When Helium's president and CEO, Mark Ranalli, started Helium in October, 2006, he had 3 things in mind. He believed that any writer should be able to contribute what he/she knows with millions of readers worldwide; he felt that readers wanted a choice of viewpoints on a subject; and he knew that publishers needed a better way to get the content they wanted.

He also wanted to reward productive, hard-working writers with proceeds as a revenue sharing co-op.

At first, Helium was a Q. and A. site with brief questions and answers, which many readers viewed as inadequate for fulfilling their needs. The average web reader wanted more depth, with credible, reliable information in condensed form, which could be quickly retrieved during fast-paced daily living.

In fact, through polling, Helium found that readers wanted sound, informative articles between 400 and 1500 words long.

With an active, present-day Community of about 200,000 members, Helium expects its writers to perform peer-ratings, a self-monitoring system that encourages writers to perform - and be rewarded for it - at quality levels all the time.

Every writer is expected to add valuable input to a title; each paired-article is rated by members/peers, who will push the better (more valuable; more relevant) article to the top into public view. Every published author shares in ad revenues according to a sliding-scale fee of upfront pays, page views, and the value of that topic to advertisers.

Although other sites offer writers opportunities to be published, some require pre-screening or qualifying tests; some require fees; and some simply warehouse the articles without performing any valuable work for their members - like advertising their works or drawing outside publishers' interest for purchasing stock content - like Helium does.

Every member is a valuable asset to the Community. Note the capital "C." Helium's staffers, writers/raters, site stewards, editors, and fact-checkers are the heart and soul of Helium.

In the community forums, writers can ask for advice, peer reviews, feedback, and help with any aspect of writing or maneuvering around Helium.

If English is a writer's second language or the writer needs a "refresher course" in using correct English spelling, punctuation, grammar or magazine-style formatting, Helium offers a free, one-on-one mentoring service for those who want help. Just e-mail mentor@helium.com.

If anyone makes several "content (spelling, grammar, punctuation or formatting) errors" in their articles, members are asked to follow the Golden Rule: "Do unto others" - by courteously e-mailing them with suggestions for improvement - in the same spirit that they would like to receive such advice.

As members of a writing Community, we are given the power to "vote" our stamp of approval or "thumbs down" on every article we rate. We are the ones who boost the best into the # 1 position so they can be readily found by searching readers, and we are the ones who sink the poorly-written articles out of view, effectively putting "Helium's best-face forward" at all times.

Besides helping one another through the forums and personal e-mails, and even going beyond our rating power, we also have access to the "User Tools" in the upper right corner of our computer screens. This allows us to report offensive material directly to Helium.

If any article contains vulgar language or adult material, is self-promoting, is too short to be reader-worthy (under 400 words), needs to be fact-checked, or is suspected of being plagiarized, we can report it to Helium, and staffers will handle it ASAP.

Although Helium doesn't have any pre-screening requirements, it expects quality. Helium has site stewards, fact-checkers, and editors who are constantly monitoring the site. They can flag inappropriate material and fast-track it for review by Helium.

As a concerned business, Helium responds to its readership - as in favored word lengths, placement of quality-controlled articles in top-viewing spots, and easy-to-read formatting.

Helium has also responded to its writers with increased payments for more page views, upfront pays for the first-five articles written to a title, and more ad revenues for top-rated articles. Helium also offers chances to write for partnering publishers in the Marketplace, and it allows those publishers a chance to purchase stock content from Helium. Helium offers contests for those who like fast-paced writing challenges, and other incentives are being offered all the time.

Helium offers stars and badges as rewards for writing and rating, and sliding-scale earnings are based on the numbers of stars earned. Writers can earn badges of recognition within their fields of expertise, badges for Marketplace sales and eligibility, badges for being Helium site stewards or editors, etc.

Helium is creating new awards all the time to reward and recognize its writers. The visible "credentials" on the bio pages allow established co-publishers to find new writers for their own purposes.

Helium writers earn peer recognition, digital credibility with publishers, and personal satisfaction for a job well done - something that most freelancers can't gain by going it alone in the print community.

How to maintain and improve quality at Helium? Always write your best as you would for any "final draft" that is going to be published with your byline. Leapfrog and re-fresh low-rated articles and bring them up to par with others in their topic. (Once you "see" what rates well, you should have a better idea of the tone and slant that readers are looking for.)

Recognize your value as a "voting" Helium member with rights and responsibilities.

Do your part to monitor the Community: Make sure the best works rise to the top and rate the inferior ones out of sight.

Monitor your Community: Report substandard quality to site stewards; report suspected plagiarism to content@helium.com; report the self-promoters who abuse the instant-publication rights; and report guideline rule-breakers to Helium.

Keep your writing Community as nice and "litter-free" as you do your local community. It's your town, after all.

Learn more about this author, Karon Brandt.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

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