by Amber Hilton

Created on: November 29, 2009

Your New Year's resolutions as a Helium member will depend entirely upon your current relationship with this popular writing website. If you are one of the unfortunate few who have become "addicted" to Helium.com and feel like your site usage is negatively affecting your life in some way, your resolution may be to limit your time spent writing and rating for Helium in the upcoming year. However, I would hope that the New Year's resolutions of most Helium contributors would revolve around improving the quality and increasing the quantity of their articles. Below are some possible New Year resolutions for the average Helium writer:

#1. Make more money. While the earning potential is not the only reason that writers love Helium, it is definitely a big draw for many members. And thanks to all of the earning options that Helium provides, this is one New Year's resolution that won't be too difficult to keep. As with any resolution, if you want to be successful, you need to outline some steps that will help you to meet your goal. If your goal is increasing your earnings this year, some possible steps might be trying out Helium Marketplace, entering more writing contests or aiming for those empty title bonuses. It also helps for your resolution to be specific, so don't be afraid to assign a dollar figure to your goal. If you made $200 on Helium last year, make this year's goal $300. If you made $2,000 last year, your new goal may be $3,000 and so forth.

#2. Improve quality. There is always room for improvement in any situation, but if you find that your Helium articles are consistently rated low or you're failing to attract Marketplace publishers, you may want to spend extra time this year focusing on improving the quality of your article submissions. Start by checking out the Writer's Resources page and read Helium's helpful Writing Standards for some good advice on how to improve your work. Also, be sure to always take the time to proofread your work, thoroughly checking for spelling and grammar mistakes before you submit your articles. It is much easier to take the time to proofread before you publish your article than to try to fix it after the fact.

However, if your goal is to improve the quality of your overall Helium portfolio, you may also want to go back and revisit some of your old submissions. For simple typos, you can send Helium an email and they will make the appropriate changes. For larger formatting or content issues, you can submit a leapfrog article.

#3. Mix it up. If all of your article titles tend to fall into the same few channels, your New Year's resolution as a Helium writer might be to mix it up a bit and check out some new channels. If your resolution is also to make more money, you might want to look into which channels are more lucrative than others and give them a try. If you're simply looking for a challenge, try a channel that you wouldn't normally choose and you may be surprised by some of the titles that you find.

These are just a few possible options for New Year's resolutions for Helium writers. Remember that whatever your goal, be specific and don't forget to outline some steps for how you plan to achieve your resolution. Finally, don't be too hard on yourself if you slip up. You have all year to turn your habits around so don't give up on your goals just because you made a few mistakes.

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