I’ve been debating for a really long time if I should join Medium. I’ve decided to finally go ahead and do it. I promise that I am not a traitor to WordPress!
The thing about Medium is that is allows a much greater opportunity to get paid for your writing, but it also severely limits the amount of viewers who can see your content. However, most of what I will be posting on Medium will be reposts from my current blog.
Again, that doesn’t mean that I am abandoning this blog or WordPress community at all. I will be using both. However, I do want to express some frustrations I’ve had with WordPress in the past 1-2 years.
My blog views completely spiked during the lockdown, as slowly trickled down as things gradually returned to normal. Thank God the pandemic is over — but it’s been very frustrating watching my views go down every day, receiving less interaction, and so forth.
But the frustration comes from more than the viewers. The WordPress community has unfortunately become watered down by spam content. I struggle to keep up with my favorite bloggers because much of the noise is drowned out by bots and spammers.
And lastly, I’m frustrated with WordPress’s monetization program. I make about $1-$2 a month on ads, and they do not allow you to cash out until you reach $100. On top of that, there’s the fee for the premium plan. The plus side is that it provides great exposure — but that exposure is decreasing as time goes by.
My apologies for the little rant. I don’t want to sound like I’m trash-talking WordPress, I’m really not, I’m just expressing these frustrations — maybe if enough of us express it, they will do something about it. But until then, I’m going to see how Medium works out for me. I’m not assuming to make a living from blogging, but some spare change is all I’m hoping for. I’m also curious to see if I can find a strong sense of community there.
This is actually a huge deal for me. I’ve known about Medium for a very long time, and for so long did not agree with their system (paying to view posts, only allowed five views per month.) I also felt like joining it would be a betrayal to the WordPress community. But now I realize that my frustrations with this platform is perfectly valid and there is no harm in trying something new. Maybe I’ll love it, maybe I’ll hate it, there’s only one way to know.
So, if you have any experience with Medium, please be free to share!
And for those who are thriving on WordPress, what is your secret? How do you still feel a sense of community with the ever-growing spammers along with the dropout of so many other bloggers and viewers?
Crystal Aura Gaze 
🙂 In all honesty, you have your work cut out for you.
Making a livelihood off of Medium can be a bit of a challenge.
In regards to making money on Medium, you will make more money when its members spend time reading your content (The longer time that they spend reading your article, the more money you are going to make).
I recommend publishing long-form content on Medium.
Also, I wish you the best of luck with your new writing endeavour.
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Thank you! I appreciate the tip! 🙂
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>> “The WordPress community has unfortunately become watered down by spam content. I struggle to keep up with my favorite bloggers because much of the noise is drowned out by bots and spammers.”
Sadly, even I myself am victim to this — and I’m just a free user on the platform! Problem is, WP is the easiest to use among the blogging patforms.
Putting that aside, I hope your stint on Medium takes off!
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It’s very unfortunate! It’s true though, WP is widely accessible and very easy to use. I certainly will remain active on here. And thank you!
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That’s interesting that you’re doing this, as I’ve been considering this myself or the other alternative of Substack which I heard is good too. I watched a video on Youtube the other day, and another lady I follow on youtube as well as her blog Helen Redfern she has a Substack blog.
I would love to be able to follow people on both these platforms but the downside is that you have to pay to subscribe, and it is great I can get 5 free articles per month and sometimes I don’t always use them up.
I understand it is how these platforms and the writers can make money, but it’s a bit hard for those who don’t have the money to join. Hopefully one day I can subscribe to these platforms.
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I will have to check out Substack! Yep, the paying to subscribe deal has turned me off from Medium for many, many years. I finally decided that maybe a small investment could go a long way. It’s going to be an experiment, and I will definitely keep you updated on whether it works out or not! And again, at this point I am just re-posting old content from my current blog. In the future, if I do share something on Medium that you don’t have access to, I will gladly send you a copy. You have been one of my best supporters and it’s been awesome bonding over our fascination for all things witchy. 🙂
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Thank you. I already get your blog posts straigt to my email!
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I follow Helen. But I don’t understand how substacks works and how you can make money. I think people use for or rater as an email list. I don’t get substacks. Apparently you use your twitter login to join. So I was researching twitter and substacks connect, on found out that the person who twitter recently has his eyes on substacks
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Medium is a new one to me and I hope it works out well for you!
Like you, I have noticed viewing numbers dropping significantly and perhaps even more strangely, the spread of those views is also narrowing – I used to get most of my visits from Asia but now hardly any but a lot from France where before that was a tiny proportion!
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Glad I’m not the only one this is happening to — but sad that this is also happening to you! You are certainly one of the few quality bloggers who have stuck around, and I appreciate that because your posts are very enlightening. I still have hope that maybe WP will change something in the algorithm to help us bloggers get our viewers back.
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I think you are right, WP must have made some changes to their algorithms which decide which posts feature where in the platform. I can certainly believe that covid lockdown caused a rise in people surfing the net but the change in viewings seems to be this year rather than last year. Hmm
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I would love to hear how you get on with Medium. I am considering.
Ads on wp.com… oh man.. we got to have 1000 of engaged followers. But we can’t control the cpm value on the day.
So earning via ads on wp.com. is like….ahhhhhh never going to happen. I completely feel your pain. But, what upsets me is some member of the wp.com community poopoo trying to male money..
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Medium has been spectacularly successful for me in terms of earning! I seriously can’t believe it!
WP ads is extremely discouraging. You’re right, that it’s a very difficult way to earn anything at all.
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I think I am seriously going to think about joining medium at some point in 2023
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I would definitely recommend it!! WP is great for exposure, but Medium is amazing for earning!!
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I doubt my writing abilities. But let me work on it
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Well I believe in you, if that helps 🙂
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Aww thanks
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Hi there Laura, I posted on Medium my first post. I have no idea. how it will go. Quite nervous about it. It isnt like posting on wordpress. EEEk
View at Medium.com
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Yaaayyyy!!! I followed you 🙂
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Thank you so much Laura
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Of course!
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Found your blog because I’ve been considering the same route. I love WP but I don’t know what to do about the viewership drop. I started blogging less the past two years out of frustration (which doesn’t help). But when you spend time on a piece only for it to feel like a swing and a miss, it’s a bit of a hit to the soul. I’ve actually been a paid subscriber on Medium for two years. I’ll have to check out your work. Best of luck.
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I receive about double the views on Medium than I do on WordPress — plus I actually profit from readers! I strongly recommend Medium for serious bloggers. And thank you! Let me know your handle on Medium so that I can follow you there!
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