Oh yeah? How do you justify American Democracy?

Informativepost.com offers something just like this only much much cheaper! They even offer more for their service! Helium come on, what a joke…

First, I have put about ten to fifteen hours in to Helium articles on my heavy-duty weeks. Usually it’s more like five. I’ve made over $800 from the site as a result of: ad revenue, contest winnings and Marketplace articles being sold. This place is not a scam, particularly since so many of us professional writers feel like we are getting good bang for our buck.

Paul’s comment about using Helium as a showcase, I call it an online portfolio, is write on as well. I’ve landed several jobs, in addition to a part time staff writing job, through using my Helium articles as a portfolio.

I won’t repeat everything that has been said, but the place is legit. The Pulitzer Center, the National Press Corps, and plenty of print and online publishers are not being taken in, trust me. Let me tell you something, Mike, I was a finalist in a contest to be a Pulitzer Center Citizen Journalist. Heck, I’ve been invited to join the National Press Corps. As a passionate writer who’s trying to build his cred, that friggin rocks.

I found this site just now and have chosen to linger given your recent official launch and the PRESS page deserving some real time at some point.

However I doubt I’ll ever make any money as that would require signing in.
Putting an email address up is bad enough.

One fact though is about the Pentagons reported contention that bloggers credibility can be hurt by hackign a few words here and there.

I believe the opposite is true. It’s the poorly written content that is changing things the most- being read by people who can barely read themselves. That is what 2.0 offers and it is a very good thing indeed. Anonymous speech that can be found by just enough people willing to waste just enough time to preclude those who would otherewise succeed in suppressing the shallow roots from taking any ground at all.

Ran into these comments. I actually did post two articles on Helium. BIG mistake. If you are being read by fellow ‘writers’, there is the opportunity for plagiarism. I wrote a piece in the marketplace to try out the site. Low and behold the following day, another individual took the key points and expanded on every detail. I did contact Helium and was told it would be addressed. Perhaps the ’star’ writer who was driving traffic to the site was too much of an asset to let go. Either way, that was the last of my Helium adventure. Other writers do band together and bid each others articles up the ranks.

I’m often fascinated by the stupidity and ignorance of random comments made around the web, but yours is particularly inspired. Given zero knowledge on the subject, what would possibly compel you to make such an ignorant statement?

Helium has attracted over 100,000 writers to its community. This many people do not join and participate in a community that is based on dishonesty. Our Marketplace product is attracting several new publishers daily. Perhaps the anonymity of our clients is a direct result of their not wanting to hear from idiots such as yourself. They, like Helium, are investing their time trying to build successful businesses.

Helium and its community are working hard to demonstrate that citizen journalism can produce high quality, meaningful material. Unfortunately, individuals like you, with such ignorant rants give the entire movement of user generated content a bad name.

Mark Ranalli
President & CEO
Helium Inc.

If you don’t see what they’re doing with the marketplace that is your fault. Its simple though,

They post fake postings for publishers looking for work on subject they know get good traffic. (i’m sure some are real)
They get say 20 submissions, and maybe buy a couple to make it look real.
The other articles generate a revenue for the site, because they were not picked up by this so called publisher.
This is where you make pennies on this article and helium cashes in.

If you don’t think this is happening, you don’t understand the business and how Helium makes money. They don’t list the name of the actual publisher, they don’t list a business or website, and the so called marketplace postings are just Helium trying to get more articles indexed on subjects they dictate.

Open your eyes.

Firstly, with regard to the 20% transaction fee, whilst this may seem high there are several factors that need to be borne in mind. To begin with, we as writers are given specific topics to write about and guidelines. Therefore, we do not have to waste time writing something that we think they want only to find on submission that it is not their current requirement. Furthermore, Helium does all the negotiation and helps the writer in ensuring that the contract is satisfactory.

Secondly, I would like to respond to the comments regarding “somebody copies and pastes” This has occurred twice to me on the site. However, the moment it became apparent I contacted the site managers and the person committing plagiarism was immediately banned from the site and their account removed. Helium has a strict rule on plagiarism and there are site monitors to ensure that these rules are abided by.

Thirdly, let me deal with the comment that “Helium writers are full of hot air!” Of course many people would say that all writers are full of hot air, which is what motivates them. If this were a comment about quality and value then I would make two comments. Comment one. Before you say that is the case take a look at some of the articles being written. For example, take a look at mine at http://www.heli....com/users/4501 Comment two. The unique rating system that operates on Helium ensures that, in the majority of cases, quality articles rise to the top. In this respect it means that those who write articles of quality and value are more likely to get read if they are closer to the top of any search.

However, I have to say that, as with all writing rewards, you only reap what you sow. I, as the writer, have to put the effort into my own quality and content to get the rewards.

Fourth, let me deal with payments. I joined Helium just over two years ago. Since that time I have been paid promptly every time I have requested payment, and have the paypal statements to prove it. In addition, my payments have steadily increased. This year I will earn well in excess of $5,000 from Helium alone and a reasonable amount of that will come from continual payments on articles that have been on the site for some time. In some cases I have articles that have earned on a monthly basic for over 18 months, and we are talking dollars not cents. What has to be also remembered is that is not a full-time occupation for me, just a hobby.

