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Helium.com - Is the Paid-to-Write Freelance Site Really Worth Your Time?
Helium is a site designed and directed to freelance writers and you get paid to write articles. In many ways Helium is a lot like Associated Content, but in many ways there are vast differences. So is www.helium.com really worth your time?
Before you can make a judgement, you need to know the basics on how Helium works. First you sign up and then you are allowed to submit answers to questions on the site. The site wants to users to generate different points of views on the same question. Once you submit an answer to a question, it is immediately ranked. Then you are taken to a page where you can rank other articles about the same topic that you wrote about. The system is unique, innovative and very user friendly.
The rating system is also quite unique. Instead of just the usual rating out of 10, or out of 5, Helium articles are rated by a different method. When you want to rate articles, you don't have any choice which article you want to rate. You are given to random articles about the same topic, and can either vote Article A is much better, Article A is slightly better, they are the same and vice versa. Although it is a fair system, you will be spending a lot of time reading and you are not given much freedom which articles you really want to rate.
The Helium site displays AdSense Google ads, and via the money it generates from these ads, it gives back some to it's writers, a bit like Associated Content. For every page view your article receives, you generate some revenue, usually only about 1 or 2 cents per page click. And as your article stays on Helium forever, you continuously generate money over time without having to do any extra work.
It sounds glorious doesn't it, but is it really worth your time?
Well the answer would have to be yes and no. Helium is worth your time if you like writing and enjoy sharing your knowledge to other people around the world. Your work is immediately published and is automatically ranked. The money would be an extra bonus, but Helium is for you only if you have a real passion for writing.
Before you can make a judgement, you need to know the basics on how Helium works. First you sign up and then you are allowed to submit answers to questions on the site. The site wants to users to generate different points of views on the same question. Once you submit an answer to a question, it is immediately ranked. Then you are taken to a page where you can rank other articles about the same topic that you wrote about. The system is unique, innovative and very user friendly.
The rating system is also quite unique. Instead of just the usual rating out of 10, or out of 5, Helium articles are rated by a different method. When you want to rate articles, you don't have any choice which article you want to rate. You are given to random articles about the same topic, and can either vote Article A is much better, Article A is slightly better, they are the same and vice versa. Although it is a fair system, you will be spending a lot of time reading and you are not given much freedom which articles you really want to rate.
The Helium site displays AdSense Google ads, and via the money it generates from these ads, it gives back some to it's writers, a bit like Associated Content. For every page view your article receives, you generate some revenue, usually only about 1 or 2 cents per page click. And as your article stays on Helium forever, you continuously generate money over time without having to do any extra work.
It sounds glorious doesn't it, but is it really worth your time?
Well the answer would have to be yes and no. Helium is worth your time if you like writing and enjoy sharing your knowledge to other people around the world. Your work is immediately published and is automatically ranked. The money would be an extra bonus, but Helium is for you only if you have a real passion for writing.
Comments
Thanks for the advice. Helium is not for me.
Selene
(Guest)
(Guest)
01/11/2010
Helium is full of arrogant, narrow-minded bigots who believe that the only good writing is bland writing that does not exceed 600 words. The average Helium article is a load of poorly written, uninformative rubbish.
Furthermore, the Helium moderators have special privileges which allow them to rate down articles written by people whom they do not like or who threaten their supremacy.
I no longer bother to write original content for Helium. I write articles in my own authentic voice elsewhere, on sites where the financial return and/or the spirit of the community is a lot better. I then pick out a couple of paragraphs from these, change the wording to match the blandness Helium wants, add a starting and closing section and toss the lot into a vaguely relevant Helium topic. If this extra ten minutes brings in some extra pennies, good, if not, I haven't wasted much time. The ratings I get mean nothing at all to me because the system is so corrupt.
I find I can get by with a rat
Frank Malama
(Guest)
(Guest)
12/26/2009
You people are awesome!
I am sorry but this article is totally biased. Helium has some excellent features and making ok amounts of money is possible. First of all, Helium does not discriminate against non-US citizens the way Associated Content does. Second of all, there are competitions and the marketplace and though there is a lot of competition winning one is possible. In addition, Helium offers bonuses so that a writer who manages to provide 15 to 20 articles per month can cash out a decent amount each month!
Yikes! Is that 2 cents a week thing still current? I imagine you are making more. I haven't read too much about Helium, although I do know that it is one of the shared revenue writing sites. Anything more you can share about what kind of money you can earn there I would appreciate.
Also, does helium allow you to create links to your own work on other sites? Thanks for this informative article.
OzzyRose
(Guest)
(Guest)
10/31/2009
Those from outside the US, who cannot profit from upfront payments with Associated Content, are stuck with Helium. Be warned, though. Your articles will be subjected to rating not by people who are interested in the information you supply, but by Helium acolytes cranking up their rating stars to reach the magic 5 when they will get 3 dollars for their month's rating effort.
For the average Helium rater, paragraph breaks and correct use of the comma and semicolon reigns over content. When content does come into the question, forget it if your writing does not cater for the lowest common denominator of US redneck readers. Anything over 600 words is deemed toxic to their atrophied brains. And please, do not presume to introduce any cultural references to the big world outside the US of A, because if you do, your article will surely plummet.
To earn from the ad-generated revenue on your articles, you need to have at least one rating star. Take note, though. Rating stars do not sole
Susan
(Guest)
(Guest)
10/18/2009
This article was written three years ago and a lot has changed at Helium.com. They now offer upfront payments and the overall site content is improving. I have been writing there for over two years and currently have around 300 articles posted. While I don't earn enough to live on from Helium alone, my writing there does bring in a decent supplemental income. Additionally, I have made contacts with publishers through Helium to sell articles on other sites. The money you make at Helium depends on the effort you put in and your earning potential is higher when you build up a Helium portfolio. For those who enjoy writing, Helium is a great place to hone your skill, make some extra cash and network with other writers.
I've had the same experience with Helium. I guess my biggest complaint is that, if I earn $24.99 and for some reason, can't xome back for a while, I'll never see that money due to the $25 minimum. That's a little frustrating.
Athena Goodlight
(Guest)
(Guest)
06/27/2009
I can only speak for myself based on the bad experience I got from helium. It is not worth the time and effort. I signed up, had some article published, worked towards the $30 payout. I was happy to have reached $23.00. Then one day, I got this message when I tried to log in early this year:
"Readers from around the world are welcome to enjoy helium's articles. However, we regret we are not currently set up to provide an optimal experience for writers in every country. We are hoping to offer different versions of helium that will attract and best suit all writers sometime in the future."
I emailed them asking if I can still get the earnings of my articles should these reach the minimum payment from its views, they just gave the same automated reply. Now I could not even log in to access my articles. Had I been warned, then I could have just deleted my articles.
I'm from the Philippines. If my country is not included, then why do they still keep emailing my friends from the same
Wow. I actually like Helium. I'm not too enthusiastic about the rating system...have to keep my articles in the top 85% right now just to keep my two stars. But it does pay me $1 per article in selected non-creative writing venues. Once I achieve a higher star status, that will go up too. If you get the empty title bonus, there's $1 on top of that. It does seem to get less traffic revenue than AC ...noticed this right away. I believe the Marketplace opportunities make up for this. I prefer AC all around though. I hate being rated by my peers...especially if I think they are just clicking whatever just to get the $3 rating bonus per month.
Great review though. Keep up the good work!
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