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l, on 11th August 2021, Medium announced <i>four major changes</i> to the program. They added an additional stream of income for writers. They also added an additional eligibility to ensure direct earnings for the active writers.</p><h2 id="7ec0">1. Added ‘Audience Development’ section for Referrals</h2><p id="ade0">Now, the writers can bring their own audience to read their articles on the platform. This is useful if you have a following on social media. For example, if you are a writer on Productivity and you share your articles on LinkedIn. To read your article, your connections need to subscribe for membership. Now, Medium has enabled an option to earn from these referrals. This brings your dedicated audience to the platform.</p><figure id="2dcc"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*kCtRTg63aMC5qNhxQWrv8w.png"><figcaption>Snapshot of the Medium’s settings page</figcaption></figure><p id="3d22">Another option is to promote email subscriptions via your profile page, which you can customize as per your convenience. If an email subscriber becomes a paid member, then you get a commission. Medium also promised that the existing mode of payment in a partner program based on the member read time would not be affected.</p><p id="f45b">Here’s how much a writer can potentially earn:</p><figure id="0d34"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*q5QyLcicp31z9IMJ-A2mRA.png"><figcaption>Screenshot by writer</figcaption></figure><h2 id="043e">2. Introduction of Partner Program Eligibility Criteria</h2><p id="f724">Medium is taking the ‘<i>YouTube approach</i>’ to earning on the platform. They published an <i>application form</i> where a new writer must publish <b>1 story</b> and have <b>100 followers</b> in order to become eligible for the Partner Program. This is done to guarantee that hard-working writers are rewarded for their efforts.</p><p id="a874">The writers who have already joined the Partner Program without these two criteria will be given time till the end of the year. If they don’t post an article or don’t get 100 followers, they’ll be instantly removed from the program.</p><h2 id="ba18">3. Inactive Writers will be removed from Partner Program</h2><p id="6928">If the writers don’t post a single article in 6 months, they would be removed from the Program. Of course, they could join again. Before taking any action, Medium will send a notification email to the writers to let them know. To help the writer get back on the platform, Medium will offer resources.</p><h2 id="6d8b">4. Minimum Payout Threshold to be introduced</h2><p id="c4db">One reason I liked Medium was that they don’t have a minimum payout threshold. This is soon going to change to where a minimum threshold of $10 dollars is required. If you don’t make$ 10 in a month, the amount will be rolled o

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ver to the next month. This change will not be welcomed by most of the writers who joined recently.</p><p id="9315"><i>Note: You can read the complete terms of change for the Partner Program <a href="https://policy.medium.com/medium-partner-program-terms-fcfe9cf777b8">here</a>.</i></p><h1 id="b0f5">My Thoughts</h1><p id="2c53">There is a saying in life<i> — “Change is the only constant.” — <a href="https://arapahoelibraries.org/blogs/post/the-only-constant-in-life-is-change-heraclitus/"></a></i><a href="https://arapahoelibraries.org/blogs/post/the-only-constant-in-life-is-change-heraclitus/">Heraclitus</a></p><p id="9836">But then, Medium is just a platform. As per the company, these changes would ensure more transparency, control, and opportunities to earn for the writers.</p><p id="1762">I am sure that the growing competition from other writing platforms dictated these crucial changes to maintain the quality of the articles, the redeeming of the writers, as well as having an upper edge among its competitors.</p><p id="2ae1">Since Medium took the YouTube approach of setting eligibility criteria for joining the partner program, it will be a little challenging for new writers to get in. However, this is not the end. Medium has been experimenting with a lot of things with their bonus programs, fixed compensation and the writers’ challenge over the past few months. Expect more changes to come.</p><p id="786d"><i>If you enjoyed reading this, then you might also find the below stories worth your time.</i></p><div id="a0a8" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/this-is-the-longest-i-have-stayed-at-home-in-12-years-abb86026774a"> <div> <div> <h2>This Is The Longest I Have Stayed At Home In 12 Years</h2> <div><h3>And I couldn’t be happier as it changed my life.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*WPXZEKEbMvpyIDx6D1ukAg.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="7918" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/how-one-man-decided-to-save-his-city-following-a-tragedy-fb44b3cdb87d"> <div> <div> <h2>How One Man Decided To Save His City Following A Tragedy</h2> <div><h3>The extraordinary contributions of a selfless man to saving thousands of lives.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*I9Ooc7HmnOWw9NFKBjar4w.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Medium Completely Changed Their Partner Program & It Promises To Support Writers

Medium is likely to become the ‘YouTube’ of blogging platforms.

