Helium Writers Stiffed by new Rating rules
By Troublegum
@Troublegum (641)
United States
December 24, 2008 9:43pm CST
If there is anyone out there who is used to collecting cash on your helium account without being terribly active, you may want to go check your account. New rules on the site require at least one rating star to get paid.
I am fairly active writing on the site, and I am used to seeing some cash come through on a regular basis, but last month I only made $0.01 and am still sitting at $0 for december. At first I thought this was a result of their new up front pay structure and that I would be getting a lump payment. As it turnes out, I will never get that cash, because they only pay starred raters (despite that I have 2 writing stars)
I don't know what it takes to get a rating star I have rated around 60 articles in the last 90 days, and usually only rate a few after I write an article just for the fun of it, but at anyrate, that is why I am writing here right now rather than over there, because I actually am getting paid over here. I just wonder if we will make more if we have the rating star because of all the people that will be turned off and not take payments because the don't feel like continually rating articles.
2 people like this
10 responses
@Jenaisle (14079)
• Philippines
25 Dec 08
We must remember that our own articles are being rated, and I look forward to these ratings in the same way that I return the favor. One rating star is not too much for what I get from Helium. Although helium is not perfect and they're continually trying to improve the site, of all the writing sites I've joined, helium is still the best and the highest site that I got earnings from. I think that members have to rate so that their own articles would be rated too. One rating star is not difficult to earn anyway. Cheers and happy holidays.
@Troublegum (641)
• United States
25 Dec 08
My problem is that I have provided them content which they benifit from weather I am on their site or not. I do not spend a lot of time there on a regular basis, so it is just an extra job to recive the benifit for something I created for them under the old rules which did not require me to be on their site regularly. I would usually write an artice and rate 10 to 15 articles for the reasons you listed. I would then dissapear for a while and stop back when there was someting I wanted to write about.
As of today I have 80 some odd ratings in the last 90 days, a 75% rating score (whatever that means) and I still don't have any stars which means that all the work I have done as well as the traffic I have driven to their site is going unpaidfor.
I am now in the middle of making the decision of how much time I want to devote to the site and if I should just quit it. As stated above 3-8 cents a day is not worth a lot of my time. The articles earn more, but as their star requirements are a little vague it is hard to predict how much continuing effort it will take to continue to benefit from my work.
@annjilena (5618)
• United States
25 Dec 08
i also write for helium and iam really confused about this site we write and get no money for what we do iam begining to wonder if it,s worth it.i just recieve a star afer writing many articles.iam thinking of leaving this site it,s to hard to make a buck there.
@irishidid (8688)
• United States
25 Dec 08
They are forcing people to rate and that's never right. We already did our work by writing. They want ratings, then they should pay for them separately from the writing revenues.
@paid2write (5201)
•
26 Dec 08
You can only become a starred writer if other people rate your articles, so it is only fair that you rate articles too. If you need help to improve your ratings you can find it in the community forum at Helium.
I have always rated at Helium, every day since I joined, and I feel it is much more fair now that everyone has to rate in order to earn money from the site.
My articles are now generating a daily income of around 50 cents. With the introduction of upfront payments, and fees for unsold Marketplace articles when they transition, I think it is a wonderful improvement to the way Helium works.
@kiran8 (15348)
• Mangalore, India
26 Dec 08
I totally agree with you - it has to work both ways.The very fact that you earn because some one else rates your reviews,means you need to do the same with other's reviews.It is only fair that you have to rate continuously.My rating star is 4 whereas my writing star is fluctuating between 2 and 3- i rate more than i write.I think we need to follow the system first before picking holes in them.Like mylot has certain rules and regulations which we need to follow, so does Helium.I feel that it is a great site and i have absolutely no complaints whatsoever !
@Troublegum (641)
• United States
27 Dec 08
The problem is that with the new system, since you don't get to rate articles according to your interests or knowlegdebase, and you are required to rate a bas number of articels, the rating is less apt to be based on the quality of artice. I won't lie, I recently had to rank a series of articles on how many types of aliens there are which is really a topic I have no knowlege or interest in. Everyone had written these huge disertations on aliens. Sorry to say I didn't read them all, I just skipped down to the last paragraph and picked the one of the person who sounded closest to sane.
This is probably actually more accurate rating than whan many are probably doing, I was tempted just to say that the longest one was slightly better than the shorter one.
