Hello Friends

Nothing better than a freelance work at home!!*

Two weeks ago I was searching for an app which could help me to earn some free ETH during my free time. After a lot of searching, I came across an app named Bitmaker by cakecodes. 1 million+ installs and a rating of 4.0 seemed very good for such an app. This app basically lets you complete surveys, install apps, view ads and earn points in exchange for it. These points called blocks can later be exchanged for ETH and BTC.

Current Bitmaker App with it's popular claim reward screen

Upon further research I found that these guys are now going to re-brand their Bitmaker app as StormX and launch it as a platform for gamified tasks and jobs. They are even doing a crowdsale on 20th October to gather funds for the same. More about it near the end of this article.

Gamification:

Gamification is the new trend where sites, platforms are designed in such a way that a user has to gain various levels to access more diverse content and increase their opportunities of profits. A good UI (user interface) also plays an important role in this. The aim is to educate and train the user about various functions/uses of the site in a playful manner.

Journey from beginner to master, a key gamification concept

One great example is Steemit itself! Here a new user without any SP has very few chances to earn. But with regular interaction with the community, posting quality content and getting upvotes on it, the user keeps gaining new reputation levels. After 500 SP, an actual weapon upgrade unlocks called Vote slider. Now instead of firing one big fireball in one direction, the user can fire many small fireballs in many directions!! And of course increased SP and reputation means increased upvotes and curation rewards.

100% Vote vs. Vote Slider!!*

Bitmaker app already has good user interface, but the team wants to incorporate gamification in it, so that user retention increases and new users find it easier to learn and earn on the site.

Action Loops are very helpful in user retention

Blockchain:

Can this be called a blockchain, LOL!!!*

The use of blockchain to verify and validate data is widely known to all crypto users. And with the smart contracts on ETH blockchain, the whole process of validation and payments become automated.

This is what StormX aims to do. As per their whitepaper:

Storm Market is a micro-rewards platform that uses “Storm Tasks” that are templates for agreements (Ethereum based smart contracts). Storm Tasks lay out timelines, milestone markers, and payment terms. The implementation of Storm Market Storm Tasks provides protection for both parties decreasing the likelihood of foul play. Task Creators (Storm Makers) list requirements that are expected for a specific tasks and only engagers (Storm Players) who are qualified can carry out the task. This ensures a high quality of performance, increasing the overall trust in the platform. Automation via the blockchain reduces friction and carries out all contracts seamlessly.





The other main use of blockchain pointed out by the team is that blockchain would enable them to significantly reduces the fees associated with posting, performing a micro-task and withdrawals.

Online Freelance Sector:

With the help of online freelance platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, AmazonMturk; freelancers from different countries are able to work for clients all over the world, with their own terms and timings. Anybody with a stable internet connection and a desktop, laptop or even a tablet can work on projects ranging from a small translation task to a long term job of developing a crypto exchange!!

A crypto job on Upwork

In the United States alone, 34% of the workforce consists of freelancers and that number is expected to rise to 50% by the year 2020. In India, over 135 million people rely on freelancing as a primary reward for their time.

Sites like Task Rabbit allows to search, apply and get hired online for labour jobs like cleaning, transporting etc. And other sites like crowdflower allow users to complete micro tasks on any device.

I have myself worked a lot on AmazonMturk and Upwork and I really appreciate their role in my life after I quit from my last job, in Zara. Without sites like these, it would have been very difficult for me to keep myself motivated. Through Upwork, I have worked for clients like Wikihow, famous Canadian Chef Eric Arrouzé, an electricity company in US, an Asian actor in US and most recently Lionbridge, which is now my major source of income.

And I am sure, most readers here would have worked on Amazon Mturk, during their initial online working days. Do tell me in the comments how much maximum you have earned there!!!

Problems associated with Freelance Sector:

1) The first one is of course centralization. Because of centralization the aim is to increase the profits, decrease expenses and therefore the interests of users, especially freelancers are ignored.

2) High Fees is also one of the biggest issues. Fees in name of commission cut, withdrawals are most popular and can consume as much as 40% of the freelancer's income. Some sites like AmazonMturk do not take any fees from the users, but then they charge heavily from the clients.

3) Withdrawals are not instant. Also many a times, there are no withdrawal options for countries where Paypal is not available.

4) Most of these platforms are not very mobile friendly and a desktop/laptop is the recommended device to work on them.

5) A longer learning curve, complexity and very plain UX is not ideal for everyone. For example, I always recommend Upwork to all those who ask me for online earning advice. But so far none of them have been able to learn how to even complete the profile and apply for a job there. And these are some things, which can not be fully explained, but learned after experimenting.

Role of StormX:

The StormX aims to solve these issues with the use of blockchain and gamification as I mentioned in the above sections in detail.