by Gordon Hamilton

Created on: March 15, 2009   Last Updated: December 11, 2010

The ways in which it is possible to write to Helium and make money from the process are increasing and developing all the time. It is an exciting time to be a member of Helium and if you consider and take a few simple steps, you can maximise your earnings in a variety of different ways.

The first thing a new Helium writer should do is familiarise themselves with the Helium site and what different writing and content creation options are available. There are a great many Helium writers who simply select from the categories on the left of the home page, write their article(s) and be quite content thereafter for having done so. There is of course nothing whatsoever wrong with this practice but if you are looking to optimise your earnings, there are many other ways in which you can do so.

In order to generate revenue quickly, you may choose to look at the Marketplace titles which are available to write to on Helium. Marketplace was previously where external publishers requested articles be written to a specific title and paid the writer of an accepted article a fixed fee, disclosed up front. Titles of this type are still available on Marketplace but this is now also where Helium will post titles for which the writer may earn an upfront payment, provided their article is of sufficient quality and is accepted for publication. Some titles are only available to Helium writers of a certain level of experience but others are available to all Helium writers. The titles posted to Helium’s Marketplace are deemed to be ones which hold excellent SEO potential and thus are most likely to generate ongoing revenue for writers.

Helium contests, which generally run for a period of fourteen days, are different in that up to twenty titles will be included on a particular subject for writers to have the opportunity to write to. The articles in each competition sub-category are then voted upon by Helium's members and a points system creates a league table for each overall contest. Prizes are usually offered for first, second and third place and paid out approximately ten days following the conclusion of each competition.

It is also entirely possible to earn substantial royalties on Helium articles subsequent to publication. It is important not to underestimate the potential of these earnings and therefore look to maximise the exposure given to your articles in every way you can. This may be in the form of including links to them on social networking sites, blogs or websites, or even by adding them to social book-marking sites. The best way, however, to achieve success in this respect is to ensure that articles are well written and SEO friendly. This will improve the chances of them receiving organic traffic from search engines such as Google and other Web users wishing to link to them for the benefit and further information of their own site visitors.

Helium zones are where Helium writers apply to produce miniature Web pages devoted to a very specific subject. Helium provides a number of tools for this purpose and also permits writers to include affiliate products from Web retailer Amazon. Payment from Helium for zones is directly related to the number of page views a zone achieves so quality and effective promotion will again prove beneficial.

By always keeping on top of the regular improvements which are introduced to Helium and ensuring that best practice is adapted accordingly, writers of all types can find new and innovative ways of generating revenue from the site.

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