What do you think of it so far?
@Sandra1952 (6047)
Spain
December 8, 2010 10:13am CST
I mean the new payment system, of course. 3 days in, what are your first thoughts? I've written 4 articles to the new system. One is in process, the others have a couple of days to go.
I must say, I'm sorry to see the demise of the upfront system, as it was possible to have control over your earnings to a certain extent. I accept that unscrupulous people could just churn out anything to get the upfront, but that could have been addressed by reviewing articles for upfront payments before publication. I actually got one article removed because the writer just had not addressed the topic and had written a load of garbage, so wouldn't it have been easier to have said that articles bidding for upfronts had to go through a process of screening in order to qualify for payment?
This new system is a major overhaul, and it's going to take a while to 'bed in.' This is not a rant - I love writing for Helium, and I want to fit in with the new system. The first positive aspect is that the articles I've written to have a higher 'pot' than the old system. Against that, one of my articles is at 14 out of 16, and, although I wouldn't be so arrogant as to expect to be top of the heap, I know the article deserved better than that. One I was not so pleased with is 2 of 14, so I have to admit to some cynicism about the selection process.
A big plus, in my opinion, is that other writers can't see the articles prior to purchase - other than in rating - but you get to see how your own articles are performing. I've lost out on competition placings because other writers have come in and taken my ideas and put a different slant on them, so I welcome this development.
So what do other Helium writers think? Please don't come here to vent - there's been enough of that on the community boards over at Helium, and it helps nobody. Share your experiences, ideas and opinons on this radical move, and perhaps we can find a positive way to adapt to the new system.
We have to learn to live with it or ship out to somewhere else, and in my opinion, that would be cutting off my nose to spite my face, as I still feel Helium is one of the best content sites out there.
2 people like this
6 responses
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
10 Dec 10
Hi Sandra, I agree that the old system has more certainty in term of earnings for writers.
I do not know how well the new system will work. The quality of articles will definitely improve. However, the quantity may not.
I think many writers will give up if their articles are rejected repeatedly. Another problem with the new system is the quality of the editors. How do they know whether the articles are factually correct if these are technical articles? Most of us are not well versed in computer or programming matter to judge.
2 people like this
@Sandra1952 (6047)
• Spain
10 Dec 10
Hello, Scheng. I share your concerns about editors. Apparently, they are volunteers, and this is one reason they're tightening up on occasional second person use, i.e. putting in the occasional 'you' or 'your' to improve the way the article reads and connect with the reader.
These new measures will get rid of the substandard writers, but they will also scare off the loyal ones, I'm afraid.
1 person likes this
@Arioch (190)
•
10 Dec 10
Yeah this third person thing takes some getting used to. I write a lot of articles about computer games and suddenly you can't use terms like "your Marine" you have to use something like "the game players Marine". Secondly people have been saying some editors have contacted people who have written to Market Place articles (of which there are only currently 27!!!!) in other then third person giving them the chance to leapfrog there articles where other writers (myself included) haven't had this.
A small grace is that this third person writing only applies to Market Place articles so those you write for nmo upfronts can still be written as you like.
Funny thing is since the changes I have written more on Mylot then at Helium.
@UmiNoor (4522)
• Malaysia
10 Dec 10
Hi there Sandra,
I'm really not very enthusiastic about the new system. I see it as having my earnings taken away. But I guess it was too good to last anyway. It's amazing that Helium could do it the way they did; I mean the old system when they pay the first five writers to a title regardless of the quality of the articles.
I'm not very eager to write to the marketplace because the titles are not interesting and would require too much research which I don't think the amount they're offering is worth my time.
I think right now Helium should be more transparent with how they pay performance payment like by giving writers the stats for articles already submitted. I want to know the number of page views I get for my articles and where my traffic is coming from and how the traffic got to my articles. These would be quite important stats for writers to know so they can improve their earnings where performance payment is concerned.
Previously, I just choose a title I like and write to it. Now I need to choose titles which I think will rank well in search engines so that I will get better performance payment. I don't think I can earn upfront from Helium anymore. It seems from what you've said that Helium is getting really strict with what type of articles they give upfront payment to. So I think I'll pass.
2 people like this
@Sandra1952 (6047)
• Spain
10 Dec 10
Hello, UmiNoor. I've been looking on the discussion boards, and I can't find anyone who is actually happy with this system. It's saving money for Helium, but it's a retrograde step for the writers.
I agree with you that we should be able to see our page view stats. As we're now basically writing for page views - whatever Helium says - we should be armed with the stats so we can target our writing. I'm very disappointed with Helium over this, and so are a lot of other writers.
