Becoming a ChaCha Guide Review
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Becoming a ChaCha Guide Review
A lot of people question whether they have what it takes to become a ChaCha Paid Internet Search Guide. I have tried them so I thought I would write this review. Being a ChaCha guide isn't something for me, but I was still somewhat impressed with it. I found that some people were actually making a little money with this concept. It is, however, work that takes a lot of patience and time.
The system ChaCha uses is based around people using the internet and cell phones to ask for free search assistance. There are many search engines out there that you can search, but a search is not necessarily that easy to do from your cell phone, and sometimes you have given up finding an answer to your query. This is where ChaCha comes in and offers free assistance. Their methods are explained better in the ChaCha Search Optimization Techniques below.
ChaCha basically allows users to have a live person answer their questions. ChaCha offers pay and assistance to their guides and provides links and other resources you might need.
The system ChaCha uses is based around people using the internet and cell phones to ask for free search assistance. There are many search engines out there that you can search, but a search is not necessarily that easy to do from your cell phone, and sometimes you have given up finding an answer to your query. This is where ChaCha comes in and offers free assistance. Their methods are explained better in the ChaCha Search Optimization Techniques below.
ChaCha basically allows users to have a live person answer their questions. ChaCha offers pay and assistance to their guides and provides links and other resources you might need.
Contents at a Glance
ChaCha Guide Review
Becoming a ChaCha Guide
This part of the ChaCha review covers the training that they give you.
In the past, to become a ChaCha guide you needed to be invited, however, now they are taking anyone who passes their simulation. To apply click here. Prior to passing the simulation, ChaCha guide applicants are required to do well on a multiple choice registration quiz with questions such as 'what is the normal term for a U.S. Senator?' Applicants can use any resources (the internet) they want to complete the registration quiz, but there is a ten minute time limit to answer the twenty questions. They also administer a timed typing test. Once ChaCha guide applicants pass the registration quiz(zes), they are invited to become ChaCha guides.
In the past, to become a ChaCha guide you needed to be invited, however, now they are taking anyone who passes their simulation. To apply click here. Prior to passing the simulation, ChaCha guide applicants are required to do well on a multiple choice registration quiz with questions such as 'what is the normal term for a U.S. Senator?' Applicants can use any resources (the internet) they want to complete the registration quiz, but there is a ten minute time limit to answer the twenty questions. They also administer a timed typing test. Once ChaCha guide applicants pass the registration quiz(zes), they are invited to become ChaCha guides.
Training and Testing
Meet those accuracy standards
After receiving the invitation, you must register with ChaCha and fill out a W-9 so they can pay you. Once you register, you must review resource material about ChaCha and how to use their search engine and dashboard modules. These training resources prepare you for the simulation that ChaCha requires you to pass to become a paid guide. The ChaCha simulation consists of ten questions you must answer with an 80% accuracy rating. In addition, the training resources give you the ChaCha answer guidelines. These guidelines include: not using sites like Wikipedia and Yahoo answers as source websites. You are allowed to use them, but not to cite them as your authoritative source. Of course profanity is not allowed, and neither is 'chat talk' such as lol and emoticons or smileys. The ChaCha training materials also offer videos showing how their dashboard works so that guides are not surprised during the simulation.
Here are two examples of simulation questions: "What was Charlie Brown's dad's occupation?"
"What are MF Doom's aliases?"
ChaCha does not set a time limit for guides to answer the simulation questions, but in their resource material they say that queries will be transferred to other ChaCha guides after ten minutes and most queries should be completed within three minutes. In order to help ChaCha guides answer queries faster, ChaCha has set up a quick links section with categories such as 'people, music, local, etc.' Using these, the ChaCha guide can quickly search for the answer to a question. Another cool tool ChaCha has is a recent queries list. When a ChaCha guide accepts a query, they have the ability to look at that person's recent queries in order to put the current query in context. For example, John22 has a query "what inning is the game in?" The ChaCha guide can look at his previous queries to see that he has asked about the Boston vs. Angels baseball game and can then answer the question appropriately.
Another tactic ChaCha uses to help its guides leave no query unanswered is to encourage friendly lighthearted answers to obviously unsearchable questions such as 'what are you wearing?' Answer: 'A white t-shirt and jeans. It's my favorite thing to wear! ChaCha again!' Guides are asked to give more than is required to complete their answer within a 160 character limit.
