Why I will never make any money from Medium
You may, like me, have flirted with the idea of writing for years. It is possible that, like me, you have almost come close to trying to do it well.
I’ve written close to a hundred blog posts for my business and sites like LinkedIn. I have always had the vague notion of writing a crime novel and despite starting a couple of times, lost interest. Once I wrote a humourous account of a week-long motorhome tour I undertook with 2 mates in a quest to find the UKs best burger. That was the closest I got to really trying, I even emailed a couple of publishers.
Something has always held me back and only recently have I come to realise what it is.
It’s not just one thing it’s many, I think…
- Fear of people reading my work
- Fear of not being good enough
- Fear of no one liking it
- Fear of not having a good enough idea
- Fear I’ll just waste time and not get published
- Fear of making no money from it
Ok so maybe it’s just one thing, fear.
When I put content out through my website and sites like LinkedIn I pretend it is there to create presence; if no-one comments or shares I don’t care because that is not the purpose. It means that I don’t really try; if I haven’t given 100% then if I fail I can always convince myself if I had tried slightly harder I would have succeeded.
This is a fairly dangerous philosophy if applied across life in general and does make me start questioning my approach elsewhere. As such I am fairly certain I have been kidding myself and this has been holding me back from giving more consideration to writing good content; instead I’ve been churning out conceptual, key word laden nonsense.
“If you never try 100% you always have an excuse for failing, there is something comforting in this. Very dangerous, but very comforting”
Medium intrigued me because in every other aspect of life — both online and off — I know people and feel like they judge me. This in itself is not a healthy belief and one that I need to address, albeit not on a single article — perhaps this is the starting point? Discovering Medium had enabled me to write freely and open up about anything without fear of judgement.
When I don’t worry about being judged or ridiculed, writing suddenly becomes an expression not a task with a desired outcome. This changes everything. When we do a job for a paycheck we clock in and out, when we do a job we love then crazy things happen and we excel. Even crazier is that we don’t give a shit about money, yet we make more than we could ever consider possible.
There are loads of articles on Medium about how to make £500 a day whilst holding a baby in one hand, writing in the other and recreating a Van Gogh with a paintbrush in your mouth. I always think bollocks when I read stuff like this; it’s like those coaching courses that coaches flog to coach coaches who want to learn how make money from being a coach (note to self write about that). Clearly there are people who make money on Medium, just like people make money on YouTube. I hold a deep skepticism about the ability to do this without proof; it is akin to hiring a digital marketing firm in my opinion; they promise certain results but you have to wait months and spend thousands of pounds to see them.
As a business coach the irony is not lost on me, I help business owners clarify and achieve their vision, a pretty tough gig to sell without proven results. As such I rely on referrals.
I have no doubt I’ll never make any money from my writing on Medium, I don’t believe what I have to say is interesting or entertaining enough. So instead I’ll use the platform to develop my own ideas, thoughts, musings and reflections, safe in the knowledge that no one will read them and therefore won’t judge me.
Think you can make money on Medium? Go ahead prove me wrong. Want to see me almost try and succeed but instead probably fail? Follow the journey, who knows where we will end up.
