Helium.com Review - Scam or Not?
83Helium.com is a site where you're paid to write articles, by a combination of one-off payments and revenue share. There are other revenue sharing sites - so is Helium a good choice or can you do better elsewhere?
On the plus side, Helium.com isn't just a place for revenue-sharing: it's a place to sharpen your skills against other writers. You can take part in contests, or you can compete to sell your articles to publishers in the Marketplace. The site forces you to read and assess other writers' work, and to see it ranked against your own, which can be educational (and sometimes frustrating, because the system is far from perfect).
But if your goal is to create a passive income source from your writing, there are several reasons to have major reservations about Helium.
It's true that Hubs take longer to write than Helium articles, because they perform best when enriched with photos and videos. However, at HubPages there's no obligation to rate other Hubbers' work (voting has no impact on income), whereas at Helium you must spend time rating to qualify for earnings.
Many Heliumites overlook rating time when evaluating the two sites, but considering you can't earn money without it, it must be taken into account.
Passive Income on Helium
There are several ways to earn money at Helium. One is revenue-sharing. Like other articles writing sites, Helium shows ads next to the articles displayed on the site, and pays a share of ad revenue to writers. On Helium, that's based on a secret formula.
If I compare my revenue share on Helium with my revenue share on HubPages, I get the following:
Helium: 190 articles earning $20 monthly = 13 cents per article per month (average)
HubPages: 160 articles earning $350 monthly = $2.20 per article per month (average)
Note these are averages - some of my articles earn far more, others earn much less. In fact, my best performing article on HubPages has earned over $450 in two years. My best performing article on Helium has earned $42 in three years.
It's hard to get accurate figures on Helium income, because Heliumites rarely talk about their passive income, only their total income, which includes upfront payments and Marketplace. However a prominent steward was recently spruiking her success on the forums. When I asked her to state just her passive income, it sounded impressive because she has thousands of articles. But sure enough, it worked out at less than 20 cents per article per month.
To make matters worse, Helium's passive income is no longer truly passive. It's still paid, but now it's conditional on maintaining a minimum level of activity on the site (currently one rating star).
Which illustrates the biggest risk of using the site:
Helium changes the rules
For the first couple of years, Helium marketed itself as a place to earn long-term passive income. Writers contributed hundreds of articles, believing such a fundamental feature of the site would never change.
It has. You don't earn a cent on Helium now unless you maintain a "rating star". It's true that doesn't take much effort - a few hours rating articles once a month. But it does mean you can't go on a long trip and expect your articles to go on earning while you're away - and it's an example of how Helium has changed the rules several times.
Helium's original standard for articles was only 100 words, and there were no conditions on earning income. Since then the following changes have occurred:
- Change #1 - Minimum article length of 200 words (later increased to 300, now 400). Articles under 100 words deleted.
- Change #2 - 1 rating star required to claim payout of earnings.
- Change #3 - "non-performing" titles deleted, and with them all the articles within those titles.
- Change #4 - One rating star required at all times to earn income. Articles earn no income on days when the writer has no star.
- Change #5 - Upfront payments of 50 cents to $2.50 introduced for writers with writing stars. Criteria for earning writing stars tightened - higher standards, and creative writing does not count.
- Change #6 - articles under 350 words now being deleted.
- Change #7 - Writing stars are no longer needed to write for upfront payment. However, if you write an article for upfront payment, Helium takes exclusive rights - i.e. you can never publish the article anywhere else, it no longer belongs to you.
- Change #8 - All Marketplace articles must now be written in the third person.
- Change #9 - Fixed upfront system discontinued.
The trend is clear, and there's no reason to suppose it won't continue. Helium keeps on raising the bar - I suspect it won't be long before they demand more activity to continue earning income. And if you don't like the changes, too bad - you can't take your articles away.
Which leads me to the point which, for me, is the major downside of Helium:
Once you post an article on Helium, it’s there forever. You can’t delete it, even if you cancel your membership. And if you get banned for any reason, they keep your articles.
Helium is Permanent!
Helium will tell you it's only taking "first rights" - you can publish your articles elsewhere as often as you like.
But that freedom is illusory. Why? Because there is a widespread perception on the internet that search engines don’t like duplicate content.
If this is news to you, read this Hub on Google and duplicate content. It is just a theory (because Google doesn't reveal all its secrets!). However, most websites rely heavily on Google for traffic, so they won't take the risk of buying articles that already appear elsewhere online. Why do you think successful Marketplace articles are deleted from the site?
Book publishers also like to publish original work. Last year, there was a poet on Helium who lost out on being included in an anthology because her poems were on Helium, and the publisher wouldn't use them unless they could be deleted from the site.
It is possible to rewrite (or "spin") articles so they're different enough not to trigger duplicate content filters. However, it does take some effort. And for thing like poetry, it would be almost impossible!
Rating
Your earnings at Helium is at the mercy of the rating system. Articles rated low (below the top 5) earn little or no passive income. And to be eligible for the best writing assignments you need writing stars, which depend on how many highly-rated articles you have.
Helium denies the rating system is flawed, but it's easy to check - pick some titles and see if you agree with the ranking! Helium's forums are full of threads complaining about unfair rating and the difficulty of earning stars.
The "Big Money" on Helium
A unique feature of Helium is that it's not just a revenue-sharing site - it is possible to earn one-off payments through article sales and contest winnings.
In fact, Helium makes most of its money from selling articles, not from the passive income on the site.
The way it works is this: a publisher's request is publicised on Helium and writers submit articles. Only one article is chosen by the publisher and receives the published fee.
The catch is that all the unsuccessful articles then "transition" to the main Helium site - and for me, that's the snag of the whole system. The well-paid topics are hotly contested, so you have to write a well-researched, top quality article to have a chance of winning. If you're unsuccessful, that article is stuck in low-earning revenue share - whereas if you'd submitted the article on (say) Constant Content and it didn't sell, you'd still have full rights and you'd be able to submit it elsewhere.
Any writer who is good enough to consistently beat other writers under this system, is good enough to be earning better money at freelance sites like Constant Content, eLance or Guru.com.
If you submit an article and the publisher buys it, it’s deleted from the site – which just illustrates my point about publishers not accepting duplicate content!
You can also compete in regular contests. The snag is that the winners are decided on ratings (see the "Rating" box right), so there's no guarantee the best article will win.
But I have reservations about articles for sale, and contests.
Assignment System
Following Google's algorithm change in early 2011, Helium's traffic (and therefore their income) nose-dived dramatically. Unlike HubPages, Helium doesn't publish it's traffic stats on Quantcast, so the exact impact isn't known. On the forums, Helium's management claim they weren't hit as badly as other revenue-sharing sites. However, just because Helium didn't feature in news items about "content farms" doesn't mean it wasn't affected - it just means they are a smaller player.
As a result of the algo change, Helium is re-engineering itself, introducing a new Assignment System which they say will become the 'dominant feature' of the site.
The Marketplace will disappear. Instead, all articles will be submitted through the Assignment System, which will have various levels of payment - the bottom level being revenue-share only, through levels offering revenue-share plus $1 or $2 upfront, to the top levels where articles are bought outright for higher pay (like the old Marketplace).
Instead of all writers being able to write on any title, you will only be able to see articles you're "qualified" to write on. For instance, a new member will only have access to write for revenue-share, whereas a better writer will be able to submit articles to the Marketplace equivalent.
Helium says they are still working out their "quality measures", which suggest they won't be relying on the existing Writing Stars to determine what level writers can access. I hope not, since Writing Stars are based on the unreliable ratings system!
Helium as Portfolio
Helium claims their site is a great place to build a writing portfolio - a showcase to which you can refer publishers who might be interested in hiring you.
Personally, I think it's the worst possible place to build a portfolio. Why would you refer a publisher to an article on Helium, when there's a risk the article could be rated 18 out of 25 that particular week? True, they can still see your article is good - but a bad rating can't help but have a subconscious impact.
Besides, as you writing improves, you can't delete any articles you may now be ashamed of - and revising them through the leapfrog process is not always easy.
There are plenty of other places where you won't face such restrictions - right here at HubPages, for one. If a publisher likes the Hub, you can delete it from HubPages so they can buy it. And you can dress it up with photos and layout, which (like the rating) don't have a direct bearing on the worth of your article but can't help but have a psychological impact.
Helium for Internet Marketing
Last month, I briefly started writing on Helium again, because it's now possible to include hyperlinks in articles. I thought that meant I could use Helium to promote my flamenco, ballroom dance and pointe shoe websites.