Once you have completed the simulation you will be sent an email either inviting you to come on board as a ChaCha guide, or letting you know that you did not do as well as you needed to be accepted as a ChaCha guide. At this time they are not allowing people to retake the simulation.
Once you have been accepted, you simply log in and make yourself available. Queries will come in. Most of the time the queries came in back-to-back. Once I had completed a query, the next one came right in. However, sometimes I would immediately click on the 'answer this query' button only to see the message 'another guide is already responding to this query.' So it appears that queries are sent to multiple ChaCha guides, and whoever answers first, gets paid.
Here are two examples of simulation questions: "What was Charlie Brown's dad's occupation?"
"What are MF Doom's aliases?"
ChaCha does not set a time limit for guides to answer the simulation questions, but in their resource material they say that queries will be transferred to other ChaCha guides after ten minutes and most queries should be completed within three minutes. In order to help ChaCha guides answer queries faster, ChaCha has set up a quick links section with categories such as 'people, music, local, etc.' Using these, the ChaCha guide can quickly search for the answer to a question. Another cool tool ChaCha has is a recent queries list. When a ChaCha guide accepts a query, they have the ability to look at that person's recent queries in order to put the current query in context. For example, John22 has a query "what inning is the game in?" The ChaCha guide can look at his previous queries to see that he has asked about the Boston vs. Angels baseball game and can then answer the question appropriately.
Another tactic ChaCha uses to help its guides leave no query unanswered is to encourage friendly lighthearted answers to obviously unsearchable questions such as 'what are you wearing?' Answer: 'A white t-shirt and jeans. It's my favorite thing to wear! ChaCha again!' Guides are asked to give more than is required to complete their answer within a 160 character limit.
Once you have completed the simulation you will be sent an email either inviting you to come on board as a ChaCha guide, or letting you know that you did not do as well as you needed to be accepted as a ChaCha guide. At this time they are not allowing people to retake the simulation.
Once you have been accepted, you simply log in and make yourself available. Queries will come in. Most of the time the queries came in back-to-back. Once I had completed a query, the next one came right in. However, sometimes I would immediately click on the 'answer this query' button only to see the message 'another guide is already responding to this query.' So it appears that queries are sent to multiple ChaCha guides, and whoever answers first, gets paid.
Earning Potential
Money, money, money
Oh yes, the pay. It is currently 15 cents per query for the first two weeks you work as a ChaCha guide, and then the pay goes up to 20 cents. ChaCha guides can opt to be paid monthly once earnings reach in excess of $100 or you can choose the pay me now option. If you choose the pay me now option, you are issued a debit card and have instant access to your earnings, but there are a couple of catches to this instant cash method. Find out about them here at my other lens. As a ChaCha guide I averaged a completed response every 2 - 3 minutes. Assuming I received back-to-back queries and responded in a lightning fast 2 minutes, that is 30 queries or six dollars an hour. I would need to work lightning fast for about 17 hours to make $100 dollars. News!
Less Money
As of 8/4/08 the pay rate changed. Guides who complete 300 queries per week with a 95% accuracy rating receive 20 cents a query, and all other guides receive 10 cents per query. Lots of work for a little bit of change!
UPDATED INFORMATION below. Thanks, Karen.
UPDATED INFORMATION below. Thanks, Karen.
More News @ ChaCha
A little give and take
On 8/12/08 ChaCha announced that they were listening to their guides and were going to make some changes to the changes. Here's what they did, they lowered the expectation of 300 completed queries to 200 completed queries per week for guides to obtain the Top Guide pay rate of 20 cents per query. All guides who miss Top Guide benchmarks will still receive 10 cents per query. They have promised to make the accuracy rating system transparent so that guides know what they should be striving for. Also, they have announced a new job that will be opening up called an Expeditor (sic) which will allow those who just want to log in for a little while here and there to make an average of $4-7 an hour in a fast paced environment doing exactly what, they haven't said yet.
They have also promised upgrades to the system so that guides don't miss the benchmarks due to ChaCha technical difficulties. AND guides who achieve Top Guide status for three weeks in a row will be allowed a break to do less than 200 queries that fourth week and still maintain the 20 cents per query pay rate. Let's see if this quiets the guide uproar over there at ChaCha.
THIS INFORMATION should be trumped by Karen's post (I quoted it in the updated advice section.) Since she currently works there, I think she knows what she's talking about.
