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Is there some reason that so many people are dissing the so-called "article mills", the sites that allow writers to upload articles to titles with proven SEO rich content. Writers, no matter their skill level, can join these sites, and once they have a few articles submitted can ask for some pointers from anybody on the site and get almost immediate, professional assistance. Stewards are proven writers with a minimum number of published articles, and they can be assigned to one-on-one mentoring if you were to just ask.
If you submit problematic entries, no worries, you can leapfrog them with newer, improved submissions at any time. sound like such a horrible place? Add in that they give you a percentage of the revenue your articles generate (with you doing no PR work on your own work, like some sites make you do) at industry standard rates (better than Yahoo, with $2 per 1,000 page views), If you write well, you should be able to earn the $1 and $2 upfront payments, with no reduced RS.
Okay, I'll admit it sounds like Hell frozen over, like winter in Siberia with only your underwear to wear, like being a peasant in the 13th Century. Nah, it sounds pretty good to me, when you realize BEFORE hand, and anyone on the site will tell you honestly, that you WON'T GET RICH, AND YOU WON'T EARN DECENT MONEY UNTIL YOU HAVE A LOT OF WELL WRITTEN ARTICLES ON-SITE!
(that was me yelling! Did you hear me? Really? Oh, well...)
I'll admit that I type slowly, just in case there are slow readers out there who may not be able to keep up with me while they read along.
But, if you don't like these article mills, don't go there. We'll take the money that you might've earned. No worries there. If you don't like the place, don't come back (we know you were here, we have life-long databases, even if your account was frozen or stopped). There's no need to be telling young, starving writers to stay away from somewhere where they can easily earn a couple of hundred bucks a month. Where they can start to establish an Internet presence once they improve their craft to an acceptable level for publishers.
I started at Helium with no experience writing articles. I was a technical writer, and it took some time to learn to write to the specific audiences being targeted by Helium. 2 years in I was a steward, mentor, award winner. I had over 100 published articles (Car and Driver, RV Monthly, Field & Stream, etc). My best year I made $3,150 - not bad in my books, but I guess I'm not a "professional" writer.
For any "hobbyist" or beginning writers out there, don't be swayed by their negativity. Just say "thank you sir, may I have another?" and then ignore them. Join an article mill, get noticed, make some money. You will need to submit at least 500 articles (think 2 a day) before you start realizing steady, regular paychecks (direct to your PayPal account).
I will not knock what I have taken away from Helium. I have a good stable there which makes me passive income for no more than rating once per month. I have moved on to other pastures, but the experience was a good one.
ReplyDeleteRed.
Everybody has to start off somewhere, and that is exactly the point I was trying to convey!
ReplyDeleteAgain, thanks for your input, and thanks for dropping by, Red!
The long-term earnings is where I see the best benefits. So I will continue to contribute. When my RS is rolling me in a monthly royalty, while the high-brows are still scurrying for 'more professional' venues, well, we shall see then who is eating steak, and who is eating baloney. :)
ReplyDeleteI've also taken a lot away from Helium, but like Red, I've moved on, and I've discovered that there is considerably more passive income to be earned at other writing venues. What bothers me is that poor quality writing gets lumped with that of really outstanding content. Rating is not a realistic or fair gauge of the quality of content. Unfortunately, that is where Helium falls short. Other sites vet writers and have editors that are evaluating the work. The criteria used to evaluate work is clear, and as a result, the caliber of the content is much better. Helium has been fun, and I've met great people, but I think that recent changes have done more to harm the site than help it. And as long as the site allows anyone to join, it will be identified as a writing mill. Another thing is that there are no restrictions on the resources that people can use. Most other content sites prohibit writers from using material that was written on other content sites as references. They also expect people to show that they have a perspective on the topic about which they are writing. I don't like the secrecy behind the changes at Helium. For whatever it is worth, my revenue increased substantially when I removed the link to my Helium About Me page in my Twitter profile and replaced it with my Demand Media Studios profile URL.
ReplyDeleteSo, I guess so far that the consensus is that Helium is a great place to start off.
ReplyDeleteAre you saying that Demand Studios pays more than $2.00 per 1,000 page views (as helium's top-paying channels do)?
One problem I have with sites that use moderators to pick which articles are taken (as helium is now doing...) you are reliant on which person is reviewing your work.
I'm kind of with Aaron on this one - I'll take my couple of hundred a month (Canadian dollars) and buy steaks, lobster cold packs (hey, I'm a Maritimer by birth and heart) and some pop.
I had good experiences with Helium way back. I made some money, but more important -- I found good friends. Then one day I had a peek behind the mask and left. Enough said.
ReplyDeleteMcD
The consensus seems to be that helium is a good place to start off. You learn and you earn, just as they advertise - so, what's so wrong with a site that lives up to what they advertise?
ReplyDeleteEvery comment i leave on the LinkedIn groups that do nothing other than to bash helium ("why writers need to boycott helium").
That being said, there are just too many people saying that helium is the bottom of the barrel - that their deletion of articles is way beyond civil - it is in their TOS...