I really like writing on Medium, but it's more and more depressing being over there every day. I completely understand why you also want to pivot away from there.
I'm dedicated to using Medium as a testing ground for topics, and I also want to see if I can target SEO keywords since it has a high domain authority.
James, it is typical for venture-capital-funded platforms to go through this sort of deceleration phase.
(In Medium’s case, their last round of VC funding happened in 2021, according to Crunchbase.)
If you’re lucky enough to get in on the ground floor, when the platform is building market share and the VC dollars are flowing, you enjoy unrealistically high earnings.
And then the earnings inevitably get throttled as the platform spends through the investment money.
And then the platform either sinks or swims without the investment money; it has to become self-supporting.
I’ve seen this over and over and over again with various platforms. I was there to witness the rise of Paypal and eBay during those platforms’ VC-funded heyday. Lots of other platforms have been through it, too.
It sounds to me like you were able to maximize the potential in Medium’s growth and customer acquisition phase. That is fantastic!
And it looks like you’re here to do the same for Substack’s, too. Substack seems like an amazing deal for creators right now because the VC cash is freely flowing here.
(Venture capitalists last gave Substack funding on Nov 12, 2024, according to Crunchbase.)
And in the short to medium term, I think the Substack creators who are truly talented investigative journalists are about to either get rich or get killed doing their jobs, because don’t look now, but it’s pretty likely that World War 3 has begun. So there’ll also be a war to control that narrative, and Substackers will be some of the MVPs on the front lines.
But inevitably, in the long term, Substack, too, will have to go through that period where the VC investments run dry, and the platform has to either become self-supporting, or wither and die.
Substack, in its current form, is unsustainable. So there’ll be a time in the future when Substack will evolve, too, and not in a way that (most) creators will like.
It is in question whether either platform, Medium or Substack, can survive in the long term. But after having initially studied the situation, I’ve concluded that Medium has a better shot at long-term survival than Substack does.
Medium’s “economy” is actually quite like eBay’s, and eBay’s is still sustainable enough to be self-supporting (although eBay now isn’t at all like it used to be in its heyday, which I was there for, circa 1998-2006ish).
In their current forms, I think Medium has a better and more sustainable long-term business model than Substack does. It’s hard to say how either platform will evolve. But it’s a no-brainer to predict that Substack will have to earn more than it currently does.
(Because last I checked, Substack wasn’t profitable).
So do the math on that and ask yourself “where is the money going to come from if Substack hopes to be profitable in the next 5-ish years? And how will this platform evolve?” Let me know what you come up with.
Eu tenho escrito por lá sem ganhar nada, apenas para conseguir levar um pequena tráfego para o meu blog, o Brasil ainda não esta dentro do programa do Médium, infelizmente.
I’ve switched to the similar approach. 1 to 2 articles
I really like writing on Medium, but it's more and more depressing being over there every day. I completely understand why you also want to pivot away from there.
I'm dedicated to using Medium as a testing ground for topics, and I also want to see if I can target SEO keywords since it has a high domain authority.
Oddly enough, it does seem to be generating more Google traffic lately! Doesn't help from an earning perspective, but notable nonetheless.
It doesn't help you earn on Medium, but it helps if you can filter those people to your Substack, YouTube, or notebook.
How long have you been writing on medium?
2.5 years
I have never made over $10 on a single story!
James, it is typical for venture-capital-funded platforms to go through this sort of deceleration phase.
(In Medium’s case, their last round of VC funding happened in 2021, according to Crunchbase.)
If you’re lucky enough to get in on the ground floor, when the platform is building market share and the VC dollars are flowing, you enjoy unrealistically high earnings.
And then the earnings inevitably get throttled as the platform spends through the investment money.
And then the platform either sinks or swims without the investment money; it has to become self-supporting.
I’ve seen this over and over and over again with various platforms. I was there to witness the rise of Paypal and eBay during those platforms’ VC-funded heyday. Lots of other platforms have been through it, too.
It sounds to me like you were able to maximize the potential in Medium’s growth and customer acquisition phase. That is fantastic!
And it looks like you’re here to do the same for Substack’s, too. Substack seems like an amazing deal for creators right now because the VC cash is freely flowing here.
(Venture capitalists last gave Substack funding on Nov 12, 2024, according to Crunchbase.)
And in the short to medium term, I think the Substack creators who are truly talented investigative journalists are about to either get rich or get killed doing their jobs, because don’t look now, but it’s pretty likely that World War 3 has begun. So there’ll also be a war to control that narrative, and Substackers will be some of the MVPs on the front lines.
But inevitably, in the long term, Substack, too, will have to go through that period where the VC investments run dry, and the platform has to either become self-supporting, or wither and die.
Substack, in its current form, is unsustainable. So there’ll be a time in the future when Substack will evolve, too, and not in a way that (most) creators will like.
It is in question whether either platform, Medium or Substack, can survive in the long term. But after having initially studied the situation, I’ve concluded that Medium has a better shot at long-term survival than Substack does.
Medium’s “economy” is actually quite like eBay’s, and eBay’s is still sustainable enough to be self-supporting (although eBay now isn’t at all like it used to be in its heyday, which I was there for, circa 1998-2006ish).
In their current forms, I think Medium has a better and more sustainable long-term business model than Substack does. It’s hard to say how either platform will evolve. But it’s a no-brainer to predict that Substack will have to earn more than it currently does.
(Because last I checked, Substack wasn’t profitable).
So do the math on that and ask yourself “where is the money going to come from if Substack hopes to be profitable in the next 5-ish years? And how will this platform evolve?” Let me know what you come up with.
I doubt you are still getting $30 a day, as just after this, earnings crashed.
Eu tenho escrito por lá sem ganhar nada, apenas para conseguir levar um pequena tráfego para o meu blog, o Brasil ainda não esta dentro do programa do Médium, infelizmente.
Esperemos que um dia!