About.com?

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NancyP

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This week's most wanted topics include:

Pest Control
Plumbing
OCD
Moroccan Food (please, someone, take this...yum!)
Laundry (this one too...I am in laundry h***)

Best of luck to you!
 

jonquil38

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guides making serious money

More encouraging than discouraging. Thanks for the details.

I have to keep telling myself that those guides don't get to keep all that money. They have to pay taxes on it AND healthcare. If they have helpers for their site, they pay them. If they travel for the site, they pay all of that. I pay for all my cooking ingredients, my internet (ok, I'd have that anyway) etc.

It's like having your own online business, except you have very little outlay at the start; About.com provides the site, the advertising, the software AND they give you some incentive money to produce. So even if I never make 6-figures, it's a fascinating and fantastic opportunity. Some guides started with their own sites: Men's hair, Cooking for Two, etc. They paid for all that themselves.

Jennifer McGavin
germanfood.about.com
 

Sonyareads

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I have to keep telling myself that those guides don't get to keep all that money. They have to pay taxes on it AND healthcare. If they have helpers for their site, they pay them. If they travel for the site, they pay all of that. I pay for all my cooking ingredients, my internet (ok, I'd have that anyway) etc.

It's like having your own online business, except you have very little outlay at the start; About.com provides the site, the advertising, the software AND they give you some incentive money to produce. So even if I never make 6-figures, it's a fascinating and fantastic opportunity. Some guides started with their own sites: Men's hair, Cooking for Two, etc. They paid for all that themselves.

Jennifer McGavin
germanfood.about.com

Yep, but it makes a nice little business expense, and almost, if not all of your expenses can be used as tax deductions.
 
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moth

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The application status tool finally worked for me, and of course it told me my topic was in prep. And just now, after a couple weeks of checking daily, I see my topic is gone from the list. :(

Oh well.
 

Sonyareads

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Yep, one of my topics is gone too. Although I did see they added a few more, one of which interested me a great deal, so I went ahead and applied for that one. Who knows? Maybe getting in there early will give me a leg up:)

I really want to write for About.com. I don't have the writing experience that others have, but I write well (or so I've been told), and I have a lot of knowledge and resources for the topics I've applied for. I know something will fit me. I keep trying anyway, lol.
 

K. Marshall

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I think I give up. I'd love to write for About, but I don't think it will ever happen for me. I will still keep up with this thread though. I get excited when I see people here get in. It makes me happy that people I "know" get great gigs. :)
 

rljude

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Journalism

Has anyone applied for the Journalism topic or know how long it has been available?

Thanks,
Rosa
 

moth

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Maybe getting in there early will give me a leg up:)
I bet it will. :)

I really want to write for About.com. I don't have the writing experience that others have, but I write well (or so I've been told), and I have a lot of knowledge and resources for the topics I've applied for. I know something will fit me. I keep trying anyway, lol.
I'm going to keep trying too, but until they have another topic I'm qualified for I have to wait, and pursue other things too. :tongue

I think I give up. I'd love to write for About, but I don't think it will ever happen for me. I will still keep up with this thread though. I get excited when I see people here get in. It makes me happy that people I "know" get great gigs. :)
:Hug2: :Hug2: I know how you feel on both counts. Almost all of my passions/career topics are already taken, and I don't know whether another one I'd be qualified for will show up. But I love seeing other AWers get accepted! :D

Has anyone applied for the Journalism topic or know how long it has been available?
I've been checking daily for the last few weeks, and I'm pretty sure it's been there the whole time, but I don't know exactly how long.

Does anyone know, can we suggest topics to them? If so, how would we go about doing that? I remember seeing something about suggesting a topic somewhere else in the thread but I don't remember if/how that was discussed.
 

herdon

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I watched the list for a year before something that fit my interests and experience showed up. My advice is to just hang in there and keep working the system.
 

jonquil38

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topics

Does anyone know, can we suggest topics to them? If so, how would we go about doing that? I remember seeing something about suggesting a topic somewhere else in the thread but I don't remember if/how that was discussed.

By all means, you can suggest a topic. It's somewhere on the beaguide page. I would have a little proposal with statistics (how many people use similar sites or are adherents of underwater basket weaving), etc. I proposed one site, it didn't even get a email reply, but another site I proposed did elicit an email from the editors that they will consider it and if it gets added, it will be several months before they start hiring (prep).

Jennifer
 

NancyP

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Here's a list of About.com's "Most Wanted" for this week:

Stamps
Laundry
All My Children Fans
Pest Control
Plumbing

Of course, there are many more topics available.

Good luck!
 

moth

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By all means, you can suggest a topic. It's somewhere on the beaguide page. I would have a little proposal with statistics (how many people use similar sites or are adherents of underwater basket weaving), etc. I proposed one site, it didn't even get a email reply, but another site I proposed did elicit an email from the editors that they will consider it and if it gets added, it will be several months before they start hiring (prep).

Jennifer
Thank you Jennifer! I've looked on the beaguide page for it but haven't found anything. I'll keep looking. Thank you especially for mentioning the proposal to accompany the suggestion and for sharing how they responded to your proposed sites. So helpful! :)
 

kburke247

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After a long wait, I'm going live this week. Friday seems to be the norm.

