A good argument for doing away with the old upfront payment system
@Sandra1952 (6047)
Spain
February 12, 2011 2:50pm CST
Recently, I became Channel Manager for the William Shakespeare Channel on Helium. One of my duties is to grade the articles within the channel, and some of them are absolutely dreadful - there's no polite way to say it.
Speaking to other managers and writers on Helium, the reason there is so much bad stuff there is due to the old upfront payment system, where the first 5 articles to a title got the upfront payment, just for being first. The Shakespeare Channel was a fertile ground for this, because there were lots of titles with only one or two articles - there still are, in fact, if anyone feels like writing about Shakespeare.
Lots of people are scared about writing about Shakespeare, so the mediocre writers who were just out for upfronts had a field day. Now I have to weed them out, because some of them really do give Helium a bad name, and now my name's on the channel, I don't want to be associated with such poor writing.
On a positive note, there are some excellent articles there, and I have made a point of contacting those writers and thanking them for their contributions. And because I have seeded some titles to Helium Marketplace, some great new writers are coming to the channel.
The point of this discussion is, I have discovered a good argument for doing away with the old system. There must be lots of poor quality articles in other channels, and they're not doing Helium any favours. I never thought I'd come down in favour of the new system, but it certainly seems to have improved the quality. The new articles that have come into the channel are much better.
What do other Channel Managers think? Has the standard in your channel improved with the new system? And Helium writers - have you noticed improved standards while reading and rating articles? I really think Helium may have made the right decision after all.
5 people like this
5 responses
@classicalgeek (185)
• United States
12 Feb 11
I used to write for Helium and quit for two reasons: first, because, as you say, the quality of writing tended to be dreadful, and trying to rate two completely horrible articles against each other was beyond my capabilities. Second, my articles tended to get downrated because they were much better written than the competing articles, and I think the average writer on Helium tends to be envious of those who write well. If Helium decides to rid itself of the rating others' articles system I may try again at some future date.
2 people like this
@Sandra1952 (6047)
• Spain
12 Feb 11
Hello, Classicalgeek, and welcome to MyLot. Not all the writing on Helium is dreadful, by a long way. And I have to say the majority of the writers that I have come across are very supportive and encouraging, and certainly wouldn't be envious of the success of others.
Perhaps you should give Helium another chance. I used to write for several sites, but now Helium is the only site I bother with.
1 person likes this
@classicalgeek (185)
• United States
13 Feb 11
Sorry, but when my article gets rated below others that are barely in English, I have no faith in the rating system. I am a writer who has won numerous awards for writing, including in England, the USA, France, and the Czech Republic. I'll go where my articles are appreciated. Perhaps I'll check back in another year or so if the channel managers are truly serious about weeding out the awful articles and Helium is left with only acceptable articles.
@ladym33 (10979)
• United States
13 Feb 11
I didn't even know that the first 5 articles in a category on Helium were paid up front. I wish I had known that. I actually pretty much stopped writing for Helium because it seemed to take so long to make pay out there and I hate the rating system, since people are pretty much forced to read articles that they are not really interested in and then rate them, and I am sure most people don't read past the first paragraph or even sentence and then rate the article. I don't appreciate being rated like that.
I can certainly see your point though, if people are guaranteed an upfront payment they are not really going to care about the quality of the article, they are just going to rattle out some things just to swipe up the payment.
2 people like this
@Sandra1952 (6047)
• Spain
13 Feb 11
Hello, Ladym33. Helium is one of the best writing sites out there at the moment. Page view earnings are much higher than other sites, and there are lots of opportunities for upfront payments if your writing is good enough.
With the new system, rating doesn't play so big a part. The final decision is made by Helium editors. I had one title last week that was rated 8 of 9, so I'd resigned myself to the transition credit, then the next morning I had an email to say the article had been purchased and I was paid $10. It's definitely worth taking a look in Marketplace - I'm earning consistently well.
1 person likes this
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
12 Feb 11
I have to say that I actually really like the new payment system. I think that the reason that I like the new payment system is because of the fact that I am a relatively new writer to helium. However, I think that I do know what you mean about some of the articles that are on there are absolutely dreadful from my own experiences with rating articles. That said, I wish that there was a way that those awful articles could get out of the system.