They have also promised upgrades to the system so that guides don't miss the benchmarks due to ChaCha technical difficulties. AND guides who achieve Top Guide status for three weeks in a row will be allowed a break to do less than 200 queries that fourth week and still maintain the 20 cents per query pay rate. Let's see if this quiets the guide uproar over there at ChaCha.
THIS INFORMATION should be trumped by Karen's post (I quoted it in the updated advice section.) Since she currently works there, I think she knows what she's talking about.
Keep The Good Guides
Bonuses, Freebies, Prizes
ChaCha, in an effort to reward the guides who still show up for work, have been doing several GREAT things. They have been sending out "high volume alert" emails to guides when the queries start rolling in. They have also begun giving incentives to guides to log in and be actively working.
What are the incentives? MONEY. Emails are sent out with instructions like this: "Starting at 8:30pm and going to 3:00am Eastern we're adding TWO more "Hot Minutes"! One " Hot Minute" will be worth $250 and the other will be worth $500! All you have to do to win is be online and accepting searches!" Guides who have accepted searches within the five minutes surrounding the mystery hot minute are put into a random drawing and one guide wins. Most of the Hot minutes are worth $20 and others are worth $100. Either way, that's a heck of an incentive. I think I'll log on right now! Thanks ChaCha!
UPDATE: I'm not sure if ChaCha is still offering the incentives as of 2010. I'll do some digging to see if I can find the answer to that question.
What are the incentives? MONEY. Emails are sent out with instructions like this: "Starting at 8:30pm and going to 3:00am Eastern we're adding TWO more "Hot Minutes"! One " Hot Minute" will be worth $250 and the other will be worth $500! All you have to do to win is be online and accepting searches!" Guides who have accepted searches within the five minutes surrounding the mystery hot minute are put into a random drawing and one guide wins. Most of the Hot minutes are worth $20 and others are worth $100. Either way, that's a heck of an incentive. I think I'll log on right now! Thanks ChaCha!
UPDATE: I'm not sure if ChaCha is still offering the incentives as of 2010. I'll do some digging to see if I can find the answer to that question.
THE EXPEDITOR
I'll be back...
Finally ChaCha has unveiled the Expeditor position. I have been invited to test for it, and of course I'll detail my experience here for you as soon as I do. In the meantime here is ChaCha's description of the Expeditor role:
"The Expeditor role is a good fit for Guides who need maximum flexibility and who love fast-paced work.
Expeditors are like the Air Traffic Controllers of the ChaCha world. It's your speedy, savvy work that keeps the questions flying in swift, orderly fashion to the right places. At times, you'll even intercept questions yourself and provide an instant answer to the customer.
As an Expeditor, you sit at the crux of the system, converting all incoming questions into a standard form, determining if answers already exist, and categorizing the questions so they're routed to the best available Guides. We think the Expeditor role is a perfect fit for Guides who prefer a more systematic set of tasks.
What's required? Strong grammar and spelling, excellent general knowledge, fast typing, quick decision-making, and strong reasoning ability.
You might make a great Expeditor if you:
... like solving puzzles (crossword, sudoku, jigsaw), Spelling Bees, Trivial Pursuit,
... like organizing things, putting everything into the right box, keeping your inbox tidy
... like playing games like Civilization, SimCity, Command and Conquer, Total Annihilation
... are fascinated by internet indexes, card catalogs, and methods of organizing data
... like the top-level view best - where you can see the farthest
... think you'd make a good Air Traffic Controller, Librarian, or Career Counselor
... enjoy seeing the amazing variety of questions people ask ChaCha
The Expeditor
The Expeditor performs a more systematic and defined set of tasks than a Generalist/Specialist. We compare Expeditors to Air traffic Controllers because their work keeps everything moving smoothly. Expeditors don't search for answers, they help identify who should do the searching by correctly formatting and categorizing each question.
Expeditor Duties
* Converting questions into a standard form
* Determining if an answer already exists
* Categorizing questions to route them to the best available Guide
* Providing direct responses for certain question types
Expeditor Skills
* Strong grammar and spelling
* Excellent general knowledge
* Fast typing
* Quick decision-making
* Strong reasoning ability
Expeditor Compensation
Expeditors do many more transactions than a Generalist or Specialist. Expeditors are paid a $.02 base rate with a $.01 quality incentive. This quality incentive will be automatically paid out to all Expeditors at least the first 30 days while they learn the system. Pay averages between $4 - $7 per hr."
