by Rena Sherwood

Created on: September 07, 2009

Helium Marketplace has gone through a lot of growing pains in 2007 and in early 2008. During that time, word was getting around the freelance web content writing community that Helium Marketplace was best avoided. But after a redesign and a better commitment from clients advertising writing jobs on Helium Marketplace, it can become a legitimate means for making good pocket money.

Keep On Writing

The best tip anyone can give a writer trying for success in Helium Marketplace is to write as often as you can. Take the chance, write that article and submit. Writing is a skill that is best learned through constant practice. Even if you do not get the client to buy the article, you still gain experience writing that will help you later on down the line. If you also have stars at Helium and the article falls under the proper categories, then you may earn a small payment up to $2.50.

Read The Instructions

Sometimes the instructions for particular articles can seem tedious, but the client does need an article written in a certain way. They only have a certain amount of space on their website or they need certain keywords included to attract the attention of web crawlers. Unless the instructions are absolute gibberish, try not to let yourself be intimidated by them and give it your best shot.

If you actually follow the client's instructions, you have about a 50% advantage over most of the other submissions that goes to the client. For some reason, many newbie freelance writers ignore the client's instructions because they are convinced their writing will blow away the competition. It doesn't work that way.

Be Flexible In Word Count

Sometimes the word count can seem a little confusing. The assignment guidelines will say that an article is to be so many words while the "Word Count" on the bottom line of the guidelines will often say that the word count is much less. For example, one article may state that the word count is 400 - 600 words, but then you look at the bottom line and see "Word Count: 350". So which is it?

It will most likely be 350. Keep in mind that most clients consider a "word" to be six characters, even if there are punctuation marks and spaces in those characters. But the Helium online guide will be calibrated to the clients needs. Always add an extra ten or twenty words to your article to compensate for this difference.

But when you are about to submit the article, there should be teeny-tiny print stating how many words Helium will allow for the minimum. This minimum number should be in bold print above the green box listing the client's instructions.

When To Submit

Don't leave submitting your article until the last minute. But you don't want to rush through the work and then skip checking for errors. If there is a subject that tickles your fancy and you have the time, work on that article right away because before you know it, the deadline will pass.

Also, unless you are an expert in the article's subject, do not submit to any Marketplace article that already has more than 10 submissions. The more submissions the client receives, the less your chances are of winning the money. Crossing your fingers when you hit that "Submit" button won't hurt your chances, either.

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