Saying Good-bye to Helium Network

 

Helium Network which use to be one of the main online writing site for internet content writers is calling it quits. After eight years, the company is shutting down. Helium made this announcement to its writers just a few days ago. The shutdown began on May 21, 2014 and will continue until December 15, 2014. For the first two years of my online writing career Helium was home.

I began writing for Helium in July 2012. I discover the company while reading an article on one of my favorite couponing sites, The KrazyCoupon Lady. The article discussed how to make money from home doing online writing. I was already writing for the local newspaper, but I had always marveled at online writing. I decided to give Helium a try.

At the time, I was completely green when it came to online writing. Helium taught me how to write an online article. How to edit my article and how to link to other sites. The company was fun. It was also easy to find and complete assignments. And, although I wasn’t making a lot of money, I wrote passionately for the company. I hoped one day those pennies would change into enough extra money to pay at least one of my bills.

I have to admit that Helium did have some rules that I found strange. I did not like having to rate articles just to continue to receive revenue from my articles. And, I did not like having my article rated. This was tedious and time-consuming. You were actually rated on the way you rate.

I loved the writing contest at first. However, this soon changed because everyone on the network was allowed to rate your article. I felt that only a selected panel should have been allowed to do this.

On Helium, you had to reach $25.00 before you could ever receive a payout. This could take a long time. I struggled to receive a payment every two months. Although I suspect that writers who had been on the network longer, did receive payout on a more regular basis.

I never made it to the Marketplace. The Marketplace is where other companies or clients could request your freelance writing services.

In October 2013, Helium changed from the format that I was familiar with. I found it difficult to find assignments and to post work. I soon stopped writing. I only rated articles in order to continue to be an active user.

Although I didn’t like some of the things about Helium, it was still my first writing home. I have hundreds of articles on the site that I must move. So, I sadly bid Helium Network “good-bye”.