However I soon discovered that all links in Helium articles are "no follow" - which means that although real readers may click on them, the search engines will disregard them, so they're almost useless.
The Bottom Line
If you enjoy competing with other writers, Helium.com can be fun. But given the site's habit of frequently changing the rules, it doesn't make sense to rely on them as a source of passive income - you simply can't be sure that a future rule change won't turn off the tap. If you want to write for revenue share, there are several much better options (for an interesting comparison of Helium with other writing websites, read Hal Licino's Hub on what writing sites pay).
It remains to be seen whether Helium will turn out to be a good place to sell articles under the new Assignment system, or whether straightforward sales sites like Constant Content will continue to offer better payment levels.
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All text copyright Marisa Wright. Balloon photo courtesy of Crystl on Flickr
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Fascinating - havent tried Helium myself though. Do you think that HP are trying to take on sites like Helium with the Flagship Hubs program?
Lissie, HubPages doesn't need "Flagship Hubs" to take on Helium. Helium's articles are about the same length as a normal HP, but without any pictures, links or videos. Helium's points of difference are its debates and its Marketplace section, where your articles can be picked up by publishers.
I wonder if you were to use derivatives of your articles on a couple of sites including Hubpages, Helium, Squidoo etc, that maybe the numbers might stake up a bit more?
Hi copywriter,Yes, I guess that could work, but why would you want to link away from HubPages and Squidoo, which are probably better earners?
How do you keep "active" at Helium? What is the criteria?
Thanks for this impartial article. This is the first I hear about Helium, so don't know whether I'll write there or not. Or not, I think!
Darkside, you keep active at Helium by posting at least one article every six months. But I do notice that since I haven't been rating articles or posting on the forums, my earnings seem to have slowed.
I don't know the topic or quality of the guy's articles, but he would definitely make a lot more if he published them on his own site.
Can't people see you are making the money for helium? Us here are making the money for Hubpages. Even me spending time wiriting this comment I am potentially making them money.
It is call user generated content and it is every site owner's dream for them to create a site framework and have users fill it in with lovely keyword rich, original content.
Take a look at my hub on making money from a forum if you are interested to know more.
This is great. Thank you for the information.
Yeah, .10 an article is what I average monthly on Helium. It's not worth my time. I only submit articles there that I had already written and didn't quite fit other sites.
From what I understand from reading this hub, the comments, and talking to a Helium member, it seems that most of the money earned from Helium is from the contests. He says that he's made about $60 or so. I, myself, am still iffy about it...
Great information Marisa!! Thank you so much for sharing!! You answered soooooooooooo many of the questions that have been floating around in my blonde-brain!! I really appreciate the candor and honestly!! Blessings on your day!! Earth Angel!!
P.S. The video link doesn't seem to be working any more??
Thanks for the tip on the video, Earth Angel. Looks like it's been taken off YouTube.
That was a good article and a good discussion too.
Nice info thanks. I'm giving thumb up..
Thanks for the info. I knew something was wrong with helium when they didn't want me to include any outside links in my sig file.
Thanks Again!
Dr. Footballstein
Nice thing that you have explained everything in detail I had submitted some of my articles here, around 10, but so far only 2 being approved. But I am still write the article not for helium but to other site also.
Marisa! I too am only making pennies per article on Helium. I stopped after 4 articles. I think I am the proud owner of a 28cent account.
Oh well it was fun and the first site I ever found that you could write on...and again it really sounds great when you read all their particulars before signing-up.
Great HUB regards Zsuzsy
thanks for the info, I have just joined helium and I have written one article which earned me 10c straight away. I still have one question though. Do they pay out?
Sparkster, well done on the 10c - you're doing better than average! Yes, they do pay out. They only pay out once a month though, so if you request a payout at the wrong time of the month, you may be waiting 6 or 7 weeks. You have to have at least $25 before you can request a payout.
Hi Marissa,
I agree with your comments about Helium. It may be a good place to hone your writing skills but there are other opportunities that offer greater earning potential for writers. As well, with other sites, you don't have to wait until your earnings reach a certain amount as you do with Helium.
Thanks so much for the informative article. I think that I will be spending more time on hubpages and less time on helium!
I have to admit, Helium has been good to me. It has been a wonderful way of opening my writing to topics and styles beyond poetry.
Smiles and Light
This is perfect timing! I read your comments in a forum about Helium and don't know how I found your hub, but here I am. I joined Helium last night, and was wondering if its worth the investment of my time. I want to refine my writing skills, and I find that so far Hubpages is a place where I get inspiration. Thank you for this hub.
Interesting article Marisa, I have linked to it from my Hub where I also quoted you (hope you don't mind):
Why switch to hubpages (hubpages vs triond helium or blogger)
I found Helium purely by accident. Gosh, what happened to my words? Something to get to fix, great at two or three am.
Marisa, I alway love your fantastic articles. I am so glad I found you, even if it was through Helium!
Helium (especially Barbara) really, really helped me with trying to learn to write.I am new to writing, although I always wanted to. Helium is a great place to learn how to write Correctly. Sadly, though, as Marisa has said, they have that ownership thing standing there. I wrote a lot of things, now I wish I had waited. As for pay, I wasn't there for the money, although money would be great.
Since June, I have accumulated a little over $16.00. I don't strive for the contests, only entered a couple. I have not tried for Marketplace. I have heard people do better with the contests and Marketplace. I don't have time. I have a family of seven that wants my time.
GREAT Hub, not a surprise, Marisa. Don't forget me. I'm Betty Jo from Ar. USA
As if I would ever forget you, Betty Jo!
Marisa,
Thank you.
I really enjoyed the information on this Hub. I am new to writing online and just learning the ropes as I go along. I don't know if I will ever decide to try and make money writing online, so perhaps, Helium is a good place to at least practice.
I could definitely use the mentoring, with my writing skills.
tDMg
LdsNana-AskMormon
I have just reread this article.
Helium is a great place to learn to write correctly. Articles at this time must be at least 350 words limit. Songs, poetry and recipes excluded.
On Hub Pages I have more freedom in writing. It has been less stressful. Although I haven't written much.
Good writing Marisa. bjp
hi marisa thanks somuch for this hub. wish ihad seen it sooner. you really are a great writer.
Hey Marisa,
You do make a lot of good points about writing on the internet.
In general…Helium, Hub Pages, and Suite 101 (as we’ve discussed before) all have both something and nothing to offer writers.
It’s actually hard to make money as a part time writer in any medium…much less making a fortune in writing on the internet so, I’d like to highlight that, and not single out one site.
As for the Helium experience I truly believe it helps aspiring writers learn a lot about themselves and the publishing climate.
I’ve sent many people there who are struggling to figure out why they keep getting rejection letters… why they are having a hard time getting freelance work…and why they are having trouble figuring out what editors want.
Spending time at Helium is kind of like an eye opening experience if you go there to learn about your style, mistakes, and figure out what you need to do to improve your skills.
I feel that traditional sites for writers can’t accomplish this because when you depend on others to critique your work…you don’t learn to rely on yourself…which is vital to making any kind of presence as a writer.
I’d say that that’s a handy tool to own in this day of instant publication.
As far as rights to an article…I’d say if you want to sell anything, don’t put it on the internet…but rights to an article doesn’t mean rights to a topic (unless specified).
I could sell the exclusive rights to an article about Brittney Spears being driven over the edge by her abusive husband….but…
That doesn’t mean I’m not free to write about being driven over the edge by a spouse using some of the same material and research using a different slant.
Every one has different reasons for spending time writing articles, hubs and blogs…but anyone who dreams making easy money without a great amount of effort…is going to be disappointed no matter where they post their stuff.
Peace Out
Sangay Glass
Hi Sangay, good to hear from you! I'm not singling out one site as better or worse than the rest - it's simply that Helium and HubPages are the only ones of which I have personal experience.
The new Site Steward program at Helium has led to people like yourself mentoring other writers - but that is a relatively new concept and it success is entirely down to the devotion of volunteers like yourself.
Thanks for the great hub. My wife joined Helium and I joined Hubpages. I think I'll encourage her to go for Squidoo or Hubpages and not Helium.
Thank you for this information. I am a new hubber. All this is new to me. I appreciate reading about other opportunities. I look forward to reading more of your work.
yes its true that to make a living online be it Helium , hubpages, blogs , site etc.
it takes a good deal of effort and time.
But once you have made a reputation people will be eager to read your articles and your articles will get lot of traffic.
But many people are not ready to wait .They prefer to jump the gun.
They go for programs promising to make them rich overnight and loses their money.
Marisa , let ur article serve as an eyeopener for those people.
