Helium.com

[grimsleygl]

Does anyone travel around on the Helium web site? I find it fascinating, but extremely complicated to understand. Just wondered if any of you have joined them and if so, if you could shed some light on them.

They list all sorts of topics and it "looks like" you can just write on those topics at will...for free, and then there are also places where you might actually get paid for some writing and contests to boot! They have a religious section as well.

Anyone out there in christianwriters.net world ever dabbled with the Helium site?

[rljfl]

I tried the helium site for awhile. nothing wrong with it, just really don't have the time to spend with it. It is a pretty good site, and you can write on just about anything (doesn't even have to be on the subject/topics they list). You can make money by how your story/article is rated by other helium writers.

[grimsleygl]

Thanks for that bit of information. It is quite helpful. I have a hunch that the only ones who make money from either contests or straight out writing in this kind of situation are individuals who know the most amount of people that will vote for them!

My hunch may be wrong and I do hope so, but my one experience in this kind of thing seemed that way. My writing was NOT the best by a long shot and I knew it, but neither was the one chosen the best...at least from the ones that I actually did get to read.

Most of us would not vote for a friend’s submission if we felt it was really bad of course, but if it was a fairly good piece...we might be inclined to vote for the person's writing that we know, respect, and want to encourage. And, who would take the time to read "all" of submissions to even know which one was best to begin with? (Unless one was getting paid to read and evaluate each one.) Most of us barely have time enough to get our own writing done.

I do thank you very much for your quick response. I'll most likely hold off on this one a while...perhaps forever. :) Happy and productive writing to you!

[Lynn001]

I have several articles on Helium, and I have found that it just takes a little time and experimentation to find your way around their site. I post there for fun and to practice my writing, but not to make money since you only make a few cents each time your article wins a vote or a few bucks if it is a contest.

If you are interested in other sites like that, have you tried FaithWriters.com or Triond.com? Triond pays similar to Helium. FaithWriters does not pay per article, but it is a good place to share your article with others and make them available for reprint. I have also found it useful to subscribe to a message account on FaithWriters, as I have received several freelance writing jobs from people who have checked out my articles and then sent a message to me.

Good luck.

[grimsleygl]

Thanks for the info. about FaithWriters and Triond. I'll have to check them out as well.
Also, thanks for the personal email Lynn. I look forward to our communicating further.

[DraperJC]

I have a series of short articles on Triond and I've made about two dollars over the last six months or so. You can get to 'Life Lessons From the Marines' via my blog and see what the site looks like. You're paid by the amount of page views you receive, usually a penny every two to five clicks.

[Lynn001]

Hi Jeff,

I really enjoyed The Main Effort on your Life Lessons from the Marines blog. Thanks for sharing.

[talkingrock]

I have a membership at helium, but do not submit very much there, as they reserve the right to change the title, and don't rate my stuff as well as other sites do. I prefer associatedcontent.com, as it has dealt with me and my submissions more kindly. Stuff that did not do so well at helium, was treated better there. Its also easier to get people aware of publication over there. I have not written for triond yet. They don't want you to publish at any other site what you put there.
Things are very tight and hard right now, and I have shop for work so much, that I don't have time for stuff that pays slow. Helium's ok, just not my first choice for a site to publish at.

[Gravity]

If you get on to Helium Marketplace, there are lists of what editors are buying. I did that in November. I saw one of the listings was for a travel magazine, and when I opened it, one of the things they were looking for was 450-word article on Maui (the pay was $48). I wrote it and submitted it.

As I recall, the time period for the editor to decide was something like six weeks, and in the meantime I could read mine and the other articles on Maui in the thread, and see how they were stacking up against each other.

Long story short, at the end of the six weeks I got an email from Helium saying my article had won, and the fee was sent to PayPal.

[grimsleygl]

If you get on to Helium Marketplace, there are lists of what editors are buying. I did that in November. I saw one of the listings was for a travel magazine, and when I opened it, one of the things they were looking for was 450-word article on Maui (the pay was $48). I wrote it and submitted it.

Long story short, at the end of the six weeks I got an email from Helium saying my article had won, and the fee was sent to PayPal.

Thanks Gravity. This actually sounds both fun and interesting. I will have to check it out and see if I can find a topic listed that I know a little about and like to talk about.


I have a membership at helium, but do not submit very much there, as they reserve the right to change the title, and don't rate my stuff as well as other sites do. I prefer associatedcontent.com, as it has dealt with me and my submissions more kindly.

Thanks for the new website talkingrock. I've not heard of associatedcontent.com. I'll have to make a special folder for these [U??[/U]What do you call these kinds of sites?

I have a series of short articles on Triond and I've made about two dollars over the last six months or so. You can get to 'Life Lessons From the Marines' via my blog and see what the site looks like. You're paid by the amount of page views you receive, usually a penny every two to five clicks.

Great information DraperJC! These sights do not pay much at all it seems. But, I do some 'clicking' for you on a few of your pages. :)