You don’t have to rate a lot on Helium, Anne. I know some people who rate like mad so that they can get that $3 bonus for having 5 rating stars at the end of the month, and there’s the other end of the spectrum where people just rate the minimum of 10 rates in a month for 1 rating star to be eligible for payments. I tend to lean towards the latter group. I also use my skips a lot, skipping those topics that I have no interest in or are unfamiliar with. I don’t always skip rants though. If my panel shows up a rant verus a fairly decent article, I’ll just rate the other article higher after glancing through.

iakul’s last blog post..Iakul’s List

But as I mentioned before, Helium may not work out that well for everyone. I am happy to say it has much potential and has worked well for me.

Looking at Helium Market Place – nothing for me today, but I’ll keep an eye on it. But they are one shots… I can’t get residuals.

If you are looking for paid work with out being having the time to commit, then I would suggest to just hitting the prompt on the top of the screen in red called Marketplace. You do not have to be an active member (other than signing in) to participate.

In checking the marketplace today, I see that there are six pages of publishers seeking articles with 5 requests for $80 payments with many in the $16 – $20.

Yes, many may submit but not as many as you think. I see one article expiring today and only 8 writers supplied to it. So your chances are pretty good. If picked, your article is removed from Helium and given to the publisher for their use. Almost all of the time, writer credit is given unless otherwise indicated.

Now if you do not win, the article becomes part of your Helium account. The article can still earn money especially if it is SEO keywords content.

I have had articles in which I receive $12 a month that are borrowed (I still retain rights) by a rather famous theme park company for their on-line magazine. They do not even print my article but just reference as a top reading choice in a specific category with a link. So besides the money they pay me through Helium, the article earns on its own also.

Article submissions I have submitted to magazines or web content that are not picked up, I place on Helium where it does not become an altogether loss.

No matter who you write for, it becomes an individual preference. What does not work for you may work for me. With my participation in Helium, I do have some money coming in each month that I collect upon. I know of someone on Helium that earned over $4000 in one month and I know of someone on Associate Content that did the same. So it boils down to your commitment. AC does not work for me but Helium does.

So test the waters with all or one of the three as Anne did. Try the Helium marketplace where you know exactly how much an article you will make if purchased.

cyramiles’s last blog post..Keeping Updated Blogs

Glad you’re still plugging away at Helium! I’d be happy to give you some advice on how to maximize your earnings at Helium.

I’d start with our Helium Freelance Writers’ Marketplace, where the average gig pays $70 for less than a 1,000 word article. Many folks enjoy contests too, where a top earner in each of the 10-11 weekly contests earns $75 (each, no limit on how many you try). You earn upfront payments for informative articles in most channels, plus ad revenue share. Target your writing in higher earning ad-attractive channels and you pull in more.

Marketing your articles also helps, like placing links from this website or other higher page rank sites. I wrote an article on marketing your Internet articles: http://www.helium.com/items/797495-internet-writers-guide-to-marketing-your-helium-articles-on-the-web (as staff, I don’t earn on my articles, so that’s not self-promotion).

The biggest issue is this: Helium is a more of a cooperative than a fast serve writer fix. The more you participate the more your earnings rise expontially. Casual participants will not see quick returns. One exception: We have some experienced freelancers who focus exclusively on gigs in Helium’s freelance Marketplace. No rating requirement for earning there: http://www.helium.com/marketplace .

Here’s a great Helium success story: Retired teacher earned $5K in six months participating about an hour a day: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Retired-High-School-Teacher-bw-14233827.html

More info for your research. Thanks for your investigative work, because it adds much to a writer trying to decide where to call his/her writing homebase on the web. I also wrote an article to help writers with this kind of search, and it isn’t a hard sell for Helium (promise): http://heliumblog.wordpress.com/2008/12/08/what-writing-site-do-you-call-homebase-guidelines-to-help-you-decide

Feel free to write to me with any further questions or inquiries: bwhitlock@helium.com.

Barbara