How much Barack Obama would earn on Medium? The Brutal Truth.
Mr. President, will you join the Medium Partner Program? 🤑😂
If you have not purchased a paid Medium Membership yet… Keep on reading!
This article is not hidden under the paywall and is free for everyone.
Hello, Medium World! 🌍
I am Martynas Ki. (@strangecash) and I am trying to do my best to write pure, honest stories on Medium.
And this time I want to take a deeper look at probably the most famous Mediumer ever lived. The Dad, the Husband, the President, the Citizen. This is how he describes himself and he is… Mr. Barack Obama! 🥳
Yes, the one! He is writing here. Just like us.
Just like a regular everyday normal guy. Like you and me. 😁
Since I discovered his profile on Medium there was only one question on my mind…
How much Mr. President would earn from the Medium Partner Program? 🤔
So let’s find out! 🕵
Spoiler alert: the results were a HUGE surprise for me!
⚠️ If you like the idea of this post please don’t be shy — clap 50 times or simply follow me. Believe me, you won’t regret it! Thank you! 🙏
The Profile
When you open “daddy’s” (😅) profile you will see nothing special there just… 254k followers. 😱
And it seems that he is publishing 2–3 stories per month.
Comparing Apples to Oranges 🍏≠🍊
Predicting something is never an easy task to do.
Well, it’s easy but making “correct” guesses are very hard.
And I have no other options here but to compare my stats vs Mr. President’s. 📈
Of course, I can be totally wrong as we can have absolutely different audiences, engagements, and so on. Also, I am pretty sure that he would earn a premium “Boost” bonus because I believe his stories are boosted to the max every time! 😅🚀
But anyway… Let’s give it a try!
My method of predicting 🔮
So mainly I will focus on two inputs that are publicly available:
- How many users clapped on a certain story? ($ per “clapper”)
(Note: Medium users who clapped — not the total number of claps) - How many comments were left? ($ per comment)
And then calculate the average between those two.
So I did the calculation on my side, and…
Dear Mr. Obama,
If we have something in common then you should earn:
$0.58 per “clapper”
— OR —
$0.45 per comment
That’s my average. As simple as that! ✅
Drum rolls, please! — Truly SHOCKING results 😨
And I used the word “shocking” not without a reason. It’s really… WOW!
Well, at least for me. Just take a look. 👇
If we break it down by month, our hero would earn something like this:
- 2023 December → Estimated earnings: $444.03
- 2023 November → Estimated earnings: $590.62
- 2023 October → Estimated earnings: $2420.86
No, I did not forget to add a “zero” here or there.
I double-checked the calculations and it seems to be right…
And actually, for me, it’s really SHOCKING! 😱
If these numbers are somewhat close to reality it means that Martynas Ki. (@strangecash), regular everyday normal guy, theoretically earned more than Obama in November and in December. I mean I defeated Obama. How crazy is that? 😳
🚨 Very important note: I totally understand that this analysis might seem completely “unethical” because here I analyze stories about very sensitive topics. And earning money from them is just beyond any limits. But keep in mind that this article is just a pure theoretical and technical analysis of Medium’s traffic potential. I did not want to hurt anyone’s feelings. I hope you get the point! Peace! ✌
The worst performing story was this:
Estimated earnings: $20.04 (!) — Clappers: 61 (!) — Comments: 10 (!)
It’s simply unbelievable! Even Obama, with 254k followers, has relatively poorly performing stories! For me, it’s just mind-blowing and raises a lot of questions (from a technical point of view):
- Does it mean that Obama is a bad writer? (sorry, Mr. President 😅)
- Is something wrong with Medium’s distribution system? 🤔
- Both? 😐
I really don’t know! 🤷♂️
On the other hand, the best-performing story was this:
Estimated earnings: $2076.1 — Clappers: 6312 — Comments: 1048
Now that’s the numbers I expected. 💯
But I thought I would find it in every single story that our hero publishes!
So, overall… A big big surprise!
I thought that the estimates and the stats, in general, would be much, much higher!
Would Obama make a Medium tattoo? 🖨️
If you don’t know what this is all about it would be great if you find the time to read this story. 🙏
In short — I have the challenge of making Medium’s tattoo if I reach my next big goal on the platform. Because I truly adore Medium and achieving this “milestone” would be a huge step for me! 🖤
Before writing this article I thought that in this section I will write something like this:
And like Norman Vincent Peale once said: “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”
But it seems… It’s actually not like that! 🥶
And to be really honest I don’t know what to say here more. 😅
⛔ Hey you! Yeah, you! The one who’s still reading my story.
You almost reached the conclusion part. But just before that…
Dear Reader, please be my Boost!
👏 Clap 50 times and subscribe to my newsletter.
I can assure you — the content there will be awesome!
Muchas Gracias, Amigo! 👨🏽🌾
The Final Thoughts
This article will be definitely one of those that I will open and read again and again. Because it raises so many questions! Well, at least for me!
(Sounds like a definition of a perfect story Mr. Tony Stubblebine, right? 😁)
🎯 My insights and thoughts:
- Wrong estimations. I have recalculated everything many times but maybe I made a mistake somewhere. It’s highly unlikely but still, there’s a possibility for that!
- Old stories. Obama has published way more stories than me. So in theory his monthly earnings would be somewhat higher. But from what I have seen on Medium it’s only a little boost — usually new stories earn more than old ones.
- Obama is not an ordinary Medium writer. Oh really, Mr. Obvious? 🙄 By saying this, I mean that he (probably 😅) does not clap, comment, or highlight on other Medium stories. Just imagine if he would do that. He would instantly become a rock star of the platform and there probably would be no more views and reads left for us — ordinary people. So, Dear Mr. Obama, please just write. No comments, highlights, claps, or interactions, please. We want some views and reads, too! 😀
- Not all stories will be successful (in terms of views, reads and earnings). Even if you have 254k followers. Even if you’re Obama. Life is life. The worst-performing story just proves that. 🤷♂️
- Productivity and consistency. When we’re talking about “earning a living” on Medium, publishing 2–3 times a month is not enough even for Obama. You probably need to publish 2–3 times a week or even daily to reach a significant income here. 🐇
- Definition of success. What does it mean to be successful on Medium? In my opinion, that’s the main question that this article raises. You can have 254k followers, be a former president of the US, and still not be able to make 1k per month. My two cents here — Medium is not ONLY about the money (I wrote about it before). The main point here — to reach the right people at the right moment. 👍
- But overall… Earning on Medium seems to be really really hard. My Medium tattoo challenge seems almost impossible to complete. And when I think about it…. I just want to sadly look down… To see my shoes. To read what’s written on them. And you probably know what’s written there… Just Do It! ✔ 😁
So what do you think? Did I make a mistake in my calculations? Or earning a significant amount of money is really almost impossible on Medium? 😢
Let me know in the comments. 💬
Also, it would be great if you compare your stats and share the results! Maybe I am missing out on something. 🤷♂️
And for the very end, I can say only one thing…
This is the first time I am ending the article on Medium with so many doubts and…
I’m just speechless. 🤐
Martynas Ki. (@strangecash)
Pure. Brutal. Honesty.
