by Amber Hilton

Created on: December 01, 2009

Helium allows writers to share their voice, hone their writing skills and connect with other writers. However, one of the best things about Helium is that it rewards writers for doing what they love. Helium writers can earn money in a variety of different ways, including upfront payments, article sales, contest prizes and ad revenue shares.

Once a Helium writer has earned $25.00, they are able to request a PayPal payment via their "Earnings & Payments" page. This page can be accessed by clicking on the "My Helium" link in the upper right of the home page and then selecting "Earnings & Payments" from the menu bar on the left hand side of the My Helium page.

If a Helium writer does not have a PayPal account, simple instructions to create one can be found on the Earnings & Payments page. Writers are prompted to provide an email address and username and will receive an email when they request their first payment to complete the PayPal account setup process. Helium will never request members' personal account information, other than a PayPal address, which is a trusted and safe way to transfer funds.

The Earnings & Payments page provides writers with a great deal of essential information, so it is important that you become familiar with it. On the top of the page, you will see your name, along with the date and time that you became a member. A summary of your lifetime Helium earnings will follow, which is divided into total earnings, total invite adjustments, adjustments and total paid to you.

Because Helium pays its writers only once per month, your total earnings and total paid to you may vary if you have requested a payment that has not been paid out yet. Helium currently rewards its writers for referring new members by paying them a small percentage of the new members monthly earnings, which can be tracked under total invite earnings.

The adjustments column is where writers can track any earnings that did not come from readers clicking on their articles. For example, stock content sales, upfront payments and contest winnings will all appear under adjustments. Some payments, such as upfront payments, invite earnings and empty title bonuses are only paid out once per month (on or around the first). Having these types of earnings categorized under adjustments helps writers to keep track of how and what they are earning.

On the right hand side of the page, writers will see their total charity donations (optional) and Helium's payment policy. Remember that if you want to be paid by the 10th of the month, you must submit your payment request by the fourth of the same month. If you miss the request deadline, you will have to wait another month to receive your earnings. If you do not reach the $25.00 minimum required to request payment, your earnings will simply roll over each month until you do.

At the bottom of the Earnings & Payments page, you will see your Active Article Earnings, which provides some very important information. Here writers can see how much they have earned in the current month and year for each and every article that they have ever submitted. This helps writers to see which topics and channels are more lucrative than others, which may help designate future article submissions.

If you want to make a decent amount of income on Helium as a writer, understanding your Earnings & Payments page is vital. It will help you to decide what articles to write to and what types of activities are earning you the most money. Understanding the Helium Payment Policy will also ensure that you never miss a monthly payment.

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