About.com Guide Compensation

How much are Guides paid?

Each Guide will sign an agreement that links Guide activity with compensation. A Guide is guaranteed a per-article rate for a contractual maximum number of new articles. During months when conditions meet those of a successfully growing GuideSite, the Guide can earn compensation relative to pageview growth, when that amount is higher than the total compensation based on the per-article rate. This compensation agreement rewards Guides who are entrepreneurial and make strong efforts to grow readership.

What are the terms of the About.com Guide Agreement?

Applicants who are accepted into the evaluation process will have the chance to preview the Guide Agreement terms before starting work. It contains details about compensation, publishing requirements, and copyright licensing.

What are the minimum publishing requirements?

In most cases, Guides will be expected to create eight articles per month. In a small number of cases, when a Guide will be more involved in updating existing content, the minimum number of new articles can be lowered to four. In addition, Guides will be required to write blog posts, moderate user generated content and write a weekly newsletter, among other things. Guides are also responsible for maintaining the GuideSite so that it is current and navigable. These requirements are detailed in the Guide Agreement.

The Legalese

All Guides are independent contractors and shall not be subject to the direction, control, or supervision of About, Inc. ("About.com") regarding time spent or procedures followed in performing services hereunder. However, About.com is the final decision maker in regard to the produced product and reserves the right to request modification and/or modify the product to ensure, among other things, that it complies with quality standards. All Guides are responsible for all tax liabilities emanating from their payments. Guides are not eligible for any benefits from About.com and waive any right to them.

Please note: compensation earned by other Guides is not a guarantee of any kind that any other Guide who meets the minimum expectations will earn that much, or any specific amount. About.com offers this information as a means of sharing with applicants the potential compensation that they may earn. About.com reserves the right to terminate a Guide's engagement and/or change the Guide compensation model at any time for any reason, notwithstanding any information contained in the engagement materials.

I will not become a Guide unless and until I am selected by About, in its sole discretion, and enter into a Guide agreement with About after I complete the application process and Guide Prep program.