Why it is NOT worth writing for money (in Medium if you’re living in India)
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Medium indeed is the best platform for writers and readers. Here we only going to focus on the potential of it to earn some decent money by writing.
From the outlook, everyone can earn from it by joining Medium Partner Program — if they can write (and if people want to read it). It is different when you actually try to.
Please read my previous article (linked below) if you haven’t. The huge response and appreciation to the below article made me write this follow-up article.
Why do you want to write in Medium?
To earn money. dot.
How much money?
🤔 hmm. some decent money…
How much?
maybe a $1000? hmm… $500?… hmm… $100 per month?
Do you know how much effort and time need to make it happen?
well yeah…
That was the discussion, in a nutshell, I had with many people who aspire to be a writer on Medium (and earn a living out of it).
Let us see some facts… According to this article and this one.
Some important points you should know before going further: The very top writers (under 1%) on the platform are now making $5000-$30,000 a month. Around 94% of writers earn under $100 a month. Around 60% of writers made some money (more than $0).
Here are some stats Medium included on their Partner Program as of September 2020:
$16,685.50 — the highest amount earned for a single story
$49,705.40 — the highest amount earned by a single author
6.4% — the percentage of active writers who earned over $100
For comparison, the same stats from January 2019 were:
$4,290.43 — the highest amount earned for a single story
$8,390.033 — the highest amount earned for a single story
8.1% — the highest amount earned for a single story
Let's dissect the numbers now.
Only 1% earn $5,000 — $30,000 a month. Okay way out of my league, at least for the next year (if I want to calculate logically and expect a huge miracle).
Around 94% earn under $100 a month. That means around 6% of writers only earned above $100 a month. A decent money as a writer. As a part-time writer. If not, then it is not a decent income.
If someone is bragging about their earning in public, at least 99% of them were only projecting their temporary success. The wind always changes, you can’t always earn the same amount for the same number of new articles (same effort) every month.
On Sep 2020, there were (roughly) 175,000 writers. 6% of it, that is 10,500 were only able to make decent money (only if they do it part-time).
So you have to be within this top 6% to earn better.
On the other hand, the competition is heavy. You need to compete with professionals, and people who write for passion and even as a hobby (who don’t bother making money out of writing).
I presume every author must be writing a few hundred articles every year to make decent money. (I keep on saying decent money, right? That money could be between $100 to $1000 per month. Please do the currency conversion yourself based on where you reside).
That means you need to write full-time. Keeping writing as a side hustle won’t help you to win on Medium. At least not in a short time.
Hey, stop. I know people who earn potentially good money. I am going to follow them — and It looks promising. If that's your mind's voice consider reading Why You Should NOT Believe Success Stories? (as it is).
Anyways all the troubles and efforts are not worth it in the end if you gonna end up making below decent money.
Interim conclusion
It is NOT worth writing on Medium for money.
Wait. There’s more to say.
Suggestions
Stop bothering on making money. (even if you are already approved by Medium’s partner program).
Write. Get pleasure in sharing.
Build your audience base. Build your community.
Later, One you reached a decent number of followers (my decent number is 100,000) try different ways to earn money other than joining Medium Partner Program.
Should I quit Medium?
The best place to sell a product is at the market, or town square, or somewhere where people are already selling products.
Medium is the market where readers gather. Utilize the built-in audience of the platform.
Don’t give more weightage to money than a real audience.
Earn their respect. Earn your authority here at Medium.
What I am doing here?
Well, I am writing. People who like my writing clap. People who got something good out of my writing and want more, follow me (on Medium). Who found me resourceful, subscribes.
Those who really see my upcoming, potential, and resourceful articles will subscribe to my newsletter Better Workflows. (Caution: You might become awesome after subscribing to it.)
In short, I use Medium as a banner, an advertisement banner, or neon lighting on the town square to attract and build my audience base.
I don’t write ‘meta’ (i.e. like writing on how to write, making money by teaching others how to make money) articles like this often. This is only for those who are struggling to find a way through this conundrum of whether to write or not to write on Medium after reading my previous article.
That means I am not an expert in this. That means it is time to conclude the article with a dot.
And, DOT.
