Can I rant for a minute? Yes? Good.
As you may know, I spent a good bit of time back in March and April doing an experiment with the article directory site Helium. I had some amazing success, earning more than $1000 writing part time over 40 days. The potential for residual income seemed to be high, as well, and if my Helium work continued to earn the same rate it had been earning, I’d have been looking at $100 a month or so in residual income.
I detailed my experiences here, and even wrote a few posts telling you how to do well in Helium contests. I even put together a report detailing my experiences and offering advice on how writers can make money at Helium.
Some of my readers joined Helium and experienced some success. At least one managed to sell an article in the Marketplace, and another won money in a writing contest.
So, why am I disappointed, frustrated and angry? Here’s why:
- The changes to Helium’s earnings policy have turned the potential $100 a month into around $3 a month. They’ve claimed to be making changes to the structure, but after several weeks of waiting I’ve not seen it.
- The rate of recursive income my recruits are getting is scary, if Helium is doing things the way it says it is. I’ve recruited nearly 40 writers, of which I should be getting a 5% bonus based on their earnings. To date, that’s been $.05. This means my 40 recruits have earned about $1 - total - between all of them.
- Helium claimed they were going to make changes to the article writing interface, offering more exposure to the author and possibly outbound links. This has yet to be done.
- The contest structure has been revamped, with about half the weekly amount of prizes.
I’ve been one of Helium’s most vocal advocates in the blogosphere, and have recruited a good number of writers. Helium’s changes and failure to follow through have made me look bad. The fact that my 40 recruits have earned $1 makes me look like a shill.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of Helium. I want it to work. I like the combination of the marketplace, contests, and residual earnings. I’m also a big advocate for the ratings system. Helium has the potential to be the greatest of all the article directories.
But I earned more money last month with five eHow articles that I wrote in January and February than I earned with the nearly-400 articles I have on Helium. My dozen or so Associated Content articles did about the same that Helium did.
No matter how hard I try, I can’t come up with a good excuse for that.
None.
So, what will change my mind, bring me back on board with Helium? There are three things Helium needs to do to regain credibility:
- Restructure their payment formula to be at least within striking distance of other directories.
- Offer at least one outbound “resource” link in each article.
- Figure out what they’re doing with contests, both in terms of structure and rankings, and stick to it.
What will NOT help is the status quo.
So, what do you think? Was it a mistake for me to promote them to begin with? Am I being too harsh? What else could Helium do to restore credibility? How is Helium doing for you these days?
22 comments ↓
But isn’t it your job to evangelize things that are exciting? To be on the bleeding edge of things? If you wait until something’s a proven commodity, no one gets to have that fun of riding the wave. If it doesn’t pan out, you can do what you just did –expose it and warn people off.
So I say good job in moving forward, and good job in stepping up.
Bob
I was one of your Helium referrals and I haven’t earned anything at all yet.
Learning the ropes, I submitted one article to a competition and another to the market place but neither scored as a hit….
Clients happily pay me $50 per article so I had assumed my writing wasn’t that bad………
I’ve spent more time than I could afford rating articles and have been surprised at the standard of some of them.
My feeling is that Helium is run as some sort of club and I have yet to discover how it works! I did read your excellent guide and I have read the Helium guides - but my experience is that it doesn’t work as described.
My time is better spent, at the moment at least, fulfilling client needs. There may not be the recurring income from the one piece of work, but there is the decent rate for that one piece of work.
Wow. That sucks.
What you did right was:
* Bust your ass to write prolifically (that never hurts!)
* Give good, detailed reviews of your results
* Continued to do so.
I don’t think you did anything wrong. It’s good of you to be transparent, to share how things are developing. Keep it up.
I’ve experienced some of the same frustration with Helium’s ratings as Donetta, though overall I can’t complain as I’ve got at least four articles rated #1 and a few more in the top 25%. However, I’ve found it to be an incredible time sink without a significant ROI. I’m not sure if this is indicative of article directories in general, or specific to Helium, as I haven’t tried other services.
Kamerons last blog post..Fantasy fiction theology: Chalion
I don’t think it’s your fault at all. You had a good result, you reported it. You found a problem, you reported it. If you’re worried about people finding that older article and taking it at face value, add a link to this one at the end.
I signed up for Helium, wrote a couple articles and repurposed a few articles I’d previously written, but found the process for “proving” I owned them was more effort than it was worth. I agree with Donetta that it felt like a club I never quite joined.
Jacks last blog post..Scribo Ergo Sum
I haven’t been at it long enough to compare it to anything, but I do find myself getting frustrated there at the rating system.