Duplicate COntent is an argumentive subject but I do agree with yorr advice :) You never know what SE's will decide to do a few month from now and how it will impact your earning potential.
Nicely written
Great article, I have'nt heard of Helium.
You have poised questions about submitting to other ezine publications, as well. dhuffman
I was with Helium until a week or two ago....only wrote about 13 articles there. I made the big mistake (it was purely ignorance, not intentional) of trying to increase traffic to my articles...thought I would get my name in front of people and increase my earnings. Apparently, I did it wrong and I need some education on what constitutes bad ways of doing that, which is my problem I guess, not theirs. I now know that it is 'illegal' (my word) to use traffic exchanges to drive traffic to Helium articles. I know this, because when I requested a payout, I was kicked off the site.
Since they keep the articles posted forever, I now have links to them on my website. Figure I may as well make use of them for myself and put them on my site for clips.
I do miss being able to access my account, but it hasn't been all bad. Helium got me submitting my writing again after a long time, and they've given me fresh clips.
I've only been a hubber for 2 or 3 days, but I already like it here a lot. The people are friendly, and the writing good (at least what I've read so far).
Marisa, you write a terrific article....will look for more of yours.
Great hub. I get frustrated at the quality I see on Helium. Good quality writing certainly does not always rise to the top. I get so frustrated rating... I was lucky enough to sell an article to a publisher and get paid for it. However, I still only have about $18 and you need $25 to cash out. Once I get that $25, I am quitting. Of course, I have to keep adding an article once in a while or my earnings will go down.
Brilliant Marisa! Now I'm scared :( I had a "rant" haha. I wonder if anyone has ever tried to sue them for this type of continued earnings?
Erinn, there are a couple of highly disgruntled and vocal critics of Helium on the net. They keep threatening to sue, issue copyright notices etc but I don't believe they've actually done anything yet. The agreement we sign when we join Helium is very clear, so I suspect any legal challenge would fail anyway.
I hadn't signed in for awhile, about three months I guess. I couldn't find one article I had written. They had sent me a letter asking if i wanted to donate my articles and i said no. I have given up on seeing them again. Now I make copies of erverything I do. I did see an article i had written somewhere but I couldn't find it when i went back.
Be careful. Your work is yours and not some bird kicking back and using you. Even if you don't think it's any good, it's still original. Be your own advocate.
Don't give your stuff away unless you do so freely. It takes sweat and time to produce, and if it doesn't, great.
thanks for putting up a topic with a lot of interest and good advice.
I have a published book and get criticised by "the powers" for content that is too familiar--even though I was the expert in the field i wrote about.
I 'm doing it for the fun, and I don't expect to make much money. But it's good to see if I can, if you know what i mean.
Good luck. Great post!
Is Adsense the only monetization on Helium? One of the big draws to both Hubpages and Squidoo is that you have some other affiliate opportunities which if done right will outearn the Adsense.
Yes, Adsense is it - and there's no disclosure on how your share is calculated either.
Great hub Marisa - I have written for both Helium and for Hubpages - the difference for me between the two is that putting the hubpage together is lots of fun. You write, you find items for sale at Amazon and Ebay that come somewhere near to complementing your article then comes the best bit - looking for videos online and also at the work of other hubbers who you can link to. So you read other people's work , link if you wish, and become a fan; in other words it is extremely interactive without having to engage, except for the purposes of learning "how", in forums and such. Nothing against forums except they take time which is something I don't have a lot of. cheers and thanks for your expository anne
This is a great hub- never heard of Helium but after this definitely prefer Hub. Agree with ajcor- definitely makes writing and interacting fun.
Hi Marisa
I'm so glad I found your hub, and I only did so because of a lovely comment you made on a forum. I have jusy signed up to Helium too, and was wondering if I was being naive in thinking that the marketplcae was the only real benefit of the site. I am so glad I'm not mad!
Thanks, Sam
Hi Marisa,
Yes, you are right. The only real opportunity to promote one's writing on Helium is in Marketplace, and even there, the pickings can be slim. Standard SEO web content requests are not going to pay the bills. A writer should look for the offerings that seem like they come from non-SEO type web sites, or from brick and mortar establishments. These can be good for a portfolio. Also, be prepared to have some publishers be absolute flakes or frauds.
Also, Helium users should be aware that they will never know how much they are earning per page view. And they will never know if they earn the same amount per page view as other members. This is all secret. Some members seem to get page view earnings for their aritcles, while others with articles in the same title and similar rank earn little. I'm not a fan of the idea that there's any real money in page view pay anyway. It's a poor return on the time investment, as you point out.
Wow! Very informative Hub here. I've had a Helium account for a while, but never really did anything with it. I've tried quite a few of these types of websites, just getting a feel of them. I tend to stick with the ones that I like best. Thanks for the great info here!
Thank you, This is very well written. You make some strong points and support them effectively. I agree.
That said, article farms are a way for me to write parallel content, indirectly promoting my print books and artwork by introducing myself to the public, but I do need to be vigilant about the time I spend on such pieces, since they are, when compared to my normal rates, unpaid.
I must say, Helium was the first writing site that I found. Over time, I have found that I like a lot of other great writing sites (Hubpages and HowToDoThings.com are a couple of my favorites). However, I wrote a ton for the reward-athon and feel good getting paid $3 an article plus whatever commission comes in. Now I am maintaining my account using contests (I am won one and took second on a different one this week for a total of $100 on my fifteen articles in addition to the passive income they will bring in over time). To maintain your account you only have to write one article every 180 days. Now they have an economic stimulas bonus going on to make people rate (which sucks), but it could increase earnings up to 150%, which will last for six months and should be interesting. While Helium isn't a site I spend much time on, it is exceptionally easy to write for with titles already picked out for you and worth maintaining my account.
Plus, with special contests and things like the reward-athon, the earnings potential is there.
Aidan, I'm glad you feel $3 an article plus a few cents a month is rewarding. Some of us value our writing more than that!
Great overview of Helium. I am a member of helium, but find it very hard to earn there as I dont have many articles. I prefer to write for squidoo, triond and here.
Nice information, very well written.I´m a big fan of social sites, and many people are making the mistake of submitting only their own content to those site.
I write mainly on Xomba.com and tend to make about $100 a month on there. One month a made over $300! It's a great site that should be considered with Hubpages and Helium.
I have wasted a lot of time on Helium and posted some stuff there. Wish I had read this before I joined them. I prefer hubpages now.
Wonderfully written, Marisa. They waited until I had the minimum cash out amount (took me a year and a half to get it) before telling me that I couldn't have it because I did something illegal. They just kept it.
On the upside, I use the articles as clips to get other jobs, so it wasn't a total waste.
This is a very good guide for writers so that they may know what to expect from Helium.
Great Hub! I agree with everything you've said here about Helium. I liked it when I first discovered it, but quickly became irritated with their whole peer rating system and the 'stars' and the contests. At this point, I don't enjoy it much and rarely post content there, but I do pick up a quick $25 or $40 at their Marketplace section each month.
I find that once I put content on Helium, it's like it's frozen or something---as you say, no chance to edit or update, no feedback (or worse, idiotic feedback), very little sense of community. Also the contests are very, very frustrating and as you point out, TONS of work. I won a couple 3rd placers, then quit because it was just too damned irritating. I'd be in #1 place for the $75 for four days, then right at the last minute drop off the charts.
Some writers just rave about Helium. I like it here much better. I post what I enjoy writing here for fun, and sell my writing outright at freelance sites if I'm looking to earn money.
Thanks for validating all my feelings about Helium here.
Great Hub1
I am a helium member and just started my journey i hope for the BEST!
I wish I read this *before* writing my four article for Helium! Some super advice - I intend to continue with my hubs and will just stick a "toe in the water" at Helium.
Very well written, I enjoyed reading this article.
well i write for both money as well as fun...!!
I signed up at Helium a few days ago. Seems providential that I should read your hub today. It clarified a lot of things for me, especially since I am not in the habit of reading ine print. I am also new at HP. Thanks, Marisa. You've gotten yourself a new fan.
Nice Hub, Marisa. You've made a lot of good points. I'd like to add, though, that Helium is also a site where writers with experience also write. I've written for newspapers in the past (straight news and features), and I signed up with Helium as a way of "taking a mental break" from "real work" (and, at times, the stress of daily living) and just doing something that involved thinking about subjects that are entirely unrelated to the any of the day-to-day concerns, worries.
In the case of someone like the guy who picks up over a thousand dollars a year for doing little or not work once his articles are written, I don't think a spare thousand dollars a year is a bad "bonus" for doing little or no additional work - even if that bonus only lasts for a couple of years.
