Anyone consider giving the NEW Helium a try again?

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  1. jhehe profile image77
    jheheposted 10 years ago

    Helium is now Helium Network, with 360 micro-sites to distribute your content. Content managers are there to ensure quality of the content and they claim that this arrangement is to have SEO in mind. To me, just kinda reminds me of what Triond is doing. Will it work and does it encourage you to go write there again? (Seems like they got rid of the ranking system)

    1. Marisa Wright profile image84
      Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Definitely not.  They have not changed the fundamental rule, which is that they keep ALL your articles IN PERPETUITY.

      That's a deal breaker for me, on any site.   

      Anyway, it looks like the move has been a disaster.  Traffic has dropped drastically.   Site stewards are complaining they have no work to do because no one is posting new articles.

      1. mythbuster profile image75
        mythbusterposted 10 years agoin reply to this

        Thanks for the information, Marissa Wright.

        Now I don't have to go over and read the Helium TOS. This changes my mind on whether I'll write with Helium. My old articles can just collect dust over there and I don't need to recover my old account or make a new one.

        Thx again.

        MB~~

    2. LoisRyan13903 profile image71
      LoisRyan13903posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I guess it was an epic fail because Helium is closing at the end of the year

  2. younghopes profile image66
    younghopesposted 10 years ago

    I have never written for helium, but if it is going the triond way i wont ever think of writing there. i had a bad experience with triond. But is the payment rate of helium good enough or better than HP?

    1. jhehe profile image77
      jheheposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      As I have never qualified for earnings on Hubpages, I cannot compare. However, I logged into my Helium account, surprised that it was still active, and saw that I was earning a few cents from four articles only this month. Appealing? Not really.

  3. WriteAngled profile image82
    WriteAngledposted 10 years ago

    I would not touch Helium with bargepole!

  4. jhehe profile image77
    jheheposted 10 years ago

    On the old Helium, I earned a mere $10.73. I wrote about fifty something articles back then, but because they had a really complex "activity" scheme where I must have a certain number of stars for writing and rating, I decided it was just a bit too much. After all, I would like to contribute in my spare time rather than meet their demands.

    Anyone else have this feeling?

  5. mythbuster profile image75
    mythbusterposted 10 years ago

    What the heck - maybe I'll give the new helium a try. Will wait a couple of weeks and read some reviews first to help me decide.

  6. jhehe profile image77
    jheheposted 10 years ago

    That's actually quite interesting. I went over to Alexa, Quantcast, and Statshow, and it looks like the traffic on the HeliumNetwork.com domain is rising significantly. Now, going over to the individual micro-sites, I found a few articles and decided to see how they would rank when I Googled them. It looks like hubs from Huboages are still showing up before Helium articles quite consistently. Please note that I didn't do any formal and in depth analysis, it was more at a glance of an eye sort of thing.

    Just curious as to will Helium temporarily pay more for articles just to attract writers.

    1. Marisa Wright profile image84
      Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      That's not relevant.   HeliumNetwork.com has NO articles on it.  The microsites are not sub-domains of Heliumnetwork.com, so their traffic is totally separate.

      1. jhehe profile image77
        jheheposted 10 years agoin reply to this

        I know, but it's the site for publishers. Although we don't know if the number of publishers is rising, we can see a spike of traffic to the new HeliumNetwork.com site. Only problem is we don't know if there are new publishers or if it's just being heavily promoted.

        1. Marisa Wright profile image84
          Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          The publishers' site is heliumcontentsource.com.

          Helium Network is purely to recruit writers and a portal for writers to manage their work.

          I just took a look at Quantcast and I don't see a spike.  The site didn't exist before October, and the rise on launch was immediate - from zero to 170,000-odd, and it hasn't increased much since then.  Probably just Helium writers.   It's only an estimate anyway, because Helium doesn't reveal its figures, and for some sites where I know the figures they can be wildly wrong.

          1. jhehe profile image77
            jheheposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            I just submitted a piece on Helium. Let's see how that goes. I'll update you guys to see if Helium is still worth a shot.

            1. Jean Bakula profile image89
              Jean Bakulaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

              Don't waste your time on Helium. They sold three of my pieces and never even told me where they sold them. I just wanted to see that they were published, so I could use them for my portfolio. Of course, they made money, I saw pennies.

              The contract gives them the rights to all your writing there, and never gives it back. I have two articles there I wish I never gave them.

            2. aslanlight profile image67
              aslanlightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

              They sold an article of mine and I had no opportunity to know who bought it and where it was used. That, to me, is an abuse of copyright laws.

              Plus the amount of articles I wrote was vast and, perhaps because of my lack of hindsight, I've lost them forever!

              1. jhehe profile image77
                jheheposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                I got paid a dollar from then. Other than that, apparently Helium is dead now.

