Summary

Carlo Zeno celebrates breaking his personal earnings record on Medium in February, while also critiquing the platform's "boost" feature and expressing a mix of pride and skepticism about his achievements.

Abstract

In a candid and humorous piece, Carlo Zeno shares his satisfaction at surpassing his previous Medium earnings, reaching $60 AUD in February. He provides a detailed account of his stats and earnings, including a notable spike in readership on February 17th. Despite his success, Zeno remains critical of Medium's new "boost" feature, which selectively promotes certain articles, and he questions why his own work hasn't been chosen for this promotion. He also reflects on the significance of his earnings in the context of his life and the broader Medium community, acknowledging that while the money is not life-changing, it represents a personal victory. Zeno concludes by thanking his supporters and highlighting other writers' works, while maintaining a hopeful yet realistic outlook on his writing career on Medium.

Opinions

Zeno is proud of his earnings record but is cautious not to come across as boastful.
He is skeptical about the value of Medium's "boost" feature and its impact on writers and content visibility.
Zeno implies that certain editorial decisions on Medium may be arbitrary or influenced by factors beyond writing quality.
He views his financial success on Medium as modest but still worth celebrating, given the challenges of the platform.
Zeno expresses a desire for more transparency and possibly a fairer system for promoting content on Medium.
He shows appreciation for the Medium community and other writers, particularly those who have engaged with or supported his work.

February Flame

Don’t Wet Yourself

But I broke my earnings record on Medium this month

If you don’t like stories about money and stats, I trust you are an adult and can find it in yourself to put on your big boy or big girl pants and click on a different story. Try Captain Obvious’s piece, if you are looking for something more sobering.

I’m not usually one to blow my own horn or pat myself on the back like an oblivious asshole, but that’s only because I never for the life of me have anything to congratulate myself about.

**I’ll let the reader caption this any which way they see fit** / Photo by Denis Agati on Unsplash

This piece is going to be about wet dreams moderately realized.

I hit the big 40 this month. I’m not talking age (I did that last month).

I’m talking dead Franklins, dineros, greenbacks, moolah. And not those metaphysical coins that VP of imagination dishes out like Santa in a Dead Badger hat.

I mean real money.

Here’s the unmolested, undoctored, unadulterated truth of my stats and earnings for the month of February:

What I most like about this graph is the big green middle finger issued on the 17th of February. I mean, to think that over 200 people had to put up with my shit on that day just makes me want to treat myself to a banana smoothie.

Let’s break this down.

It’s good to know that readers are far more interested in why I didn’t comment on their story than why I will be making a grand exit from Medium.

As for my total earnings, here is the great big dollop of proof right here:

What’s $40.41 in Australian dollars? Let’s calculate:

While SIXTY DOLLARS might have sounded more climactic, I’ll settle for the $59.92 AUD.

Now, while $60 AUD at the end of the day is pocket cash that won’t change one iota of the daily dumb grind that is my life, I will still count it as a very small victory on a sinking ship like Medium.

I made it to $60 AUD ($59.92) without getting boosted, like my Pub colleague, Ben Ulansey, with his recently boosted piece, as publicized by Smillew here, and further elaborated by Ben here.

Ben, if you are reading this, I would love to hear what your earnings in February are after being boosted. Are they in the hundreds? Thousands? Can you share in the comments? Or maybe publish a piece?

I am still waiting for an eagle-eyed editor to use their shrewd back door influencing skills to whisper the right sweet words into the ear of Coach Tony that will ultimately pull the levers that make a piece like 8 Signs You’re Hallucinating On Medium or Michael Burry Warns Writers On Medium or 10 Sedatives For Medium Rage get boosted into the internal Medium stratosphere.

I mean aren’t these titles just BEGGING to be boosted?

**Yes, I’ve already used this same image above. You should try it some time** / Photo by Denis Agati on Unsplash

I’ll let you know how it goes.

______________________

Thanks for indulging me. While I did not quite make it on Toni’s wall of February Fame for viral views or mass of fans on Everything Fun, I am getting closer to reaching the glorious heels of those above me. 😉

Thank you to Toni the Talker, Hollie Petit, Ph.D., and Everything Fun.

I recommend these two by Toya Qualls-Barnette and RAW below 👇

We’re About to Blow — All Talking Heads of Corporate America Listen the F**^ Up

Industries suffer from FOMO too

muddyum.net

I Don’t Know What To Say About My First Medium Partners Program Payment of $0.19

So, here’s nine-teen cents worth of an opinion.

medium.com