The other aspect to remember in terms of earnings is that Helium also acts as a showcase for the writers work. In this respect it has also worked for me. As a result of using Helium as a showcase I have gained writing contracts in the UK that earned me well in excess of $40,000 in 2007 (again a provable fact).

Finally, let me turn specifically to the comments regarding marketplace, which the original article referred to. Of the articles that I have sold through this medium over 90% have paid me $40 or more. None of the topics that I have articles accepted for have paid less than $16. The second aspect mentioned was conflict of interest. If we look at all the articles that are used by Internet and land based publications at present, may originate from the same source. For example Reuters, Associated Press and a number of other agencies provide content for a host of newspapers, yet the same information can be found on these organisations own sites. Is there a conflict of interest? No, because what each individual publisher is looking for is the unique style of the writer that will appeal to his or her own particular readership.

In conclusion therefore, all I would like to say is that, for me as a contributor and writer on Helium constructive criticism is welcomed, but let us make sure it is based upon factual evidence, which is what I hope I have provided here.

WRONG. Helium has its rating system for specifically that reason — the best get paid, and the worst get nothing. That makes the 80% of the writers who actually aren’t very good angry. You know how on American Idol there are so many people who are TERRIBLE singers who can’t believe they don’t make it to Hollywood? It’s the same thing on Helium. There are lots of people who are terrible writers who don’t make any money on Helium, but they don’t understand why, and they’re not willing to put in the work to be a good writer. They think just by posting they’ll get paid. They don’t understand the reason Helium is successful is that the quality content rises to the top, and the poor content disappears.

If you think that by submitting a dozen average articles to Helium you’re going to make $1000, you should also go audition for American Idol, because your sense of reality is warped. It just doesn’t work that way — average articles earn very little. But if you are a STRONG writer who can consistently create GOOD articles that people like, bring it to Helium and you can get paid. The bottom line is that good writing is a skill and a good article takes work. For people who are willing to work and can write, Helium kicks ass. For people who want to get paid for doing nothing, Helium is a huge disappointment.

Remember that you are competing with other writers who are also good enough to get paid, and realize that only by being one of the best are you going to get paid.

Crowd sourcing for content is the wave of the future. Look how IPhoto.com has destroyed the freelance photography market for stock photos. Helium and other sites like it are crowd sourcing content, and publishers LOVE it. Does it mean the complete demise of freelance journalism? Probably not — but it does mean the demise of getting paid for shoddy freelance. The bar has been raised, and those who fall below it are quite unhappy.

On Dooyoo, Epinions, and other sites what happens is that you get initial reads and get paid for them but that your article may as well be put to sleep on the back shelf for the rest of its life since it will not earn anything at all.

My articles earn me good monthly revenue and I am very happy with the results and also the amount of knowledge areas covered by the site. I think it unlikely that comments of a derogatory nature would get me down, but what frustrates me is those critics that really will not listen to how money is made and prefer to criticise rather than giving the site a fair chance.

The first few months on there are dire. I had nothing better to do and decided to weather it out, and am so glad that I did. The site is evolving and anyone can show their expertise in areas of their lives on the site. We are all experts at something, and that’s where Helium come in, giving us subject matter that feeds the writing desires of everyone, and help for those that are not so eloquent at expressing themselves.

I think Helium is a great place for people who know things and can write. If you’re just a great writer, but don’t know anything you’re going to have to work to make money, but if you have an expert level of knowledge about something and can write, Helium is a breeze to succeed at.

Or as they say in every writer’s workshop “Write what you KNOW.”

$3,000 for 1,600 is less then $2 a article, best of luck!

The reason that market choose their own articles is that not every article style will conform with their requirements. The articles that are not chosen obviously did not, and therefore will not be in competition with the style demanded by the particular marketplace.

I think the idea of markets being able to take the article that suits their website layout better than the rest is a great option, and indeed believe that the writers learn as well how to write to a given marketplace, which is what professional writing is all about.

I have been writing for Helium for over a year and have made more than 3000 Dollars both in marketplace and other areas of their site, and the new marketplace gives me even more incentive to write. I would encourage writers that are proud of their work since what also happens from writing on helium is that your work gets recognized for quality and I have had three approaches of full time work as a writer since writing there, though enjoy what I do on Helium, and will continue to write there.

People complain about lack of income from Helium without giving the site a fair chance. I have 1600 articles or more and earn on a regular basis, and am also willing to help any member achieve the same thing, encouraging writers, helping them develop their skills, and seeing the response of people that are willing to put in effort being rewarded.

One only has to read the Success stories from Helium writers which is displayed for all to read on the community forums of Helium to know that the site is worthwhile, pays well, and is the best place for serious writers to write.

You are better off buying content direct from the writer, or using a site like elance.com, guru.com, or constant-content.com.

I can already see it. Helium writers full of hot air!

@Andrew…you should probably take a closer look. They have been doing it for some time and many Publishers do use the service.