My Experience Writing for Helium

Part of Helium's appeal is the way it organizes and rates content. Each title on Helium can contain anywhere from one to thousands of articles. The best articles float to the top after a while.

Because of the way Helium works, it motivates me to write better. It's easy enough for me to compare my articles to others and see what needs improving. It helps me develop writing strategies.

Even though other sites like Associated Content will pay you more money for your articles, I like to write for Helium first. It often results in a better article.

Helium has a unique system for rating articles. Here's how it works:

Each topic on Helium can potentially have dozens or even hundreds of articles, all by different authors. For example, one Helium topic entitled Getting over writer's block currently has 93 articles. Each author has a different take on getting over writer's block. The quality of each article varies.

The article at the very top is #1 because of peer ratings. Helium writers are also editors. After a writer publishes an article, he's taken to a screen that asks him to compare and rate two articles. The articles are about the same topic, but they are by different authors. If he rates article A as better than article B, then article A climbs up the list.

The rater won't see who the authors are, which means it's harder to "game" the system. Articles are truly rated based on their own merit.

At least that's the idea. The fact is, not everyone rates fairly. Many people rate articles without even reading them, which I imagine is why the most awful articles sometimes make it all the way to the top.

Other times it's just a matter of people not being able to agree on what makes one article "better" than another. Some favor an article because it's more entertaining, more informative, or because they prefer the opinion expressed. Others will rate down an article because it's full of misspellings.

The system is pretty good, but it's far from perfect. While most Helium writers want high ratings for their articles, it's not always the best indicator of quality.

Because you're rewarded with pretty gold stars that appear right under your name. That way, everybody on Helium knows that you're no slacker!

Actually, the real reason is because the more articles you rate, the more likely your articles will be rated by others. It's not a waste of time after all.

Simple answer? Yes, you can.

Will you make a lot of money? No, probably not. Most Helium writers aren't making big bucks. Many writers aren't even able to cash out after several months of writing for Helium.

Helium is a bit vague about how the earning system works. It's based on a combination of how good the article is, how valuable or popular the topic is, and how much advertisers are paying to splash their ads on that topic.

It can be hard to predict which articles will do well. Most of my articles aren't getting more than a few cents a month, while one article earned over $40 within a few months. You just never know.

Quality AND quantity matter when it comes to making money on Helium. High quality articles will usually get high ratings and more readers. Articles on hot topics (personal finance, entertainment, etc.) will generally earn more money than articles about, say, dung beetles.

Also, the more articles you write, the more you'll get a feel for the topics that pay the most.

For months, my highest earning article was Non-toxic slug control for your garden. It was posted on June 28th, 2007. Towards the end of September, it was ranked number 3 and had earned over $40!

It continued to be a high performing article until late October or early November. As of November 13th, it hasn't earned more than a penny this month. Around this time, it was nudged up to rank 1.

Why? Was its previous ranking somehow a "sweet spot"? Have people suddenly stopped looking up information about slugs? (It's not the slug's best time of year, after all.) Who knows. I can't figure it out.

Don't let your Helium account go dormant. If you don't do anything with your Helium account for more than 180 days at a time, your articles could stop earning money. For Helium to consider you a "participating member," you have to remember to do at least one of the following:

• Write an article


• Rate articles


• Invite a new member

If your account goes dormant, it's easy enough to re-activate it. Just do one of the things on the list.