I was initially introduced to Medium, a long time ago. One of my favorite writers, Srinivas Rao(Srini), started posting on Medium, and I signed up to read his stuff. He is a prolific writer.

Then I discovered umair haque, another prolific writer who writes what some may consider controversial political articles.

Srini and Umair, both wrote things that made me think. Thinking is a gift I received from my dad. He always challenged me to think for myself rather than accepting the conventional wisdom.

Along the way, Medium encouraged me to read more varied material by showing me articles from other writers. Reading is one of my favorite hobbies. Give Rasheed a book, and he’ll be busy for a while was the mantra to keep me out of people’s way when I was young.

I liked Medium from the start because it satiated two of my thirsts, reading, and thinking.

Give me someone who likes to read and think, and I’ll give you someone who wants to write. Reading exposes you to new thoughts and ideas and provides fresh information. Add thinking to it, and you have fodder for intellectual expression.

A Paradigm Shift

A couple of weeks ago, I came across an article about how Medium is changing the way it compensates the writers and what means.

What? Medium pays people to write?

I thought it was just a platform for expressing your thoughts. You mean I can write about any topic of my choice, and I’ll get paid? What can be better than that? It turns out, Medium provides an equal opportunity playing field for writers.

It was like they flung the doors to Paradise open for me.

I wanted to find out more about it, and Medium did a tremendous job of feeding me with more material on the subject.

My blogging journey

I have been blogging, on and off, for the past ten years. I even have a few followers that like what I have to say.

But I hated all the blogging related chores. The design, the layout, the blog themes, the SEO, and on and on. All I wanted to do was express my thoughts and make money. (Hey, one can dream, can’t they?)

You are familiar with the frustrations if you’ve trodden down that path before, especially if you wanted to monetize your blog. The only available option was to sell your soul. Neither the intrusive advertisements nor the sponsored blog posts were very palatable for my taste. I know I tried it. It’s not worth stifling my voice.

The more I read, the more intrigued I became. I had become a member of Medium about six months earlier to read all the wonderful stuff without limits. It was refreshing, and five bucks a month was a no-brainer for the pleasure and the joy of uninterrupted reading.

A light bulb moment

I know there are thousands, maybe millions, who are gladly paying five bucks a month to consume unlimited content to their hearts’ desire without having to put up with the intrusive and annoying pop-ups. Who wants to put up with that?

Whoever came up with this business model is a genius. Of course, Medium keeps a portion of the revenues created for itself to continue providing the service and be a sustainable business. Beyond that, they share the profits among the writers as fairly as possible.

Every prudent business will evaluate, analyze, and adjust its business model as it progresses. And Medium was doing just that.

I joined the MPP just a few days before the new compensation model went into effect, so I’ll never know how to compare the old and the new. I have read mixed reviews about the change a few days after they implemented it. Some people are making more than they were before, and some are making less.

All are exploring strategies to adjust and move forward, or not.

As I studied the pros and cons of the MPP, I understood and appreciated the genius of the profit-sharing model even more.

I am convinced that Medium is an excellent platform with an innovative and user-centered business model, and I am committed to making it the platform of choice for expressing and sharing my thoughts and writing.

I am All In.

I was planning to include my strategy and goals on Medium for the remainder of 2019 and the first six months of 2020. I intend to evaluate and analyze my ROI at that time. But, since my attention span is rather short, and I know I’m not amongst the minority, that will have to be a post in itself.

What has been your experience? What are your thoughts? Let’s have a conversation.

As always, thank you for reading and responding.

More about me:

Rasheed Hooda is a published author and a regular contributor to ILLUMINATION, a writers’ community on Medium where writers support each other.

He is a self-proclaimed weirdo who lives a Freedom Lifestyle and writes about related topics — Travel (a top writer), Personal Growth, Freedom, and entrepreneurship. (Get the Newsletter)

“You can let others tell you what it means to be successful, or you can decide it for yourself.”