When I declared yesterday that I’m launching a quasi-scientific experiment on the content aggregator Helium.com, I expected reactions to look something like this:
Eek! Don’t do it! I don’t know anything about it but it must be bad!
or
Yippee! Do it! I’m paid by Helium.com to encourage you!
Instead, I got responses more like this:
Eek! Don’t do it! I was successful and didn’t get paid for it!
and
Eek! Don’t do it! You should write for a different but equally dubious content aggregator instead!
and worst of all
You’re going to trash your reputation and never get another real writing job again.
Wait, what? Do real editors consider freelancers boasting bylines on Helium.com unsavory enough to avoid giving them assignments?
Great, now I’m feeling a little scared and disgusted, and when I look in the mirror I see something like this:
Say whaaaa?
Oh well, at least my hair looks better this way.
Despite the warnings, I’m venturing forward at all costs, for the sake of science and mostly the overwhelming need for blog fodder, since a certain someone threw down the social media gauntlet by paying me a compliment—and then certain other someones retweeted the compliment—forcing me to keep blogging for the rest of eternity or at least until next Tuesday when everyone forgets what they wrote.
This Thursday I’ll post the final experiment design for everyone’s bemusement and derision. Until then, enjoy tomorrow’s edition of “How to Ignore a Recipe” and Photo Wednesday. And please keep those comments coming!
Congrats on all the exposure! I have a feeling this is going to bring a lot of blog traffic your way — and be something real for people to point to when they debate the value (for writers) of content aggregators.
Jenny
Wow. This whole Helium thing has been enlightening.
I’ll admit, I have been writing on a different Helium-like site. I did not realize there was this much, um, skepticism toward these sites.
I am not a freelance writer. I like to write, but I am not formally educated in writing. So I started a blog. It’s mostly an online journal where I relate some of the mundane goings on in my life.
Through this blog, I saw an ad for this “equally dubious content aggregator” called Triond. I visited the Triond site and looked around at some of the content. To be frank, I thought to myself, “Hell, I can write better than that”. So I signed up and started writing.
Now I don’t know what to think. I work full-time. I have a family of six which depends on my day job. I considered writing for a newly discovered “hyper-local” content site. Unfortunately, I simply do not have the time to devote to doing the footwork to produce regular, higher caliber content for that kind of site.
I am not defending the Heliums or Trionds out there. Most of the content I’ve seen on those sites is, to put it bluntly, pathetic. However, I am able to produce readable, maybe even infomative or mildly entertaining work with the time I have available to me.
My question is: Does this hurt my chances if I should someday have an opportunity to really pursue writing as a career?
Should I cease and desist from contributing to Triond immediately and fall back on my blog as an outlet for my desire to write?
How’s the experiment going?
Nathan,
By your comment alone I can tell that you’re an able-minded writer—thanks for what you have to say!
My experiment? Well, to be honest, I have yet to start the experiment because I’ve been too busy writing for reputable publications, where I’m receiving more per word than I could likely earn per article on Helium.com.
Honestly, I don’t know anything about Triond, but based on your thoughtful writing here, I would say you’d be better off trying your hand at freelance writing. Check out http://renegadewriter.com for a great place to start; without their book I would have never been able to start. Yes, there’s rejection involved, which is why I think so many writers take the comfortable route of writing for content aggregators—you never have to hear “no” from an editor. But the return on your invested time (and ego) is much, much greater.
And don’t discount those hyperlocal blogs/newspapers/websites immediately—many are growing rapidly and have become a vibrant part of the media industry. Just proceed with (to use a politician’s term) cautious optimism.
In any case, please visit again (or email me) and let me know what you’re up to next; I’d love to share your personal experience with other readers.
Thanks,
Ron
I appreciate your kind words.
After giving it some thought, Triond is a little different from Helium. If I am to understand what I gathered through Tim Beyer’s blog correctly, Helium sells content to other news organizations. Triond is a pay-per-click site. They “share” income they receive from advertisers with the writer based on views. I don’t think the published content goes anywhere beyond their sub-sites.
Regardless of the modus operandi, the writer’s revenue is miniscule. I’ve also discovered that it seems to be something of a literary Ponzi scheme. The readership consists mainly of the users of Triond itself. People tend to bounce around and comment on each others articles and add friends like a social networking site. I don’t think there are a lot of outside views.
To me, the biggest issue with writing for Triond or any of the other myriad writing sites is the lack of the editor. I can write a piece, proof read it, walk away from it for a day or two, then come back and proof it again. More than once I’ve gone through that process, published, then read the piece afterward and picked out changes I should have made.
Having an editor would make it so much better. The editor is the new set of eyes. The editor is removed from the work enough to make tough calls. I’ve never been a “real” writer, this is all new to me. But I already recognize that a writer does not write alone. He needs to team with the editor, like it or not.
Thanks for the invitation to come back and comment. I will be sure to do so.
Take care