Not In An MPP Eligible Country?
Try this legal workaround — Capitalism at its finest
So, you’ve come to Medium to write and hopefully make a bit of money at it. All the articles tell you it’s easy, just get some followers and sign up for the MPP — then you’ll earn money like crazy!
You hear the people complaining in first-world countries about how they “only” make $20–50 a month. How for them, it’s not worth the effort to keep plugging away. But for you, that money could feed you for a month. You understand it’s not a get-rich-quick deal, but the money you could earn would improve your life tremendously!
So you do what you need to do, and try to sign up to MPP.
~Denied.
Something about your country isn’t supported. What the hell does that even mean???
Well, don’t fret. I’ve got the thing for you — and it’s completely legal, within the rules and everything. It’s exactly how Capitalism was designed to work, and it can work for you, too.
How To Get Into MPP If Your Country Isn’t Supported/Eligible
The catch here is it’ll take a bit of money to get started. An investment of sorts. I know that might sound shady, but you’re not giving me that money. You’ll understand as you read on, and at the end I’ll present a way you might be able to get some help with that investment, too!
So why isn’t your country supported?
Ultimately, I’m certain it’s Stripe gatekeeping for one reason or another. All my research suggests Medium would love for every country to be eligible, but Stripe is the negotiator of the money between US and everywhere else.
The easiest of those articles involve India, who previously were eligible and a few years back were removed from the list. 1 billion pissed off people make for a full search result on Google.
Ok, what do I DO?
First, we’re going to pick a country that IS supported by Stripe that is eligible for MPP. There are a bunch of countries that are eligible for MPP, right? Check out the official list here:
Medium is a US company. So wherever in the world you are, to reduce the possibility of ending up like India, we’re going to focus on the US for your solution (though in reality, you can choose ANY eligible country to do this with — but I’m in US and I write what I know).
If you chose a non-US country, you’ll have to research how to do this same thing in that country yourself.
Step 1: Get An Address
You might be thinking, “I don’t have money to buy property in another country!” It’s ok, you don’t have to. All you need is a virtual physical address. You can do that from the comfort of your own home.
In fact, there are reasons to do this even if you DO live in US. I use iPostal (affiliate link- does not affect your cost). They have many locations across the country that do international mail forwarding, which you will need in order to get important documents. Feel free to look for other places — I pay $10/month for this one, and it’s the cheapest I’ve found to date.
Not just a virtual address
A virtual address doesn’t have a physical location for mail to be delivered to; it’s ONLY virtual. iPostal addresses have a physical location, which is required by US law to do the other steps below. Make sure you get a physical address and not a virtual one, no matter where you’re getting the address. Otherwise, it’s a waste of money and you won’t be able to continue through this process.
Step 2: Set Up An LLC
This is the big cost right here, a huge investment up front. I should mention that whatever state your address is in will change the laws around the LLC you’re creating — some states charge more than others for it, and some will have annual requirement to maintain LLC status.
Here is a resource that might help you decide what state is best for you.
I go with Missouri, because I live there and can pick up mail if I need to. It also, thankfully, has no additional requirements annually to maintain. So the fee is $50 here, and you can rest easy after that.
That will mean when taxes are due, you will be under Missouri’s tax laws, though. So come next February, you’ll be expected to file taxes using the LLC for state and federal income (determined by the address). I used CashApp, and it was relatively simple. And free.
(Be aware that some years, state or federal filing may cost money or be free. I have no idea what determines that as I just roll with it.)
You might also decide to use a fictitious name to set up an LLC in that name. In Missouri, that’s $7 for a few years.
Step 3: File For An EIN
This is the gold you did all that other stuff for. This one is free, and becomes the tax ID number you need to register for both Stripe and MPP.
But don’t get too excited yet, you’re not quite finished!
Step 4: Get A Bank Account
As far as investments go, it doesn’t get more literal than this. With your EIN and address from step 1, you’ll need to open a US bank account.
Why? Because Stripe doesn’t pay out to your country, remember?
In the US, we have credit unions that will open an account for $1, but I’m not sure if they will open one over the internet. That’s beyond my wheelhouse. However, I know there are other online banks that will open for $50 out there. This one’s on you — there are WAY too many banks to suggest just one here.
If you chose Missouri, USA, the investment is about $70, and then $10 after that (for the address). There are certain fees to ship the mail internationally as well, but after setup most of the mail will be junk you have them throw away. So let’s round up and say for $100 (probably less), you can get everything set up to enter MPP.
Legally. Within the rules. No hiding anything or sneaking around necessary. You’ve just entered the Capitalist domain is all.
What If You Have No Money??
I’ll be real with you here — this part is still in development. As of right now, I’m still building a resource to help people afford this workaround.
If you have the means, and this article helped you, please consider leaving me a tip through the button below. Make sure you comment that it’s for this MPP LLC article; that money will be reserved for people that come here asking for assistance.
Well, at least 50% of it. Probably more. I have no idea how the fees are going to work out with that, or the taxes. We’ll figure it out together!
Or, there are other ways:
Ways you can try to get financial help:
- leave a comment
- email theaccidentalmonster@hotmail.com
- read the comments to see if anyone has offered help
- join the TAMonsterAlley Discord (MPP LLC channel)
- create your own crowdfunding campaign to raise the money
How to GIVE financial help:
- leave a comment
- email theaccidentalmonster@hotmail.com
- leave a tip (I’ll distribute it when people ask)
- read the comments for people asking for help
- join the TAMonsterAlley Discord (MPP LLC channel)
Thanks for reading. This article will remain free indefinitely for obvious reasons. Until next time, follow yourself, always!
Hey, look: a newsletter, a podcast, and a chance to BuyMeACoffee!
