Are You Doing the ChaCha?
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No, I’m not talking about ballroom dancing. I’m talking about text messaging ChaCha (242242) or calling 800-2ChaCha the human-powered search and answer service. ChaCha is a free service where live people answer your questions 24 hours a day 7 days a week. I bet your wondering why you would need to use a service like this. Let me give you an example.
Say you want to know the hours a restaurant is open but you don’t know the number to call and ask and you don’t have access to the internet. If you text ChaCha and ask them a question like: “What are the hours for (restaurant name) in (city & state)?”, a guide will then search for the answer to your question and reply with the answer. When submitting a geo-specific question to ChaCha you should include key identifiers like the city and state name or zip code. If it is a large city with multiple locations you may want to include the cross streets to help the guide provide you with the information your are seeking.
You can text ChaCha a question about almost anything. Just give them a try, I bet you are not the first to ask that type of question. Keep in mind though that their Terms of Service do restrict some adult-oriented questions.
If you’re bored ask ChaCha to tell you a joke, send you trivia, a quote or even a fortune. Honestly the guides have been asked a plethora of questions from one end of the spectrum to the other. Trust me, I know as I am a guide for ChaCha.
I call being a guide for ChaCha my work at home job that I only have to do if I want to. Seriously, I’m not lying one bit. I log in and perform searches only if and when I want to. I get paid per search performed, which means that I can log in for as little or as long as I want. I can stop and come back as I am able, think of it like being your own boss and you decide if and when you’ll work. While I won’t get rich being a guide it does help me feel like I am contributing to my family and it is a great way for a Stay-at-Home Mom to help supplement her families income. ChaCha is currently accepting applications for new guides and if you are interested in learning more about becoming a guide feel free to email me. I’d be happy to answer any questions you may have as well as invite you to join my team by being your referral. I have many helpful tips of the trade that I am more than happy to share with members of my team.
So now that you know that you have the power to ask someone practically anything at the tips of your thumbs are you going to get out there and do the ChaCha?
{Back in October,2008, we first introduced you to Cha Cha as a means for earning some extra cash. In January of 2009, I received a quick email from reader Karen about Cha Cha:
“Just wanted to say thanks for your info on “ChaCha” awhile back……I joined them and in Nov and Dec I made $600 for maybe 10 hrs/ week. It’s working out excellent for me!!”
Now that they are once again accepting applications, now is the time to sign up before they close the offer again!!}
ChaCha is OK….I’dgive them about 2 stars as an employer. I am a guide as well and often feel completely undervalued and definitely underpaid. I have been a guide since last summer, and for those of you who don’t know, they recently “put us in charge of our own destiny” (their words) and gave us about a 40% pay DECREASE. If you are a new guide I assume that getting ten cents a question would seem great to you, but for those of us that for months got 20 cents a question, it was a severe slap in the face, especially the way ChaCha HQ approached it, making it sound like this pay decrease was a service to all of us and that we should be so grateful to them. I have barely worked for them since then. I don’t like working for a company that sees only dollar signs, not people.
But hey, if ten cents a question is worth it to you, which averages out to about $3 to $4 an hour depending how quickly (and quickly usually translates to carelessly) you answer the questions and how fast they actually come in, then it can be a fun way to earn some extra cash.
My mother started working for them a few months after I did and finally had to quit doing it because all of the underhanded things ChaCha kept doing to their Guides was making her blood pressure skyrocket. I no longer recommend ChaCha to my friends or family.
HI,I’ve been a chacha agent for two years now, the money comes in handy and i love that i can do it when i feel like it.P.S. I received my nana nut cheerios gift box today,I LOVE IT! Thank you, I needed a new loaf pan as well! That was so nice of you to do! Have a great day! Lynette
I think it’s important that you mention to your readers that the person who made $600 in December was being paid under a different payscale than ChaCha pays now. Now, ChaCha no longer pays 20 cents a query, in fact, most questions are only paid between 10 cents and 15 cents, which was about a 30 to 40% paycut for Guides. I have been a guide since July but haven’t worked for them lately because the paycut made it unfeasible for me to continue giving them the 4 to 5 hours a day I was previously devoting to them.
I just want to reiterate while the pay scale for ChaCha did recently change the potential to make an income with them is still there. It is true that you do determine your destiny with ChaCha. You determine who will be on your team, how much work you will do and what categories you prefer to answer questions in. Additionally it is incorrect to say ChaCha is your employeer as you are not an employee. Guides who work for ChaCha are independent contractors. On a final note the reference to making $.20 per question answered in the past was only for guides who maintained a Top Guide status by performing a certain number of searches per week within a predetermined quality level. I just felt I needed to chime in so you did not feel that I was trying to sugar coat ChaCha.
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I work for ChaCha, and have so since October. I personally think the new system of pay is much better because I got top guide only once. I can make more money now because most of my cats pay .15 or more. It’s awesome!
Is it true that ChaCha no longer pays cash, but points to save for prizes?