Article Writer Investigates Helium
September 17, 2007 by Anne Wayman
Filed under Jobs
We’ve all seen ads for freelance writers by Helium Marketplace. I’ve been suspicious of the service as a good market for writers because they don’t pay. Instead, they offer a revenue share and attempt to get publishers to buy the articles; if successful, the writer then gets paid. While I’m not opposed to writing on spec for well known magazines, writing on spec in hopes some publisher will arrive and buy just strikes me as a long shot not worth taking, or taking very often.
Matt Keegan over at Article Writer has actually looked more closely at Helium than I have, and as a result of his investigation received a reply from Elizabeth Streeter, who is a Business Development Associate with Helium.
If you’ve considered writing for Helium, it’s definitely worth a read.
Although I don’t doubt Helium’s good intentions, and although I’m sure some writers have gotten a decent return, my hunch is most who publish there see little or nothing.
My recommendation? Don’t. Don’t write for them unless you simply want to get an article or two on line you can link to. Even then, I suspect you’re better off with your own website that shows off your work.
How do you feel about Helium and similar services? Why? Do any of you have direct experience you’re willing to share? Just leave a comment below.
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Anne, thank you for your comments. I agree, the Helium Marketplace is probably to be avoided especially if you are depending upon some of your articles getting purchased.
I believe if you put the time and effort into researching, writing, and editing an article you should be paid based on that work, not at the whim of the client. True, you can still submit the article to Helium’s site and see some sort of payment for that, but it isn’t the same thing.
Personally, I prefer to deal directly with my clients and avoid Guru, eLance, Helium and similar sites altogether.
I got a fantastic gig out of Helium, but that was probably more to my own credit than to Helium’s. I had a question about one of the Marketplace requests, and found the publisher’s contact info. I hadn’t submitted to Helium yet, so we ended up working out a long-term deal that made me $600 last month, and shows no signs of stopping.
I won one of their contests, which got me $75, although I had to work pretty hard to get it. I won in the destination spas category, and it turns out an editor out there found the winning articles and has asked me to contribute on that topic for them, too. So that’s pretty cool.
I think the key with Helium is not to expect too much. It gets your juices flowing. It’s fantastic for giving article ideas. The community is pretty good. It was great for me getting back into freelancing after a year’s break for maternity leave. But no, it’s not going to make you millions.
The most substantial flaw, in my opinion, is the Marketplace. Some of the Marketplace topics have hundreds of submissions, and publishers can choose one or not, without penalty. That’s a whole lot of spec work that they can promptly use for essentially whatever reason they wish. Not my idea of a good investment of time, but to each their own.
One thing I think aspiring freelancers should be aware of is that Helium never promised anything different than what they’re offering. People complain in the forums about biased rating systems and not enough money. Nobody promised you a rose garden, people. The reality is that Helium is a content site that has virtually no editorial review process, and anybody can post pretty much anything. Did people really expect to make thousands a month from this?
Rant over. Great site, Deborah!
I haven’t tried Helium, but I have submitted a few articles to Ezine Articles. They offer no pay, but gave me visibility when I started my company. I think it may be valuable for a new writer starting out with nothing.
Contrary to Matt Keegan’s comment above, I have had excellent success with eLance and have repeat customers. However, eLance generally nets you less-than-market-rate payment.
Me too, Matt… I’ve picked up one client ages ago thru Guru that worked out ok and one through rentaghostwriter that may turn out ok… meanwhile my websites seem to be generating lots of good work for me directly.
Naomi Dunford – I like your attitude… and it tickles me you’ve found a way to make Helium work for you… some good suggestions in your comment.
AW Duea – yes, Ezine Artilces, used strategically, can be a great way to build visibility. Glad to hear eLance works for you, but I’m always concerned when writers get paid less than their worth… it’s a constant balancing act.
Just to clarify, my critique was of the Helium Marketplace, not Helium’s initial business model. Although I certainly wouldn’t participate in their original article contribution method, I would have given consideration to the Helium Marketplace only if I had an agreement up front with a client.
I’m pretty confident that what I write is what most people want, but I am not keen on competing after I’ve already written and submitted the work.
Matt… what would a prior agreement with a client and Helium arrangement look like? Do you mean ghosting an article for a client to put there?
I was a regular contributor on Helium for several months; I won two Top Twenty contests, and then backed off as I have many other commitments. I still jot an article now and then for the site, but I became very frustrated with the contributor ratings system, and decided to stop entering any further contests. Too much effort; too little time; too little pay.
But having said that, I really like Helium. It is the perfect place for the novice writer to get started, and the veteran writer to get the gears oiled up again; It worked for me.
As to serious pay, I rely on my regular buyers to do that. Helium is for fun, and a little pay, now and then.
I have great respect for the chosen few who must administer the Helium site and all that entails. It’s very hard work. I know because I recently became a site steward.
I can spend hours reading and judging the quality and validity of “articles” — so, it’s good to come across those missives of real merit. But it’s better to know the admin staff is working to improve the overall quality of writing on the site.
Helium is still in its infancy, but I think it’s doing well considering the changes admin has made in the past year: No more one-liner articles, a stronger crack-down on plagiarism, and a valiant attempt to bump the dreck in favour of good writing.
