Why We’re Moving Our Blogs to Medium
At my two companies, Your Business Your Brand Creatively and Detroit Ink Publishing, writing and publishing blog posts has been a primary…
At my two companies, Your Business Your Brand Creatively and Detroit Ink Publishing, writing and publishing blog posts has been a primary element of our marketing efforts. I started my first company, Writing It Right For You, a copywriting and editing business, in July 2008, and I’ve been blogging for my companies ever since. Just as things have evolved and changed over the more than eleven years that I’ve been a freelance business owner, I have decided that it is now time to change my blogging platform. I’m changing all of my blogging efforts to a new platform: Medium.
What is Medium?
Medium for Readers: Medium is an online publishing platform for writers of all kinds, including bloggers. Medium was found in 2012 by Evan Williams, the founder of Blogger and Twitter. Williams envisioned a writing platform that would allow the publishing of documents longer than the (then) 140-character limitations of Twitter. Medium is designed to be a publishing platform where people can read all kinds of stories on any of the topics that matter most to them and then share those ideas with the world. Readers on Medium can read stories from thousands of authors, and interact with them by clapping on their articles, leaving meaningful responses, and highlighting their favorite passages.
Member for Writers: Medium is also a place for writers to share their posts, articles, and stories with the world using the provided easy-to-use editor. Publishing on Medium is free and published stories are distributed to your followers, as well as millions of readers who follow relevant topics. Writers on Medium also have the ability to earn money with their writing by enrolling in the Medium Partner Program, which I’ll discuss in more detail later in this post.
Partner Program writers are paid every month based on how members engage with stories. Some factors include reading time (how long members spend reading a story) and applause (how much members clap). For writers seeking an additional source of income for their writing, writing for Medium is a viable option. Writers are paid monthly based on how deeply readers engage with their work.
Medium is free for readers, or not: Access to the thousands of Medium articles is free to anyone who signs up for a free account. Readers can customize their interests by following the topics, authors, and customized Medium publications that interest them. People can receive additional benefits by signing up for a Medium Membership for $5/month or $50/year.
Medium members receive unlimited and ad-free access to all of the stories on Medium, including those behind the Medium paywall, those written for the Medium monthly magazine, those stories written by exclusive columnists, and those with audio versions of popular stories. A Medium Membership subscription is optional.
The Top Three Reasons I’m Moving to Medium
1. Maximum exposure for my posts and articles. I have been blogging since 2008, and publishing articles on LinkedIn since the publishing element was open to everyone about five years ago. However, even though I heavily market my posts and articles on all of my social media channels, I probably reach hundreds and maybe even sometimes thousands of potential readers. With Medium, however, I can potentially reach 86+ million readers, and I can also still re-publish and re-purpose my Medium articles to LinkedIn and my social media outlets. Of course, not all of those millions will read my articles and posts, but the potential is still greater on Medium than anywhere else.
Why Cross-promotion of content marketing is important
The primary purposes of content marketing of any kind for a business owner are to promote their business and to expand their brand. My business blogs are connected to their respective websites and of course, I include CTAs (calls-to-action) to direct people back to my websites.
The same opportunity for promotion and cross-promotion is available for my Medium posts and articles. I will also have the opportunity to write articles and stories on additional topics that may not fit either of my Wordpress blogs. I really look forward to writing on additional topics besides the business topics I usually do.
It IS about Friends and Followers
The followers of my Medium account and my Medium publication will receive an immediate notification of the new articles I publish. Depending on how they set up their notification preferences, they will also receive a “Daily Digest” that will include my recently published articles, which they can read with just a couple of clicks.
I will still be able to post the same content on my Wordpress blogs, where I also send the posts out to my email distribution list. Google no longer “punishes” SEO with the dual publications.
2. Fewer sites to manage. ICYMI (In Case You Missed It), since I first went freelance and became an entrepreneur in mid-2008, I have grown from one initial company to three companies and a weekly podcast and an online branding and marketing training course and…well, you get the picture. Although I eventually merged my first company and my third company, I still had two websites, three Twitter accounts, three Instagram accounts, three Facebook business pages (I’m getting ready to merge a couple of those, too), and my LinkedIn page. I am also a member of a few other networking and Facebook and LinkedIn groups. That is a lot to manage, even with two assistants.
Sometimes less is more
By publishing my posts and articles to my Medium account, I can keep all of my content writing (business and personal) in one place, making it easier for my friends and followers to see all of my writing at once. Those who choose to follow me will get notifications when I post something new at Medium, and those who want to upgrade their Medium accounts and become Medium members will be able to access my premium content.
I am certain that this move will greatly increase my local, national, and international exposure while simultaneously reducing my workload.
3. An opportunity to develop an additional revenue stream. One of the tenets of the Medium business model is that writers should be paid for their work, especially based on the quality of their articles. While there are many outlets that pay writers for accepted articles, it usually takes several months to get paid, and then only after a long lag time between pitching your article, having your article idea accepted, the publishing date of your article, and so on. Additionally, there is a myriad of publications that hire writers to publish with them, but the pay for the writers is: “exposure,” which doesn’t pay the rent.
Medium believes in paying writers
The Medium Partner Program is explained by the company on their website: The Medium Partner Program allows writers to earn money for the content they publish on Medium based on engagement from Medium members. Stories set as eligible to earn money in the Medium Partner Program are put behind the metered paywall and can be read by those who have a Medium subscription, as well as those readers who have free reads on their account. Moreover, you can also share a Friend Link that guarantees that your friends, family, and fans have free access to their stories.
In my experience working with clients for both of my companies, I have found that those clients who actively and consistently market their products and services are the most successful. It is the same with the Medium Partner Program, although Medium itself helps with the promotion of the articles to readers based on the readers’ preferences.
Medium provides an additional stream of revenue
Especially for nonfiction writers, it is imperative to generate additional sources of income and to ensure that you have more than one revenue stream. Very few writers, whether they produce fiction or nonfiction, make a large, full-time income from just their books. It is actually easier for nonfiction writers to generate additional revenue streams, and the revenue-sharing model is one option.
Medium follows the “revenue-sharing” business model by paying writers based on the responses of the readers. The payments to writers come from the $5/month fees paid by subscribers. Income from my Medium articles will be just one of my revenue streams.
Just like with writers of all kinds, the amount of money writers can make through Medium varies widely. Some writers make just over $100/month, while others make many thousands of dollars per month. With Medium, there are several factors that make up how much money can be made, and there is a big difference in the income made by part-time Medium writers and full-time Medium writers.
A big benefit of being paid for my published articles and blog posts by Medium is that the company pays at the end of every month, and all writers in the Medium Partner Program are sent weekly updates about their stats every Wednesday.
An additional benefit for my friends, followers, and readers will be that they can enjoy the articles without the constant barrage of ads and endless pop-up videos. The Medium platform is ad-free and that is quite refreshing, especially for me as a reader and member since 2018.
Looking Ahead
I look forward to this exciting change for my content marketing efforts. Eventually, my readers will be able to read my new content for all of my companies and business units, as well as previous posts and articles that will be republished to Medium from their original location on my WordPress blogs.
I really enjoy nonfiction writing, especially because it gives me a chance to add value to my clients and to impart important information that may help them meet a challenge or solve a problem. Over the past eleven years, I have probably published hundreds of articles and blog posts and I am excited to share them, and much more new content, with you here on Medium.
I hope you will support me in this major change in direction, and I will be sure to continue to provide you with interesting and informative articles.