Helium is a wonderful venue for getting your name out there. Through your articles you can convey your opinions and eventually gain a following of readers. Perhaps you will even catch the eye of publishers from the Marketplace. But one thing you cannot do through your articles, is promote yourself.

In the rating process, two articles are pinned up against one another so that the reader can compare the two. Based on the content and other criteria, the rater will then judge which article is "More Valuable". In order for articles to be rated fairly, they must be anonymous. This means that your name, Web site, and any other identifying factors should be excluded from your writing on Helium.

Another reason why putting personal information into your writing on Helium is bad is because raters' personal feelings about you can influence how they rate. Say they know you from the Community boards and dislike you for whatever reason. They see your name attached to your article somehow, they will automatically rate it as less valuable than the other article.

Lastly, readers are often put off by people promoting themselves. It can simply be annoying.

There is a silver lining to all this though. While you can't put identifying information in your articles, Helium provides a place to promote yourself and your work to your hearts content. That is on your About Me page. In fact, Helium encourages you to beef up your About Me page and represent yourself as much as possible. To do so means attracting more readers and possibly even publishers.

So to fully benefit from all that Helium has to offer, do yourself and the rest of the community a favor: Don't include your name and Web site in your articles. Instead, use your About Me page to shine and let readers in on what YOU are all about.

Learn more about this author, Kelly A. Mello.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

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