THE CATCH: You cannot be an Expeditor AND a general query guide. You must choose one or the other. Once you change roles, you cannot change back for 30 days.
Well, I wonder if Expeditor's will be eligible to receive those wonderful monetary incentives?
"The Expeditor role is a good fit for Guides who need maximum flexibility and who love fast-paced work.
Expeditors are like the Air Traffic Controllers of the ChaCha world. It's your speedy, savvy work that keeps the questions flying in swift, orderly fashion to the right places. At times, you'll even intercept questions yourself and provide an instant answer to the customer.
As an Expeditor, you sit at the crux of the system, converting all incoming questions into a standard form, determining if answers already exist, and categorizing the questions so they're routed to the best available Guides. We think the Expeditor role is a perfect fit for Guides who prefer a more systematic set of tasks.
What's required? Strong grammar and spelling, excellent general knowledge, fast typing, quick decision-making, and strong reasoning ability.
You might make a great Expeditor if you:
... like solving puzzles (crossword, sudoku, jigsaw), Spelling Bees, Trivial Pursuit,
... like organizing things, putting everything into the right box, keeping your inbox tidy
... like playing games like Civilization, SimCity, Command and Conquer, Total Annihilation
... are fascinated by internet indexes, card catalogs, and methods of organizing data
... like the top-level view best - where you can see the farthest
... think you'd make a good Air Traffic Controller, Librarian, or Career Counselor
... enjoy seeing the amazing variety of questions people ask ChaCha
The Expeditor
The Expeditor performs a more systematic and defined set of tasks than a Generalist/Specialist. We compare Expeditors to Air traffic Controllers because their work keeps everything moving smoothly. Expeditors don't search for answers, they help identify who should do the searching by correctly formatting and categorizing each question.
Expeditor Duties
* Converting questions into a standard form
* Determining if an answer already exists
* Categorizing questions to route them to the best available Guide
* Providing direct responses for certain question types
Expeditor Skills
* Strong grammar and spelling
* Excellent general knowledge
* Fast typing
* Quick decision-making
* Strong reasoning ability
Expeditor Compensation
Expeditors do many more transactions than a Generalist or Specialist. Expeditors are paid a $.02 base rate with a $.01 quality incentive. This quality incentive will be automatically paid out to all Expeditors at least the first 30 days while they learn the system. Pay averages between $4 - $7 per hr."
THE CATCH: You cannot be an Expeditor AND a general query guide. You must choose one or the other. Once you change roles, you cannot change back for 30 days.
Well, I wonder if Expeditor's will be eligible to receive those wonderful monetary incentives?
Expedite What?
Beta bombs...
To answer my last question, yes! Chacha is offering monetary incentives for Expeditor Guides.
I received the 'come test to be an Expeditor' email on Saturday. Chacha advised in the email that although there is a 30 day waiting period to change from regular guide to Expeditor guide, that requirement would be waived for those who test by Tuesday. Also, the Expeditor Training 'Universe' would be down for three hours in the mornings for upgrades. So now I had to get in there and test soon.
Chacha provided more training materials such as video of how the Expeditor interface works and how it should work when things are running smoothly. There is also a taxonomy chart which shows Expeditors how to classify questions. There is a new Chacha toolbar which my browser would not download. I really think there is a Chacha problem with this since I followed tech support's directions and it still won't download in the training universe, but, anywho, it did not affect my Expeditor training.
I tried to test Sunday, but, beta bugs would not let some necessary fields in the Expeditor Universe populate which meant my responses could not be sent. After three questions were cancelled because I took too long to answer due to the fields not populating, I logged out of the test. I would guess that Expeditors have approximately 2 minutes to complete each question.
What exactly do you do? You take the question, succinct it -- break it down to its simplest parts. Categorize it into Chacha ready made categories (i.e. for a movie question the category would be Arts & Entertainment/movies.) Decide if it is local in nature (like the weather or another location specific question.) Then you send it to a guide to answer. I'm told that questions may already have answers in the system, in which case the same systematic answer is applied to that query and no guide receives it. Very easy work.