Maybe one other point worth adding is that some writers take a long time to write an article, while others can just whip them up in twenty minutes, with zero or few reasons to make any corrections. That may be one key factor when assessing the worth of writing on Helium, or any similar site.
Lisa, I hear what you're saying - but the guy who picks up over a thousand dollars a year isn't earning it for "little or no work". Even if he "whips up an article in twenty minutes", as you suggest, it took him 333 hours to write those articles! Per hour of effort, it's still not a big return.
This is really a wonderful hub Marissa, thanx for the real dig about helium. I am a member too & have written 2 articles till now & earned 1 cent :)It has been driving me nuts completely but after going thru this article I understand Helium in a much better way. I prefer Hubpages to Helium any day!! Thanx a bunch & keep up the good work!!
Wow, that was very informative and helpful. I've also joined helium and have been wondering whether to submit my articles there or elsewhere. This hub really helped me to put Helium and its policies into perspective. Thanks!
It seems Helium is considered inferior to HubPages by many as far as earnings. Thanks for the informative post!
Thanks for the information! Its a great oppurtunity for those writers that are just starting out!
Marissa as you know, I was with Helium. I loved it there I became addicted to be honest. Yes. Now addicted to hubs instead as hubs gives you more scope with pics, ads, videos etc to make it more personally attractive at your own disgression.
I learnt a lot at helium and do advise other new writers to give it a go. As they pick and help you to write much better. New writers will learn more about the art of writing there, than here. Here no one is fussy about correct english and punctuation. If you wish to be paid to write then writers really need to learn correct writing english. Not like mine. I do not use sentence structure and that lets my writing down.
Anyway I entered contests there etc. And in total I have earned about $150.00 so really loved it and glad that I was there. still do the odd article there too. But lost my writing rating a long time back.
I have never heard about this before. Thanks for the information. I will have my self a try!
Hi marissa, just got around to this . Helium is as close to a rip off of a writers talent as any I have encountered so far. I was just banned from the forums for pointing out the overall nonsense the so called rating system employs. It was a forum titled-- voice concerns, frustrations, or just vent. I did, pow now Im Banned from the forums lol. Like i care anymore. Three months of intense writing 17 articles and i've made a whole 69 cents lol. As you know I am a poet mainly as we met thru helium, and every word you have written I can vouch for. Don't care about money? just starting out? ok maybe its ok there. But in the long run forgetabout it. There are some strange things going on there and more and more posts in the forums are pointing them out , then pow , the posters are banned. I have to say visually helium has it down pretty good, but that is abpout the only thing good . I will never write to a general article there agian, nor post another poem. Maybe a market place, maybe, the problem with that is if a publisher does not pick it, then it transitions back to the site, helium posts it and now it's there forever and you get squat for it.
I had one article deleted, wrote to helium about it, had a few email exchanges over why it should not have been deleted, they agreed with me finally and said yep i was right, should not have been deleted, So all I have to do now is re write it and resubmit it. Like thats gonna happen lol. Told them they deleted a top rated article , they should put it back, why should i have to fix some thing they broke?
Any way People Stay away from Helium if you care about your work lol, the morons who rate there will kill your ego, OOPs wait I rate there, Im the exception, I can read most of the others can't lol.
Thanks George. I'm surprised I haven't been banned on the forums myself! I've been called the "Forum Gadfly" before now. Maybe I've just been there too long! Although I never write there any more.
I too tried and now i am inactive there..
Never heard of Helium being that bad, well I don`t even know the system they use to pay its contributors, if it`s similar to Hubpages, a revenue share on your page impressions, 1300$ would be a nice sum. As everyone should know, writing is just not enough in order to earn money online. Basic SEO skills are required, social media skills and any ways that could lead in decent amounts of traffic.
PS. $1300 is fairly low for 1000 articoles, they could be worth at least 10.000 if sold them anywhere on the freelance sites, for the minimum price of 10$ a piece.
Alex
Yes Alex, that's the point I'm hoping to make. $1300 does sound like a nice sum, but not when you think what you could have earned with those 1000 articles elsewhere!
Marisa: Really enjoyed this article. I tried Helium for a very short period of time, and found that I just wasn't motivated enough to stick with it. You bring up a lot of great points about doing work for them, and for me, it wasn't worth it.
Thank you so much for this well-written and informative article. I visited Helium and created a profile, yet had reservations about it, so hadn't submitted. When I received a follow-up letter from Helium asking why I wasn't participating, I went back to the site, examined the contests, the marketplace, that whole involved star system and payouts, and the fine print. It appears that although Helium doesn't take all rights, they do take lisence to one's work in perpetuity, including the right to use the articles with any changes to content and title and without attribution. Meaning anything I wrote for them could be changed in any way and used with or without my name on it, forever. No thanks.
Also, like you, I did the math. Hours of work for pennies -- too exciting. I'm happy for people who use whatever venue they like to try things out. The downside is that writing gets further devalued by these systems.
My initial interest in Helium came from seeing that I could get paid via my Pay Pal account. Here at Hubpages, we are required to have a street address. I live in a rural area and get my mail at a PO box, so unless I want to involve someone at the level of receiving mail for me, I have no way of getting the click pennies from Hubpages. I don't regret it though, as I use my Hubpages as clips. I'm much more interested in freelancing for a fair rate of pay than creating web content for little or nothing and hassling with ad content for a few cents. What I enjoy most about Hubpages is the wonderful group of bright, interesting people here. Thanks for your article and lively discussion. Best, Trent
I understood Helium only yesterday. I have been facing problems with it as my stats were not updated for 2 days. Then I wrote to them. They did not respond. That's the first thing I find scam sites do. They never answer your mail.But I think, Helium is not a scam, it is more of a site with very LITTLE earning potential. Well, now I hardly use it as I have understood it's not worth it. Yeah, the rating thing you wrote in the HUB is true. That's not good at all. It would take so long for somebody to HONESTLY rate that many articles. You need around 500 ratings to reach five rating stars. Well, I'd say Hubpages is much better than any other site around. If you know any good site share it with me. THANK YOU FOR YOUR USEFUL HUB.
great article i've heard of helium but never really got into it
It's indeed a very interesting time for writers. Who would have ever thought many years ago that just writing for fun can now earn good money these days. Those that just love to rant about anything under the sun can now make money with their rants. Interesting indeed.
Spin Ready, did you read the Hub? I would seriously challenge your claim that people can earn "good money" writing for fun. Yes you can earn money, but it's usually only a few dollars and certainly not a living wage. To make good money, you must be a top class writer with a knowledge of SEO and you must spend more time promoting yourself than you do writing. It's hard work. From your name, I suspect you're one of those who makes money selling articles to unsuspecting people who think they'll make money from them.
Wow, lots of information and some misinformation in this thread. Helium offers five different ways for writers to earn in a competitive environment which mirrors the world of freelance writing. Yes, not everyone succeeds there, but we do our best to help anyone who tries learn all they can to get their best chance at success. Ultimately you stand and fall on your own effort and writing success there. Helium gives you unlimited opportunities to improve, and we complement this with a supportive writing community and staff. Anyone who has not connected with others there didn't stay long enough. I'm sorry if we missed a chance with some of you, but I encourage you to take a second look.
Let me address a couple of points:
1. Change. Yes, Helium has made some changes over time, all of which reinforce fundamental principles - like rating. At Helium we don't just warehouse your article and hope people find you; we provide a mechanism for peers to assess each article for quality. The quality sorting process leaves some in the dust, but it also promotes better pieces for higher earnings and traffic on the web. And it's working: Our high page rank has led to soaring ad revenue rates.
2. Money: Good writers who put a bit of effort into their writing and look for opportunities to improve do well at Helium. The larger your body of work there the better you do. It's not a quick return for long term earnings. Long term earnings take long-term commitment. Writers can just focus on Marketplace for higher paying individual gigs (www.helium.com/marketplace).
We also now offer upfront payments on informative articles plus kill fees for articles not selected in Marketplace. This ensures writers a minimum set of earnings they can depend on. Last month our top earner pulled in $700 in upfront payments alone.
On top of these direct payments (Marketplace gigs, upfront payments, contest earnings, journalism awards, other incentives) we also share ad revenue. Our page rank keeps jumping higher and our members are reporting soaring ad revenue rates across the board: double income, $100 a day average, and one writer hit SEO gold last month and pulled in $1,200 in one day for one article.
