthika,
I’m not the person to contact I have only written a review about The Smart Crowd. I suggest you go to their website and in the bottom right you will see “Contact Us” and an email address for workers. Hope that helps.
Peter
Thanks for the review Peter. Because of getting desperate in looking for a client in an online job, I was brought in the virtual bee site. Good thing I passed by in your review. Your online business is also kinda interesting and it is big, I’m thinking of maybe you can hire me as your VA if you have some overloading task on some of your projects. Just Email me Pete. Take care.
Glad my review was useful Julius.
At the moment I’m not looking for a VA. Have you tried offering your services via websites like Belay or Upwork?
Best of luck,
Peter
Hi, Peter. Thanks for the review. I am looking for something similar to Amazon Mechanical Turk to work online. Any suggestions? I worked for them for over three years but they suddenly closed my account without an explanation.
Hi Erwin,
Sorry to hear about your bad experience with AMT, Erwin. This post from The Spruce lists 33 companies that offer micro jobs.
I hope you find something useful!
Peter
Hi Peter,
I have a toddler and am expecting twins at the end of this year. I am looking for work I can do from home at my own pace. Many work from home jobs are hard for stay at home parents because the kids can interrupt at anytime. I am not looking for a full time income, rather a supplement to my husbands income. What would suggest for someone in my situation?
Hi Sandra,
Yes, it’s not easy to find work online especially when you have babies or toddlers to look after. What I recommend is starting your own online business, using affiliate marketing. As with most businesses, there is a lot of work, it will probably be several months before you start to make any income and you will need to follow some training. But you can work at your own pace! There will be some costs for hosting, training and tools. You can build a lucrative business doing this but you must be patient.
Another alternative would be freelancing. Although this may be harder for you as there are often deadlines to meet but could be worth a try if you enjoy writing or have any other skills such as graphic design or building websites.
If I can be of any further help let me know,
Peter
Hi Peter,
I know it has been a while since you wrote this post, but I’m assuming not much has changed in this field. Even though it may not be the best work, would you suggest that it is a good way for college students to make a little extra money? Or should I look elsewhere for extra income? Of so, do you have any suggestions?
Sincerely,
Marit
Hi Marit,
Yes, I don’t think much has changed. I don’t really recommend this as a way for you to earn money. You will wait a while to be accepted and then probably won’t be offered many jobs. Maybe a better way is to try user testing You won’t earn a fortune as you won’t be offered many jobs but the pay is decent $10 for 15 – 20 minutes work. If you enjoy writing, graphic design or you have other skills people are searching for online, you could also try your hand at freelancing. It takes time to build up your reputation but is a way to earn some good money.
Best of luck,
Peter
Hi Peter,
Thanks for the detailed review. I was about to join ‘The Lion bridge’ and saw you review. I also feel that Affiliate marketing is a good option. Can you please clarify me, if people from India can also join ‘Wealthy Affiliate’ for free?
Hi,
Thanks for your comment. Like you I feel affiliate marketing is a better option. Unfortunately, people from India can’t join Wealthy Affiliate as free members.
All the best,
Peter
I think companies like smart crowd/virtual bee are appealing to people because it’s that same concept of the daily grind. Work a little, get paid a little. And like the virtual mouse, you keep getting your pellets.
At the same time, I can see data entry jobs appealing for those that live in 3rd world countries where this type of pay could be considered decent. In Colombia for example, earning 500usd/mo is a pretty sweat gig. Being from the usa, that’s peanuts, but it depends on your location.
I’m with you Peter, take the time and start an online business. Sure it takes some time to get going, but think of the big picture here. In two years, would you like to be still entering data, or waking up to paycheck for work you’ve done in the past that repeatedly pays you time and time again.
Great review, thanks.
Hi Todd,
Nice to have your opinion on data entry work. I don’t know why this sort of work appeals to people perhaps it’s because you get paid after you complete each job, which is something people are used to. But with the low rates of pay I think it’s more like work a lot get paid a little. For 3rd world countries, the rates of pay could be quite good and The Smart Crowd does even have job opportunities in different languages, specifically for these countries.
Building your own business is a much better long time opportunuty. As you say, keep going for a couple of years and your business will keep growing. Perhaps people are put off from creating their own business because the results may be a few months down the road. However, with programs like the Virtual Bee you have to take the online assessment and then if your results are good you will have to wait to be offered work. The waiting period will perhaps be a few weeks or months and you are never sure you will be offered work.
I prefer being in control and not waiting to possibly receive work.
Nice to hear from you again Todd.
Peter
Hi Pete,
Great review of virtual bee, virtual assistant data entry work. I think I’ll give that one a miss due to the low pay and possible irregularity of work.
Since I live in Asia, I will inform my friends about this opportunity as the income gained could represent a full time income for them. Days hard labour here can pay as little as $8! pretty sure if you they can get that for data entry they would be happy due to being an easier to do job, and from home!
Hi Derek,
Maybe this will interest your friends in Asia for them the pay might be okay. For most people it’s not worth the time and effort. Don’t forget your friends will have to take the evaluations and even if they receive good scores they won’t be guaranteed any work.
Hope it works out for your friends,
Peter
Great post Pete! I once had a data entry job and let me tell you it was very boring. It was not a fulfilling job and I had to type for hours about things that I had no interest in whatsoever. Wealthy Affiliate has made it so that I have been able to type about my interests and make money from it!
Hi Evan,
Data entry can be quite repetitive, completing tasks that aren’t very interesting. Although it is work, I don’t like these sorts of unregular low paying jobs. Glad you have found Wealthy Affiliate and you have chosen a niche about one of your interests. Earning money this way is great and really enjoyable, no comparison to the data entry jobs at the Smart Crowd!
Thanks for your visit,
Peter
Thank you Peter for your review, I’ve always wondering if to do data entry online as a way to make money online, knowing that’s a very repetitive work, boring like hell. As you wrote, it’s not well paid, you don’t build a business online, it’s not worth the time. Is much better to learn some SEO and basic internet skills, some marketing and blogging, and start to consider doing affiliate marketing..
Hi Samuel,
I think you’ve just about summed up why I don’t like data entry jobs. Add to the list that you will never know when and if you will have work, a long waiting time before you’re offered your first job and you have more than enough reasons to try something else. Building your own affiliate marketing business is a much better option. Always a good idea to obtain some training when starting and for that Wealthy Affiliate is the best platform I have found. All the tools you need, step by step training, a supportive community, a great website builder and hosting.
Perhaps I’ll see you there!
Peter
Hey, Peter! Thank sfor the information on Virtual Bee. Even though it does sound appealing to work from home and not be confined by the constraints of a 9-5 job and all the hassles of driving to work, for it to make sense it needs to be something that pays off in the end, which doesn’t seem to be the case. Better look for other alternatives!
Hi Daniel,
Working from home can be great, but you need to earn enough to live on. With data entry this would be difficult, most of the alternatives that people may try like surveys or paid to click sites are also very badly paid and quite frankly not worth the time. What I recommend is building your own affiliate marketing business. It might be a lot of work before you start earning, but you can choose a subject that interests you and you can have fun building your business. If you want to give it a try, check out my #1 recommendation.
Thanks for your feedback,
Peter