Helium.com is a website that pays its members to write short articles. It stands out from other pay-to-write websites because it also has several weekly contests with relatively high cash prizes, a marketplace, and a system where members write articles under the same titles as others, and compete to be rated the highest for that title. I have been spending a lot of time writing for Helium for months now, and would like to outline some of the pros and cons of writing for the site.

Pros

High Impression Earnings

Articles recieve a high rate of per impression earnings. Through a combination of decent per impression pay and the fact that titles at Helium are crafted specifically to grab lots of search engine traffic, residual earnings are higher than all other sites that I have tried. If you are talented at SEO then your earnings at Helium may not be much higher than elsewhere, but if you feel you should be compensated for the quality of your writing rather than your SEO, Helium is the place to be. Also, they pay per impression, not according to how many people click on the ads posted with your article, which obviously increases your earnings.

Various Ways to Earn

Not only are there thousands of titles to choose from, there are also debates, where articles are written that are both for and against a certain topic, many contests themed around different topics, and a Marketplace where publishers solicit articles. If a publisher selects your submission, you may be paid as much as $32 dollars for a 500 word article! Contest prizes are $50 for first place, $30 for second, and $10 for third, with no limit to how often you can enter or win. You are also permitted to enter multiple contests at one time. You also receive a $3 end of the month bonus if you have rated a certain amount of article pairs, and at any time, one of your "regular" articles may been seen and purchased by a publisher, putting extra money in your pocket! If your ratings on Helium are good, you will start to gain "stars" which will allow you to recieve upfront payments on eligible titles. It is possible to earn hundreds of dollars a month with these upfront payments.

Rights

You retain all rights to your work, and may republish instantly. You may also republish previously posted content on Helium.

No Application Process

Since Helium content is rated by members, the "cream" theoretically rises to the top. This elliminates the need for an application process. Just join Helium for free and start writing!

Cons

Slow Start

It can be a slow start; working up to earning the big bucks at Helium. Building up a large stock of articles is key to earning stars and residual income, so it can take a while for the casual writer to earn a star, which is what makes you eligible for upfront payments and the Marketplace. If you dedicate yourself to writing 5 articles a day, which is not difficult, you will see your rating and earnings pile up faster. Keep in mind that the longer you stick with Helium, the more you will earn from day to day.

Subjective Rating 

At Helium, the article ranked first in a given title will be the first to come up in search engines when the topic is searched. This gives it more exposure, and more money. Your rankings also contribute to your stars, which increase your upfront pay. The problem with this is, there are many members on Helium, including those who aren't good writers at all, and are not critical readers or good judges of what makes a piece of writing "good." Although most of the Helium community is articulate and intelligent, in your own rating efforts you will find the odd article that is undoubtedly terrible, and shiver to realize that person may be rating some of your articles! The end result is that your rankings can fluctuate wildly, and often a really well-written piece does not hold the ranking it deserves. Your piece may be stuck in third behind two pieces whose authors can't arrange a logical argument, but for some reason have been rated higher. Luckily this doesn't happen too often, but it is frustrating when it does.

Edits Must Be Approved By The Community At Large

At Helium, editing your piece to rearrange the order of your arguments, fix a typo you caught later, etc, is called "leapfrogging." When you submit a "leapfrog" it is paired with your original article and subjected to the same rating system that determines the ranks within a title. If the masses don't rank you edit as better then your original, your edit is rejected. This can be very frustrating.

Although Helium, like anything else in life, does have some "cons," if you are a good writer you will be able to make serious money on this site. The first month that I devoted some time to Helium every day (usually only an hour or two) I made $80. Each month since, my earnings have increased, and in September I earned $175. If you have more time each day to devote to freelancing, you could earn substantially more, and some Helium members earn in the thousands every month. They make a living on Helium!

In conclusion, Helium may be worth adding to your writing portfolio, and I would encourage you to visit my profile and contact me if you are interested in more information.