Questions to Ask Helium to Avoid Hot Air

Michelle Rafter's blog had a couple of guest posts about content aggregator Helium. Tim Beyers warned writers off writing for Helium and Helium new member outreach manager Barbara Whitlock said that writers should.

Being the sometimes practical and often cranky man that I am, I just want to know about the money. Helium announced that it had paid writers more than $1 million since its inception, and half of that in the last six months. That may sound attractive, but the real question is something I like to remember by the clumsy acronym HMWEM, or How Much Will Erik Make?

You see, when it comes to connecting writing and making money, I'm not interested in a good story. I want to see numbers on the page. Looking a bit further into Helium's press release on its million dollar mark, we see the following:

• Since 2006, writers have posted 1.25 million articles on 125,000 topics.


• Over 1,000 writers have earned more than $100 from their work for Helium.


• "Top earners" have made more then $5,000 "in a matter of months."

Let's do the math:

1. The average story will make 80 cents.


2. There's no indication I can find about how many "top earners" they have. But according to one mention on helium, there was one person who made $5,000 in six months. He averaged an hour a day, according to the release. That's 30 hours a month for six months, or 180 hours. So, he managed $27.78 an hour in revenue. But apparently there is no other big earner mentioned. Could he be the only one? Also, how many articles did he have to write?
   
3. On a "bulk sale" of content, some writers got $5. When you read this in context, it makes it sound like $5 was the high end.


4. According to the site's press page, there are more than 100,000 writers on the site. So, at the tops mathematically, it's an average of $10 per person.

I understand that Ms. Whitlock wrote, "Helium isn’t a substitute for a full-time job, but it can be combined with other freelance gigs to provide additional revenue. Plus, the freedom to also write what you want is appealing for many." But when put to the HMWEM test, the answer still sounds like nowhere near enough to justify the effort.

Don't Try Breathing Helium - A Foolish Predatory Freelance Market Concept

As you may know, breathing helium makes your speech sound high-pitched and cartoon-like. It's also unhealthy if you keep inhaling for any period of time, because you miss the oxygen that keeps you alive. According to this piece in the Boston Herald, you might consider avoiding the online site Helium.com. The company has been trying to do the "citizen journalism" thing, otherwise known as scoring effectively free copy to build traffic and get ad money. (A pittance goes to some writers, but that to me doesn't count.) Now the Andover, MA-based business is trying something new:

But a few weeks ago Helium began offering a new product simply called “marketplace,” in which publishers and editors can advertise for certain types of stories they need.

They post a description of the article, the expected price, length and deadline - and wait for writers to submit articles for consideration.

In other words, company CEO Mark Ranalli expects publishers to tip their hands about coverage, professional freelancers to send in spec work, and "victorious" writers to fork over 20% for Helium's doing nothing more than essentially acting as a classified ad site. Oh, and they money? From "$20 to $200 for each selected article." Ooh, ooh, I'm soooo excited.

I'll give it a month and then start looking to the eastern horizon for a giant plume of smoke from the crash and burn. I don't usually take pleasure in listening for the ascending engine whine as the vehicle plummets, but I'll make an exception in this case, bad enough to pass insulting and enter the realm of laughable.

Usually people who get commissions actually do some selling and don't expect payment for standing around. This sounds like a proposition that belongs with ones you might hear in seedy bars. Oh, wait, now I know why: Pimping is still pimping.