Our changes have added to our successes, and all this is shared and celebrated by our members. Helium is not a dump and run site for content. We're a writing community, and we ask a minimal commitment to help with ratings and ongoing commitments from writers to add quality articles and improve as they go. A poster above decried poor quality at Helium, but she saw that in the rating field. That's where you should expect to see it. Raters are the gate keepers who elevate quality and push down (and out) low quality.
Helium is blowing past our competitors for many reasons, most of which is because of a committed community of top notch writers who can compete well in a competitive environment. Those who complain either have not been able to compete well, have violated the User Agreement, or have not put effort into maintaining their content on the site and partipating minimally in rating (10 minutes a week) to access all the earnings they can. Sadly, some left confused or because they did not have a chance to connect with any support structures at Helium. That's something I really regret, and something that isn't likely to happen today at Helium.
Helium is not for everyone, but if you write well and want to commit to a site with a long future for growth and opportunities, Helium is the site which offers the most dynamic growth.
Check out our SEO on national TV last week: http://www.vmsdigital.com/MyFiles.aspx?Onum=1430EC
And check out Helium's new zone pages too: www.helium.com/zones/home.
There's always new things at Helium, and no one who participates minimally will get far there, except in our Freelance Marketplace, where each article selected earns $25 to $200 ($70 average). With effort and proven success, you have a long future with Helium.
We favor more of a cooperative model than dump your content and run model. Free-wheeling freelancers who don't want a fuller commitment are welcome to just focus on the Marketplace. Those who want to make a full commitment, and who have talent for web writing, do well.
The web provides an open environment for people to share their experiences, but if you are assessing Helium, please don't only read the reports of those who left because they felt they could not compete or adapt to changes that have helped our writers succeed. Balance these reports with those of the 150,000 writers who are Helium members on what has become the largest (and fast growing and earning) writing community on the web.
I'm open to corresponding with anyone to discuss any of these points further. Feel free to write to me at bwhitlock@helium.com.
Barbara Whitlock
Community Development Manager
Helium.com
Thanks for your long post, Barb, and I'm honoured that you've visited my little Hub. I deleted your earlier comment not because I'm censoring - it was only because I revised the Hub so much recently it was no longer relevant.
You make some valid comments but you haven't addressed my two big concerns - i.e. the issue of duplicate content and Helium's habit of changing the rules. I don't see how anyone can see Helium as a long-term investment when there's no certainty about the goalposts.
Hi Marisa - Just come across this article for the first time. I've been writing at helium for over a year and can really relate to your concerns regarding how they move the goalposts. I've earned some decent money at Helium, through the marketplace and promotional payouts, but get really frustrated when changes to the rating system impact my earnings. It's particularly annoying when you spend time trying to drive traffic to your helium articles only to find your rating star has disapeared and you're not earning on it!
Hi Marisa I've been looking around for another avenue but I don't think it will be Hellium, it does not look as user friendly as HubPages.
Thanks for the information.
Really nice article, Marisa.
I thought about Helium, but was put off by the ownership thing. I am very much a minimalist writer, so I like to keep control of my work.
The only thing going for it is the constructive criticism, but that is possible on Hubpages, too. If people ask for advice in the makeover forum, they will get it!
Thanks for the tips.
Great hub. Can I ask, since you published it a while ago, have your views changed?
$2.50 upfront. hmmmm I've made around two dollars with 10 hubs here. hmmm.
this is very informative for me!
I am puzzled by the "constructive criticism" remarks. I joined Helium during Poetry Month in 2007 and posted a poem every day as a kind of exercise. I was drawn into writing a few articles. Reading other pieces on the site as part of my duty, I was, well, not impressed. The best ones (and that's not saying much) were papers written for high school or lower division college classes. I recently rated a number of articles and poems there, to see whether things had improved since my last visit. They haven't. If I wanted to impress a publisher, I would not include that place on my resume.
The way the rating is done, no criticism of any kind is involved. Quite often, professional, literate, coherent articles sink to the middle or the bottom, while articles filled with misspellings, terrible grammar, and muddled thought rise to the top. If you are trying to "learn" from that, you will go barking mad. That site has nothing to do with real publishing. It is about building and holding traffic, and most of that traffic consists of fellow wannabe writers.
Hub Pages is a much better place for many reasons. I like the way it combines annotated links, pictures, and copy.
Bluerabbit, the "constructive criticism" remarks don refer to the rating process. There is a place on the Helium forum (as there is here) where you can post your articles and receive suggestions on how to improve them (albeit, you're going to have to go through the annoying leapfrog process to do so).
Personally, I also think the rating process doesn't tell you anything about how good or bad your article is - you only have to read a few topics to realise the best doesn't always rise to the top. If I'm honest, I was just trying to find a few positive things to say about Helium so as not to sound totally negative!
Thanks for great information. Though new to helium, and that on the recommendation of someone, I was beginning to get some doubts. You and other articles are showing me the way.
Question: AC, which is supposed to be the best, is outside my reach (I am not US citizen). Where would be good places to write and make some money?
Birte, from my experience HubPages is the best place to start. It's one of the few places where you have total freedom to revise and even delete your articles at will - which means that as you learn more about writing on the internet, you can tweak your older Hubs to improve their earnings.
I found that earnings start very slowly at HubPages - for the first three months I earned almost nothing - but since then the income has improved every month. Ultimately, your best income as a writer will come from moving on to freelance writing on sites like Elance. Check out these two Hubbers who freelance for a living:
Yah can't use the word PENIS at Helium!
I knew absolutely nothing about Helium and I appreciate the primer and info. Thanks so much.
Hi, Marissa, you commented on my hub about Helium. That was my opinion based on my experience as a Helium writer. I had been writing for Helium for more than a year and I did earn what I could call a substantial amount. I am a patient writer who can write almost ten articles a day with a minimum of 500 words.
I have written also for associated content and I have 25 articles there which earned me only more than a dollar for more than one year. The reason is I am not from the US. I also have almost twenty articles in Triond which earned me only more than two dollars. My blogs haven't earned anything yet for me.
So far the only writing site that earned me real money is Helium that is why I love Helium.
I am new in Hubpages. I joined hubpages seven months ago but I stopped because I was addicted to Helium and I have my blogs and other writing sites. I just rejoined hubpages and have only six blogs which haven't earned anything yet. I don't know how earnings are determined in hubpages. I still have to wait.
Thanks for commenting on my hub. Maybe I have to try hubpages a little longer to see the difference. I am not a native English speaker and I am an Asian. I am still new in the website and I am still learning but I love writing and my earnings in Helium was enough to get me addicted to the site.
Thanks Marissa. You can give me more advice as to where I could submit my articles and earn more money.
Hi Masmasika, and thanks for such a thorough comment. I am also not a US citizen and therefore I don't use Associated Content. I tried posting a few articles there and found they earned only a few pennies!
If you write hundreds of articles on Helium, you will earn money - however if you write the same number of articles on Hubpages, you will earn much more. The secret with HubPages is patience - your Hubs may earn nothing at all for the first few months, but then they will start to earn gradually. Make sure you have set up your Adsense and eBay memberships properly, and take time to add photos and lay out your Hubs properly. Lissie has written some good Hubs on how to lay out your Hubs for maximum effect.
Thanks for the info - was thinking of writing for Helium, but hadn't made up my mind...guess I have now lol...I think I'll stay where I am for now and keep looking - definitely check out Elance and Guru.com
Awesome..
I have given up writing for Helium for a long time. I find the star system kind of boring for me. I would love to write not rate always.
But I agree with you that it's a great place for those whom love a bit of challenge. Guess I'm more laid-back ..
Well, Hubpageswriter,I have to admit I wasnt being entirely honest when I said that - I was just trying to be nice! A challenge is fine, if you're confident the challenge will be judged fairly. But as many Helium writers discover, the ratings system doesn't always result in the best articles reaching the top!
Thank you so much for this article! I don't feel like I am wasting my time here on HubPages but I would be on Helium. Thanks so much for the info.
Thank you for the article. It is amazing that it can generate so much interest for such long time.
In my opinion, helium is a place to spend your time rating others like you who spend their time in hope for some money. Unless you post lets say 5 articles / day, you have little chance to earn even a decent amount.
and who can post 5 articles a day and claim that they are all good, documented, opiniate, and at list not a repeat of last month one. Haw can be possible to write so many articles and be original or at list have your own voice?
I do not belive any af the Internet so called freelancer's site are paying for the work af a writer. But the writers are so 'hungry' that they will write for pennies (including myself).
i think writers deserve more just for the effort of putting some thoughts into a subject.