To all the people who haven't been accepted, don't give up!! I applied on a whim, I haven't written anything since college(over ten years ago) and I'm proof that it can be done. I stumbled on this site seeking advice and information and was ecstatic to learn about all these people with similar stories. I hope my tale can help others as much as others have helped me.

I also got lucky and my topic (lawn care) is my profession. I wouldn't be able to be a guide in any other topic. Anyway, don't give up. My next post will be a link to my site which I hope everyone on here will visit many, many times. LOL.
 

sjohnson

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This week's most wanted topics include:
Pest Control
Plumbing
OCD
Moroccan Food (please, someone, take this...yum!)
Laundry (this one too...I am in laundry h***)

I want someone to apply for the OCD topic 100 times in a row, just to be a smartass. ;)


By all means, you can suggest a topic. It's somewhere on the beaguide page.

I must be blind, or they redesigned it, but I can't find where this is. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
 

Sonyareads

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I want someone to apply for the OCD topic 100 times in a row, just to be a smartass. ;)

That's sooooo funny. At the very least, whoever gets it I'm sure will have the neatest site on About, lol.




I must be blind, or they redesigned it, but I can't find where this is. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Go to the Be a Guide section, look under FAQs, and it is the very last one. It tells you what to do, and gives you a link to the customer care form you need to fill out.
 

Sonyareads

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After a long wait, I'm going live this week. Friday seems to be the norm.

To all the people who haven't been accepted, don't give up!! I applied on a whim, I haven't written anything since college(over ten years ago) and I'm proof that it can be done. I stumbled on this site seeking advice and information and was ecstatic to learn about all these people with similar stories. I hope my tale can help others as much as others have helped me.

I also got lucky and my topic (lawn care) is my profession. I wouldn't be able to be a guide in any other topic. Anyway, don't give up. My next post will be a link to my site which I hope everyone on here will visit many, many times. LOL.

I can't wait to check it out. My lawn need some serious TLC! Got a solution for fire ants and bare red dirt patches?
 

kburke247

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I can't wait to check it out. My lawn need some serious TLC! Got a solution for fire ants and bare red dirt patches?

I'll look into it. You must be in the South no? Fire ants and Southern lawns are something I need to bone up on since I'm in New England.
 

PattiTheWicked

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Not sure if you've checked it out lately, but you might want to. It's pretty well organized, and broken down into easily navigable and understandable categories. The redesigns has really made things easy to use, and apparently several million users each month think so too :)
 

Laurie PK

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I did apply for the Journalism topic -- a couple months ago, I think -- and haven't heard anything. One of our Suite writers recently became an about.com guide, and I veer between being thrilled for her and being absolutely green with envy!

I also keep veering between wishing I could make it to the prep stage of about.com to want to stay with what I'm doing now because I love it (freelancing for mags and writing for my websites, plus a new column in Oct!). But, if I had the opportunity, I'd jump on the chance to try prep..........I actually turned down an about.com prep offer last December, because I decided I wasn't interested in the channel after all (Vancouver city guide). I wonder if that put me on a "black list"?
 

Sonyareads

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I'll look into it. You must be in the South no? Fire ants and Southern lawns are something I need to bone up on since I'm in New England.

Yep:) I live near the gulf coast. Lots and lots of fire ants. It's like we live on an ant hill, lol.
 

herdon

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Here's some info on About.com:

It has an Alexa rank of 85 for today's date. This means Alexa ranks it around the 85th most popular website in the world today. Its rank usually fluctuates between 75 and 150, and is usually around 50 in the U.S.

According to Compete.com, 34.6 million people visit About.com every month. This might seem small compared to Yahoo.com (132 million), but it does outrank CNN (27 million) and the New York Times (13.5 million).

About.com is owned by the New York Times company. Your paychecks (if you choose not to do direct deposit) will come from the New York Times. You can identify yourself as a journalist from "About.com, a New York Times Company" -- being under the New York Times umbrella can help open some doors.

I'm certainly not embarrassed to say I write for them.
 

ehanson

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I actually turned down an about.com prep offer last December, because I decided I wasn't interested in the channel after all (Vancouver city guide). I wonder if that put me on a "black list"?

Don't worry: turning down Prep will never get you blacklisted.
 

kburke247

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Here's some info on About.com:

It has an Alexa rank of 85 for today's date. This means Alexa ranks it around the 85th most popular website in the world today. Its rank usually fluctuates between 75 and 150, and is usually around 50 in the U.S.

According to Compete.com, 34.6 million people visit About.com every month. This might seem small compared to Yahoo.com (132 million), but it does outrank CNN (27 million) and the New York Times (13.5 million).

About.com is owned by the New York Times company. Your paychecks (if you choose not to do direct deposit) will come from the New York Times. You can identify yourself as a journalist from "About.com, a New York Times Company" -- being under the New York Times umbrella can help open some doors.

I'm certainly not embarrassed to say I write for them.


Those are impressive numbers. I pinch myself regularly and am certainly not embarrassed to write for them. Their re-design is top-notch and should only serve to broaden their appeal.
 
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