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Your Medium Blog Isn’t Going to Give You Passive Income

The algorithm expects you to write frequently.

Anangsha Alammyan
Freelancer’s Hub

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Screenshot by the author.

When I joined Medium as a writer, the premise had me hooked:

  • Write articles about whatever topic you like.
  • Put the articles behind a paywall to earn whenever a Medium member reads your work.
  • The articles stay online forever, and you keep earning as long as your profile on Medium exists.

Once you publish an article, it keeps earning even when you sleep…forever. Sounds like passive income, and every writer’s dream, right?

Wrong!

After spending four years on the platform, I can say one thing for sure: Your Medium blog isn’t going to be the passive income stream you hoped for. Yes, old articles keep earning years after they’re published, but this income is less.

I’m close to publishing 1000 articles on the platform. And even now, I’ll struggle to make even $100 a month if I don’t publish anything.

Sure, in some countries and in some situations, $100 a month might be enough. But for a full-time writer who sees Medium as a stable income stream every month, this isn’t sustainable.

The reality of the Medium algorithm

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