Did the Medium.com meta article purge skyrocket my earnings? (This Week In Side Hustling)

I woke up to a pleasant surprise this week.

For the first time since before the crushing August 2023 Medium Partner Program changes, I’m making more than $50 per thousand views (RPM) on a story I’ve written.

Now granted, my latest piece (Toxic Tesla: 1 alarming new sign customers are fleeing) is very timely and my reader retention is about as good as it gets…

Stats for my latest story on Medium.

…but part of me has to wonder: will the great Medium.com meta story purge result in a consistent, long-term earnings boost for legitimate writers?

Last week I told you I would be very bullish on Medium again if it returned to basing earnings more on read time than engagement and brought writer pay back to levels that would retain legitimate scribes (rather than incentivizing the “Make Money on Medium” crowd to cash in on comment rings).

Well, this is starting to look real.

Let’s get into the latest This Week in Side Hustling numbers.

What I earned from Medium past 10 days: $768.71

I always hesitate to get excited about Medium earnings given how rapidly things can change over there, but I do have to say things are looking up.

And it’s not only based on how much money I’m making.

I find my feed to be of much higher quality lately, with a lot of the AI make money online junk gone.

I’m really happy to see this given how close I was to cutting bait on the platform.

What I earned from Amazon KDP past 10 days: $5.12

I recently wrote a piece on Medium called 1 powerful phrase to remember if you always fail at quitting alcohol.

The phrase was uttered by one Grant Cardone, whose audiobooks always give me the kick in the pants I need when I’m feeling lazy or having a pity party.

So I was listening to The 10x Mentor (affiliate link here if you’re interested), and Cardone said something really interesting and really important to remember if you’re a content creator.

Cardone is the author of multiple bestselling books, courses, and sales programs, the creation of which preceded his ascent to real estate billionaire.

Every time he created one of the products, he said, “I wasn’t looking to solve anybody else’s problems, I was looking to solve my own problems. I figured if I could solve my problems, it would be useful to other people too.”

That’s the approach I’ve been taking with KDP.

Buoyed by the success of The Power To-Do List, the simple, cheap, effective productivity notebook that I created for people with scattered minds like mine, I’ve been dreaming up new products based on the various systems I use to keep myself on track.

I have a few on the go already and plan to release 1 per month over the next half-year.

My productivity notebook, which you can buy here.

What I earned from YouTube this week: $3.31

The neglect continues here, with the crappy earnings to show for it.

I do hope to get going on this again soon now that my kids’ competitive sports season is winding down.

Here’s my latest video:

What I earned from stock market dividends past 10 days: $2.96

I’m going through the process of selling all my American stocks and reconverting my currency back into $CAD.

When your dipshit president declared economic war on my country, I decided to do what pretty much all of my countrymen and women are doing, which is to buy Canadian.

It’s really regrettable.

I love Americans and I think the US is a great country in so many ways. Heck, I considered Las Vegas my home away from home.

There really is no overstating how betrayed Canadians feel right now, and the sad thing is, even if Mango gets rid of the tariffs, it won’t be weeks or months but years before anyone trusts America as a trading partner again.

But it’s probably for the best that Donald Trump is pushing me out of the market for now.

As I wrote this week, it seems all but inevitable that his disastrous economic policies will kick off a global recession.

That’s going to hurt us all - Americans included.

This is a great time to remind all those amateur content creators out there who want to quit their jobs to write or make videos: don’t do it.

You never know what’s coming around the bend (especially with this president) and it’s always nice to have a Plan B.

How’s your side hustle journey going?

How much is the current economic chaos worrying you?

Let me know in the comments!