Triond, Helium and Associated Content: How Do They Compare?
Aspiring writers hoping to earn some money for their trouble can now write for content websites like Helium, Triond and Associated Content. How do they compare?
Having written for all three of the above named websites, I can hopefully give some insight to those who are new to the game of writing website content. Perhaps you have already tried one, found it unsatisfactory and moved on to another in the vain search for cash. I have been writing for Helium since January 2008, Associated Content since May 2008 and Triond for only the past few weeks. Here is my view when looking at all three:
Helium
Helium is the place where I have written most of my articles and has given me the greatest financial return. When I first joined Helium, they had just started running a Rewardathon where writers were paid per article based on the number of writing stars they had as a result of the rating system in place. The rating system is by no means perfect but the articles generally find their true place after a while. Combined with the Rewardathon earnings, I was also able to sell a few Marketplace articles and won or placed in the weekly writing contests. Without those means of earning available, I would not have earned much simply relying on page views.
Associated Content
Associated Content provided a little bit more on page view earnings but is not the ideal arrangement if you happen to live outside the USA. As a US resident you can earn up front payments, but if not, you have to rely on page view returns which of course is limited. Having submitted articles for a few months, I have been given some idea of the kind of return that can be expected. I certainly wouldn’t give up my day job to pursue this as a means of income.
Triond
I am relatively new to Triond having written around 30 articles in the past two weeks. I can see a steady increase as cents are added daily but will obviously need a few months of activity to make a genuine comparison. The difference between Triond and Helium is that Triond will apparently also include a share of ad revenue, although I understand this is only if the click through results in a sale. My general feeling is that it will take a high volume of articles to see a reasonable financial return but time will tell.
Comparing all three from my own perspective, Helium has definitely proved more rewarding financially because of the other opportunities to earn apart from reliance on page views. My guess would be that Helium, Triond and Associated Content will all pay pretty much the same when it come to page views but then again, I’m sure there rae some writers out there who would beg to differ.
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October 1st, 2008 at 8:44 am
I think the difference between them often turns out to be more about what kind of writing you like to do and what type of site you enjoy. I hate being limited to specific titles on Helium, and have never found anything in the Marketplace that I want to write about, so Helium is out. AC probably pays the best over the long run for U.S. residents, but is so demanding about SEO keywords that it’s also very limiting. Haven’t been here long enough to know whether it will pay off, but I suspect that hard work and patience will eventually make it worthwhile. I’m also trying eHow, which I like very much, but one week and six articles don’t give me any information about future earnings.
October 1st, 2008 at 11:39 am
Good article. It is my belief and experience that when you persevere and commit to any particular endeavor you can and will achieve great things! Much success and rewards to you through all your writing endeavors and life in general!
Blessings.
Sincerely,
-Liane Schmidt.
October 1st, 2008 at 5:35 pm
I have written about 35 articles for AC and have a total of over 34k page views at present. I take in about 20 bucks a month, sometimes more if I take assignments.
The key at AC is longevity, high production, and self-promotion. The more articles you write, the more there are for readers to look at. Every month people give me page views for articles I wrote a number of months ago. All of this adds up.
I am just beginning at AC, though. Some AC producers have hundreds, if not thousands of articles out there. Some have well over a million page views.
A number of them apply for upfront payment as well as page view performance payments. As of yet, I have not applied for up front payment unless I am taking a call for assignment. That’s my next step, to start asking for up front payments as well as performance pay, and that should rack up a few more bucks for me.
In all, you have to love to write to do this. You can’t think of the number of hours you put in vs. what you are getting paid for them. I just write because I like to and if I earn anything, well, it’s just gravy.
October 1st, 2008 at 10:04 pm
If you are into creative storytelling, I would like to see how StoryMash compares.
Good topic for an article, tho I’d like to see more “apples to apples” comparisons before deciding where to publish, however whats to stop you from re-publishing the same articles on all these sites?
Thank you chessgolf.
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:15 am
Good article
October 3rd, 2008 at 11:19 am
I’m new to Triond and Helium. I haven’t tried AC yet, and actually, I have only five articles on Triond and one on Helium, so I don’t have enough experience to give a good assessment. It does seem like you need to persevere and write a lot to make these sites work. I see people on Triond who are publishing 5-6 articles a day. At that rate you should start to see some money, if you can make it past the first few months. It seems that a lot of people drop out. I’d like to publish fiction as well as non-fiction, but I’m not sure if any of these sites is the best place for fiction.
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:44 pm
All this information is very informative. I am a newby and am in the Research phase so have lots of sites to be visiting and studying.
Thanks everyone for the info.
Ginny M Christensen, Fresno, CA
http://www.ginnymchristensen.com