
Ask HN: What can I do with a large international network of people? - victor903
I have a large network of people that work remotely and live all over the world. What can I create&#x2F;build&#x2F;service I can provide to give them jobs?<p>I&#x27;m interested in creating something that pays people fairly (no mechanical turk type work where you&#x27;re paid per item.)<p>I have 1000+ people, they live in over 50 countries, and the work would ideally allow them to work collaboratively with others.
======
DoreenMichele
Piecework is not necessarily a bad thing. Food for thought:

[http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-
textbrok...](http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-textbroker-
model.html)

[http://writepay.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-value-of-not-
chasin...](http://writepay.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-value-of-not-chasing-your-
pay.html)

[http://writepay.blogspot.com/2016/03/how-to-improve-your-
de-...](http://writepay.blogspot.com/2016/03/how-to-improve-your-de-facto-
hourly-rate.html)

I would start a file and start tossing articles into it that have snippets
that seemed potentially relevant. Make a list of skills, assets, whatever and
start looking for your niche.

Someone I knew on an email list once sent me money to take care of a fine for
them for the state I was in. It needed to be done by a certain time for legal
reasons and this was just not possible for them to do themselves from another
state. It could not be paid online or whatever. It had to be done in person.

I briefly wondered if I could do sort of a reverse Task Rabbit: Instead of
looking for locals who were listing specific tasks they would pay for, I could
advertise myself online as available to do tasks in my location for people at
a distance.

I never quite worked out the exact value position, so I never did anything
with the idea. But perhaps you could do something with it.

You might also be able to make local goods available.

My mother is German. I was born and raised in the US. She continued to value
certain German products that were not readily available in the US. When I
lived in Germany in my twenties, she would send me money to purchase German
products for not only her but some of her friends and ship it to the US.

This seems to be a fairly common occurrence among international immigrants.
They stock up on favorite products when visiting family or family brings them
stuff. There is probably a market for immigrants who want certain products
from home but who don't have access to personal connections of that sort.

My mother didn't need a personal connection anymore after a local German store
opened in her town. But you have to have a concentration of demand to support
such a store locally. You tend to see "Little Italy" type areas or similar
only in large cities. But immigrants don't all live in the big city. A small
distributed network may be able to serve this niche.

~~~
eb0la
Not just immigrants: I usually stockpile Dr Oetker Kaiserschmarrn or Leibnitz
cookies whenever I go my wife to Germany (from Spain).

------
indescions_2018
That is an excellent question. In fact, it may be something that is becoming a
common problem in need of a solution.

Start by brainstorming the goal. I think you are on to something when you say
you want to establish a network of collaborative work at scale, with equitable
pay, and maximal impact. Best of luck!

------
adreamingsoul
Start a cooperative. Collectively work towards a goal that benefits everyone.
Ask "what can we build" and "how can I mentor them to be successful?"

If you have a 1000 people who feel like what they do matters, you will reach
any goal faster than you can imagine.

------
kleer001
Some kind of localization service? Translation?

