Medium experience; it works, and it's great!

Paulo Laureano February 19, 2022 Making Money Online

Yet, I’m not too fond of social networks, and I am not a creator

I joined medium in May 2021 as a reader. I wrote a single article that no one read, had zero followers, and was very happy with just reading what others wrote. I was not looking for a side hustle, not attempting to make money from the platform, just using the clean interface to read interesting articles.

Mid-December 2021 I decided I also wanted to write. I was bored and lonely from being isolated in a raged pandemic world, and sharing some ideas looked like something I would enjoy doing. So I took a week’s vacation from work and wrote around 30 article drafts. I would later finish each article and publish them daily using Medium publications.

To get a headstart on how the platform worked, I read a zillion or so articles from Kristina God, started to apply to publications one by one and submitted my pieces. Unfortunately, I still had one single subscriber, so I would probably be kicked out of the partner program by the year’s end… or so I thought.

The Medium partner program and the 100 followers requirement

I could honestly not have cared less about the partner program. First, I would build my article portfolio, and followers would surely come. Then, having a natural curiosity about who these people were interested in what I wrote, I would follow them back. I said such a couple of times, and around 200 people started following me. I assume most of them because they were interested in getting my easy “follow back”, not because they were interested in what I wrote.

I interacted a lot with other writers, clapping like a maniac, commenting, being the most likable version of myself in my attempt to join this community. But, of course, everyone likes friendly people, so I must assume another significant part of my following came from my attitude toward others. So this was not as a cold-blooded strategy as it may seem; I am a friendly, cordial human being. My first rule in life is trying not to be an asshole at all times. I don’t always succeed, but I try.

I hate meta articles about Medium; why am I writing this one?

Over time I started to ignore every author who wrote about their earnings. I don’t feel the subject is out of bounds or anything in that line; I was just not interested. I even grew tired of people thanking me for following them on their articles about their first 100 followers; good for you, glad I could help; it just grows old really fast to read the same thing over and over.

I even found out about Feedium (publication). I applied as a writer, saying I was unsure I wanted to write for it or block it. The reply from the publisher was, “Maybe you can do both”.

I laughed out loud.

I cannot resist that kind of humor and attitude in life. Therefore, I am submitting this article to Feedium, and if they accept it, that is how it will be distributed on the platform.

The truth is, I still follow Kristina God to this day and like some of her pieces. She was very helpful on my Medium journey; her comments were always friendly and kind when she bothered to reply to any of mine. I am in debt to her for everything she taught me.

I have seen many other writers hostile to people who write about Medium. I get it. Some said no one cares (or gives a F*) about those articles. That is clearly not the case — quite the opposite. One of the best ways to achieve success on the platform is writing about that process, making money, and beating the algorithm.

The same applies to Youtube and podcasting worlds. There are loads of very successful people who create content on succeeding. Many do that and keep rehashing the same content over time, exclusively. So it is rather evident that being a content creator appeals to many people, and there is a market hungry for content. As Feedium would say, someone, must feed the monster.

12 to 31 December 2021

In my first 19 days as an active writer, things slowly picked up. Sub-hundred daily views. I published daily and got 225 followers by the end of the month and earned $9,67.

If I had to pick my favorites among what I wrote (the ones I enjoyed writing the most):

1 to 31 January 2021

My first “full month” earned me $26.81 and an additional 113 followers. Daily views raised to the hundreds.

My favorite articles turned out not to be the popular or more lucrative ones:

February 2021

I wrote five articles, this one included. Final earnings of $81.47!

The elephant in the room:

Pocket Macs are coming!
Merging mobile offerings with macOS. Others will follow.medium.com

My experiment ended; here are my conclusions…

I am not a content creator. I earn a living with my day job. I write when I have something to say, and I often do not have things to say. Therefore, I am not interested in feeding any algorithm, and I will write when I feel like it.

I keep my own platform: plaureano.com (and you should do the same)

Don’t get me wrong; I love the platform. Writers should get paid by their readers. I will keep my paid subscription and will keep posting. The whole concept that it is profitable for me to even participate in occasional writing is fascinating.

Congrats Medium; you have one more paying subscriber and happy writer.