2 people like this
@Sandra1952 (6047)
• Spain
12 Feb 11
Hello, Dorannmwin. I like the new payment system now I've got used to it, and I think good writers will earn well from it, while bad writers will leave the site. There is a way to get rid of the bad articles. When you see a really bad one, flag it. Then an editor will look at it and remove it if necessary.
And all the Channel Managers are on the case and recommending bad stuff for deletion. It will take time, but we'll get there.
1 person likes this
@Arioch (190)
•
13 Feb 11
Whilst I'm not personally a channel manager I can see a small improvement in the articles that you get asked to rate. As a channel manager can you actually delete really bad/poor articles or is there more to it then that?
The old systems was flawed, though to be honest i can already see some flaws in the new system. One of the main ones is the complexity of the system for new writers and the number of articles they have to write/stars they have to have/badges you have to have. Basically you now need at least a hundred articles with a 3 star rating to be able to write to marketplace articles, so new writers are wrestling with both the old and new systems to get started and it is a lot to take in and understand. I know if it was me i would certainly find it off putting (oh wait first person Helium wouldn't like that).
The new articles are a bit of an issue to me personally, I wrote to a lot of video game articles, now if I personally dont have experience of the video game in question I wont write to them.
The other issue is of course the way they implimented the changes without telling anyone, I do actually invest in reference books for articles that i am going to write and previously with the old system i knew I would make that cost back suddenly changing it left me in a bit of a lurch!
As a final issue have they sorted out if suggested titles will go on to marketplace or not and will you be informed of this.
Thanks for your answer (in advance) and keep up the good work.
1 person likes this
@Sandra1952 (6047)
• Spain
13 Feb 11
Hello, Arioch. Channel Managers have to grade the articles in their channel, and if one is really bad, we can recommend it for deletion. A senior channel manager makes that decision, but I've found that all the ones I've recommended for deletion have been removed, so obviously other people agree with me.
There is a way for writers to assist in the process. If you come across a really bad article in rating, flag it - there's a 'flag this article' button just above the rating boxes. Then an editor will look at it and delete it if necessary, or ask the writer to make improvements.
I think you've misunderstood the requirements for HMP. It's actually better for new writers, because they can write to titles with $2 upfronts as soon as they join. Okay, it's not much, but under the old system, unless they had 4 stars, they would not have been in the hunt for $2 upfronts. There are a lot of titles available, so there's plenty of choice. When a writer has 1 star, they can write for 'Marketplace Approved Writer' titles with $3 upfronts, and when they have 3 stars, they can write to 'Market Place Premier Writer' titles, which carry upfronts of $5 - $10.
I have a friend who has joined Helium this week. She already has 1 writing star, and she has only 5 articles up there. She's written to a couple of the $2 titles.
I wasn't happy with how the new system was brought in, but I understand why it was done like that. As soon as I knew of the changes, I wrote to as many titles for upfronts as I possibly could. I only had a few days warning, but I managed about 25 articles, all of which got maximum upfront, and lots of other writers did the same. If Helium had given us a month's notice of the changes, they would have had to pay out a fortune in upfronts - many of which would have been substandard, as they were written in such haste, so it was a good business decision.
Now the new system is bedded in, I find I'm earning as much under the old system, because it favours consistent writers. One thing I like is that earnings are updated every few days and we can claim payment twice a month, rather than having to wait a full month before earnings are even credited.
As far as seeding titles to HMP goes, I have just become a title seeder, and it was explained to me that it's not logistically possible to let people know if their titles are seeded, as the new HMP means that many more people than before are now seeding titles. What we have been told is that ordinary titles will go live almost immediately, or at least within 24 hours. HMP titles take longer, as it has to be decided how much to pay as upfront and transition payments. I'd suggest checking the channel, as new titles usually appear on the first page. For HMP titles, if you suggest it on Monday, it should be live on Wednesday, so again, check HMP under the relevant channel. Hope this helps. I seem to have written an article!
1 person likes this
