Finally a good payday under the new system
@Sandra1952 (6047)
Spain
January 14, 2011 5:46am CST
Like many other Helium writers, I've had problems making the new payment system work for me. There have been times when I've struggled to find Marketplace titles to write to, and even when I did, the payment was hardly worth the effort.
Helium admin have assured us that good writers will benefit from the new system, while substandard writers will not be able to earn by writing drivel. I have no problem with that, but up to now, I've found the new system has punished the good writers along with the bad.
Today I received an upfront payment of $10 for an article written avout Wi-Fi security - that's almost 3 times as much as the best payment I could have received under the old system. And most of the titles I've written to over the last week have had a $5 upfront payment and $3 transition credit.
The point of all this is that I've averaged out the total payments I've received so far in January and it works out at just over $2.50 per article. That's pretty good going, as I couldn't be certain of getting the empty title bonus for everything I wrote to.
How about you? Are things improving for you under the new system? Or have you given up and left Helium?
4 people like this
4 responses
@p1kef1sh (45681)
•
14 Jan 11
I am a member of Helium but I never understood how to write there and as time has gone by I have cared less. LOL. I write for me and then look to see where to place the story. That's why I have my story blog. My writing on my site! I did once send a story to Triond and the only people that read it were myLot friends who I directed to it. I made 17 cents and every month I get a statement saying that no-one has looked at it and I still have 17 cents. You have clearly found the golden seam, but for me I am afraid that I shall remain a non-contributing member.
2 people like this
@abbey19 (3106)
• Gold Coast, Australia
15 Jan 11
Hi Sandra and congratulations on your upfront payments. I'm glad you understand the system, and that you are benefitting from it.
I haven't been in to Helium for ages, I found it very confusing, but perhaps I should have another look at it now that the new payment system is in place.
1 person likes this
@abbey19 (3106)
• Gold Coast, Australia
16 Jan 11
Hi Sandra - I found you on Helium and have added you as a favourite; is there no provision to add friends there?
I am a beginner on Helium, and don't profess to be a writer by any means - but I do love to write! I can see that Helium has a lot of potential for me to earn if I put my mind to it and give it a go, so thanks for your encouragement. 
I will have a look through the Marketplace and see if there is anything that I can write to.
I will have a look through the Marketplace and see if there is anything that I can write to.
@UmiNoor (4521)
• Malaysia
15 Jan 11
Congratulations Sandra on your success with the new Helium system. I'm glad you had a positive experience with the new system. You didn't give up and that is really commendable.
I didn't actually give up on Helium. I just didn't think I could write to the Marketplace titles. But your positive experience has given me motivation to take a second look at Helium.
I used to go back to Helium just to rate articles so that I can get the $3 bonus but hearing how well you're doing, it might be just the push I need to go back and try out the Marketplace.
Well done Sandra and all the best for the future.
1 person likes this
@Sandra1952 (6047)
• Spain
15 Jan 11
Hello, UmiNoor. It gets better - I had another $10 article accepte today. Obviously, the old system was better in that you could more easily predict your earnings, but as long as you adhere to marketplace guidelines - the main points being to write in 2nd or 3rd person and to provide reliable sources for your information - you should earn for everything you write.
There are more titles coming through now, and you do get paid for all channels, although some of the titles only pay $2 or $3 upfronts. However, all the articles that transition earn something. One of mine that transitioned was one of 17 articles, but I still got the transition fee of $7. It's definitely worth another look.
1 person likes this
@ReViewMeMedia (3786)
• United States
18 Feb 11
I don't really think I like the new upfront system because I used to reach payout for getting empty title bonuses when I wrote a lot there. That's gone now and while I still like writing for Helium, it's going to take me much longer to get to payout and that disappoints me because I liked the empty title bonus and now I'll have to work a lot harder for my money.
1 person likes this
@Sandra1952 (6047)
• Spain
19 Feb 11
Hello, ReViewMeMedia. If you have 3 writing stars, you can go for the higher paying titles. The other day, I wrote to 3 $8 titles, and had one purchase and two transitions. That meant I earned $18, an average of $6 for each article. That's much more than under the old system.
With the new upgrade on the site, there's a 'Tweet' button on each article, which makes it much simpler to put the lins on Twitter. Hopefully that will help earn more page views. I know you write a lot of entertainment articles, and at least you can now get upfronts for them. The thing is, we're stuck with the changes, so all we can do is try to make them work for us, and I'm sure you'll be able to do that.
