My views on the Helium upfront payments differ from that of many other writers. I suppose I may be a little slow or something because many people, over the course of a few days, indirectly called me stupid or foolish. I have also been, indirectly of course, attacked because I trust that the new system is going to work out better for writers who give it a try and who work hard to maintain well written articles. There are several things that have been said in the boards at Helium since the change was announced. I would like to address them here so that I don't get barraged with hate responses. These are my own opinions and outlooks and have nothing to do with putting anyone down because they have questions. I am all for answering questions. What I am not for is slamming each other, as writers, because we don't understand the new system just yet.
Here are my views on some of the posts that were made in the forums. I will not mention names because I think that is tasteless, but if you are reading this and you were one of the ones that posted such comments, you will know who you are.
1. Helium is just out for themselves and don't care about whether the writers suffer because of it as long as they can save money- To that, I can only say "BALDERDASH"!! Nothing could be further from the truth. Helium has made it a point, in everything I have seen on the site since I signed up with them in March of 2007. For three years, I have watched the site change and grow. There weren't even upfront payments when the site started yet many people claim that Helium is trying to rip them off somehow. Helium offered upfront payments because they wanted the writers to excel who were good at writing. They certainly never had to offer it. Many of you know for a fact that you signed up with Helium under the terms that you would only get paid ad revenue. Every change Helium has made has netted me, the writer, more money. The same staff that was there then are still there now and they haven't suddenly changed their views on how important the writer is to their website.
2. Giving up copyrights- So what, Helium wants the rights to your "How to shave a cat" articles. Honestly, the argument that one of us might, in years to come, find ourselves in the position of Julie/Julia is highly unlikely. There is a huge difference in a video blog about a famous cook and a woman who blogged her recipes. Sure, there is always the chance. I am not trying to diminish anyone's work at Helium by any stretch of the imagination. I write there for heavens sake. However, seriously, no one is likely to make a movie out of my "How to replace a key on a laptop" article! Every writer has the right to decide if they want to go forward under the new system, give it a chance or leave and find something better. I can only say, good luck with that. There are many sites that would allow me to make more money than I make at Helium, or there has been in the past. I like money, don't get me wrong, but with every site, there are things that the writer has to give in order to get. Helium should be no different. They let us skate for a long time, earning money on the articles without asking us to give up anything. The one time they do, and it will be better for the writer in the long term, the writers have a hissy fit over it. Look at the history that you have shared with the site if you have been there for about three or more years. You cannot honestly say that the changes haven't been lucrative for you. If you say that, you haven't put any effort into it at all.
3. Helium isn't making any money so that is why they made these changes- WHAT? That is just silly. Helium isn't going under. Helium is stronger than ever and is trying to share that success with it's writer's. The writers have been so bogged down in worrying about rights that they will probably, in most cases, never need to use elsewhere. Helium has posted several title to which writers can make quadruple, yes, that's right, quadruple anything you would have made under the old system. Does that sound like a site that is heading for financial ruin? Not likely.
4. This change won't improve the article quality- Again, I say, WHAT? If you were an editor and you were looking through the loads and loads of poorly written articles that have been posted due to the "first five" rule, you would understand that this will greatly improve the quality of the site material. I can vouch for this personally because quite frankly, I am guilty of posting less than desirable material to get he upfronts. The "first five" rule put too much pressure to get the material up before other writers beat you to the punch. Problem eliminated and it's a problem that many writers, including myself, have complained about.
5. Ad revenue won't be paid anymore- That is an out and out fabrication by someone. I don't know where it came from, but the truth is, ad revenue is still going strong. No, I can't predict the future of that, but I can take a "Helium educated" guess at it. Ad revenue is where Helium started. Think about this a minute. Helium used to only pay ad revenue to the writer. That system has not been touched other than having to have the one rating star. Whoever came up with that thought can set their mind at ease and not push that issue any further, it is an unfounded fear.
6. The best writer's will leave the site- Although this may seem like an accurate statement, it probably isn't. Writer's are curious by nature. That means that most writer's will stay and give the new system a try. They will because, quite truthfully, they won't be able to help themselves. They don't want to miss the boat if what Helium says will happen will actually happen. It will be a scary leap, but most of the writers will at least give it a try because they will realize that there is a chance this could be a huge boost to income rather than a huge loss.
7. Bias in judging- Yes, those judging the articles for upfront payments are human. That can't be disputed. There are safety's in place to assure that it won't happen. Editors take their job seriously and do it professionally even though they do it on a volunteer basis. Three check points are in place and it will work out well for all writer's, not a select few. Again, you can't know for sure unless you give it a fair try. You can't win them all, but chances are you can win a good deal of them.
Helium isn't perfect and neither are the writer's that write there. The above are some of my pet peeves on people that have been posting nothing but negative thoughts. The truth is, from everything I have ever seen, in three years of dealing with some major changes within Helium and dealing with the people who write there and the staff, I can say that I trust them implicitly. That doesn't mean that cannot change in the future. If they give me reason to mistrust them, then I will. That has NOT been their track record though. Their track record has been that of honesty, though not always clear on some things. They will answer your questions and others will answer your questions. That was never the problem. The problem was the out and out attacks that some of the writers were putting out there on other writer's and the staff. When you have a question, ask it, wait for an answer and above all else, give something a try before you say that the site is trying to rip you off. Helium is one of the most above board sites that I have ever written for, that is why I remain there.
BTW- 5,4,3,2,1- It doesn't matter how many stars you have when it comes to writing quality. You can be a five star writer and still stink at it slightly above half the time. You can be a no star writer and excel in writing a hundred percent of the time. Writing stars are a rating based on several factors. One of those factors is how many articles you have on site. Another is ranking of those articles as seen by other Helium writer's like yourself. Stop comparing whether someone is a good writer by the number of stars they have and read their work to find out.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
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