1 person likes this
@UmiNoor (4522)
• Malaysia
10 Dec 10
I think Helium is not so concerned with all the unhappy writers as their website has more than 2 million articles already and they're earning every day from these articles and so they don't really need to pay writers to submit articles anymore. The performance pay they're still paying writers is just a pittance. I hope they don't change that too. Touch wood.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (160879)
• United States
8 Dec 10
Oh, I am still so lazy. I have not been back there. I see people talking about doing an article a day on one site or another, and KNOW I should be doing some of it as well. I like that you are putting a positive outlook on what has been done.
@Sandra1952 (6047)
• Spain
8 Dec 10
Hello, GG. I was positive when I opened the discussion. Since then, I've discovered that my first article has been turned down, even though it was top of the list when the marketplace closed. That gets the cynical in me thinking that maybe it is a heavily disguised way to pay less to the writers.
I'd love to be proved wrong, and it is early days, but right now I'm searching for motivation to write, and that's something that hasn't happened to me in years.
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (47611)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
8 Dec 10
Once again, I have no idea what you're talking about...
Just wanted to say Hi and let you know that I do read your discussions, even if I have nothing to add.
1 person likes this
@Sandra1952 (6047)
• Spain
8 Dec 10
Hello, Barbara. Nice to see you as always. I was beginning to think I may be talking to myself there.
2 people like this
@babostwick (2036)
• United States
9 Dec 10
I've only written in three of them at this moment. So far, it's different but willing to try. I'm going to keep looking for titles that I believe I can contribute with directly. I consider it a challenge and could work for the long run. That's about it on that.
2 people like this
@Sandra1952 (6047)
• Spain
9 Dec 10
Hello, Babostwick. Early indications are not promising, for myself and other Helium writers. I think it's just a way to pay people less without appearing to be doing that. If that sounds cynical, well, it is. Consistent 5 star Helium writers are having stuff turned down left, right and centre.
1 person likes this
@babostwick (2036)
• United States
10 Dec 10
I'm one of the 5 star writers and I haven't gotten anything about it. I can see the concern without question. I just don't know what to make of it yet. I want to believe it will work but if I find it isn't, then it just isn't. I guess I'd have to look somewhere else. That's about all I can do at this point.
1 person likes this
@Arioch (190)
•
8 Dec 10
I have also written four articles though two of them were to pretty obscure titles (How to get Bodyguards in Mafia Wars and How to service a Ceramic Heater) and mine did look like the only ones entered (lol I am already thinking of it like a contest). To be fair I have ploughed through most of the forum posts and apparantly ever article was meant to be reviewed anyway as was every suggested title (and I must have suggested hundreds).
The other thing I seem to be feeling is the lack of a leisurely pace disappearing, I have a full time job and busy life already and Helium was an excellent part time job I mean you could previously leave it for days and weeks then just come back to it and carry on.
Now if I suggest a title that gets accepted to Market Place I will have four days to write it to make anything back. Sure I dont have to write it there and then but then you miss out on any upfront payment, which really makes Helium like a lot of other writing sites for the more casual writers who do not want the added hassle of a deadline!
Really all the change does is stop people writing an article, get Helium to pay upfront for it and then place it on every other site going which is fair enough, however they have also used it as reason to drop payments.
Only time will tell though I can't see some massive boost in earnings from page views compensating for the loss of upfronts. I also wonder why Helium does not publish the number of page views like a lot of other writing sites?
Oh my this is turning into a rant....
@Sandra1952 (6047)
• Spain
8 Dec 10
Hello, Arioch. I've just received a response to my first marketplace, and it's been turned down for transition, for supposedly not being written in third person - although it was, and it was top of the list when marketplace closed. So I'm begnning to think it's a Helium strategy to pay out less. I may be in danger of a rant myself.
1 person likes this
@Sandra1952 (6047)
• Spain
8 Dec 10
I had a direct email, so at least I know quickly. I've been offered the choice to edit the article and submit it to the site, but I'll pass on that. The article was good, and it was top of the ratings. How can I improve on that? My motivation has taken a real hit today, I can tell you.
As you say, not a promising start, and there are not that many titles to choose from. A lot are quite obscure, and have been languishing in Helium empty titles for months.
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@Arioch (190)
•
8 Dec 10
Well still waiting for mine to transition through or whatever they do now, do they email you now or send you a message via Helium?
I have had a problem before with a certain channel with someone pulling my articles although there was nothing wrong with them. Not a promising start is it.
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