If you look at the ranking system at epinions you will find that it is a much more usefull and informative rating system.
@irishidid (8688)
• United States
25 Dec 08
As I've said before it is a dirty and underhanded wrong being done to the writers. You wouldn't expect a publisher to make you read every book they've published just to receive the advance or royalties on your own book.
The only reasons I continue to rate is because they are still making money off of MY writing and I can't delete it from their site. I never read a single rating and I have 3 rating stars.
@irishidid (8688)
• United States
25 Dec 08
I just put a comment on the Helium Forum they aren't going to like. Pretty much what I've said here in a nice sarcastic way. 
@Bebs08 (10681)
• United States
25 Dec 08
I am also a member of Helium but did not visit the site for a long time. I am not active writing articles because the earning there is very slow compared to the other sites I am into. Even if i will rate and write everyday. it is still hard to reach the pay out in a month. I am just wondering why other said, they earned a lot in this site? Maybe they joined the writing contest? or other way of writing there where you are paid per article. But if you solely rely on rating, it is really hard to reach pay out there.
@Troublegum (641)
• United States
25 Dec 08
The problem is not my articles, all my articles are highly rated and were earning quite nicely before they started requiring you to rate articles. The problem is that I don't have the time or interest to rate other peoples articles in the volume that they now require. I have never expected to get paid for rating, but then again it was never before required to rate to get paid for your writing.
@Troublegum (641)
• United States
26 Dec 08
Sorry, this was actually supposed to be a response to the comment above. It seems a little out of place here.
@mimico (3617)
• Philippines
26 Dec 08
A lot of these writing sites are really changing the payment structure which sucks. No more easy money for us. The economy's getting worse and everyone's really affected. SO I think the best thing to do is to find other more worthwhile means of earning money. I'm sure there are better opportunities out there, such as getting a regular or even part time job. That's what I did and I've earned more than I ever have online. :) I don't have a lot of free time, but at least I have money in my pocket. :)
@Troublegum (641)
• United States
27 Dec 08
I have another job and my own business. I never expected to make much money on these writing sites. I made just shy of $100 on Helium last year, which is hardly enough to justify the time I spent on it.Same is true with all the other sites. Unless you have a huge referal basis, you aren't going to make enough to pay the internet bill. I just mess with these things for the same reason I used to play monopoly or risk. It is kind of like a little online game that I can play in my free time.
@Troublegum (641)
• United States
27 Dec 08
I have had a few transition from the Marketplace while I didn't realize I wasn't getting paid. I don't know if it is because I didn't have the rating for them to sell it or if they just weren't selected. All the Marketplace articles that I have sold were before the change in payment structure.
@peavey (16936)
• United States
26 Dec 08
I am one who seldom writes for Helium any more. I was expecting a payment a little later in 2009, since I was over $15 and making a few pennies a day. Now I won't get it? That's not right. I don't like to rate, but I do it now and then. I don't have a star, though. With this development, I probably won't go back.
@kiran8 (15348)
• Mangalore, India
25 Dec 08
I too write on helium and i have been receiving daily payments of few cents each. I have got 4 stars for rating and a fluctuating 2 and 3 stars for writing.I think you need to rate regularly.It is better to have 80% and above score in both writing and rating to get a decent earning every day.They pay only after you reach a minimum amount of 25 dollars.Why don't you upgrade your reviews using the leap frog, then your new review gets rated again.I wish you all the best
@mokbul (616)
• Singapore
26 Dec 08
I am also writing to helium and I don't have a writing start as yet because of my earlier writing was not so good and mostly I took part in writing contests. This actions push my articles average ratings below 75%.
I have 3 rating stars. Rating star is awarded for rating in 90 days - one for more than 99 article, two for more than 199 article and similar along with some criteria.
I have seen to jump the earnings from about last one month after they started revenue sharing scheme.
@Heartbreaker08 (684)
•
25 Dec 08
I am lucky as I have three rating stars at the minute as I have rated 220 with a rating score of 80%. I know that if I rate 300 and have a rating score of 85% I will get the $3 bonus rating earnings, whereas if I only have 80% rating score I will need to rate 500 articles to get the 5 stars required for the bonus.
I am sure you need to rate some more articles to get your rating star but it all depends on your rating score. If its low then you need to rate more to get that star. I noticed when I rated alot I earned 8 cents daily, this is good as I only have 13 articles. I always thought that in order to get paid at helium you needed rating stars.