This is a great article and obviously has hit a nerve with online writers. I joined Helium a few months ago, and have found it to be a good supplement to my Squidoo and Hubpages articles. I have chosen to focus on creating new titles and then filling them which starts each article off at a minimum of $2.00 for me, plus whatever page views they earn. I have earned $89 in a few months without too much time. I can write a Helium article much faster than a Squidoo or Hubpages article, and I have gotten several new contacts and followers from the site. I don't think it is a site to replace Hubpages, but as a supplement, I love it. I haven't really tried out the new zones yet.
I like your insights, and everyone else's here. Great imput.
Lakeerieartists, I'm glad you're enjoying Helium. Personally I'm past the point of finding $2 acceptable as payment for an article, even if I can expect a few pennies to accrue later. Remember you have to "earn" those pennies by more work (i.e. rating).
I agree writing Helium articles is faster - bash out 400 words, no layout, no pictures - and if you're a prolific writer with a bottomless pit of articles, you may not worry about using up so much material to earn so little. However for my money, you'd do much better selling those articles somewhere like Constant Content than posting them on Helium.
Another reason Helium doesn't work for me is that I've got to the stage where I expect my articles to do double duty - earning money and promoting my other internet ventures.
Good article Marisa. You know how I feel about this site and if anything, you made it sound better than it really is. I'm considering writing my own hub about Helium but it would be hard to do without using profanity.
LOL Randy - yes, I can just imagine what your Hub on Helium would be like! My own instinct is to tell people to run a mile from Helium - but some people do seem to like the place, so I've tried very hard to see both points of view.
Marisa, obviously a topic for conversation. This one has gone on for over two years. Very impressive!
Thanks for writing it. I just now found it and have taken the time to read it, and many of the comments. I have to bookmark it and come back to it because I found it too late at night, and these old bones get cranky after sitting here too long.
I look forward to finishing it, as this has been something I have thought of looking into. Still undecided.
@Duchess, glad you like the article! Do please re-read it when you're more awake - I made an effort to be even-handed about Helium but bottom line is, I don't recommend it.
Thanks for the info, I'm not even going to consider Helium now. I'm quite happy sticking to Hubs to tell you the truth!
Helium is hard for newbies to survive. However, once the writers get five writing stars, the earning potential is better.
Scheng, I'd be asking myself - exactly how much time and effort does it take to get to five writing stars? You have to take that into account when assessing the earnings potential once you get there.
This is the article that inspiered me to come to Hub, so thank you. The quality of Helium articles is so low, that "sharpening writing skills" is really not the case. The rating system at Helium is so manipulated that is not even funny. I am still writing for them, mostly to titles suggested by me (upfront payment), but to compete with the oppinion of "house wives" in subjects that requier specific knoledge (and be rated down by them) is sad to say the least.
More Helium facts:
Frustrated by the rating system I posted on the community rating board a question under the name "Go figure..." I got some comments from top administrators at Helium that further prove the lack of transparancy and the ever changing rules on the site.
Judge for yourself:
WeaselWarDance (member of the administrative team) talks about the "wisdom of the crowd logic" and compeares to the base of the democratic syste. In his last sentence he redifines democracy and says "future improvments forthcoming, will allow us to be MORE RESTRICTIVE IN WHO WRITES TO CERTAIN TITLES"
Rex (also part of the Helium team) writes about the campaign of "cleaning up content and as a result ARTICLES MAY BE REMOVED FOR VARIOUS REASONS"
Well, what can I say? SELECTING writers and REMOVING articles for reasons they will not explain, sounds very DEMOCRATIC to me (by Helium standards).
Gabriella, as you're finding, Helium is a constantly changing site - which can be a good thing, of course, but not if the users don't have equal freedom to change (and remove their work) if the changes don't suit them.
Very thorough and accurate. I'm not as bothered by the *current* standards, even if they are an adjustment toward the more exclusive/"stricter" conditions. Your point is very well taken, though, that the "moving target" does undermine trust a bit. I enjoyed this piece - and I read it half expecting to be able to tear it down. Not so. Even when you expressed an opinion, that it was an opinion was clear.
And you did a valuable thing in emphasizing the permanence of stuff submitted. It may be our writing, but it is no longer entirely our property. That alone was well worth the read. :)
Very informative and certainly useful stuff..
As of a few weeks ago How To Do Things .com stopped their google adsense revenue sharing. I heard about it from a friend who wrote them very early Jan 2010 about her adsense from the site totally dropping out and when she inquired about it, they confirmed that they are no longer going to share revenue because they are reformatting their site. I've since heard this confirmed by several other people (I have seen their received emails from How To Do Things). They are however going to keep the thousands of content-articles that have been contributed to them. These writers are wondering why they were not informed by email weeks ago but they feel it is because the site wanted to keep writers publishing articles and to let them find out at the latest possible date. They are also complaining that the site is republishing their articles on Amazon under the name "Quick Easy Guides How To Guides" and are claiming rights in doing so but are not crediting the books to the author's names nor giving them any share of the revenue from the books.
If you use this> "Quick Easy Guides How To Guides" in Amazon's search bar it will take you to many of these 'quick books' that are the identicle titles/articles by people who wrote articles for their website.
OnLooker, your experience on Howtodothings should serve as a warning to all of us! Most sites have a clause in their TOS which allows them to change the rules any way they like. Morally, I think you should have the right to leave the site if you don't like a rule change, but Helium won't allow you to do that - or at least, you can, but you can't remove your work.
I've also heard about the change at howtodothings, but as of yesterday they were still advertising that they shared revenue - which is reprehensible, if it's not true.
BTW Helium has also published writers' articles in Amazon publications without the writers' consent - it's allowed to do that under its TOS, but most people don't understand that.
I enjoyed your posting on Helium. There is so much I still don't know about how articles earn money. I appreciate the thorough explanation offered.
Oh yeah...the presentation was easy to grasp and delightful to read. Great!
Great hub, very informative. Glad to know I'm in the right place. I only dabbled in Helium, but I didn't like how restrictive it was, plus I heard that HubPages is ranked better than Helium in the search engines.
Interesting and informative. Perhaps it saved me from making mistakes. Thank You.
@Randy, you can use profamity at Heliumasia.com -- you're invited! LOL!
Great topic, I've learned alot from this and affirmed what I thought I knew. thanks and peace :)
A few points that you left out. You now have to have 3 writing stars in order to participate in the Marketplace. You can be banned from the Marketplace for any reason. One member made a complaint on the forum and was banned from the Marketplace as a result. I know someone who have more than 1000 articles published on Helium and has not made a single cent in months because they do not rate.
Not all articles that don’t sell in the Marketplace will transition to the members’ profile. The staff decide which ones do and those that don’t.
The most important thing that you forgot to mention is that the Channel Stewards have the power to rank the articles in their channel in any order them desire, and they do just that. Most first (2nd & 3rd) places are held by Channel Stewards and their friends. Your article has to be in the top 25% in order to earn money.
The bottom line is, you have to be a member of the clique to make money on Helium, the ranking seldom have anything to do with the quality of your article. Goggle “helium sucks” or “helium scams” that site has more complaints than all the other writing sites put together.
@ProjectsConsult, sounds like things have only got worse since I left Helium. The only thing I do on Helium these days is rate, once a month, for less than an hour. Thanks for the update!
Great article Marisa.
YOU MUST BE THIS TALL TO RIDE THE ROLLERCOASTER!
I think the question will be, what quality level will the mass production be able to achieve. There will be a limit, and sites that take a more authoritative view and give trust a boost within their content (like http://www.thefreeresource.com does) and pay their writers more for better content will win in the long run. I guess it's the different between a mass produced car and a hand crafted car. Which will last longer and have less issues? I put my money on the hand crafted vehicle. I think the same is true with the large sites that rely on mass but have little quality behind each article. We recently saw this with QA sites and will soon see it with content farms that don't live up to Google's and the users standards.
I did write in Helium. My articles were paid only by pennies. Not worth it for the pain. Cash up $25 and bye bye... I'd better take a nap instead of writing there...
Anyway, this article is good...
Alright, I'm a user of Helium so it's not surprising that I'm biased. Relative to how many hours I've worked, has Helium paid me well? No, but it's also paying me based on my effort and skill in a variety of effort.
Quite frankly, the information necessary to make sense of Helium is quite substantial. It took me over an hour to understand how Helium works, but I am a tad slow sometimes.
People don't seem to understand that Helium.com is a site dealing with money. You should be reading the fine print. In the case of Helium, it's not even fine print. It's stated that you should review certain information on how things work.