There are some really good writers there however and I’ve run across more than one or two in the rating process at times.
There are some excellent fiction writers and more than a few that crank out some excellent poetry.
I’ve not rated much of anything else because I tend to write in the essay channel, or lifstyle and health type stuff.
For me, Helium is a great place to get your feet wet and get some writing experience.
It is not a place to expect bit $$. I would expect that most people who make their living at writing aren’t spending a lot of time at Helium.
Bob, we appreciate your honesty in telling us about the latest changes and frustrations with Helium. I know that it’s not the only service to have a recent pay rate change. So if not Helium, then who?
Meryl Evanss last blog post..Take Advantage of These Productivity Tips
@ Gamefiend - That’s a good question, actually. I’m not sure I want to be on the bleeding edge. More than evangelizing exciting things, I want to provide my readers with real value. Helium was an experiment, largely for my readers, but the value in the long run seems to have been relatively small.
@ Donetta - It did work, at least for a while. The changes they made, just about the time I released the report, changed the whole game.
@ Dave - Thanks for the encouragement. You’re good people.
@ Kameron - you’re right about the time sink/ROI connection. Article directories are always a bit of a gamble, as you can’t be sure which articles will pay off. Still, I don’t mind earning $10 a year for a 300-word article that took 15 minutes to write. When directories work correctly, that’s what happens.
@ Jack - thank you. As far as the “club” aspect that both you and Donetta mentioned, I think Helium consciously projects a handful of people to the front pages. Those folks come across as especially successful. I’d wager they’re having the same frustrations, though, when it comes to these abysmal earnings.
@ Magnolia - Part of the draw, for me, was to write in areas I otherwise might not write it. Helium has potential to help a writer improve their craft. At the same time, I can improve my craft in other ways that do make money. I recommended Helium especially for the people you describe - those that want to get their feet wet. But the stark drop in pay makes me wonder if that aspect is even worth it.
@ Meryl - That’s a good question. The other directories don’t have the versatility Helium does. That trifecta of the marketplace, contests and residuals made it unique. But Helium’s pay has dropped exponentially lower than any of the rest, and that’s what is so frustrating.
@Everyone - Is this the end of article directories? Heck if I know. Maybe Hub Pages or Squidoo are the answer. Still, I love the idea of peer review, which is unique to Helium. It’s something I’d like to incorporate into my writers’ mentoring program once it gets going.
For the avoidance of doubt Bob I would just like to say that I hold you and your writing in the highest regard. Your report on Helium was/is great and I have no doubt that what you reported was entirely accurate.
Like you, the whole idea of peer review and also having the challenge of writing on diverse subjects had huge appeal but, I am not dissimilar to most and am required to put food on the table each evening so efforts have to be expended where the rewards can be found.
It is to your absolute credit that you have come back to us and have been willing to talk about what a dear Australian friend of mine would call ‘the dead possum under the table’.
The fact that you are willing to talk about the not so good notches you a whole load more brownie points on my score card!!!!
I am not a fan of Hubpages - but I do enjoy Squidooing!! Shall we Squidoo together!!
D
I think if you’re doing for the experience, like I am, the pay is really irrelevant. It’s nice to know the possibility is there however, but I’m not doing it for the money. I would be up a creek if I were.
Magnolias last blog post..I am……..
I have 88 articles, mostly humor, on Helium and made the homepage yesterday. Helium has provided a chance for me to recycle my newspaper humor columns, and I’m happy that they can still see the light of day in any context and earn a bit of money and some nice compliments.
But Helium is clearly a site for aspiring writers rather than for polished professionals. It’s more of a writer’s club, where the members are helping each other along, than a place for pro’s to earn income.
I’m a long-time editor, and I offered to help Helium for a nominal fee, as I often found myself comparing one article in dire need of help with another such one in the rating process. I was informed that Helium is a community where writers help each other (out of the kindness of their hearts and for the sake of learning, presumably.) That’s fine. An online writer’s club is as good as the ones I attended for years as I learned my craft, I’m sure.
In my book, Helium is providing an important function. It’s still young, finding its footing, and a great concept, but it’s not a place where many of us will earn our gas money.
Bob, before your review I had tried Helium and decided I couldn’t afford to spend billable hours writing articles for the site. However, I found your experiences extremely helpful. I think you’re right to be vocal about the flaws of the site and I hope that they will take note and make improvements. You were not wrong in your recommendations and I for one appreciate your follow up and honesty about what’s changed. This is how we learn from one another by sharing the good, bad and the ugly. You are doing fine work here, keep it up.