I tried again on Monday to complete the 10 query minimum in the Expeditor training universe, but had the same technical problems. Finally, on Tuesday I completed the 10 queries, and later that day I was invited to be an Expeditor. The Catch -- I had to make a decision within 24 hours whether I wanted to expedite or search. I chose to expedite since it is new.
I still haven't been able to download the new toolbar, but that may just be me, since I have not searched the Chacha Knowledge Base or Forums to see if this is a widespread issue.
I read something about Chacha today that really concerns me.
I received the 'come test to be an Expeditor' email on Saturday. Chacha advised in the email that although there is a 30 day waiting period to change from regular guide to Expeditor guide, that requirement would be waived for those who test by Tuesday. Also, the Expeditor Training 'Universe' would be down for three hours in the mornings for upgrades. So now I had to get in there and test soon.
Chacha provided more training materials such as video of how the Expeditor interface works and how it should work when things are running smoothly. There is also a taxonomy chart which shows Expeditors how to classify questions. There is a new Chacha toolbar which my browser would not download. I really think there is a Chacha problem with this since I followed tech support's directions and it still won't download in the training universe, but, anywho, it did not affect my Expeditor training.
I tried to test Sunday, but, beta bugs would not let some necessary fields in the Expeditor Universe populate which meant my responses could not be sent. After three questions were cancelled because I took too long to answer due to the fields not populating, I logged out of the test. I would guess that Expeditors have approximately 2 minutes to complete each question.
What exactly do you do? You take the question, succinct it -- break it down to its simplest parts. Categorize it into Chacha ready made categories (i.e. for a movie question the category would be Arts & Entertainment/movies.) Decide if it is local in nature (like the weather or another location specific question.) Then you send it to a guide to answer. I'm told that questions may already have answers in the system, in which case the same systematic answer is applied to that query and no guide receives it. Very easy work.
I tried again on Monday to complete the 10 query minimum in the Expeditor training universe, but had the same technical problems. Finally, on Tuesday I completed the 10 queries, and later that day I was invited to be an Expeditor. The Catch -- I had to make a decision within 24 hours whether I wanted to expedite or search. I chose to expedite since it is new.
I still haven't been able to download the new toolbar, but that may just be me, since I have not searched the Chacha Knowledge Base or Forums to see if this is a widespread issue.
I read something about Chacha today that really concerns me.
ChaCha Scam?
Smell's Fishy to Me
I talked about the pay me now way to get paid from ChaCha. Well, I hate those ATM fees, transaction fees, etc. I go out of my way to avoid them because I don't have money to just give away. In this case, it seems that my $2.00 pay me now fee is going straight to ChaCha and some unknown bank beneficiary. This article explains more: http://www.jimimorrisonshead.com/2007/04/13/chacha-pay-lies-and-scams-pay-me-now-fees-scam/
ChaCha now offers no fee direct deposit once a month. Nice.
ChaCha now offers no fee direct deposit once a month. Nice.
In a Nutshell
Should I, or Should I Not?
Whether you should become a ChaCha guide or not is up to you. It does work but it takes a lot of time. If you are dead broke with $0, it might not be a bad idea to be a ChaCha guide for a few weeks until you can afford getting into a better program.
Despite the fact that being a ChaCha guide is not the greatest way to make money online, it still deserves a few stars for actually working. Also, it is hugely flexible since there are no schedules or set times that you must work. However, many users of ChaCha have resorted to attempting to find the most obscure and unsearchable things to query ChaCha guides about.
ChaCha is a great casual moneymaker, but you're likely not going to be able to make a living wage doing it.
Despite the fact that being a ChaCha guide is not the greatest way to make money online, it still deserves a few stars for actually working. Also, it is hugely flexible since there are no schedules or set times that you must work. However, many users of ChaCha have resorted to attempting to find the most obscure and unsearchable things to query ChaCha guides about.
ChaCha is a great casual moneymaker, but you're likely not going to be able to make a living wage doing it.
Advice -- Updated
Try it yourself
I have received many more comments regarding the pay potential of Cha Cha, I'm putting Karen's first, and the more recent comments after. You will need to make up your own mind. Here is the comment from a current guide, Karen. She provided us with updated information on ChaCha's pay scale and how it works. Be sure to check out the comments after hers because I have gotten even newer information recently that seems to make working at ChaCha not worth the effort.
"Karen Rhodes Jun 28, 2010 @ 3:35 pm
To start with pay is based on your guide position and your choice of compensation.
