Broadband enables access to employment through online markets

With $7.2 billion in stimulus money slated to go towards expanding broadband access and closing the "digital divide" in rural areas, debate is ongoing whether these increasing opportunities actually lead to job growth. Many commentators agree that access is not enough; adoption must be encouraged and training provided to take advantage of technology-driven jobs.

For large-scale growth, this is absolutely true, but access is an important first step. On a micro-level, broadband access can open up opportunities to create value in dignified and entrepreneurial ways. We are well beyond the home-based Ebay businesses. Here are a few sites where high speed internet access and only a little training enable individuals to be their own boss and generate income. No one will claim to become a millionaire this way, but micro steps in the right direction can be a powerful enabler, and online markets can connect labor to those who need it. How?

• Sell your crafts on Etsy. The crafter marketplace has a whole section, "Quit Your Day Job", on success stories of artists who turned their online businesses through the site into a full time gig.
• Expand your small business from a p2p loan. For small rural businesses, p2p loan marketplaces like Lending Club and Prosper can open up access to small loans that might make a big difference to their operations.
• Perform Human Intelligence Tasks on Mechanical Turk. Mturk has thousands of opportunities to complete small tasks for money that often require little technical skill.

Nonprofits like Samasource show how providing marginalized people with basic technological training and internet access can open up diverse opportunities to earn a living wage. Rural communities in the United States with fewer traditional employment opportunities could benefit immensely from access to these online markets. What other online opportunities exist?

Comments

[anonymous]

I am also curious if there are more opportunities to make money from home? These are great starters! I wonder if there are there other opportunities like these...maybe a site for people with good grammar or editing skills? That would be a great online market. "Employers" can submit written pieces that need some work and then the "employees" give a shot and the best one wins. Something like 99 designs for writing. But preferably you can secure a the job before you start working... hmmmm!

[normal guy]

I think that that we are approaching futuristic visions of the world. As I sit in this cafe and see that the majority of people are here working on their computers I think about how much I wondered ten years ago if everyone will truly own a laptop and how "futuristic" that would be. But here I sit and observe it so. As laptops and broadband spread it will only be a matter of time before everything can be done online. The question is how to anticipate this trend and create innovative models that make laptops and broadband internet a true part of the infrastructure that defines our daily lives. For some of us it is already there.

[amy]

the internet can eliminate the need for any middleman.... that is good for those at the bottom...Thanks for the post!

[Melody]

@anonymous. elance is a good service to connect freelancers to employment opportunities. I bet there is a real demand for good editors there.