by Laurie Childree

Created on: January 03, 2009

Writing for Helium has numerous benefits some of which are obvious and some of which are not. Whether writing is enjoyed as a hobby or is the chosen career there is something at Helium to benefit everyone. There are several channels on the site which contain millions of titles allowing everyone that wishes to write to find something that is suitable to them.

While the amount of available subject matter ensures an outlet for all those wishing to write there are also a number of opportunities to improve writing skills as well. The peer critique section of the community boards allows writers to submit articles for other members to give feedback on. As the articles are critiqued the writer gains the ability to find their weaknesses and improve upon them. The option of giving feedback to the writer helps the writer find errors and learn where their strengths are through messages from other members.

Monetary compensation is another benefit to Helium. When articles are posted writers (provided they have one rating star) can earn a small share of revenue from the ads surrounding the article. Those that manage to maintain five rating stars can enjoy a small bonus at the end of any month during which they were kept. Writing stars were recently introduced and new payment systems set into place a while afterward. Writers can now earn up front payments on the articles that are posted to the site, the amount of which depends on the number of writing stars that the writer posses on the day of the calculations. These new payment systems allow writers to supplement income fairly easily.

Helium's Contests which are held on a regular basis provide the opportunity not only to earn up front payments on articles in qualifying channels but the chance to win prize money as well. The competition of the contests helps to improve a writer's skills as well since you have to gain the most points to compete and articles that fall below half way will give negative points.

The Helium Marketplace allows members to write articles that publishers are looking for at the present time. The articles enter into a competition of sorts to be picked by the publisher and those that are chosen are compensated by the publisher who sometimes allows the writers by-line to appear on the articles. Those articles that are not chosen and end up posted on the Helium website are eligible for up front payments just like normal articles from the site.

Those attempting to launch a writing career see the benefits of writing for Helium Market place and the site itself rather clearly. When attempting to gain a writing job online it is simple to use Helium as a portfolio. You can send links to helium articles as samples of the quality of work that is done. The more writing that is done on Helium the more comfortable writers become and begin to fall into their own styles of writing. The more a person writes the more skills they gain.

There is no need to stay in your comfort zone while writing for Helium. Going outside of the comfort zone can help to improve research skills and help to develop the skill of incorporating sources into the articles and gain a more professional appearance of writing. These skills can come in handy when attempting to gain employment as a writer. The benefits of Helium to not end with monetary compensation or the improvement of skill levels, there are also friends to be made and knowledge to be gained from those with more experience.

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