You have the option to work cash or points.
Cash payment: Expediters get .02 per query. Transcribers .03 per query and Generalist/Specialists .10 to .20 per query. Average pay across all positions is $3-$5 per hour with some making more and some making less.
Points: Expediters get 2 points per query. Transcribers 2 points and Generalists/Specialist 8 points. The scale currently runs from .005 to .007 per point with the top earners getting double the compensation. It's a gamble and works for those who like to gamble.
If you chose to get paid via direct deposit into your checking account each month there is no fee to do so. If you have accumulated $150 then it's done automatically.
If you choose to get paid when you feel like it you get a debit card with First Internet Bank and there is a $2 charge each time you pay yourself.
You wont make a fortune but it's easy money and you can log on anytime and any place you want too. Once you get the hang of it you can work and hour or two a day and make the $150 minimum pay me monthly amount."
"Don't lie to get referrals to win the bonus! May 19, 2011 @ 3:31 am
I personally know that ChaCha is not hiring right now and they moved roles around so that the first tier pays only a half a cent per question.. 0.005 a question. Great guides are STRUGGLING to make 2 dollars an hour at this rate . Think about it half a cent translates to 100 questions for a whopping 0.50 cents!! If your fast you can answer 400 questions an hour you can get that high dollar $2 an hour.. The next role gets about .01.. The next up gets 0.02 a question.. 2 cents.. the next one up is the .10 to .15 to .20 but they do not let people up there very easy. It is funny that the role that pays a half a cents is always busy and the other roles have cut traffic in half... Everyone gets a bonus for referrals and can even win the monthly referral bonus.. I wanted to make sure they had fact before they even attempted to sign up.."
"Facts! May 19, 2011 @ 3:58 am
Speaking of the facts . Let everyone know that the 3-5 an hour are top contributors that are very fast and are on ALOT to get their stats up. Another fact... The level that gets paid according to categories is the top two levels not the 0.005, or the 0.02 or the 0.03 question levels. They do not get variations for their hourly. Actually the break down of the points above and prices were right on... You are sorry people got lied to but they should respect ChAcHA , because ????? Is lying to people respectable? If people are getting lied to does this not mean that people HAVE to lie to get people to sign up. Red flag! Yeah you can work anytime you want, except the dead hours where you can not even get 20 questions an hour... and you can wear your jammies.... So can people that own their own businesses that operate online and half the people on eBay that make more in one auction that most of the roles hourly at cHaCHa.. :0) I love how you were telling people not to blast a sight and get their facts straight, when the report listed more than accurate information on roles and pay scales."
"ChaCha lies Nov 13, 2010 @ 8:07 am
I just read this article, it claimed that the pay "is currently 15 cents per query for the first two weeks you work as a ChaCha guide, and then the pay goes up to 20 cents." This is a LIE. It used to be this, but it's now about $0.05 per question. You can't even answer 10 questions an hour with the huge amount of people working there."
"Former ChaCha-er Nov 13, 2010 @ 8:04 am
ChaCha isn't a scam, but it's not an easy way to make money. You work VERY long hours for VERY little pay ($1-$2 an hour). They used to pay a decent amount and you could make enough to pay your rent, but now you may make enough in a month to go out to dinner and a movie. It's definitely not a wage you can live on. The amount of questions you get is ridiculously low, and you can sit there for an hour without a question. The people that "grade" your answers are complete morons (questions get randomly selected and graded).
If you sign up, you may make SOME money, but not very much AT ALL. Take a part time job instead."
"Karen Rhodes Jun 28, 2010 @ 3:35 pm
To start with pay is based on your guide position and your choice of compensation.
You have the option to work cash or points.
Cash payment: Expediters get .02 per query. Transcribers .03 per query and Generalist/Specialists .10 to .20 per query. Average pay across all positions is $3-$5 per hour with some making more and some making less.
Points: Expediters get 2 points per query. Transcribers 2 points and Generalists/Specialist 8 points. The scale currently runs from .005 to .007 per point with the top earners getting double the compensation. It's a gamble and works for those who like to gamble.
If you chose to get paid via direct deposit into your checking account each month there is no fee to do so. If you have accumulated $150 then it's done automatically.
If you choose to get paid when you feel like it you get a debit card with First Internet Bank and there is a $2 charge each time you pay yourself.