Recently, a lot of improvements have been made to Medium’s Partner Program, and I will not lie, it’s looking very promising. Because of these changes, writers would be compensated better.

How it Started

Medium started in the year 2012 as a means to post articles and documents longer than Twitter’s 140-character (now 280-character) limit. Evan Williams, a co-founder of Twitter, was the man behind the idea. Like Twitter, it was completely free when it first launched. It is used by a number of firms, including Spotify, AirbnbEng, and Google (and all of its products).

However, in 2017, Medium introduced paywalled-content accessible only to subscribers. Writers who choose to publish an article behind a paywall now receive a portion of the membership subscription costs paid by the company. According to the time spent reading a pay-walled article, the compensation calculation was established and approved by the board of directors.

The ‘Social Network’ Image

When Medium started, it attracted several established writers, journalists, politicians, actors, and other A-listers to the platform who wanted to express themselves or release statements to a wider audience. Since Medium has strong domain authority, and the SEO work is minimal, most of the articles are always on the first page of every search engine. Hence, bigger businesses, as well as smaller startups, came to the platform.

The Partner Program & its Recent Changes

Well, this changed the game for the platform by bringing writers who were writing on various platforms. The idea of sharing a portion of subscription fees was not new, but it definitely worked in favour of the platform as well as the writers. In fact, since 2017, the writers have earned more than $28 million, as per Medium.

Well, on 11th August 2021, Medium announced four major changes to the program. They added an additional stream of income for writers. They also added an additional eligibility to ensure direct earnings for the active writers.

1. Added ‘Audience Development’ section for Referrals

Now, the writers can bring their own audience to read their articles on the platform. This is useful if you have a following on social media. For example, if you are a writer on Productivity and you share your articles on LinkedIn. To read your article, your connections need to subscribe for membership. Now, Medium has enabled an option to earn from these referrals. This brings your dedicated audience to the platform.

Another option is to promote email subscriptions via your profile page, which you can customize as per your convenience. If an email subscriber becomes a paid member, then you get a commission. Medium also promised that the existing mode of payment in a partner program based on the member read time would not be affected.

Here’s how much a writer can potentially earn:

2. Introduction of Partner Program Eligibility Criteria

Medium is taking the ‘YouTube approach’ to earning on the platform. They published an application form where a new writer must publish 1 story and have 100 followers in order to become eligible for the Partner Program. This is done to guarantee that hard-working writers are rewarded for their efforts.

The writers who have already joined the Partner Program without these two criteria will be given time till the end of the year. If they don’t post an article or don’t get 100 followers, they’ll be instantly removed from the program.

3. Inactive Writers will be removed from Partner Program

If the writers don’t post a single article in 6 months, they would be removed from the Program. Of course, they could join again. Before taking any action, Medium will send a notification email to the writers to let them know. To help the writer get back on the platform, Medium will offer resources.

4. Minimum Payout Threshold to be introduced

One reason I liked Medium was that they don’t have a minimum payout threshold. This is soon going to change to where a minimum threshold of $10 dollars is required. If you don’t make $10 in a month, the amount will be rolled over to the next month. This change will not be welcomed by most of the writers who joined recently.

Note: You can read the complete terms of change for the Partner Program here.

My Thoughts

There is a saying in life — “Change is the only constant.” — Heraclitus

But then, Medium is just a platform. As per the company, these changes would ensure more transparency, control, and opportunities to earn for the writers.

I am sure that the growing competition from other writing platforms dictated these crucial changes to maintain the quality of the articles, the redeeming of the writers, as well as having an upper edge among its competitors.

Since Medium took the YouTube approach of setting eligibility criteria for joining the partner program, it will be a little challenging for new writers to get in. However, this is not the end. Medium has been experimenting with a lot of things with their bonus programs, fixed compensation and the writers’ challenge over the past few months. Expect more changes to come.

If you enjoyed reading this, then you might also find the below stories worth your time.