Recently, I joined Helium.com just to see what it was like. From what I see, earning any kind of wage from articles submitted there is difficult, at best. It’s not clear exactly how you earn money from your article. It is based on some undisclosed formula that is calculated from the popularity of the article. Beyond that, I’m basically clueless as to how it works.
Just as I was ready to leave the site, I decided to check out The Market Place. It’s a small listing of articles clients are seeking. Basically you are given a title, word count, and a brief summary of what the client expects. They list a set price for the work and you have the option of writing for them or not. The kicker here is that if the client does not select your work, it will transition to Helium and you will earn bonuses on the article.
I figured what to heck. What did have to lose? I wrote 3 articles and was chosen by one of the clients and was paid a reasonable rate for my work. Now my interest was peaked so I decided to do a little reading to see what my competition was like.
Helium’s Read and Rate system asks you to read two articles written to the same topic and rate which of the two is more useful. This was an eye opener for me. As I sat comparing articles and rating them against each other some things began to become very clear.
Suddenly, I began to look at writing from a new perspective. I’d always looked at it from the writer’s perspective and suddenly I was the reader and the evaluator. What I learned had the power to transform my thinking about how I write and the effect it has on my readers. If you’re interested you can read about How Helium’s Read and Rate System Improved My Writing.
Whether or not I will see an increase in sales or readership by putting these insights to work remains to be seen, but at least I’ll know that my writing has improved.
Check back soon as I keep you updated on my progress.
