Stop Blaming Non-Members For Your Poor Earnings.

Dear paying member, please get off your high pedestal.

Lately, there’s been a subtle kind of bullying going on Medium. The elites, paying members are ganging up on the outsiders, the non-paying members. They call for boycotting non-member’s stories as they are freeloading from the earnings pool without paying their membership fees.

“Why can’t they just shell out $5/ month? They probably spend more than that at Starbucks. The earnings pool is running dry because of them dipping into it. I am not reading their stories anymore!” the elites rant and rage.

All I can say is “How convenient it is to blame others!”

I have noticed members feel a certain ownership over Medium like it’s the startup they built from scratch, with their own blood, sweat and tears. Non paying members are looked down upon, even called ‘thieves’. “These moochers are ripping off our Medium”.

One member even went as far as to call non-member’s stories ‘garbage’ and not up to par with member’s stories. “How dare they get Top Writer badges!”

I am getting a heavy whiff of jealousy and bossiness, if you ask me.

First of all, Medium is not dumb.

It’s their strategy to reel in new members by allowing them to earn money even if they don’t have a membership. Which other place lets you publish and earn money with such ease?

I was a non-paying member for my first 6 months. I wanted to test out the waters and see if it was worthwhile to have a membership. I didn’t want it to turn into that gym membership I never used.

After a few months, Medium had me hooked. I couldn’t stop checking notifications. Medium’s strategy worked with me. I soon converted to a paying member and have been one for 3 years.

Last year, there was a big hue and cry when Medium’s writing contest winner was not a paying member. “How unfair!” , members rioted.

Once again, Medium’s main intention with the contest was marketing, creating a buzz to attract new subscribers. Judging from the number of entries they received, their plan worked.

I could understand if people were debating on the winning story’s quality as writing can be subjective. But I could not understand people raging over the winner’s membership status.

It was a writing contest not a membership contest. Membership was not a criteria but the end goal.

A membership is a personal decision, not anyone else’s business.

There are countries where Stripe is not supported and writers do not earn any money for their work. Yet many of them still chose to pay the $5 membership. There are many others who have a membership only for reading.

So everyone will make their decision based on what feels right to them. How can anybody dictate to people how they should spend their money, even if it’s just $5?

What’s behind earnings?

In January, I earned very little. It’s not because a bunch of non members didn’t sign up and pay their $5 membership fees .

Also it had nothing to do with the algorithm, the curators, the editors, Medium’s payment model, Omicron or Fauci. It’s because I didn’t write much and the very little that I did write wasn’t that great content. It all falls on me.

If our story does well, we take full credit for it. We attribute it’s success to our writing finesse. But if the story does poorly we at once shift blame to external sources.

Why? It’s easier to blame others than examine our writing.

I am getting paid according to the quality of the content I deliver. It’s just like how people get paid on YouTube according to engagement, views and watch time.

There are many ingredients that contribute to success on Medium such as the content, selection of topics, distribution and publication used. The most important factor however is consistency.

All top writers treat their writing as a job and not a hobby. They publish consistently. That’s what helps them hone their craft.

Then there is the X factor. You never know which story will do well on Medium. I have had my fair share of flops. Stories which I spent so much time researching failed miserably while stories which I least expected did well.

So does luck play a part? I believe the more you write, the luckier you get. Unless you write that story in your head, you’ll never know if it will be a hit or miss.

What I am getting at is this- There are many reasons that can influence our earnings. But non-members not paying their membership fees is NOT one of them. No body can steal what a good story deserves.

I am thankful to the members who read my work when I was new on Medium. I was a non paying member with hardly any followers. But they did not discriminate. Some were incredibly generous with their encouragement and guidance which motivated me to keep at it.

I’m glad Medium has removed the green halo around profile pictures. Now all you see is a story. Every good story deserves to be read regardless of the author’s membership status.

You will not lose anything if you clap on a non member’s story, other than your bias. You might even learn something, like humility.

Medium’s a level playing field where everyone should have the same opportunity to grow and succeed. Just like Medium’s slogan- It’s the words that matter here.