Don’t Allow Medium’s Incentives to Distract You From Writing

Summary

Ryan J advises writers on Medium to prioritize writing and personal growth over the platform's new monetary incentives.

Abstract

Medium has upgraded its Partner Program to include the Referred Memberships Program, which allows writers to earn money by converting readers into paying Medium members. While this could be beneficial, especially for writers with a large external following, Ryan J cautions against getting too caught up in the potential to earn. He emphasizes that the core of a writer's success lies in writing frequently and striving to improve. Monetization opportunities should be secondary to the act of writing and personal development as a writer. The ultimate goal should be to create memorable work, not to focus solely on financial gains or recruiting new members for Medium.

Opinions

The author believes that while Medium's new Referred Memberships Program could be advantageous, it is unlikely to significantly change the fortune of most writers.
He suggests that writers are prone to getting distracted by the prospect of earning money, which can divert them from their primary task of writing.
The author asserts that to succeed as a writer, one must write consistently and not be swayed by monetary incentives or recruitment schemes.
He implies that the true measure of a writer's success is the impact of their words on readers, not the amount of money earned or the number of new members recruited.
The author encourages writers to focus on their craft and personal growth, maintaining that financial rewards should be a secondary concern.

By Ryan J

As you may or may not have heard Mediums Partner Program has recently undergone an ‘upgrade’.

Now, as well as being able to earn through reader engagement on your published articles, you can reap rewards through the Referred Memberships Program.

Here’s how Referred Memberships work: For every reader who a Partner Program writer converts to a paying Medium member, the writer will receive half of that reader’s membership fee, net of standard payment processor fees. — extract from Medium’s blog post.

As part of the Referred Membership Program, each existing member will now have access to a personal landing page which they can share/promote/drive traffic to however they see fit in the hope of converting a non-member to a paying Medium user.

A nice stimulus that may work well for some — mainly those with a large following outside of Medium — though I doubt it’s gonna be much of a game-changer for most.

However, as writers, one of our greatest tools (and weaknesses) is our overactive imagination and when the potential to earn a few bucks is presented, it’s easy to get swept up in the ‘hype’.

We allow ourselves to dream a little. Find a way to convince our inner self that this time will be different and if we play our cards just right, this new opportunity will be one to work in our favour.

And it might.

But before you get yourself all worked up and excited about exploring a new avenue, perhaps now would be a good time to re-evaluate your Medium goals and ask yourself a few questions.

Such as; Are you here to make a name for yourself as the best at signing up new recruits or do you plan to learn and grow as a writer?

I’m guessing it’s the latter.

And as I’m sure you’re already well aware, to ‘make it’ as a writer you’ve got to do one very important thing. Write.

You’ve got to write as much and as often as possible. Get those words down on the page. Hit the publish button and keep progressing forward.

Sure, it’s nice to earn a few dollars along the way. Get involved in little programs and chase certain incentives. But all of that should come second to writing — and not even a close second at that.

So, as you work towards improving your craft and growing as an artist of words just remember; Don’t allow Medium’s (or any other platforms) incentives get in the way of your writing.

For when it’s all said and done, people are going to remember you more by the words you put down on paper, not by how many new writers you gained for a platform or the few dollars you’ve earned and spent in the process.

Thanks for reading.