Vocal Media versus Medium and alternative writing platforms

How writers are paid on Vocal Media and on Medium

Vocal Media writers

Writers are paid based on the number of times that their stories are read. Currently, there are two different rates, i.e. $6.00/1,000 reads when a writer has joined the Vocal+ program, and $3.80/1,000 reads when a writer is not a member of the Vocal+ program. Writers who write influential stories that are picked by editors can also be paid various amounts of tips. In addition, Vocal writers can earn income from sales made through affiliate links placed in their stories. Especially those writers who have also joined Vocal+ can take part in challenges and win prizes of thousands of dollars. Finally, Vocal content can be monetized across various platforms, which is known as “double-dipping”.

Medium writers

Writers are paid based on the reading time that is spent on their articles by paid Medium members. Receiving “claps” also plays a role in a writer’s earnings, though much less than reading time. Writers can also place Amazon affiliate links in their articles and earn from them, as well.

While Vocal Media pays for search engine, social media, and other types of external traffic, which is measured in terms of “reads”, Medium only pays from internal reading time, and writers get nothing for external views and reading time, unless those external readers become paid members afterwards.

Therefore, if an article is not popular within the Medium community, the writer of the article will end up with zero earnings. On the other hand, Vocal Media writers do not depend exclusively on how well their articles are perceived by other creators, since Vocal Media pays for external traffic, as opposed to Medium.

How Vocal Media makes money

Vocal Media makes money through various sources, such as Vocal for Brands and Seller’s Choice, where focus is placed on branded content. This enables Vocal Media to be ad-free. On top of that, the revenue model of Vocal Media is also based on the subscription fees that are paid by creators who join the Vocal+ program. I believe that Vocal Media uses the Brave browser content creator program, and this can be another source of revenue, in the form of BAT crypto asset. I found out this when I installed Brave and used it to browsed Vocal Media content. Finally, Vocal Media receives funding from investors, and is also listed on Nasdaq, where its stock is traded and anyone can buy it.

How Medium makes money

Medium relies heavily on its subscription base for its revenue. It is also an ad-free publishing platform. As opposed to Vocal Media, Medium is not listed on any stock exchange. Similarly to Vocal Media, it receives regular funding from investors.

Alternative writing platforms to Vocal Media and Medium

Through the years, the rules of online writing have changed significantly. Although numerous writing platforms have been developed, only a handful of them have managed to survive to this day.

In the past, most writing websites relied on AdSense and Amazon to earn income and allow their writers to make a living. HubPages still relies on these two revenue sources.

As a result of the rising popularity of cryptocurrencies, other platforms have emerged that make use of crypto assets. Steemit is such a website, and it also has its own cryptocurrency to pay its writers and monetize general user activity and engagement on the website. At the time of writing this article, “Steem Power increases at an APR of approximately 4.05%, subject to blockchain variance”. This means that users also receive extra income at this annual percentage rate.

Sources:

Medium (Social/Platform Software)

Medium stock (social media blogging platform)

Creatd Inc.

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