My Take on Referred Memberships
How helpful are they to writers?
--
Medium’s referral system has been a recent attempt by Medium to get more people to subscribe to the platform. Many writers have raised the question of whether this marketing strategy is proven to work.
When I first heard about this new exciting way to earn money, I was thrilled. So I did my best to promote the referrals. I’ve tried posting my referral code in my Medium articles, on Twitter, on Facebook, on LinkedIn, and on Quora.
The truth is, I haven’t had much success with it, other than one member who subscribed.
Some writers, such as Ted Rivers, in his article, attributed the membership referrals to Medium’s cry for help.
Other writers have said that it’s one of the best marketing moves from Medium to help writers earn more money.
The one question I’ve been asking myself is: Should I keep promoting my referred membership links or just stick to writing alone? I find it hard sometimes to be both a writer and a marketer. Once in a while, of course, it doesn’t hurt and I don’t mind doing that. But constantly posting my referral links can be overwhelming. It also takes away the joy from writing.
So far I’m lucky to have one referred member, which I attribute to pure luck. I didn’t work too hard promoting memberships before I got this person to sign up.
Will I get more members down the road? Maybe yes, maybe no. We still have to wait and see.
Honestly, I don’t want to work too hard promoting memberships because doing so takes away from writing enjoyment.
So I decided to do it only when I feel like it.
The takeaway
Referred memberships may be a smart marketing strategy, but I haven’t had much success with it. I have yet to test to see if it works for me. The truth is, it hasn’t proven to work for most writers. I also think too much marketing can take away the joy from writing. Writers should be writers, after all — not marketers.