1. You post articles that are rated by other users of the site. Your popularity influences how much money you make. There are some cases where good writing will go unrecognized by the average person. However, you can easily play the system for a bit then write whatever you want. Once you reach a certain rating, you get an added buffer that makes it incredibly difficult to go down in ranking or "writing percentage."
2. Because the site uses rating as a significant tool for improving writing, paying writers, etc, it's necessary to encourage it. Most people don't like rating. This is why it's required. You need to rate the better article (so predict what most people will say is better) at a certain frequency. It's not difficult if you put some effort into it.
3. It's so easy to rate that it can be accomplished in a n hour a month, most likely. If you use the site well, I've heard of people getting as high as $400 in passive revenue.
Helium isn't misleading in how it presents requirements for writings. It is unclear at times, but if you read the information thoroughly, it's fine. Most complainers are either bad writers, lazy, or both.
So, Ninjacat, am I a bad writer or just lazy??
I also know people making $400 a month in passive income (though it's not truly passive as you still have to rate) - but they have thousands of articles. On HubPages, I make $250 a month from 150 articles. The return on effort just isn't comparable.
Hi Marisa
I joined Helium earlier today, then only found this review of yours. I started saying "oh dear, oops, maybe not write for Helium at all..." (as I haven't yet uploaded my first article there) but then I remembered why I joined Helium. It's another site that accepts previously published content as long as that previously published content is my own. I like the idea of being able to earn in more than one way from the same article, even if the earnings are dismal. A lot of dismal earnings, for not much effort, can add up. HubPages does not accept previously published articles, and frowns upon the reposting of HubPages articles on other sites later.
I'm still fairly new to trying to earn an extra income from my online writing efforts, so am not yet earning much at all, but I see it slowly growing.
I earn more from Adsense ads on my own sites than from the Adsense ads on my HubPages articles. I love the community here at HubPages, so write for both my own sites and HubPages. I can add the articles from my own sites to places like Helium, and even Constant Content with usage rights only.
I don't believe any person that puts in decent effort to try create an online income is lazy or a bad writer. I do believe that different methods work for different people. If something works for a person in the way that they want it to, they should stick to it.
I'm wary of the negatives about Helium, and am glad I found your hub where you highlight some of these negatives. However, because my goals are merely to find places that accept previously published articles, I think I may add 4 or 5 articles to Helium (and spend an hour or so rating) before I decide if I still want to be a part of them.
Teresa, please do some reading on "duplicate content" before you start publishing exactly the same article in multiple places. What happens is that Google will give priority to one, and ignore or downgrade all the other copies. So in the end, you'll only get significant income from one of them, and you're no better off.
Thanks for the tip, Marisa - I have done that reading up on duplicate content already http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2008/09 and from what I read I understand that I should basically put the first article on my own blog or website (and include a sitemap), - or put it on a site I'm happy to be the "main" site for the first fresh article, with my name on the article, before I post the article elsewhere. Many views of articles on some writing sites come from the members themselves. Writing sites that allow previously published articles don't mind allowing them on their site because they have enough fresh articles on their sites too, and can even make money on sometimes selling these articles (fresh or not) with usage rights only - to people who then put the same articles on their own sites (like people who buy articles with usage-rights-only at Constant Content, or who use articles from EzineArticles) to offer their own site's vistors further info on something that is related to their niche. Even if a popular writing site's article (my article) comes up higher in Google search results, and the one on my own site doesn't appear high in results or at all, other articles on my own site that I don't duplicate elsewhere are still featuring high in results. It's only about 5 articles I've done this with so far (have them in 3 or 4 different places) and of course Google often changes the way they work, so I'll certainly keep my eye on things, so, again, thanks for the tip.
They just terminated my account 2 days and they first say that it was terminated because I sent artificial traffic. This statement was not true as I only advertised my article throughout the internet and obviously it will get views. Today they sent me another message saying they terminated my account because my work was sub standard and too admitted they were wrong about the traffic and they apologized. But what I don;t understand is that if my work is sub standard, why is it still on the site?????? They should be deleting it if it isn't good enough and I wrote for 2 years without any notifications about my work! Clearly, they stole my earnings for this month which was at $500! Yes a very big sum and I am absolutely devastated!
Helium has the ingredients for a model of corporate social responsibility, but instead seems to prefer something not far from ill gotten gains reaped from the fields of exploited writing talent and lack there of. The company takes advantage of writers who place their dreams and hopes trustfully in the hands of a scantly lined writing opportunity. Gaining recognition from this company through a school like 2nd or 3rd grade star and badge merit system appears to deceptively coax a psychology of convenience and recognition.
Helium are crooks. Just recently they ripped me off for $5 they should have paid me on a stock content sale. When I noticed that the money hadn't been credited to my total, I pointed it out to them, but Jim Logan refused to even check whether that was the case. He just blew me off with nonsense. I regret ever having gotten involved with Helium at all. If I had enough money to sue them and put them out of business through legal fees, I would do it instantly.
Thank you for a very detailed and incisive review of Helium. I was looking for some information about Helium, its policies, payments and user views, and i couldn't have asked for a better service than your great hub has provided. Keep it up.
Before contributing to Helium, be warned. I posted some articles on there, then decided that I would like to delete them. This is not allowed. So I asked them to delete my name from them, at the very least. They told they would do so, but that it takes a while for the changes to appear. I waited and waited and finally reminded them. Eventually my name disappeared and was replaced with "author name withheld." However, when I go into Google, Bing, Ask, or other search engines and type in my name, I am still directed to these articles. It may say "author name withheld" but anyone who knows me can decipher that I wrote the articles. When I brought this to the attention of helum's "helpers" they told me that this is an error with Google and that I should contact Google directly. Dumbest thing I have ever heard. I wish I had never gotten involved with helium. Take it from me: What you post there will haunt you permanently, so if you take part in writing an idiotic essay on winter crafts or shoe trends, it will follow you to your grave.
Helium.com is like the lighter than air Hindenburg. It seems like it's crashing further down with each new "upgrade" the site makes to compensate for its lack of jet fuel. Also, exploiting writers the way Helium done is sickening.
dear, I was kicked out of helium today. I knew there was somthing wrong, my articles were at first nor bought, then it was deleted , then finally when I started to make real money for premier titles and ad revenue, i was kicked out just like that. no money, and i have lost a good number of articles and poems. What to do, please can u advice about the pending earnings and please list a site which pays upfront like helium.
Saideepa, you are not the only one. If you were banned, you will not get paid.
I can't help you with upfront paying sites - I've looked into a few, and the upfront payments are always so poor compared to revenue-sharing sites like HubPages and Infobarrel, that I haven't bothered joining.
I really advise against writing for Helium. You cannot delete your articles, and with their new rules they are stuck there for a year. Considering the kind of changes management likes to make lately I wouldn't be surprised if next thing is "Have 5 rating stars or don't get any ad revenue" or anything stupid like that. It's just too risky to give exclusive rights for a year for no payment to a site like that.
Not to mention the fact that they insist on spreading lies on the forums, letting volunteers do all the work and other "dubious" business practices. I would call them a scam, but so far they do pay so even if I think they are morally rotten I cannot say they are thieves. Yet.
Hubpages at least you can just delete your content and move it to your blog if you don't like them anymore for any reason.
Saideepa, I just wrote a hub about Wikio Experts. They pay upfront but they don't have endless revenue share.
@GoingOnline - I agree with you. I tried to make this article more balanced, but personally I haven't written on Helium for nearly 3 years and would never do so again.
As you say, they have a track record of constantly changing the rules, each time restricting earnings potential further. It's just too much of a risk.
If I understand it correctly, under the new rules your article isn't just stuck there for a year - it's stuck there forever. True, you can post copies of it elsewhere after 12 months, but there is little value in that.
Not to mention the fact that if you post your old material (to which you have rights) anywhere you'll be attacked on forums for being such a bad person.
Id recommend anybody looking to join Helium to take a look at the forums first. This way you can see how they deal with writer concerns. The link is on the footer, as community or forum boards or something of that sort.
thank you dear, will try the wikio.
As a former Helium writer, I found the content on there to be badly researched on some of the most idiotic topics available, such as "best shaving cream for men". The so called 'ratings' are just popularity contests that had little to do with actual quality of the content. No research is needed. They want advertising that presents one-sided views, not well-balanced articles.
I've had properly cited articles (complete with links to a dozen news articles proving my point) rejected as "low quality".
Helium is a joke.
Oh my goodness! I am so glad that so many intuitive writers are seeing, hearing, and acknowledging what I have been acknowledging all along--that Helium.com really has tremendous vicious, psychotic, and harmful people.
