Medium: What it gives and what it takes

Two years of writing, earning, reading, and learning on an ad-free, (sort of) global platform

B. Lorraine Smith
12 min readDec 31, 2023
One of my better months here on Medium. I’ll book-end it with a much less engaged month at the end.

This is a look back on my income and professional development with Medium over the last two years. I share what’s worked as a writer and reader, and what I hope changes, in service of getting my business model ducks in a row* ahead of 2024.

I write about different things on Medium, though always connected to my vision of an economy that works in service of life. (I keep lists and I make all stories available for free here). If you’re not a writer, and/or if you’re not interested in this writer’s backstage scene, this story is probably not for you.

But if you’re curious about my Medium journey, c’mon in. Questions welcomed.

Here is a summary (below are more details)

I back up the following bullet points with more context, numbers, and links below. But the key points are front-loaded in this summary if you prefer the three-part TLDR version.

1. My writing: growing, beneficial, not paying many bills

  • My income from writing on Medium has risen from less than $1/month in January 2022, to occasional months over

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B. Lorraine Smith

Former sustainability consultant replacing ESG with reality-based insights about corporate purpose and impact. https://www.blorrainesmith.com/