Working as a Guide for Cha Cha: The Web's Newest Search Engine

Angie V. answers questions about working as a ChaCha Guide, becoming a Guide and life with ChaCha in general.

Tell me us a bit about yourself. Are you married? Do you have kids? How many? Do you have other work at home projects?

Angie V.: I am a 28 year old happily married Stay at Home Mommy of one 2 yr old boy. Staying at home is wonderful as it allows me to actually raise my child, rather than pay someone else to do it. Finding enough money to get us by on one income is hard though, so I make great money on a GPT site called Treasure Trooper and I ChaCha.

How long have you been a ChaCha Guide?

Angie V.: I have been a ChaCha Guide since October 13, 2006

What exactly does a Guide do?

Angie V.: A ChaCha Guide is like the middleman that can connect you with multiple search engines. An Infoseeker tells the Guide what they are looking for, and the Guide then goes through the search engines to find the perfect results to answer the Seeker's question.

How did did you become a Guide?

Angie V.: A girl I met on a forum (I don't remember which one) traded a Moola invite with me for a ChaCha invite.

ChaCha is a startup. Many people think there is no need for a Guided search engine. Speak to that.

Angie V.: I think that there is a niche for a Guided search engine. Some people are good at navigating the web, others are not. Sometimes, it is great to have a fresh perspective at a search that only another person can offer.

Tell me about your typical day with ChaCha?

Angie V.: Well, because I moderate 2 different ChaCha forums, one being the ChaCha sponsered forum, and the other being GuidesHQ.com, currently the largest Guide community, my ChaCha day may be a bit different than the average ChaCha Guides'. I typically log into GuidesHQ to see if another Guide is needing help, or see what the consensus on system status is. I do the same on the ChaCha forum as well. After that I log into the underground to see how my network Guides are doing. THEN, I will log into ChaCha, where I catch the occasional search, which keeping an eye on the forums. I still manage to make $10-$20 a day, even with the time spent elsewhere.

ChaCha seems like a lot of work? Is it worth the money?

Angie V.: I don't view ChaCha as a lot of work. Once you figure it out, and you get on the right track, it is not hard work at all. I think it is definitely worth the money that I have made, almost $800. That is $800 more than I would have had, and all it takes is some time and concentration. No, it is not a get rich quick scheme, by any means. You have to put some mental muscle into it, but it is worth it, by all means.

There are lots of sites dedicated to pranking Guides. That must be frustrating. How do you respond to that?

Angie V.: Prank sites aren't worth my time anymore. I do however think they are great qualiity control on the Guides. It doesn't bother me to be on them, as I do my job the right way.

What is the best thing about being a ChaCha Guide?

Angie V.: The best thing about being a ChaCha Guide would have to be those searches where you really help someone out. An Info Seeker is just stuck, but somehow, magically, I am able to quickly find that information that they spent the last hour looking for. I have to admit though, spending money that I earned is pretty great also. The first thing I purchased was a gift for my husband. I was very proud.

What's the worst?

Angie V.: The worst thing about being a ChaCha Guide would have to be the slow days. As Guides we get paid for active search time, and it seems like the slow days are the day before I have a bill to pay.

What do your family and friends think of ChaCha?

Angie V.: My friends think ChaCha is pretty great. They see how it has helped our family financially, as well as how great the searching process is. My sister in law calls me often to tell me how so and so Guide found her something great!

How does one go about becoming a Guide?

Angie V.: Currently, one must be invited by a master Guide in order to become a ChaCha Guide. I send people who ask to GuidesHQ.com We have public invite forum there, where a prospective Guide can make an invite request. All we ask is that once you become a Guide, you join the community!