I am referring to the staff of helium.com who implemented unreasonable, psychotic, and unethical rules for Helium writers to obey at any time in any circumstances! The conducts of helium.com totally deprived the freedom, right, and dignity of the former helium writers.
I truly believe that the attorney general office could ensure to the public that Helium.com will not get away for the wrongs, harms, and unethical conducts they have committed to innocent human beings (the former Helium writers.) For example, it is our right to demand Helium.com to remove our articles if we requested Helium.com to remove our articles, especially if we no longer desired to have our work to post on Helium.com. The agreement they expected writers to obey only applies if there is no external situation occurred and if staff of Helium.com did not violate any of the writer’s rights, freedom, and dignity! Once the staff violated these crucial elements on the writer’s part, then, “the contract and agreement is totally void” and “cannot be enforced” and if the staff refused to do what it needed and supposed to do for the writers. For instance, when staff of Helium.com accused the writer of something that the writer did not do is considered as intentional infliction of distress including violations of the writer’s rights and dignity.
Helium.com is very bad place to get involve!
Thanks so much for writing this hub about Helium and its pitfalls. I signed up with Helium a couple of months ago but had put it on the back burner because I was accepted to write for Suite101 and some other networks and wanted to concentrate on those. Helium sent me an email the other day encouraging me to submit content so I figured what the heck. Now, I don't wish to come off as a snob, but I wrote what I felt confident was a well-written, well-researched article and mine was one of four on this particular topic. Out of the other three articles, two were riddled with typos and poorly written (in my opinion of course). However, and I'm thinking this might be because I don't hang around and rate a bunch of other articles (I'd rather be writing than rating), my article is ranked 4 of 4. I doubt I'll be writing anything else for Helium. I want my work to be judged on content, not on how many other articles I rate. Am I correct in assuming this is the way things work on Helium? Again, thanks for all the valuable information!
@Lovesleftovers, no that's not how Helium works. How your article is ranked isn't affected by your own rating. However, the rating engine is seriously flawed and it's rare to see articles ranked as they should be.
The reason is that to earn money, you must have a rating star. Too many members just rate for the sake of getting that star and don't even read the articles before rating them, they just click at random. The rating engine is supposed to have a "quality" component that should catch people who do that, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't.
Helium is a scam plain and simple. The only people that do well there are the helium lackeys like stewards and channel managers
People that have written for Helium and were mistreated need to fight back! Here's a link to a great forum that is trying to do just that:
Joe Blow and Tex are right, except for the lackeys part. Helium even pulls the rug out from under those who volunteer to keep the place running.
Now they are into "contests" where you write ten articles on the chance that you will get a prize that is never coming. I am done with it and am looking for a better place to write and get paid.
Hub pages looks even more confusing but I will give it a try.
I have just started writing on Helium. I'm pleased I have read this. You have no doubt saved me a lot of wasted effort.
I would prefer to post this on Helium's forum but I'm aware of multiple writers who've been banned from there.
Essentially, many writers are complaining both there and at other sites, and the loyalists might be smoking too much hopium.
What's everyone complaining about? Not a lot of opportunity even after having been bought by a large corporation several months ago. Also, several long-time writers there are distraught about having their earnings decline over 50%.
I wrote a few articles for Helium a few years back. They lure people in with vague promise of earning cash. When you complain you are told you aren't trying hard enough. If you complain enough you will be banned from their site.
Look at their BBB rating - http://www.bbb.org/boston/business-reviews/publish
Here's an ironic article that someone wrote at Helium. I think that it says a lot.
What's interesting is that I started out writing online at Helium. I loved that they made you read and rank other people's work. I learned that I could write non-fiction and that I could be good at it because of Helium. This is where I made my, "rule of two," my personal requirement that I read and rank two articles for every one that I write, and I have applied this philosophy it to my own sense of etiquette concerning rating other hubbers and choosing to follow or not. Helium was a great start for me, but everytime I logged on, they were adding more and more requirements in order to make money, and it was too much of a time waster. That's when I found Hubpages and I am sad I can not reuse or transplant some of the material I published on Helium, but it was good while it lasted.
I have a hair-brained idea though. Would it be violating any rights-usage rules if I were to set up an iframe on my own website in which my Helium article would appear and have ads in my website next to the iframe?
I think the disappointing end-experience can be summed up with this: Helium, you suck and blow!
You can use your Helium articles directly on your own website as long as they were written before Dec 2010 or even before march or february 2011 if they weren't paid assignments though. Easier than using an iframe that will only benefit Helium.
That's encouraging. So what if they were paid and written before 2010? I never got paid of course, but I think they were earning revenue. If I can use them, I will! Thanks GoingOnline.
Alexander, there's a big difference between Helium and HubPages when it comes to rating. On Helium, rating is crucial to a writer's success. On HubPages, it's completely irrelevant. HubPages has said Hubbers' votes have a negligible effect on HubScore.
As for posting your Helium articles on your own site - it's a good idea to have your Helium articles somewhere, in case Helium ever goes bust. But Google frowns on duplicate content.
Voting has no relevance? That's weird. I don't know about that, I notice a direct connection between my clicking the up button on an unread hub and coming back a few minutes later and seeing the score go up a tick or two. Maybe I should hit the down button on those unread hubs and see what happens - my method is not completely scientific.
Thank you for the point of view on reposting Helium articles, maybe I'll set up a second HP account to post them on and see what happens.
They'll count as duplicated content, so I doubt they'll be accepted on HP. But at least you can use them on your own blog (And I am sure you'll make more money there than at Helium...)
Interesting, good idea GoingOnline, thanks!
Alexander, HP has said that voting has a very small influence on HubScore compared to all the other parameters they use.
Also, bear in mind that on Helium, ranking makes a difference to how much money you make - but on HubPages, a good score does not improve your earnings potential in any way, shape or form. In fact, the reverse is true - your HubScore is a reflection of how well you're doing in attracting traffic, not vice versa.
Hi- I will never write on Helium again. After a long time, Helium deleted my No.1 article in a group as it no longer fit the category. Then I learned that they have all these rights. Now, most of my number 1 articles are moved down, which is frustrating. Then they told me I could delete one of the articles on a needs improvement list??? so I picked my best one - a number 1. Of course, that never happened. And the rating system is so poor.I could have written for the Marketplace, but it was not worth my time. I wish I had never written for them. Thanks for a great article with great organization and excellent points. You deserve the good rating for this article. Kudos to you and your writing skills.
@brakel, that's the big problem with Helium - the constant rule changes. People complain about the changes at HubPages, but here you have the choice to remove your articles if you disagree with the new policies. Helium doesn't give you that courtesy.
Helium seems to be slowly disintegrating with best writers finally seeing the light and going elsewhere. it's amazing to hear of writers there only making a few bucks a day on several thousand articles. And unlike here at HP, they cannot remove them and place them elsewhere with Heliums ever-changing TOS.
I'm glad they kicked me off when they did and I know you are better pleased yourself since you left, Marisa.
Randy
Many thanks for this extremely insightful article. I am new to hubpages and very happy with it on many levels, especially being able to compare it with helium. Thank you
Thank-you for an insightful article. All writing sites must be examined with a completely open mind and any emotions put on the back burner. Voted up.
Freedom of speech is seriously curtailed by its 'family friendly policy' and 'civil discourse' policy...only thing is they seem to define non-civil discourse as anything that expresses the realities they don't want to hear....probably because it reminds them of the truth, unless they're paid to be blind like some seem on there seem to be.
Writers are paying the salaries of Helium staff. Helium staff try to help Helium the best way they don't know how. Fire them and replace them with the writers!
Hi Marisa,
Thanks for your advice about Helium. I only began writing there on 12/20/11, a few articles, and they already irked me and I wanted to delete one of my articles. You can't. They say for 1 year, but as you say, it appears forever. You can't add more than 1 picture, and it's hard to get rid of it, so it ends up on other articles that do not apply to it. The topics are weird too. I may stay on now and then, but like the freedom and people of HP better. It doesn't seem to me that there are many contests, all the posts on Helium seem to be really old!
Jean, Helium keeps exclusive rights for a year - after that you can republish it anywhere you want, but the original stays on Helium. Which means, of course, that you can't re-use it on any sites which prohibit duplicate content (and these days, that's most of them).
Excellent and thoroughly researched article! It answered many of the questions I had about helium and helped me make up my mind about whether to venture out and give it a shot. It seems not worth the trouble, especially because of the no-follow on links.
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cristina327 Level 6 Commenter 4 years ago
Thanks for this hub. It is very informative and very helpful.You made a good analysis. Great job.