Writing Opportunities Online Alert

I haven't blogged about Helium or Associated Content lately mainly because I haven't been writing for them much. Helium, as you know, earned my skepticism by paying no money. Associated Content is much better, but I've noticed that since I stopped regularly publishing (though not regularly commenting on other articles), I also stopped getting page views. Down from a 100 a week to ... 10 a week so pretty substantial. Neither has paid too well, but I continued with AC because I enjoy it. Which is, after all, a major reason to do it. I ceased to think, though, that either provides too much income unless you're willing to submit for articles and many of my pieces weren't what I'd consider "article worthy" so I haven't bothered. I do have a few ideas that I will submit for that, though, so stay tuned.

But Helium is right now sponsoring a pretty cool -- and monetarily rewarding -- contest . It's the sort of thing you could easily spend an hour or two a day until April 15 and come out of it with $750. Basically, they determine your overall "ranking" through a star system, rewarding both quantity and quality. (Mostly the former) They seem to be having trouble getting people to rate. Since their whole platform is based on the ranking system (what separates them from AC), I can see why they are pushing rating. The contest will reward you for every star you have (and you can gain a star after writing 4 articles). For each star, hey will pay you a set amount of money per article you published from January to April. So if you have two stars at the end of April (and have rated 250 odd articles, pretty easy since each one takes a minute or two), they will give you a $1.50 per article you wrote. The more stars, the more money. If anyone's been hesitant to start, I'd recommend it. If you want an invitation (not required, but I get a referral bonus), let me know and I'll send you one.

Happy writing!