Having worked with new members for the last 6 months, my experience tells me that new members face all kinds of problems in their initial membership. They want to join in but simply are unsure of their footing on a new site. This article is written with them in mind, to help new members find their way and get started in an experience, which I hope will become a great joy and add wealth to their experience as a writer.
*Guidelines.
*Filling out their profile.
*Choosing a pen name
*Title Search
*Reading what people write.
*What kind of articles should they write?
*Where to find creative writing slots.
*Learning how to get more money.
*Give and take.
*Help available for new members.
Guidelines.
Before attempting to write onto a website, knowing the rules helps. One of the biggest mistakes that new members make is that they have no concept of anonymity. They are proud of their work and happy to sign it off with their name. Not naming yourself in an article is a prime guideline, and this is because articles are rated anonymously. How can one rate fairly when the name of the writer is written in the rating boxes? On many sites, readers have preconceptions about who they are rating. On Helium, not knowing makes rating easier, more neutral and instead of pulling the writers name into the rating equation, people concentrate on reading the article and judging it on its own merits.
Guidelines ask you not to write adult content, as there are children on the site. They also tell you not to write about other members, or use bad language. The length of an article in the knowledge area is between 400 words and 1500 words, as a guideline. Articles should be typed in normal type and never in capital letters.
Work should always be original. Never borrow ideas, or copy and paste from other websites, because this can jeopardize your account, and is strictly again the guidelines of the site.
Filling out your profile.
The reason writers fill out a profile is that it provides a "Book Jacket" for the work you do. Without it, your profile looks unprofessional and this is easy to complete. Take a look around the site, and get a feel for what people write within their profile, and then do fill yours out. A photograph which is best of head and shoulders will be a great addition to your page, and instead of remaining a faceless member, you become part of the writing community, ready to get to know and meet other members, and to be taken more seriously by publishers, who like to put a face to a writer's work.
Choosing a pen name.
Many new members enroll with their real names and regret it because they had no idea that names appeared next to articles. This is personal choice, though within your MY HELIUM settings area, you can choose a pen name. The ideal pen name is a real sounding name, with a first name and a surname. Without this, those who choose to use unreal sounding names tend to get put aside when choosing front page articles, or neglected by the marketplaces, since they require names which sound real.
Title search.
This is a great new area accessed from your Helium page. It is certainly worthy of a visit. Write in a word or two which represent your interests, and press the search. Just like on Google, narrow the search down or hone it until you find the area where titles are presented that you think you can write an article about.
Reading what people write.
It is only by reading the site that you can decide the bench-mark for your own work. Many new writers post articles without having done this, and what this means is ultimate disappointment, because Helium is a specific market, and just like writers in the journalistic world, if they were to produce an article suited to a popular chatter magazine, and then try and sell it to a high brow magazine, they would get rejected or feel an element of failure.
By reading, you get a feel for the type of market you are aiming at, and this is important in any type of writing, whether it is for magazines, websites, blogs or whatever. Gaging the market for the type of writing matters.
What kind of articles should they write?
Here is where many misunderstandings occur. Testimonies or first person articles should be titled in such a way as to ask for personal opinion. Those which are not are aimed at general information articles. Readers don't want to know the history of Uncle Jim, or the way your husband reacted to your bunions. What they want is factual information.
If you choose an article title, paste the article title into your word document and concentrate on making a skeleton of what you believe would be useful to include in the article. Decide what to begin with, how to incorporate all those items, and how to finish the article with a real conclusion or rounding up paragraph.
If you choose to use personal experience, ask yourself why. Personal experience articles are useful or can be, because those people who seek them want to read other people's reactions to a particular circumstance. Try to keep to the point, and to have a beginning, middle and end. If writing recipes, remember that these are articles too, and should have a great introduction, ingredients, recipe and then be concluded as an article rather than just a recipe.
Where to find creative writing slots.
Not everyone wants to write factual articles. Many writers write poetry, short stories, etc., and Helium also has a place for these people. Use the title finder and type the kind of slot you are looking for with the type of article you wish to submit. For example "Short stories: Flames, Poetry: Unrequited love, Drama: Dogs (though remember that the drama department is for plays and scripts, rather than life's dramas. Satirical pieces belong in creative writing. Type the word "Satire and then the type of satire. Memoirs can also be added, as can reflections.
Learning how to get more money.
Many new members think they should be earning straight away. What they fail to see in their enthusiasm to start making money is that the way it happens on Helium is to produce as many good quality, highly rated articles as is possible. These gain money from the revenue that Helium earns, and is shared with writers. Although 1 cent may seem a little amount in the initial stages, imagine that if you have 1000 articles, the potential earnings is vast. The more you write, the more you earn, and articles go on earning for ever.
Question whether your article merits a one off payment, and then insignificance, to disappear from being read by the public, as on sites where only initial payments are made, or whether you would prefer articles to go on earning for ever, with a much broader potential of earning great money. I too was a skeptic, though it has been proven that you can and do earn. In the initial stages, concentrate on producing articles, and then see how that effects earnings. It really does and if you stick it out, you will see for yourself.
Give and take.
As with all things in life, Helium is a give and take experience. Your ratings should always be fair and unbiased, never trying to tip the balance in your favor. It won't work. People have tried it, and if you rate against the grain to gain status, what you actually achieve is loss of status with rating stars. The calculations which go on in the background can spot frauds a mile away.
Giving and taking also means reading other people's articles with the same respect you expect yours to be read and rated with. The give and take factor goes further. You can join the community boards, ask and answer questions and become a part of the site upon which you have chosen to write.
Help available for new members.
Make a slip when typing an article and produce one typo? You can get up to three typos corrected by writing to content@helium.com and heading the email TYPO, making sure to include the URL to your article in the email and clear instructions to guide editors.
Want help to get started ? The new member guide is there to help, or you can correspond with other members on the Community forums. Look in the new member area of the site to establish the address of the new member guide. Press their name and send a message. For those members whose language in everyday use is not English, there is a member who will help correct your work and encourage you to submit, who is also listed in the new member area of the site.
If you have a technical problem, help@helium.com will help you to resolve it.
New members are exceedingly welcome on Helium, as the site relies upon gaining popularity and the new members of today are the future of Helium's site. This How to get started guide was written with you in mind, and it is hoped that it answers many of the questions posed at the beginning of your experience here at Helium, and that you become a regular contributor to the site.