If you've noticed I don't post as reliably as I used to, and it's all stories instead of original articles, there's an explanation for that. Steemit is down in the dumps right now and I'm having to do menial gig economy work to make ends meet. I just don't have the free time or energy to spare that I'd need to post original content here like I used to, much less at the rate of 4 items per day that I sustained for nearly two years.
I got really used to the lifestyle though, and ultimately I want to climb out of this pit back to where I was before: Leveraging my writing ability to pay the bills. To that end, at a friend's recommendation I turned to Medium. It has apparently been around since 2012, something I dearly wish I'd known about. But better late than never, right?
Medium is very similar to Steemit except with a more mature, robust, and streamlined text editor, as well as features built in that Steemians have had to subscribe to external services for (like scheduled posting of pre-made content at a time and date of your choosing). It also pays directly to your bank account in US dollars.
No converting to Litecoin, then to USD, then withdrawing. No Coinbase, no Bitttrex, none of that. Because it pays me in USD it's also insulated from the wild fluctuation of crypto which has put me into such dire situations in the recent past. Sure I have to build up an audience from nothing all over again, but I can count on this income:
It's the same slow but steady ramp-up of payouts I experienced on Steemit. I am no stranger to this back breakingly tedious slog. But it's coming along, and that's reliable income. Not crypto gambling, not a flash in the pan windfall. I will be able to really rely on it and have a sense of security in my ability to pay bills with it that I can't with Steemit.
What's more, Medium articles continue to generate revenue so long as new people keep reading them. It's not like Steemit where there's a cutoff after one week. I will continue to see residual earnings from old articles long after I've posted them, and occasionally an unexpected surge of money should one of them go viral.
So don't be too worried about me. I appreciate the concern and the feelings of community and camaraderie built here are what keep me posting, even though at this point it doesn't pay enough to be worth the distraction from more lucrative pursuits. But rest assured, I am not in danger of losing the roof over my head!
I am doing what it takes to make ends meet, but I am not resigned to living that way. I always have many other plans in motion at once, no matter the situation. A fallback for my fallback for my fallback for my fallback. Cynicism maybe, but NASA spec recommends at least triple redundancy for life critical systems in all spacecraft, so I apply the same principle to my life.
If you are so inclined, follow me to Medium. Trust me when I say it's better there. It is more stable, it's a better designed platform and it is indeed possible for newcomers to build an audience, even though the platform is going on 7 years old. It does cost $50 per year to subscribe, which is where some of the money for payouts comes from, but it's worth it.
Besides just the technical merits of the platform over Steemit's comparatively rudimentary, markdown reliant design, the Medium community is also comprised of some remarkably qualified people in fields of great interest to me. The discourse is mature, and there's always something on the front page to interest anybody, no matter how esoteric your tastes may be.
Hopefully I'll see some of you there. I haven't given up on Steemit, but I have found a better alternative, and would be remiss if I didn't let you know what my experience of it has been like.
Stay Cozy!