Every once in a while, an idea comes along that’s so revolutionary, it makes you stop, scratch your head, and say “now why didn’t I think of that?” Such is the case with the Las Vegas Guardian Express (hereafter referred to as the Guardian.) This online newspaper is not affiliated with the Guardian UK. It is a licensed, trademarked newspaper with the state of Nevada. The Guardian is always hiring writers, has room for advancement, and offers free training and ongoing support. Best of all, you can work from home and make excellent money doing so.
To delve into the nitty gritty of the Guardian, we must first speak about its owner/operators, DiMarkco Chandler and his wife Gricelda. Yes, it’s an online, high-tech, digital mom and pop shop. DiMarkco and Gricelda must play into the discussion because if you sign up as a writer with the Guardian, you will fast become acquainted with them both. They are the at once the backbone, foundation, and inner workings of the Guardian. They work about 20 hours per day and are always available to their writers. What they have built will allow you to make excellent money every month with some elbow grease, hard work and perseverance.
DiMarkco is an entrepreneur. He owns numerous companies, all focused on artists. He began the Guardian as a print paper in Las Vegas, quickly realized there is no money in print anymore, and then moved his operations online. In the beginning, he and his wife were the only writers, sitting at the computer non-stop and watching as their articles began to go viral on Google News. Their first big viral article got about 150,000 hits, and they knew they could expand. They began hiring other writers to join in a profit-sharing program with them, allowing both budding and experienced writers to earn article royalties for life.
But let’s not jump ahead. First, let’s talk about how the Guardian, and many other online entities, make money, and in turn, how you can make money by working for the Guardian. As you may have guessed, the Guardian makes money from advertisers. These advertisers are obtained through a middleman, or ad provider, and they bid on what’s called a CPM basis. CPM means cost per thousand. That translates into a certain dollar amount per one thousand views. The dollar amount the advertisers are willing to pay per one thousand page views varies in real time, because it is a bidding process, but an average range to keep in mind would be .50-$4. To keep things simple, let’s use the example of $1 CPM.
Now, there may be up to five ads on one page, so let’s say one article can yield $5 CPM total. That means, for every one thousand people who read your article, Guardian may make $2.50. The other half goes to the middle man, or ad provider. Out of that $2.50, you will receive a percentage. That percentage is negotiated between you and DiMarkco or one of the senior editors at the time you sign your contract. Again, to keep things simple, let’s say you get 50%. So, you’d be making $1.75 per 1,000 views. Hopefully, you’re beginning to see where the real money is to be made, and that is in writing viral articles; articles that can reach thousands or even millions of views.
To give a real-life example, an article hit 1.1 million views, and the writer made over $1,000 for that one article alone. That is an extreme example, but it’s not difficult to have articles routinely getting 50,000-100,000 views. That translates to $87.50-$175 for one article. Not too bad, huh?
Of course, it’s not necessarily “easy,” some of the effort must be put toward promotion, but more about that later.
First, let’s look at how to sign up to be considered as a writer for the Guardian. The website is located at www.guardianlv.com. Once on the site, you will see a button that says “Writer’s Boot Camp.” That leads to a pop out button that says “iFrackle Opportunity.” From there, you will be able to submit a sample article to be reviewed by the Guardian team. The article must be previously unpublished. It is best to select an article topic based on the most current news events that day, and preferably one that is trending on Google. Google trends can be located at www.google.com/trends. Once you pick a topic, try to find a unique angle on that topic, if possible. This will make your article stand out from the rest.
After you fill out the submission form and you are selected to begin step two, you will be contacted to schedule what is called “SEO Boot Camp.” Boot Camp is a two-week training process in which you will learn how to write articles that are search-engine friendly, how to use the back-end Guardian submission system, how to upload pictures and how to promote your articles online. This training is performed live, online over Skype, so you must have a Skype account on your computer.
After completing Boot Camp, you may become certified as a writer for Guardian, and a contract will be offered to you. The contract specifies your percentage of the profit sharing from advertising as well as your lifetime royalties. All writers, as long as they stay active with the Guardian, are entitled to royalty payments from their articles for life. It is not unusual to see an old article pop up to the top of the “views board” with thousands of views from time to time, so you keep making money from the same articles you wrote months or even years ago.
To stay active with the Guardian, you will need to maintain two article submissions per month. Of course, the more you write, the more money you will make, and the more you promote, the better chances you have of your article going viral. But don’t let the word “promote” scare you; full training is provided on how to do it, and it’s not really all that difficult. Promotion is done via social media, and the Guardian has access to nearly one million people on Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks combined. You receive free access to all of those people, plus many inside tips and tricks to push your article viral-all for free.
Besides the Boot Camp and promotion classes, you will also receive free training classes in writing techniques, journalism basics, legal basics, AP style and much more. These additional training classes are offered in three separate units and span over several months. They generally take place two days per week and are also done live, online over Skype.
One of the best features about writing for the Guardian is that you are not restricted to particular assignments. Although you will be assigned topics by your editor, you can also choose to write about any area in which you are interested. The Guardian publishes news, opinion, commentary, satire, reviews, features and more. There is a companion website, called Mars Social, where you can publish fiction and get paid in the same fashion as with the Guardian.
The team at the Guardian is fantastic. All of the editors and writers are very supportive, freely sharing advice, tips and plans for success. DiMarkco and Gricelda tirelessly work to promote all of the writers’ articles 24 hours a day over social media channels. They also teach classes, deal with advertisers and keep the site running smoothly.
There is no other online writing venue which has this profit-sharing vision. Earnings with the Guardian are limitless. It’s truly a case of getting out what you put in. There are writers making a good full-time living there, and writers who are participating in the site for a little bit of extra spending money. The Guardian offers you unparalleled freedom and flexibility.
Whether you’re a seasoned journalist, a total “newbie,” a novelist or a blogger, Guardian Express has an opportunity waiting for you.
