by John W. Paulus

Created on: February 11, 2009

Writing for Helium and writing for Squidoo are two very different experiences. While both Helium and Squidoo offer opportunities for people to write about topics they enjoy and have that writing published on the Internet, they go about it in very different ways. Writing for Helium and Squidoo each offer specific benefits to those that use them, as well as some challenges.

Comparing writing for Helium and Squidoo: The Writing Experience

When it comes to getting writing experience, both Helium and Squidoo offer different things to their users. Helium offers an environment where the user's writing can be viewed and reviewed by other users of the site. In this way, Helium users are able to get feedback from others on their writing, and are able to compare their own writing with others' writing on the same topic.

In contrast, writing at Squidoo is a solitary experience. While there may be other Squidoo lenses written on the same or a similar topic, the user is entirely responsible for the content on their own lens. In this way, the writing experience at Squidoo is a bit more solitary than the writing experience at Helium.

Comparing writing for Helium and Squidoo: Making Money

Both writing for Helium and Squidoo can offer the user an opportunity to make money. On Squidoo, those money making opportunities tend to fall into two categories: shared ad revenue and affiliate revenue. On Squidoo, users earn a portion of the money that Squidoo gets for the ads that run on their Squidoo lenses. In addition, Squidoo users can add links to affiliate products which can , in turn, generate income.

On Helium, users can also earn a portion of advertising revenue. However, there are no affiliate opportunities on Helium. Instead, users can enter contests, submit their articles to the Marketplace, or earn money through promotions such as Reward-athons or special promotions like the Empty Title bonus.

Comparing writing for Helium and Squidoo: Promotion

There is another area that we can compare writing for Helium and Squidoo, and that is the area of promotion. On Helium, users are not allowed to include links that are promotional in nature. Helium users can put links to their own sites on their user profile pages, however.

On Squidoo, users can include self-promotional links. Many users write on Squidoo in order to create quality backlinks to their own websites.

Ultimately, whether you prefer to write for Helium or Squidoo is a matter of personal preference. Depending on what you are hoping to accomplish, each site has its own particular benefits.

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