You wont make a fortune but it's easy money and you can log on anytime and any place you want too. Once you get the hang of it you can work and hour or two a day and make the $150 minimum pay me monthly amount."
"Don't lie to get referrals to win the bonus! May 19, 2011 @ 3:31 am
I personally know that ChaCha is not hiring right now and they moved roles around so that the first tier pays only a half a cent per question.. 0.005 a question. Great guides are STRUGGLING to make 2 dollars an hour at this rate . Think about it half a cent translates to 100 questions for a whopping 0.50 cents!! If your fast you can answer 400 questions an hour you can get that high dollar $2 an hour.. The next role gets about .01.. The next up gets 0.02 a question.. 2 cents.. the next one up is the .10 to .15 to .20 but they do not let people up there very easy. It is funny that the role that pays a half a cents is always busy and the other roles have cut traffic in half... Everyone gets a bonus for referrals and can even win the monthly referral bonus.. I wanted to make sure they had fact before they even attempted to sign up.."
"Facts! May 19, 2011 @ 3:58 am
Speaking of the facts . Let everyone know that the 3-5 an hour are top contributors that are very fast and are on ALOT to get their stats up. Another fact... The level that gets paid according to categories is the top two levels not the 0.005, or the 0.02 or the 0.03 question levels. They do not get variations for their hourly. Actually the break down of the points above and prices were right on... You are sorry people got lied to but they should respect ChAcHA , because ????? Is lying to people respectable? If people are getting lied to does this not mean that people HAVE to lie to get people to sign up. Red flag! Yeah you can work anytime you want, except the dead hours where you can not even get 20 questions an hour... and you can wear your jammies.... So can people that own their own businesses that operate online and half the people on eBay that make more in one auction that most of the roles hourly at cHaCHa.. :0) I love how you were telling people not to blast a sight and get their facts straight, when the report listed more than accurate information on roles and pay scales."
"ChaCha lies Nov 13, 2010 @ 8:07 am
I just read this article, it claimed that the pay "is currently 15 cents per query for the first two weeks you work as a ChaCha guide, and then the pay goes up to 20 cents." This is a LIE. It used to be this, but it's now about $0.05 per question. You can't even answer 10 questions an hour with the huge amount of people working there."
"Former ChaCha-er Nov 13, 2010 @ 8:04 am
ChaCha isn't a scam, but it's not an easy way to make money. You work VERY long hours for VERY little pay ($1-$2 an hour). They used to pay a decent amount and you could make enough to pay your rent, but now you may make enough in a month to go out to dinner and a movie. It's definitely not a wage you can live on. The amount of questions you get is ridiculously low, and you can sit there for an hour without a question. The people that "grade" your answers are complete morons (questions get randomly selected and graded).
If you sign up, you may make SOME money, but not very much AT ALL. Take a part time job instead."
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- A short article on what stock brokers do.
- Capital Gains
- A short article on what capital gains are and why they are important if you invest in stocks, mutual funds, and even a retirement account.
What do you think of my ChaCha Guide Review?
Please leave some feedback
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GregCunningham
May 2, 2012 @ 12:05 pm | delete
- Good review. After reading this, I don't think it is for me. Thanks for helping me make up my mind.
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Cameron
Apr 4, 2012 @ 12:58 am | delete
- Join using my referral email lffirefighter@yahoo.com. Look forward to seeing new faces on my team.
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JessieChacha
Mar 4, 2012 @ 4:09 pm | delete
- The current pay is only $.01 per question. I can only answer about 45 questions in an hour. They offer contests that say if you answer 95% of (for example) 400 questions within the given timeframe, you'll win a share of $400. Sounds good right? Well, it takes about 10 hours to answer 400 questions. Still doesn't sound bad for $400, except there's that whole "share" word in there. I've put in my 10 hours and answered the 400 questions at 95% and I only got about $8. Totally not worth doing. That said, if you're bored and just want to make some pennies answering questions, it is fun . . . but it definitely isn't a job. I friend told me she had a friend making money this way. She must have been doing it, when it was $.20 a question. I'll be getting the Chacha debit card, and loosing the $2 so that I can use the $10 and change I've earned so far. But I'm not wasting my time answering any more questions.