If you are looking for a serious freelance writing job — Helium is not it. But it is a great place to exercise your writing muscle, on a regular basis. And get paid for it, albeit in pennies.
Sheree
Sheree, thanks so much! This is helpful.
You are welcome. Just found this site, and enjoy your writing very much.
Best wishes,
Sheree
I have been a member of Helium since 1/15/08 and have submitted around seventy articles. I’m not sure which avenue of the writing business I want to pursue, so I thought it would be a good place to start. I have published two chapbooks of poetry and some other random pieces, but I’m more interested in writing novels and short stories. Helium is a great place to get the creative juices flowing again and receive a few kudos, too. The only thing I don’t care for is all the whining about writing and rating stars. I stay out of the forum for that reason. It’s like a speak easy for angry children who didn’t get their stickers for being good. Member’s star status is displayed in a post, so I don’t dare leave any comments or questions. I just guess my way through it. Some of the members are very snippy and unkind to newer, less experienced writers. Everyone wants to receive recognition, but the main objective is to write well, rate well and to learn a little. Overall, it’s a good place for a new writer to get their feet wet, and with the right wording, make a few dollars.
Stacia, sounds like you could use a supportive forum… you might like ours:
http://www.aboutfreelancewriting.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl
you’ll have to register, but it’s no big deal… glad to get your perspective on Helium.
Earnings are not consistant there. I had almost 25 dollars in my account (23.06 to be exact) for minimum payout and all the sudden my earnings go down to 3 bucks. I have repeated emailed them and they will not answer. I have been gone for over six months and I guess you lose your earnings if you don’t write alot.
Anne, sounds like some sort of horrid hidden fee… fyi Amazon doesn’t do that to my royalties there… if it takes me two years to get to the payout, I still get it… same with clickbank… so Helium has no excuse imo.
Hi Stacia & Anne & Anne,
I can assure you there are NO “hidden” fees on Helium. It is completely FREE to join, and there are NO administrative fees whatsoever. Helium makes its money from Google Adsense ads, and from a percentage of the contributor articles it sells in its Marketplace.
As to the forum, I am in complete agreement with Stacia; her reasons are some of the reasons that I don’t hang out on the board. It’s gets very silly (childish) at times.
As to being unkind to new writers, I (as a Site Steward) am not, but I am honest. If I feel a new writer needs a heads-up, then I send a note their way.
But I (as well as many other Site Stewards) are very supportive of new writers, that is new writers who really care about honing their craft. It’s the pikers and the fly-by-nighters that receive our “snippy” attitude.
As to payouts, Helium has always been honorable. As soon as a writer reaches the $25 level, they may elect to be paid; the payment is put directly into their PayPal account, but only once a pay period. It does not happen immediately.
I would like to encourage the two ladies who have had bad experiences with Helium, to go to my About me page, and contact me directly. I will be happy to answer your questions. And look into any troubles you may be experiencing.
http://www.helium.com/user/show/93811
I assure you I make no money from stewarding; I do it because I care both about Helium, its contributors, and the craft of writing, in general.
And who knows…we might even become friends.
Cheers,
Sheree Zielke
Site Steward for Photography & Camera Channels
Thank you for opening this discussion, Anne. I had been toying with the idea of sending in a couple of articles, until I had a look at the pay that was offered in the marketplace section. It led me to wonder if publishing on Helium could actually be detrimental to a writer.
I am a professional photographer, as well as a writer. When I began my formal education, digital photography was in it’s infancy. It was crude and rather primitive by todays standard. The most advanced cameras on the market at the time had less resolution than an average camera phone has now. Needless to say, I was educated with a film SLR and a darkroom. Within a year of completing my Bachelors, digital was in full swing and the internet was off and running as well.
This had a huge effect on my profession. Not only was the weekend warrior able to produce images at a rapid rate with very little cost, there was a market online for them as well. Anyone who could afford a camera that shot over 4 mp, was now calling him or herself a photographer. We entered the age of royalty free and rights negotiable images. Getting the average person to understand there is more to being a photographer than having the latest camera gear is a neverending prospect.
My concern, is that markets such as Helium will have the same effect on writers. I think it is a wonderful concept to allow emerging writers an opportunity to be seen. I do worry that it will devalue the work of the dedicated professional, as publishers opt for the less adept writer who is willing to practically give away their work just to get noticed, versus the seasoned writer who knows their value and enforces minimum prices.
I am one of the ones who did not take the easy path and am happy in my decision. Marketing is harder, but my work is respected and compensated fairly. The ones who opted for selling their work for pennies to anyone who would take it, have stated to the world “This is what I am worth”. Placing a competitive value on your work after that is not easily done.
Does anyone have any further input on this? I am not sure if there is a parallel or not and would welcome other viewpoints.
One other huge issue with Helium is the editorial process. If a writer decides to radically alter a piece in order to drastically improve it, they are precluded from doing so. Any submitted edits must be within a certain word count percentage of the original article. Let’s face it—sometimes writers will write something, and because it is still fresh, they don’t as easily distinguish the wheat from the chaff. To go in and hack out the useless parts, leaving only the superior portions, is simply unacceptable. Even if you only make smaller changes, other members must approve your edit. Because payment is based upon ranking, it serves those members to disallow better copies. Most rankers are honorable, but not all.
