Summary

The article contrasts the advice given by "Medium gurus" with that of "real-life gurus," highlighting discrepancies in their guidance on dealing with toxic environments, improving one's work, earning potential, and the importance of quantity versus quality.

Abstract

The web content presents a critical analysis of the advice provided by so-called "Medium gurus" compared to the wisdom imparted by mentors in real-life scenarios. It suggests that while real-life gurus encourage leaving toxic situations and persevering by submitting work elsewhere, Medium gurus often advise staying on the platform despite its potentially negative environment. Furthermore, while real-life mentors may push for resilience in the face of rejection, Medium gurus focus on improving writing and moving on. The article also points out that Medium gurus tend to downplay immediate earning expectations, emphasizing writing out of passion rather than for financial gain, which contrasts with real-life gurus' advice to value one's work monetarily. Additionally, there is a noted emphasis on quantity of output by Medium gurus, which seems to contradict the quality-over-quantity mantra of real-life mentors. The author questions the unique circumstances on Medium that might justify this divergent advice and speculates on whether the platform's model necessitates a departure from basic life principles.

Opinions

Toxic Environments: Real-life gurus advise against staying in toxic situations, while Medium gurus suggest persisting on the platform despite its potentially toxic nature.
Improvement and Rejection: Real-life gurus encourage resubmission of rejected work, whereas Medium gurus recommend focusing on improving writing and creating new content.
Earning Potential: Real-life gurus stress the importance of valuing one's work and not giving it away for free, in contrast to Medium gurus who suggest patience and lower financial expectations.
Quantity vs. Quality: While real-life gurus prioritize quality, Medium gurus emphasize the need for frequent publication to build a brand, a strategy the author finds questionable.
Medium's Unique Model: The article raises the question of whether Medium's distinct platform model justifies the separate set of rules advocated by Medium gurus, or if it's a deviation from fundamental principles.
Guru Motivations: The author suggests that some Medium gurus may be motivated by the need to sustain the Medium illusion due to their financial stake in Medium-writing courses, while acknowledging that not all gurus are driven by profit.
Call to Action: The author calls for readers to share the article with Medium gurus to raise awareness about the inconsistencies in their advice and to prompt a reevaluation of their guidance.

Medium Gurus vs. Real-Life Gurus

Do different rules apply to Medium?

Medium gurus and mentors are first and foremost gurus and mentors — that specialize in Medium. You would expect that advice that applies to almost any walk of life would apply to Medium, too. Yet suspicious discrepancies and deviations can be detected upon close examination:

Toxic

Real-life gurus advocate that if you find yourself in a toxic, soul-crushing life situation, you should run for your life and never look back.

Medium gurus advocate that you ignore that Medium is potentially exactly such an environment, and that you persevere and stay forever.

Stuck at a job where your work is consistently not appreciated, or erratically so, depending on enigmatic factors? Don’t waste another minute there!, your average mentor would advise. Yet Medium is for many exactly that, with mysterious algorithms and faceless curators haphazardly judging your work, often negatively. But you’ll never hear a Medium guru say “Curation jail? Just leave the platform and write elsewhere!”

Improve

Real-life gurus advocate that if your creations are rejected, just try submitting elsewhere, and never give up.

Medium gurus advocate that you just move on and concentrate on “improving your writing”.

Imagine JK Rowling frustratedly telling her Medium guru friend in 1997 (yes, 15 years before Medium started) about her manuscript having been rejected once again. “Just improve your writing and write something new!” would’ve justifiably warranted a slap in the face. Yet Medium gurus don’t hesitate to distribute the very same advice to their unknown readers, whose work they, the gurus, have never even seen.

Earn

Real-life gurus advocate that your work is always worth something, and that you shouldn’t go around giving it for free. Don’t be afraid to charge. Don’t undersell your work. Double your entire price catalogue one day and watch your earnings double.

Medium gurus advocate that you shouldn’t really expect to earn anything in the first year, and that you should be patient and watch your earnings grow gradually, even if your very first creations were masterpieces that deserve top dollar. Also, Medium gurus emphasize time and again that if money is your main purpose on Medium, you’re doing it for the wrong reason. You need to write here out of passion mixed with a sense of calling. If you happen to earn something on the way, that’s a bonus.

Quantity

Real-life gurus tend to stress quality over quantity. The audience is not stupid, and they know how to identify quality when they see it.

Medium gurus stress the opposite.

This is perhaps the most forgivable deviation. To be sure, Medium gurus don’t say that you should take quality completely out of the equation, and many do promote quality. But the call for consistent, frequent publication echoes in almost every Medium-mentoring story. The explanation for this is always vague: you need to build a brand; people need to see your name everywhere, all the time. The exact mechanism of how this works is not revealed.

I personally click on stories with interesting titles, regardless of the author. Upon the second or third (sometimes first) good story from a certain author, I follow them. For this I don’t need to see that they publish twice a day. Who cares? I don’t remember ever asking myself anxiously, “When is Chris going to publish again? Is he ill? Is he neglecting his brand? I’m starting to feel disrespected as a loyal follower!” Are there readers on Medium who function like this?

Can you see the trend?

So what’s so special about Medium that it merits this separate set of rules, completely detached from everything we’re taught and preached about when it comes to anything else in life?

Some talented observers point out the need of Medium gurus to perpetuate the Medium illusion, even at the price of giving advice that doesn’t make sense and that goes against some very basic principles. They sell Medium-writing courses. This is their livelihood. This sure explains a lot. But I tend to be less cynical about it. Some gurus don’t sell anything. And call me naive, but I believe that even the ones who’ve made a business out of this are good people, genuinely interested in seeing their disciples succeed.

You may argue that the culprit is Medium’s unique model, which makes everything work differently. In this case: do we really want to write for a platform that requires of us to ignore our basic principles? As a staunch vegan, would you write for Beef? As a gun-control activist, would you take up a job as a publicist for the NRA? I felt sadly amused when I saw a female writer passionately proclaim in P.S. I Love You: “In A Toxic Relationship? Leave Right Now!”, and then, the very same week in Better Marketing, “Help! I’m In Curation Jail for No Reason And I Don’t Know What To Do!”

But being hopelessly naive, I’d like to believe that the gurus perhaps simply aren’t aware of the blatant discrepancy. They inadvertently detach their Medium advice from the bigger picture.

Therefore, CALL TO ACTION: send this story NOW to all the gurus you know! Let’s make them aware.

(And make me rich while we’re at it).