My 3 Issues With These Huge Changes Coming to the Medium Partner Program
$$$ — Medium will do exactly what I told them to do
August has been a hell of a month for writers. a lot has happened.
First Medium handed out their last bonus. In the same vein, they announced and started the new writers challenge with $100K worth of price money.
At the same time, Vocal Media added one of the most requested features to their platform.
And lastly, Quora build their own Medium rival with Quora+ and paid Spaces that could very well be 10 times more lucrative than Medium.
Wow.
But that’s not all. Just now, Medium made another huge announcement.
Referral, Referral
The first part of this announcement is the addition of a new revenue stream for Medium writers. A referral program.
Just like other similar programs, Medium members will earn a commission for getting people to sign up for the membership.
From their own post:
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.
To be honest, It baffles me that Medium hasn’t done this sooner. It’s an easy win-win situation. It gives us, writers the chance to earn a couple of extra bucks by spreading the word about Medium. Kudos!
A huge change to the Medium Partner Program
Announcement part 2 is much more substantial in my humble opinion. It completely changes the way Medium will be used by newcomers.
From the end of the year on, Medium will pull the plug on their free-for-everyone-to-apply Partner Program. Instead, they will introduce a list of requirements to be eligible.
Why? Let’s hear it from them:
We want to ensure that quality, engaged writers are reaping the benefits of their hard work. We’ve heard from committed writers that it can be frustrating to participate in a shared earnings pool with writers who are not active on the platform.
YouTube does the same. In their case, the requirement for a channel to be monetized is having at least 4000 watch hours within 12 months and 1000 subscribers.
Medium’s requirements are a little less ambitious. It’s still a huge change.
The new criteria for the Medium Partner Program will be:
- You need to have published at least one story
- You must have gained 100 followers
- And you need to publish at least one story every 6 months to stay in the program
Phew.
Compared to… well, nothing before… this is a hefty new entry-level. But I’ll give you my honest opinion. I like it!
Not only that, it is actually pretty much the same thing that I told Medium to do in a previous post of mine. Coincidence? Well, probably.
Issues?
That being said, I can see some issues with this new procedure. Shall we take look?
- First of all, this will undoubtedly reduce the number of paying members from the get-go. Why? Because as of now, it is relatively easy to earn the $5 a month that a membership costs right away. With these new requirements, it’s not. So many new writers won’t pay for membership unless they start earning. I guess.
- Secondly, The threshold of 100 followers will on the one hand (hopefully) reduce the number of fake accounts and increase writing quality, on the other hand, it’s a guaranteed invite for the follow-for-follow game. Unless Medium is planning on controlling that somehow, I can already hear the “sub for a sub” craziness.
- Thirdly — and I don’t really see this as a negative but others might — this will put a hold on one-hit wonders basically. Because with the 6 months rule in place, you can’t just write a viral hit and earn from that forever. You’ll have to be active at least twice a year to keep that status. I know that some of the most famous Medium writers still earn of their posts from a couple of years ago while being completely inactive nowadays. That will end, I assume.
Closing
There you have it. It might have been the most exciting or at least noteworthy month for writers and bloggers in a long time here. Many new options, a few setbacks, fresh opportunities, and some disappointments.
How do you feel about these changes to the Partner Program? Are they good? Bad? Negligible? Outrageous?
I want to know!
P.S.: First of all, you should get my posts in your inbox. Do that here! Secondly, if you like to experience Medium yourself, consider supporting me and thousands of other writers by signing up for a membership. It only costs $5 per month, it supports us, writers, greatly, and you have the chance to make money with your writing as well. When I started, I made $3000 in 6 months. By signing up with this link, you’ll support me directly with a portion of your fee, it won’t cost you more. If you do so, thank you a million times!
