Everything you need to know about ChaCha

This is just some information that I wish I had before I applied to become a guide. Some of the links below require a guide account and are meant for after you’re accepted. If you find this info useful, please use me as your referral when you sign up (mark@ramige.net). Thanks for reading!

Before you become a guide:

• You must be a U.S. Citizen and 18+
• You must be fluent in English
• The guide process is very easy, but it will take about 10 days for ChaCha to approve you

Payment Information:

• Basic rate is $0.10/query
• If you meet weekly targets (200+ searches at 95% accuracy), you’ll get $0.20/query the following week
• Give quality answers and you’ll stay at $0.20/query!
• Pay isn’t super high, but it’s great as extra guaranteed income during downtime. Take advantage of your free time.
• Weekly bonuses to top guides
• Special event bonuses – Recently they had bonuses on labor day weekend and the following weekend for their anniversary.
• On 9-6-08 they had a great bonus where anyone that completed 120 queries between 6pm-3am got an extra $12.
• Payment is available via direct deposit monthly for free or they can give you an ATM card (this method costs $2 per each transfer from your guide account to the card)

Overview of the Process:

1. Initial user signup
2. Wait about 5-7 days
3. Click on e-mail link and take the test
4. Proceed to the Universe and complete 10 simulated queries
5. Wait 3-4 days for approval

To become a guide:

• Go to http://search.chacha.com/guidesignupnow. Enter in your information.
• Note: If you find this information useful and want to be nice , please use my e-mail address (mark@ramige.net) as your referral.
• Wait about a week for them to send you an invite link. I’m not sure why they have this step, and why it takes so long, but it’s the only way to get started.
• Make sure you have about an hour available now. You’ll need about 20 minutes for the first test and then 40 minutes for the simulation.

The test:
The computer graded test is just to familiarize you with basic ChaCha policies and to make sure you can touch type and read English. It’s very simple, and shouldn’t require much explanation. When you finish this test and pass. You’ll be given instructions for the simulation, which is the next step.

The simulation:

• You should be at the ChaCha Universe (http://universe.chacha.com) which is where guides response to queries. You’ll be given a series of fake queries to test your search abilities. You must keep track of how many you answer. You need to complete 10 queries and then exit the universe.
• You don’t have to be super fast (yet) to get accepted. Take your time and find quality answers. I spent about 2-3 minutes for each query.
• When you get a query, a pop-up message will appear and then you have to click on OK
• This process is kind of rough around the edges. They don’t tell you when you’ve finished, or what the next step is. After you finish your 10 queries, exit the Universe and wait a few days. You’ll get a new e-mail stating that you’ve been accepted as a guide.
• Read some guide tips below to learn how to find answers to the queries.
• For some reason when I did the simulation, there was a pause in between each query that made the test take longer. They probably assume that you’ll need a short break in between each one.
• Note: If you need to take a break, click on the box in the upper left-hand corner and set your status as away.

After you’re accepted as a guide:

• Read the guide handbook first (http://knowledgebase.chacha.com/images/Guide%20Handbook%20v3.2.pdf)
• Read “Preparing Your Computer for ChaCha” for some tips on faster searching (http://knowledgebase.chacha.com/questions/287/Preparing+Your+Computer+for+Guiding)
• If you have a question that the Knowledgebase (http://knowledgebase.chacha.com/) doesn’t cover, browse or search the forums (http://forum.chacha.com/)
• After you’re clear on all their policies, familiarize yourself with the search tool (http://quicklinks.chacha.com/). Getting used to this will make you more money.

Inside tips from a guide:

• ChaCha published a bar chart showing the average total number of queries per hour. There are almost twice as many queries between 4pm-4am as between 4am-4pm. If you can log in at night, you will get constant queries without waiting.
• About 75% of queries I get are repeated. I get a lot of requests for sports scores, simple relationship advice, and business locations or hours of operation. Once I got used to their search tool, my average response time moved to under a minute. Maybe 1 out of 10 searches takes longer to find.
• During your first session, you’ll notice a pattern of the type of queries you get. Bookmark the sites that you use for those queries and you’ll save lots of time.

I’ll try to keep this updated as I become a better guide
If you think of anything else to cover, please PM me
Thanks for reading and good luck!

 

That is very informative. Thanks for the heads up.