Karen Swims last blog post..Karen Swim for President?
@ Donetta - Brownie points are always good. Dead possum, not so much
@ Magnolia - Oh, I understand that, too. Sometimes, you’ve just got to write about something and need a medium to do so. I just have a big problem with the bait-and-switch Helium seemed to do when it comes to earnings.
@ Karen W - I hadn’t thought of it from that angle. I have no problem with Helium as a writing club. Like I just said to Magnolia, though, Helium shouldn’t pretend to pay well when it doesn’t.
@ Karen S - Thankya. I just hope that talking about it now makes a difference for some folks.
Incidentally, I have it on good authority that there are folks who work at Helium who read this blog. I’m thoroughly surprised I haven’t heard from them, either in the comments or via email.
Hi Bob - You shouldn’ beat yourself up over recommending Helium to others. It sucks that they’ve changed there pricing policy and at least you’ve made everyone aware of this.
Cath Lawsons last blog post..Is It Time To Get Off Your Fat Ass?
Hi Bob, I used helium as a learning experience and for that it is very good. It is a freindly community, but yes it has cliques.
The earnings thing does seem to be turning around a bit at present but it will never be a place to earn a living from writing.
BTW they are advertising for paid editorial staff at present.
Eves last blog post..Sometimes I could just….
There’s not much you can do when a business changes their model. You made your recommendations based on the way things were at the time, and as someone who made a sale over there I can say that your advice was spot on, Bob.
Jamie Grove - How Not To Writes last blog post..How I Almost Started Writing: Paris
@ Cath - Oh, it’s not about beating myself up. It just pisses me off. Helium’s changes made me look bad, that’s all. I don’t think I did anything wrong at all. When I wrote the report, it was accurate.
@ Eve - I’ve noticed a slight increase in my earnings this past week, but we’ll see how long it lasts. It’s still a fairly small increase at this point.
@ Jamie - You’ve got a good point. And I’ve never been one to personify a company - they just changed a business model. Will that keep me from writing for them? Yeah. Their loss, though.
You know, I never had any illusions about earning a full-time income from Helium. I did, however, see the potential for a nice low-maintenance recursive income. Over time, it would have been nice.
I like my eHow earnings. They’re a better model for the recursive payments. I’ve got an article that took me 10 minutes to write in February. It’s earned earned me $9 so far. That’s not bad pay (it’s not great, but not bad), and it looks like the thing is going to continue to earn more money over time.
I’ve never tried Helium myself: mainly because I read about similar experiences as you’ve described; especially the obscure “rating” process. I earn a small amount from hubpages - which not only allows me to write on whatever I want but has a transparent revenue sharing policy. No revenue sharing site will be as good as selling your own articles direct but hubpages has a nice community has got me a paid blogging job via a contact I made there so it worked for me!
lissies last blog post..Recycle Your Articles for Profit
I read the disappointment, I read the optimism. I too make great money on Helium. I have been a member for just over a year, and find that it is possible to write, make a lot of money, and still have a life. If you look at my profile, you will see that I have just over 1200 articles, although writing an articles on subjects you know about really isn’t much harder than writing an email. I write mine, let them rest overnight and then with a fresh view the next morning, read it over to see what I missed out. I can usually handle about 20 articles a week, and with that kind of number of highly rated articles, it really is not hard to make money.
http://www.helium.com/users/show/41973
Yikes, I love Thingywhatsit’s positive mental attitude. What a breath of fresh air.
@ Lissie - I’m OK with the ratings process. I think it helps inexperienced writers to hone their craft. It’s not perfect, especially when it comes to the contests, but it is a great idea.
I agree about directories and places like hubpages or squidoo leading to writing gigs. It’s pretty common, although there are better ways to get writing gigs, I think.
@thingywhatsit (Rachelle) You’re definitely an inspiration when it comes to Helium. In fact, it was your words in the community forums that got me started at Helium, and your example that I’d often cite when I was defending Helium.
However, I’d be surprised (astounded, actually) to hear you say that your recursive earnings didn’t drop in May and June to a fraction of what they were back in March and April. That’s what troubles me the most.
@ Karen - Positivity is one thing, and it’s a good thing. I’ve been positive about Helium for months. I just feel very let down, and I think it’s OK to talk about it.
I quit helium - for all the reasons you just stated. Why should I put my best stuff on the web, I’d rather give it to a magazine publisher and make some real money and have published clips under my belt. Just a thought. You may wish to check out DemandStudios.com and submit a resume there if nonfiction is your thing.
You can contact me if you would like. I love talking to other fellow writers.
Good luck!
Kim
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