I became eligible for monetization on Medium, but it still did not Excite me.

My writing journey reached a tiny milestone of 100 followers on Medium that is solely for writers, and I became eligible for Monetization.

Who does not want to earn by doing something that one loves to do, but then we all know, it does not come easy.

Money is not a priority, but it is indeed a necessity.

When you no longer pursue your area of interest as a mere hobby but build it into your passion, you expect an outcome for your consistent labor.

And that is completely valid and justified.

But Money is a by-product, and your work should have all the spotlight.

So am I, working on my passion with the spotlight on my skill and commitment to my work so that it can generate revenue.

At the point when I discovered my passion for writing, money was nowhere in the loop. I just focused on sharpening my skill and building it into my craft.

So, after I designed my WordPress Blog “thelocksandkeys.com” and took my passion a little more seriously, I kept looking for other portals as well that could help me earn through writing.

And I came across Medium!

What is Medium?

Medium is a portal entirely for writers and readers, famously called YouTube of Writers. I happened to come across this portal sometime back when I was taken aback by the amazing posts here.

The very first time when I signed up on Medium and started to read the first article, I found that I needed a subscription to read the entire post.

 Trust me nothing could stop me from taking its subscription. This was the first thing ever on the internet that I paid a fair price for to get its subscription.

I felt so thrilled reading the posts here that I took time out to read a post or two on every alternate day. They were so well curated that I could sense the seriousness of the writer behind the words.

I did not post but just kept reading on Medium. I had no idea how it even worked. What I only did was, I kept commenting on the posts that I used to read.

And this interaction through commenting fetched me a few followers.

Seeing the follower number go from 0 to 1 in a place that looked like a foreign country to me, gave me a dopamine rush. I felt that I should explore it and start posting here.

So, I started posting my blog content on Medium as well and found some views on my posts that further boosted my confidence to write more.

Writers flooding the Internet space.

Medium is a great opportunity for amateur writers to start their earnings through writing. But then, it is no easy game. This social platform was started in 2012 by the co-founder of Twitter, Evan Williams.

Back then, it was far easier to gain an audience here and generate enough revenue to even make a living out of it. But now in 2023, the platform is flooded with so many writers who stand out with their writing skills as well as consistency.

It has now become a tough game.

I had never imagined writing to have such a bottleneck competition. Before I took the plunge to start my writing journey, I was clueless about how millions of writers were already competing on the internet.

Coming from a completely different job profile, I had no idea where the internet world had reached with Writing. I assumed only YouTube was flooded but it was staggering to see the writers all over the internet space.

Time when I dived into this Internet space, I was already late with so many amateurs who had turned up into professional writers by now.

Well, that did not stop me, and I took baby steps.

The Eligibility criterion for Monetization on Medium

The eligibility criterion for monetization on Medium is to attain 100 followers, and that is a quite a deal.

So, it was just a few days back that I touched the golden figure 100 but to my surprise I didn’t breathe differently at all. 

Yes, I did not shout with joy, I was not ecstatic. I was calm and happy to reach 100 followers.

I did feel the accomplishment not because I became eligible for Medium Partner Program, but for my humble beginnings on Medium.

I just gazed at the number and told myself:

 If I can reach 100, I can cross 200. 

If I can cross 200, I can achieve 500.

 If I can achieve 500, I can achieve 5000 and then I’m unstoppable. Period.

But what’s more important is how many of them will be my loyal Readers.

If I have 5000 followers, I assume only 100 to 500 of them will be my readers.

And this is going to be the Deal. 

So, the mission is to not gain followers but Readers. 

And the only way would be by sharpening my skill and building it into a craft.

Writing on Medium might excite many of us for the simple reason that on just hitting the golden number 100, we become eligible for monetization. 

But trust me being eligible and qualifying for the exam are two poles apart things.

Writing on Medium and earning a great Readership is a hell lot of labor and we got to slog through to reach a place where most of our followers become our Readers.

The Golden figure 100 is a business strategy.

The game changer is just not this number and I did not allow it to fool me. Because I know if I am hitting this number, I am hitting an invitation from Medium to become one of its loyal writers.

Well, happy about that honestly.

But yes, it is business. This strategy is designed in such a manner that once you achieve 100 followers, your dopamine rush will escalate you to work like never before.

But let me unveil the harsh reality.

100 followers just make you eligible for monetization.

This is a competitive world and we as amateurs have to outperform before we can see some recognition. 

And this will demand us to keep our dopamine high even if hitting 500 does not give us a single penny.

Yes, the number 100 made me eligible to earn here on Medium but what number will give me earning is unknown.

Let’s just not limit the ideology only to Medium but imply it to every internet space you are trying to build your business in.

The number of followers is misleading. Not all of the followers turn into your true readers. The prime focus should only be on the content. 

The better and more consistent the work is, the more prolific your business will be.

What did I do on Medium?

I have been reading so many posts telling how to hit this first benchmark of 100 followers, but I followed nothing like that.

No posting daily to hit this number.

I was just monitoring the space and its people more than contributing to it. I kept reading here, commenting here and squeezing as much juice as I could along with my full-time extremely exhausting job.

I did not have much time to write posts on a routine basis for Medium as I was working on my personal blog “thelocksandkeys.com” and other social portals as well. I was spreading myself too thin that I was not able to curate stuff regularly.

Now that I have touched this number, that did not excite me as much as the hype this number had created but yes, it is going to be my steppingstone.

 Not that I am not passionate to build my following here, but I am someone who is not looking at the number of followers that will flash on my profile.

The number is misleading.

 If you look into my posts, you will not find a great engagement and I am not underestimating my content.

What I want to convey is that this number of followers does not hold as much significance as the number of readers does.

Yes, I am here to generate revenue but only if I am successful to make an impact.

The journey of writing is no less laborious, but it can excite you only if you practice it as much as you can. With practicing, there builds a flow, a momentum that makes the thoughts flow effortlessly.

More than this golden figure 100, what excites me is the loyal comments on my post. They are what give me a dopamine rush to write without looking back.

My Perspective on Growing on Medium or any other Internet space.

Make your work the King, Money will serve you as a Worker~ thelocksandkeys.com

I don’t want the stats to grab my attention more than my work.

I might be standing at level one, but the way I look forward to walking up the ladder is never by looking at the top. I just want to see the next step, work on it and make it a success. Rest will follow.

Getting many followers is not the challenge but making a great readership is the Deal.

Most of the readers are writers like me so if I want them to stop by my content, I will have to curate my content with more efficacy.

 It should not only appetize my readers with the headlines but also make them enjoy while reading the entire post.

I hope this post adds some value for those who are striving hard like me on this internet space to gain a good readership and help them look beyond this number of followers.