  7. paradigmsearch profile image60
    paradigmsearchposted 10 years ago

    I think I'd probably poke Wizzley with a stick before Helium.

  8. Yuan Tian profile image64
    Yuan Tianposted 10 years ago

    I used to write for Helium.com, still have over 100 articles stuck there. I used to make significantly more over there back when they had upfront payment for your articles. But nowadays... Helium is just a joke.

    What still rankles me is that not only do you have no way of controlling your own articles once they are published (even editing them will need to go through a ratings system), but Helium keeps them in perpetuity. I have a piece of creative writing there I really like for sentimental reasons and now, it's forever stuck up there.

    I'd think twice about joining there if I was you.

  9. jhehe profile image77
    jheheposted 10 years ago

    Would you say it is something like a Constant-Content thing, except rather than dealing directly with the employer, Helium is the middle man?

    1. Lisa HW profile image62
      Lisa HWposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I've only recently gone back to look at "the new" Helium, but in the past I had sold either articles or else one-time-use license on articles.  Helium did act as the "middle-person", and I was satisfied with the pay and the terms (more for out-and-out selling the article, of course; less for one-time-use license).  What was good at the time was that this was stuff I'd already written (like on Constant Content sometimes - although I haven't been there in ages either) and that was sold when someone else "picked it off the shelf" (type of thing).  I won't write according to someone else's terms/guidelines if I'm not sure they'll even buy it.  I won't do the thing where you have to write according to someone's guidelines and then end up competing with a bunch of other stuff that other people wrote on the same thing and for the same publisher.

      I don't even entirely "get" some of the things that are going on with Helium now, but I did submit my professional credentials to them (no skin off my nose, and who knows what might show up that may interest me).  In the past Helium has been very clear about the fact that selling an article itself (rather than just one-time-use) involved selling the rights and not re-posting/publishing it anywhere else; but I was fine with that for what I was paid.  It's standard practice when someone is hired to write something that the person won't own it or rights to it once s/he has been paid.  Since it was only recently that I submitted my professional writing credentials to them, I haven't had time to figure out if all assignments will be handled one way, or whether it will be more on a case-by-case basis, depending on the individual publisher and/or assignment.  Either way, I'll see what, if anything, shows up.  I've had a similar "preferred assignments" type of thing with the old Associated Content (now Yahoo Contributor Network), and there's no law with them that says a person can't ignore however-many assignments show up.  I'm only assuming, but I assume it's probably similar with Helium.  I pretty much want to leave my name/accounts where I'll at least get to see some assignments and decide if I want them or not.  You never know...      So, to that extent, I haven't entirely ruled out writing on Helium at this point.

      These sites change all the time.  I'm generally not a bridge-burner, even when I don't have any particular plans to go back over any standing bridges.  If some site all-of-a-sudden starts doing things that particularly appeal to me - then back over the bridge I may go.   smile

    2. Marisa Wright profile image84
      Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Yes and no.  Helium presents itself as such, but the writer certainly doesn't have the control that he/she has on Constant Content.   Also, Helium keeps your article in perpetuity whether or not the publisher decides to buy it.

      1. Lisa HW profile image62
        Lisa HWposted 10 years agoin reply to this

        Did they (Helium) get rid of the thing, though, that involves publishers finding existing articles on there and then buying them from the author (with Helium being that middle-person)?   To me, that was, in some cases, much like Constant Content.

        1. Marisa Wright profile image84
          Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          They do have a "Freelance" section, where you can write for Helium Content Source.  I expect that's where you've submitted your credentials. 

          One point to watch is that they have very stringent rules about whether you can do further work for the same client direct.   That's not unusual, but I believe Helium's restrictions are much stricter than most.

          1. Lisa HW profile image62
            Lisa HWposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Marisa, thanks for mentioning that.  I don't have any real plans to do much on there, but who knows...    I don't know....     Having an account for six/seven years somewhere makes me pretty reluctant to completely close things out.

            1. Marisa Wright profile image84
              Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

              One thing that has improved is that you can continue to earn income on your existing articles, even if you no longer write there, by doing a minimal amount of rating (only one rating every 90 days).

  10. jhehe profile image77
    jheheposted 10 years ago

    I think Helium is just dead. Still no status update on my piece in Helium. Article rating system still doesn't work so right now there's absolutely no way to qualify for earnings as you need activity within the past 90 days.

    1. Marisa Wright profile image84
      Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Rating counts as activity, and you only have to rate one article every 90 days.

      1. jhehe profile image77
        jheheposted 10 years agoin reply to this

        Yeah, no articles to rate and I've been checking for quite a few days so I'm not interested in waiting.

        1. Marisa Wright profile image84
          Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          How can there be no articles to rate?   You don't rate your own articles, you rate other people's articles.

          Are you saying you have no articles on the site at all yet?

