The Medium earnings rug pull has me so unmotivated to write it’s painful

I don’t watch much TV or “entertainment” YouTube, but I do make one exception.

I like to keep an eye on channels belonging to full-time, independent online creators because, well, that’s the life I want for myself.

One of the creators I keep an eye on is Shelby Church, who also has a light presence on Medium.

Shelby was one of a handful of YouTubers who really hit it big when COVID lockdowns had everyone looking for ways to make money online.

So anyway, I was watching her latest vlog yesterday and she was talking about the concept of burnout and her own motivational struggles following a drop in YouTube earnings on her main channel.

She explained how much harder it’s been lately to feel excited about her work, not only because she’s been doing it for years and years, but because she’s putting in the same amount of effort but isn’t getting the same results.

It’s very discouraging.

The big Medium rug pull

I imagine a lot of writers on Medium are feeling this right now.

As you know if you’ve followed me for any amount of time, I put everything I had into this site.

I felt like it was the one place where truly independent writers were fairly rewarded for their efforts.

In the spring, after publishing more than 200 articles in close to as many days, I was approaching earnings that some would consider full-time income. I even made a video about it here:

I planned to put it at the center of my online business.

And I shouted my love for this place from the rooftops!

I had no particular plan for what my YouTube channel would be when it started, but it sort of just evolved into a love letter to Medium.

I was just really excited that such a place existed, and I wanted as many people to know about it as possible.

And then, Aug. 1 hit.

I’ve touched on this a bit already, but if you’re really interested in the extent of the damage to my earnings (more than 70% drop overnight), you can watch my video on it here:

When the goalposts move

So like Shelby, who explained in her vlog that her earnings have dropped by 50–60% this year, I’m finding it a lot tougher to show up here every day.

The funny thing is it’s all about perspective, right?

Before the Medium Partner Program changes, I was consistently pulling in $50-$70 per day.

Since then, I’ve been grinding just to generate $15.

Yet, as an early-stage YouTube creator, I’d be so happy to earn $15.

I estimate I’ll qualify for ad revenue sharing in the next 25 days or so, at which point I’ll start earning money from YouTube daily.

At the start, it’ll probably be five bucks a day or something. And I will find that to be AWESOME.

When something is new, when you’re in the building phase, any amount of money is exciting.

There was a time when $15 would have felt like huge money to me on Medium.

But it’s really hard to backward, isn’t it?

How I feel logging on every day right now. (Image licensed by the author under the Unsplash+ License)

What’s next?

Back in the day, I’d be really happy to get a 1,000-view day on Medium.

It signaled that people were loving my stuff and that I could expect pretty decent money the next day.

When I see a thousand-view day now, I kind of just shrug.

It’s actually got me so down right now.

I used to get so excited every morning to get up and contribute to this site, but man oh man, I just don’t know what the future holds for me right now.

According to Shelby Church, she’s found that burnout kind of just … passes.

It sucks when it’s happening, but then it fades away.

So, I suppose I’ll just put my head down and keep working for now.

Whether or not I do that here long-term remains to be seen.