Can You Make Money on Vocal.media?

Can you make money on Vocal.media?

It’s not a scam, but it isn’t easy.

And it shouldn’t be easy, but it should be fair. And fairness is achieved through implementation of ideas that provide mutual benefit for all involved.

Much of this article may come off as “sour grapes” I suppose. It’s not. It’s supposed to be a reality check for creators. Personally, I have found great benefit in writing on this platform for nearly three years. My mindset has changed and evolved, along with the platform.

Challenges

Who are the judges? What is their credibility?

Obviously, someone has to win, and you can’t win if you don’t enter, but what does it mean to win, or to be chosen as a winner by an unsubstantiated voice? It’s a great ego boost, and great to win the money, but how much credibility does it offer you as a writer? Maybe it doesn’t matter. If I won, I would be thrilled.

Top Story

Again, who’s choosing? Is it based on quality of writing or story telling or anything beyond best business practices? Who knows​? Again, does it matter to your authorship credibility whether or not you are chosen? It’s a nice nod to the ego, and pleasant to receive the financial reward, as well as the attention, but do we let way too much of our validation as writers ride in the hands of people whom we don’t even know?

Reads

Garnering reads is the most obvious way to gain financial rewards on the Vocal platform. The problem with this idea is that creators are left to find their own audience, as well as being at the mercy of the Vocal team to approve or disapprove our stories in a timely manner. The longer we have to wait, the less opportunity we have to promote our stories – especially if striving to achieve a daily number of reads. I suppose this strategy is beneficial to Vocal as far as achieving their own financial bottom line, but not at all advantageous to creators.

There appears to be no quality control for approval, other than whether or not a piece follows the platforms “code of contact.” If it does violate, be prepared to receive only a generic response regarding the fact that your story has been denied submission for violating, without stating the violation specifically or the reason why.

If you’re looking for more specific feedback regarding your writing technique, the staff of Vocal will not provide, and why would you want them to? Few know who they are, or what makes their opinions credible.

Invest

Of course, we now all have the opportunity to get rich by investing in the volatile platform – or we just might lose our shirts when it self-implodes. I find it rather crass that Vocal has decided to market this “opportunity” to the creators, who barely make any money from their craft as it is, instead of to the people who enjoy the spoils of our craft – make it valuable to them. Those of us who write are already disrespected and under-supported enough.

Leaderboard

Yes, we need to have more opportunities to participate in competition among ourselves to earn financial reward. This is a great way to develop a community of camaraderie. (If you missed it, Dear Reader, I’m being sarcastic here.) I have placed on the Leaderboard - without trying. I didn't turn down the bonuses.

The bottom line is that, if you’re looking at Vocal.media as a significant way to earn a sizable income from your writing, it’s not likely to happen, though a handful of creators have experienced such. You can earn enough to pay for your membership and maybe a little spending money, but not without significant effort. The majority of creators on this platform see no profit from being published here. Although, the financial benefits are nice, your benefits as a writer are greater if you look to the use of this platform as a way to build your skills rather than a means of wealth.