Application Required: No
Payment Scheme: Flat Rate & Residual Earning
Per Article Amount: Varies
Payment Cycle: Monthly
Website Address: www.helium.com
Helium is “knowledge co-operative” community website, where writers can both produce original, at-will content as well as compete for jobs in the marketplace. The non-marketplace aspect of the community focuses heavily on peer rating and review of articles, where high rated articles receive a larger share of ad revenue. As it says on the website, “At Helium, great writers rise to the top. And great writing reaps great rewards.”
At Helium, writers have several options for contribution: at-will article submission, marketplace competition, and internal writing contests. At-will writing can be submitted in a range of topics, and like most other sites Helium users have the option to ”friend” other users. The community aspect of Helium is one of its highest selling points.
However, unless you are extremely persistant and active on the community the amount you earn through residuals is typically very low. Also, in order to qualify for payment in a month you need to have reviewed 10 of your peer’s articles, requiring pretty constant participation. This fact alone makes Helium not as worthwhile as many other residual income sites. Most users have claimed they began to earn a little pocket change regularly after five to seven months of work, but it seems that at this point unless you enjoy the community aspect Helium is a lot for effort for little result.
The bottom line: Helium is unimpressive though not horrible. If you flourish in community sites then it may be a good fit for you – however, this is not the site for the freelancer who doesn’t want a lot of bells and whistle conditions for payment.
