Figure Out Which Of The 5 Types of Freelancers You Wanna Be
With the story of an amusing chess-playing robot.
150 years before we even started using the word “robot,” Wolfgang Von Kempelen created the Mechanical Turk, a chess-playing automation robot, which looked like a human attached to a Cabinet with a chessboard.
Not only could it play Chess, but it also won most matches within half an hour. It toured the Europe and Americas playing with and defeating statesmen such as Napoleon Bonaparte and Benjamin Franklin.
For 84 years, nobody could figure out how the Turk worked. Some guessed that the pieces were pulled by strings from someone above like a puppet. Some thought if Kempelen was pushing some buttons to play the moves. None were correct.
That was until the Turk got burnt in an accident. And the son of its last owner revealed its secret in a series of articles for The Chess Monthly. It turned out, there was a skilful chess player hiding inside the cabinet moving pieces using magnets.
What the Turk essentially did was to allow a human to secretly do what the then-available technology couldn’t.
And some form of this is present even today. Of course, our computers can now easily play and defeat humans in Chess with no help. But they cannot do tasks like identifying objects in an image or recognising unclear words, which humans can easily do.
(This is why Captchas make you do these things, to make sure you aren’t a bot.)
You’ve probably never heard about it but Amazon runs a marketplace for companies to outsource to humans, these tasks which computers cannot do. It’s called mTurk. Basically, anyone can register on mTurk and do these tasks and earn in cents, hardly around minimum wage.
This brings us to Seth Godin’s description of the 5 types of freelancers:
- Mechanical Turks
- Handyman
- Craftsman
- Unique
- Remarkable
1/ Mechanical Turk
Mechanical Turks are people doing what any human can do. And they’re doing it no better than the next person. Which is why they’re paid less and face extreme competition. People like average drivers or delivery person. But they don’t have to worry about getting customers because some middleman brings them, customers. Like for drivers, Uber and Ola. For delivery guys, Zomato and Flipkart.
Being a Turk isn’t very helpful. You’re paid less. You can be easily replaced. You’re a cog in the system run by someone else. Please don’t be a Turk.
2/ Handyman
The handymen get customers because they’re the most handy. That simple. They’re easily available anytime, anywhere. But they’re susceptible to competition. And often have to compete on prices.
An example would be the only photographer in the town. You won’t expect him/her to be the best one.
3/ Craftsmen
They are serious about his craft. They’ve invested enough time and energy to master it. And they can easily demonstrate why they’re better than most people at the job.
Unlike all of the previous ones, they can demand a higher pay from their client. Because they’re special. Not easily replaceable.
Ohh and they don’t do everything. They have a speciality. They do one thing and only one thing but they do it really well.
4/ Unique
They offer one-of-a-kind service. People brag about your work. People call them by name. “This is Adam’s work.” Their work can’t be replaced.
They don’t worry about any competition. Because very few people can do what they can. And very many people want things done by them. Which is why they charge premium fees.
5/ Remarkable
People talk about what they do. They’re a brand by themself. Their work is unmistakable. People know it’s their work when someone sees it.
I’m trying to be remarkable.
And you know what helps?
Curiosity.
Yes! Exploring new and interesting things.
That’s how I found the course this blog post is about.
And I keep finding more amazing things.
If you don’t mind, I can share 5 of the best things I find every week.
Just subscribe to Back of my Head, my weekend recommendations newsletter.
The next issue goes out this Saturday.
Go check out some previous issues.
FOOTNOTES
1. Seth Godin’s Freelancer Course (Udemy) (Super recommended)
2. Recreated gameplay of Turk vs Napoleon (YouTube)
3. Monster in a Box (WIRED)
4. You’ve been training AI for free (The Verge on YouTube)