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shawn
Mar 9, 2012 @ 1:02 am | delete
- Wrong you are talking about vetter and they do make 1 cent a question answered and na is nothing but for contest but i answer about 200 questions a hour review all the materials before talking about a decent company. This is money you wouldnt have before its better then nothing I make 2 dollars a hour and with contest I make more then that a hour. You scan threw the questions look at the answers find a suitable answer if nothing you hit NA if gerbish you hit claify how hard is that? review all training materials. Its not much but better then nothing if you dont like the payme now option that takes 2 dollars out of the amount use monthly to your checking account for free and pays on 15th
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LAJ
Feb 14, 2012 @ 2:13 pm | delete
- This was extremely helpful in deciding whether i wanted to become a guide or not. All i need is a little extra cash each month, and have lots of time. sounds perfect!
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MeMyselfandI
Feb 12, 2012 @ 5:53 am | delete
- I am right on the same page with ThatOneKid. I started doing the ChaCha because i was told over and over it was "a faced paced enviroment". So i really believed i could get asked and answer 20 questions a minute to make a decent amount of money. But instead i have to spend hours at my computer to answer 400 questions for $2.00. Its frustrating and i just want to shake my fist at ChaCha and scream. But I too receive several questions a night from really young kids with real problems they can't talk to their parents about. Looking through the list of "suggested answers" from other guides is heartbreaking to say the least. They don't even care what advice they are giving these kids. I for one think "if this was my kid what advice would i want them to be getting?" I don't do it for the money. In fact i still haven't set up my payment plan. I do it for these young, lost, hurting kids who are getting all the wrong answers from all the wrong people.
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iwillneverbreakmybackforplasticpennys
Feb 11, 2012 @ 3:15 pm | delete
- dude why would you support a company like cha cha, this reminds me of the kirby vacuume cleaner scheme trying to get young dumb people to show off their product, break there back doing all the work and when theres a sale, somthing comes up where your not alound to have any money. legally its not a scam. but officially it is.
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Anonymous1
Dec 8, 2011 @ 3:21 pm | delete
- I worked for ChaCha for a week and couldnt stand it. Long hours and low pay. As a vetter, I got paid $0.01 per answered question. I asked them to cancel my account 2 weeks ago and now they have canceled my account but have not paid me for the hours I worked. I will be reporting them to the Better Business Bureau.
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ThatOneKid
Dec 5, 2011 @ 7:27 am | delete
- So, I've been working for ChaCha for, three or four days, four hours a sitting, maybe three or four sittings, normally through the night. I have 5 bucks now in my earnings. A little sad maybe but considering I pretty much do the same thing for free anyways I don't see it as too bad. I won't do it for too long. It's just a temp baby job between classes and payments from financial aid so I can do things like order a coke when I go with my friends to a restaurant.
The pay is lousy. The work is tedious. The questions sometimes are heartbreaking. I got a question from a 14 year old girl (she said) saying she was pregnant and didn't know what to do. I like to think I have thick skin, but I have to admit after an hour and a half of answering questions I'm tired and a bit depressed. Not only is it that most of the people texting in are probably still babies in my view, but you have to bounce between legit questions about facts, to kids not knowing what to do with real problems, to people wanting to sext with you, to someone angry because the last seven people sent blank responses just so they could get that penny for hitting send. When I joined I was under the impression people would be at least trying to answer questions, and being far less rude, because there were courses I had to 'take' and a test I could have allegedly failed. I can't believe I, a smart individual who actually cares about people, could have failed that test.
This job isn't for most. I wish few would take it, not for the pay decreasing but for the service itself. I will never make 3 bucks an hour, and I know it. I do jump through hoops to answer questions for these people, and I even do my best to apologize to the angry and smile, figuratively, at the disgusting and perverted. I don't do this for the 1 cent I make per question (or half cent, whatever). I don't do it because it makes me feel special or because I think I'm going to get anything special from it. And I do it knowing I could be "let go" without pay at any second for no reason (even for this post). I realized though, as I ChaCha'd away while reading this and the comments on it, that I'm gonna keep doing it, for the 14 year old girls (and boys) who text in needing advice and information about what they can do about things they can't ask anyone else about.
Call me a bleeding heart.
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Beatleslover
Dec 7, 2011 @ 8:09 pm | delete
- Kudos to you, you sound like an amazing person. I'm glad you're able to take such a sucky pay and grumpy people just to help someone having a bad day. Too bad more people can't be like you, eh?
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