5 Reasons To Write On Medium Even Though People Say It’s Dead
Spoiler: It isn’t!
I have been asking myself if you can make money on Medium in 2023. There is no easy answer to this, but here’s what has led me to this question.
I signed up to Medium in December 2014. I can’t remember why exactly, but it was around the time that everyone I knew was signing up. I set up an account and forgot all about it. I wrote precisely nothing until July 2021, which at the time of writing this, is almost two years ago. I wrote two articles and then forgot about Medium again, except for the weekly emails giving me my stats and the occasional few cents dropping into my Stripe account from one of those articles.
In that seven year period between setting up Medium and writing my first article, I had managed to gain 1,000 followers from doing nothing but having a profile. I attribute this to having posted my profile link on Twitter when I set it up. I can think of no other explanation. So, it was always in the back of my mind that maybe I could do something with this platform. After all, I had those dribbles of money coming in and a reasonably good following (considering I had done nothing to earn them). Maybe this was worth pursuing…
Then last week, after doing a few days of research and thinking it over, I decided to go all-in with Medium, even though I found numerous articles declaring that Medium is dead. Why? Here’s my five reasons.
1. Medium is quite clearly not dead
I mean, I see people posting every day. They’re getting good interactions and they must be making money, or finding some kind of creative fulfilment in writing here, otherwise why would they still be active here? I know there are a lot of successful and popular writers complaining about the algorithm or some other thing that’s killing their earning potential here, but since they’re still writing, I’m really not convinced. It could just be clickbait to entice people like me who are researching to read their articles. Or it could be a way to influence people to move over to their new platforms. I definitely believe there is bias.
2. People are still earning money
When I began my research, one of the first articles I came across was by a lady who only started writing in 2022. She had made five figures in her first year. Since I have been a freelance writer since 2002, giving me two decades of experience, and blogging since 2005, giving me almost two decades on her (my writing is better than my arithmetic, clearly), I really feel like I could have a shot at making similar money, so long as I work hard, write well and stay consistent.
3. It’s a good way to network
Money isn’t everything. I’ve been telling myself that for years — mostly because I am broke — and I am old enough and experienced enough to know that it’s really true. The power of connection cannot be overstated, and it’s through connecting with people that in the last month alone, I have been offered the chance to be on the speaking panel of a webinar and have found enough people to interview for a podcast series I’m working on. Admittedly, neither of those things will directly bring in money to my bank account, but they will potentially refer people to my books and maybe even my Medium or Vocal accounts. Even if Medium doesn’t pay much, I could still meet lots of interesting people here through reading and mutually commenting on each other’s posts.
4. I’m learning all the time
Last night, I went down the rabbit hole on Medium and learned a ton of brand new information about Substack. I don’t believe it’s the right platform for me at this time, but that’s fine. At least I can keep up to date with what’s going on with Substack. I also studied what other people are doing on Medium to make money: the links they add, the topics they cover, the publications they write for and more. It is all important information and maybe one day (if I’m lucky) someone will look at me and what I do and learn from me, whether that’s about success on Medium or some other topic. What a buzz that would be! My little ego loves that idea.
5. One income stream is not enough
Back in 2015, I was making a full-time income from writing cat detective stories on Amazon. It was fantastic, in the truest sense of the word. It was the life I had always dreamed about. Then Amazon changed their payment system. Overnight, I went from a four-figure a month income to less than three-figures a month. It was devastating. So, I semi-forgot about writing books and started a business — a small perfumery. It failed. Of course it did. I live in rural Scotland. Nobody wants luxury goods here because there’s too much poverty. My income was gone again. Then I got a part-time job and my boss was… difficult, to say the least. I left. And my income vanished again.
But now let’s say after working hard to learn about Medium and making a few mistakes, I get to a point where I know what I’m doing and it’s working well. I spend an hour a day on Medium and I make a total of $50 a month here. I know, my expectations are low and that’s not a bad thing. Then I spend some time doing the same with another platform. And another. And another. Great, right? I have lots of little income streams. If one vanishes, the others remain. I have time and space to find another to replace the one that I lost. That’s essentially what I’m looking for from Medium, not a full-time, get rich quick scheme.
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