          1. jhehe profile image77
            jheheposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            I'm saying that if you go under the "rate articles" section, it will tell you no articles are available for rating.

            1. Marisa Wright profile image84
              Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

              I've never heard of such a thing before, how bizarre!

              I just tried it and it came up as normal. 

              Just to confirm, you're in your Dashboard and you've gone into "Helium Publishing" and clicked on "Rate Articles" (which is the third item in that section)?

              I just checked on the forums and no one is reporting that problem.   It might be worth posting there about it, as I can't believe it would be possible to have no articles to rate.

  11. alexadry profile image90
    alexadryposted 10 years ago

    I am  site steward for the dog training and psychology channels there and have been deeply discouraged in the last years and too many changes as of lately have me a bit lost.

    1. Marisa Wright profile image84
      Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Any update on how things are going in your channel?   I'm not seeing anyone reporting an improvement in traffic at Helium.   Since it's been six months since the launch of the new sites, I'm thinking it's too late to expect a recovery now.

      Earnings are so poor, I'm wondering whether it's worth even the trouble of rating a few articles a month!

      1. alexadry profile image90
        alexadryposted 10 years agoin reply to this

        Not seeing really any signs of improvement. Things just seem stuck in a stall:(

        1. Jean Bakula profile image89
          Jean Bakulaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          I went back for a bit when they decided we didn't have to read and "grade" so many articles other people wrote. But there doesn't seem to be much going on there.

          I also wrote a bit for Infobarrel, and considered adding more content. But a great deal of the content on there is written by the same two people, both excellent writers, one a retired journalist. If you look at the forum, nobody posts on it for months at a time. It's not like HP.

        2. Marisa Wright profile image84
          Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          Six months is too long for a "stall", IMO.   After the transition people talked as if the lack of traffic was a temporary thing, until Google crawled the new sites.   Google doesn't take six months to do that!

          It's just a theory, but I wonder if Helium is a victim of duplicate content.   Many Heliumites bought the myth that they could republish their Helium articles elsewhere, and reused the same articles on Associated Content/Yahoo Voices, Triond and now Bubblews.  Also, I'm sure Helium wouldn't be immune from the plagiarists that haunt HubPages - but writers were never alerted to it, so nothing was ever done. Finally, Helium has actively sold copies of published articles to other sites.

          Helium has been in existence for eight years, and I can only imagine how many copied articles must be out there.  Now, all the articles on Helium's new sites have a publication date of 2014 - a later date than all those copies.  So now the new sites are looking like scraper sites!

  12. Deltachord profile image59
    Deltachordposted 10 years ago

    I wrote for Helium and agree that the rating system was a pain, and they do keep all the rights to your articles. I don't like Helium.

    I learned to read thoroughly about a site before writing for it.

  13. kellmell72 profile image56
    kellmell72posted 10 years ago

    Before Helium changed their webiste, I made money by writing poetry and lyrics. Now I my account has not generated any profits since the relaunch. I have tried rating articles in hope that it would help generate profits, but  I was not successful. Although I still do get positive feedback on social media regarding my writing, helium makes me feel like I wasted my time posting 100+ articles on their website.I hope that they will change their ways for the better soon because I would love to continue to post my poetry on the website that I have used for the past 3 years

  14. jhehe profile image77
    jheheposted 10 years ago

    So far, I earned $2, One dollar for an article I wrote and another dollar for "Top 25% Incentive Earnings". Been 4 months now and looks like page views don't translate into earnings. Helium is really sly. They're pretty much giving you a one time payment then keeping the ad revenue for themselves.

  15. Marisa Wright profile image84
    Marisa Wrightposted 10 years ago

    I've been dropping in and rating regularly so as to keep my one rating star alive (essential, since I don't write there any more). In spite of that, I haven't earned even a dollar there since the relaunch.

    1. jhehe profile image77
      jheheposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Helium is done. Their "assignments" no longer earn you anything now. They aren't $1 each, they sit at $0.00. Wonder why there are still section specialists there at all to moderate content.

  16. brutishspoon profile image67
    brutishspoonposted 10 years ago

    Same here. I may just close down and concentrate on here.

    1. brutishspoon profile image67
      brutishspoonposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Helium was once one of the best sites for writers and I would make payout more often than on any other good site. Since the changes I don't even get many views and no money is coming through.

  17. melbel profile image93
    melbelposted 10 years ago

    I will never ever write for Helium again.

  18. brutishspoon profile image67
    brutishspoonposted 10 years ago

    Helium is finished.

    It is winding down and not accepting new sign ups. It will cease altogether in December.

  19. Arioch profile image67
    Ariochposted 10 years ago

    Yeah its now closing down.
    Was a good site (and decent payer) at one point but now not accepting new content and closing down 14th ? December 2014.

 
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