And, God forbid you should decide a piece is an embarrassment, or that your artistic vision would be best suited by changing it across genres. Tough. Helium will not allow anybody to delete anything, at any time, unless they deem it to be of inappropriate content, or plagiarism. They won’t risk losing an ounce of revenue from your work, (not a dime of which you’ll see, unless you post myriads Pulitzer-worthy articles, and rate like a fiend). You see, they claim (in bold-face print): “After publishing content on the Site, you (or a third party who permitted you to publish their content on the Site) continue to retain all ownership to the content, subject to the license terms described herein, and you continue to have the right to use the content in any way you choose.” The right to use the content in any way you choose” would seem to imply that an author could alter or even delete a piece “(a)fter publishing (said) content on the Site.” Nope.
The “license terms” are scary, and as follows:
“By submitting your content to Helium, you grant Helium (and any Helium successors-in-interest, subsidiaries, or parent companies), a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable, non-exclusive, sub-licensable right and license to, in whole or in part, with or without attribution to you, use, copy, modify, edit, adapt, publish, publicly display/perform, translate, display, create derivative works from and/or license and/or distribute content posted to the Site. Helium’s rights to content you submit include the right to make editorial revisions to your content; to use in any way the materials you submit on the Helium website or in other Helium media, whether now or hereafter created; to use for our own internal business purposes; and/or to reproduce and distribute the materials for Helium’s marketing and publicity purposes.”
So, WITHOUT attribution to the author even (read: plagiarism), Helium is claiming perpetual publication rights, along with absolute and irrevocable editorial powers, and the ability to distribute that work outside the site.
When I signed up, I naively believed the wording of those terms was a catchall to protect Helium from frivolous lawsuits. After all, the boldface font implies a respect for the author’s intellectual property rights, no? When I wanted to delete a piece because I couldn’t radically edit it, and I found it woefully different than the voice I’ve found as an artist, I found out the hard way: the wording is so Helium can use it’s new vanity publishing scheme to grab and hold the works of it’s authors hostage, to allow for perpetual possible ad revenue.
Helium is the up and coming freelance writers site, with continued growth in our writing community, payouts to writers and other print and web publishers purchasing content created by our writers for their publication needs.
Helium’s Freelance Marketplace http://www.helium.com/marketplace?placement=JP13060 pays $32-$100 plus per article, with new kill fees. No limits on submissions and no registration fees.
We also offer a wide open publishing platform for non-exclusive content, with new upfront payments plus improved ad revenue share on informative articles, with minimal community participation.
Helium also offers a supportive writing community and highly responsive and accessible staff.
Over 10,000 web writers are making Helium a daily stop in their freelance writing efforts. Join for free and get informed directly. Also email me for any comments or information: bwhitlock@helium.com.
Barbara Whitlock
Community Development Manager
Helium.com
Ms. Whitlock’s assertions of “new upfront payments plus improved ad revenue share on informative articles, with minimal community participation” are directly in conflict with the user’s agreement, unless they changed it in the last day.
Their “upfront” payment scheme requires at least one “rating” and one “writing” star, (I suppose, Ms. Whitlock’s intended meaning of the intentionally deceptive phrase “minimal community participation”), in order to recieve $0.50/article. For each additional writing star, you get an additional $0.50/article. The trick is that the also claim the ” Upfront Payments are based on the number of new articles you submit in a month and the number of stars you have on calculation day”–which means you must post a lot of articles each month in order to earn. And, NONE of them can be creative writing–those simply do not count anymore. Each of these articles, mind you will then no longer be your intellectual property–you will simply retain a copyright to the extent that you can seek parallel publication.
If you maintain 5 stars for rating, (a thing which is “calculated” according to a mysterious algorhythm, such that sometimes, people LOSE stars for rating carefully, consistently, and constantly), you get a big, fat $3 bonus for your countless hours of careful consideration.
Blogs, also, offer “a wide open publishing platform for non-exclusive content.” Just like Helium, any content that isn’t illegal is posted, but unlike Helium, any google ad revenue you generate will be yours, and you lose no editorial control over your writing. Nor do you give someone unilateral, perpetual permission to do WHATEVER they want with your work, without reasonable remuneration.
Because you must have a minimum of $25 owed in order to get paid, if you fall ONCE CENT short, and then don’t post an equal number of articles, or rate as much, all your work is for naught. Your stars are gone, and so are your payments. I think their payment system is probably downright illegal, to be honest. Whether or not somebody “agrees” to it or not, a user’s license is not binding if it contains illegal portions. To agree to forfite previously earned income based upon future work sounds like a labor law being violated somewhere, but I’m, admittedly, not a labor lawyer.
According to their user’s agreement, if they wanted to, they could have someone write a screenplay from the creative writing (”derivative work”) that recieves NO PAYMENT, sell the “license” to use it for millions, and not give the original author either credit, or a cut (”without attribution”).
Yeah, some benign and user-friendly little community, that is.
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