New: 'Friend of Medium' Membership Option

This is BIG NEWS!

Medium has launched a new membership level called Friend of Medium. It costs $100 more a year than the basic level and offers important benefits to consider while you decide if it's right for you.

Benefits

1. The authors you read will receive 4x the payment from your reads.
2. Any 'Friend' links YOU share will generate payment from non-members.
3. You get a gold heart instead of a star on your medium profile (um- yay?)
4. PLUS: all the other stuff members get.

Here is the page with the details.

And a screenshot for those that want to click but won't.

Why did I join?

I am a happy Vocal+ member, and have also been a happy Medium member for two years. Both platforms have their benefits and drawbacks.

For me, a big benefit of Vocal is the ability to earn from ALL reads, not just members. Up until this new Medium membership tier only reads by paying Medium members increased your earnings. I wanted that new option.

Also: I don't give out many tips on either platform. This new tier allows me to increase the earnings of those that I read, and I like that.

Is this for you?

Before you jump on the new Friend of Medium bandwagon, think long and hard about your own habits as a writer.

Are you comfortable sharing your writing on social media? If you are NOT then this may not do you any monetary good.

Let me explain.

Only the 'Friends' links that YOU share will earn you money from any and all readers. Non-members (those that don't have the $5 or $15 a month membership) that naturally come to your content will NOT contribute to your earnings. This is exactly how Medium works now, so that won't change.

BUT! If you are comfortable with social sharing, no paywall, perhaps in a newsletter even?- well this may be just the thing you've been waiting for.

Medium content ranks higher on Google than Vocal (will that ever change? fingers crossed!), so if you write great content with a nod to even the barest SEO practices, this could significantly increase your earnings on Medium.

Don't forget: you can maximize your Vocal content!

As Vocal writers, this may be the moment you've been awaiting! Cross-posting content IS allowed, by both Medium and Vocal.

By that, I mean: you can import your content from Vocal directly to Medium. This gives you the chance to maximize all the work you put into the writing and expose it to new audiences.

In fact, Medium makes it easy to do with a simple 'Import' button, shown below in my screenshot from my 'Stories' page.

When you import a story you previously published on Vocal a link to the Vocal story is automatically added to the end of the imported page. I update it (you can delete it altogether if you like) to make it clear that it is MY content, as shown in the piece I cross-posted there yesterday:

Pro Tip: any piece you import, and on which you leave a link to the original Vocal story, will appear on your profile, which is arranged in date order, in the place where it naturally appears chronologically.

That means if you imported something you wrote last December, it would not appear at the top of your profile as a 'new piece', but further down the profile page. Does that matter? {shrugs} Maybe not- but the first time I did it I thought the import didn't work, so just letting you know!

What it all comes down to

With just a small effort I make about $300 a year on Medium, unless another one of my articles goes viral and cracks the $2000 mark again (crosses fingers- but that means writing something unexpectedly prescient and so far it has only happened once!)

So, for me, adding an extra $100 a year to my Medium costs is significant. It's a leap of faith.

I took a similar leap of faith when I invested in Vocal when I took the opportunity to do so. That decision was a vote from my wallet that Vocal will continue and also be profitable not only for its shareholders, but for me as a writer Creator.

To be quite honest- this time it feels like I am investing in something I can control: me. I believe this will payoff if 1) more people do it and read my stuff and 2) I wisely use the Friend links.

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What do you think? If you are a Medium writer, is this something you will do? If you aren't yet on Medium (the $5 a month option is still available, too!) does it make you think about joining?

PS- No. I would not get a referral if you clicked on the link at the top and joined. There is no longer a referral program. I'm just explaining this new development because it could be useful for you!