I just found this article on Red Herring about Helium, described as "an online marketplace for articles . . . [intended] to link publishers with freelance writers more efficiently using the web."
According to Justin Moresco, who wrote the article, "Helium CEO Mark Ranalli said his goal is to 'fundamentally change' the freelance industry and the way people purchase content." But he warns that pay for your work isn't guaranteed and, if you are paid, it doesn't even come close to a decent amount.
The way it works is publishers post descriptions of the articles they’re looking for, including word count, deadline, and fee--usually an astronomical sum like $16 for 400 to 600 words (be still my heart). Writers work on articles essentially on spec and post them, hoping the publisher chooses theirs over others entered into this competition for the small bucks. "Think eBay turned on its head," Moresco writes.
Are they joking? Can this be for real? Apparently, it is and, apparently, novice freelancers are going for it. The author of this article spoke to three people who had good things to say about the service. One woman made (hold onto your hat) $60 from writing 18 articles. That's a stunning $3.33 per article!
"Join the Helium freelancing revolution," the Helium Web site trumpets. "Tired of having to read publishers’ minds for what they want? Or trying to break into freelancing but don’t have a body of clips to show yet? Helium’s Marketplace is for you."
Really? Well, if I were just starting out, I'd check with community newspapers first. They're always looking for new writers. And you don't have to read their minds because they usually assign you a topic to write on. One community paper I recently wrote for paid $125 per 750-word article. They've even gone up to $150 per story, since my last submission. Gee, 18 articles at $150 apiece comes to $2,700--a bit more than the typical offer on Helium.
My advice--if you have to start out cheap, don't completely undersell yourself by using a service like this. This so-called "freelancing revolution" is not for the benefit of the workers and does nothing but hurt the freelance writing profession as a whole.
Friday, April 4, 2008
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4 comments:
I am so glad I googled Helium before I signed up. Sadly I didn't do the same thing with Ehow (where my earnings seem higher than the typical Helium earnings but still way too low).
I've never heard of Ehow, but I don't think much of online job lists and bidding sites in general. You'll get much better work through networking and marketing.
I write for helium until three days ago I got bump-off my account for reason I just cannot accept: we are not currently set up to provide for writers in every country. Can you believe this? After 34 articles with 89% writing rate? Anyway, I wrote helium re to release payments asap. I have not heard from them. It is so disgusting!
I'm afraid I can believe it. I haven't been terribly impressed with Helium since I first heard about them. I hate to say it, but you may never see that money they owe you. Here's hoping they confound my worst expectations and pay you.
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