Medium is offering 1 x $50,000 and 4 x $10,000 prizes this month.

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  1. TessSchlesinger profile image60
    TessSchlesingerposted 2 years ago

    When is Hubpages going to offer prizes? It appears everybody else is, and that would get me right back into Hubpage stable. Hubpages, of course, has the advantage of passive income which no other content site has.

    1. Miebakagh57 profile image78
      Miebakagh57posted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Tessa, that's great on Medium. Hope Hubpages copy to enthus it's writers.                                                 But as long as she's under the apron string of marven, I could not split hair further.

    2. letstalkabouteduc profile image96
      letstalkabouteducposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Tess, how does one win these prizes on Medium? You are absolutely correct that HP needs to do somethings to jazz up their site and get us excited about writing here. I love the idea of money prizes.

      1. TessSchlesinger profile image60
        TessSchlesingerposted 2 years agoin reply to this

        You have to be a paying member, I think. Not sure (That's $50 for the year), and you have to enter the competition, I think. You are allowed four entries. One for each topic.

    3. sallybea profile image94
      sallybeaposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      They used to, they were writing competitions, usually in certain categories.

      1. Titia profile image92
        Titiaposted 2 years agoin reply to this

        I remember that, but one could not win more than $ 25 as I recall, or a t-shirt, or a mug.

        1. sallybea profile image94
          sallybeaposted 2 years agoin reply to this

          It was actually quite a lot more than that.  It was definitely over $125  I seem to recall that all the money earned by Hubpages for the articles involved was shared out between the winners.  When asked staff in latter years they appeared to think that it was problematical for tax purposes or something similar.   I seem to recall that I won it once or twice, received a couple of the mugs too.  I thought it a nice incentive for writers to increase the pool of writing for Hubpages.

        2. TessSchlesinger profile image60
          TessSchlesingerposted 2 years agoin reply to this

          I remember.

      2. TessSchlesinger profile image60
        TessSchlesingerposted 2 years agoin reply to this

        Yes, I remember.

    4. Solaras profile image94
      Solarasposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      What is the criteria to win these prizes, Quality or Quantity of views?

      1. TessSchlesinger profile image60
        TessSchlesingerposted 2 years agoin reply to this

        Only one entry per topic. So four entries in total. Supposedly quality.

  2. Titia profile image92
    Titiaposted 2 years ago

    I really would hate it if HP should start with offering prizes.
    I don't see any advantage in turning this site into a lottery.

    1. NateB11 profile image89
      NateB11posted 2 years agoin reply to this

      +100

    2. TessSchlesinger profile image60
      TessSchlesingerposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      It's not a lottery.

  3. Miebakagh57 profile image78
    Miebakagh57posted 2 years ago

    ++++++

  4. PaulGoodman67 profile image97
    PaulGoodman67posted 2 years ago

    Ev Williams seems to be throwing everything he has at Medium to try and get more writers and readers and make the site profitable.

    That's the only explanation for why he keeps radically reorganizing the site, then introducing things like bonuses for a few months, then switching to cash-prize competitions.

    He's pumping in money from his own pocket, according to the research I've undertaken. The venture capitalist funding dried up some time ago.

    I therefore don't see what's happening at Medium as a particularly good sign.

    HP has a more plodding approach, but hopefully that means longevity. I guess time will tell.

    (And yes, as sallybea said, HP did used to do competitions with cash prizes)

    (And yes, I may still enter the Medium competition smile )

    1. DrMark1961 profile image96
      DrMark1961posted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Throwing money at the writers to increase readership? What about the readers?
      It sounds like solid Bubblews strategy to me.

      1. EricDockett profile image96
        EricDockettposted 2 years agoin reply to this

        I often wonder how many people actually sign up to read articles. It just seems like a bunch of writers competing for each other's attention.

        The writing I've done for Medium is some of the worst I've put out there. On HubPages, I write to help people or teach them something. On Medium, I have no idea who I am writing for or who would care.

        Personally, I would contribute there a lot more if they changed to an advertising based revenue sharing model.

        1. Kyler J Falk profile image90
          Kyler J Falkposted 2 years agoin reply to this

          I've always found that no matter what is being written about on Medium, the vernacular there is typically like that of SOAPBOXIE. Whether it be a medical discussion about gender, or simply discussing your financial situation via an article, you find the majority choose a click-baity, soapbox-like tone. At least that has been my experience, it could just be how they categorize what I see.

          1. TessSchlesinger profile image60
            TessSchlesingerposted 2 years agoin reply to this

            And I think that's what Ev Williams is now trying to get rid of.

        2. Solaras profile image94
          Solarasposted 2 years agoin reply to this

          The only recurring revenue I can see there is from, how to write articles on Medium to get lots of views every month. LOL I read some of those.

        3. TessSchlesinger profile image60
          TessSchlesingerposted 2 years agoin reply to this

          There are some brilliant writers on Medium. The problem is finding them. You can read the New York Times there, The Atlantic, Barak Obama, etc. These aren't bad writers.

          Unfortunately, it has been invaded by the kind of black hate affiliate marketers that brought us Panda in 2010. I think the current changes are an effort to get rid of them.

          It's also not easy to find readers. Medium has lost a lot of readers during the past 10 months, primarily because it has been taken over by success marketers "You, too can earn $10,000 a month. Sign up for my $500 course, and I will show you how to write like a star." Not.

          It has taken me just on 15 months to get to a point where I earn a steady income, and I'm adding genuine new readers every day. People are actually reading my stuff now. And they donate to me on Patreon and Ko-fi as well, so it's not only on Medium that I get paid. It's just not that easy to get there.

      2. Solaras profile image94
        Solarasposted 2 years agoin reply to this

        Exactly what I thought when I saw the headline.  $90K out of pocket?  Only to friends and family who will give the winnings back lol.

      3. TessSchlesinger profile image60
        TessSchlesingerposted 2 years agoin reply to this

        I think he is trying to increase the quality of the writing, and I think the first time lot of bonuses went to people who wrote about topics other than writing. I think that's why I won in the first round of $500.

        (I did win the other two as well.) Then, with the uproar from the supposed leading money-makers who didn't win, Medium switched direction. Probably because they didn't want to offend those who were responsible for so many reads, but in doing that, they once more had to contend with the constant crap that is written on the site by marketers.

        I think he is dealing with the same sort of thing that Google dealt with when they launched Panda - remember black hat SEO and all the affiliate marketing nonsense?

        Also, his launch of the fellowship thingie, in which a selection of writers were invited to be guaranteed $500 per month for 3 or 4 months for 4 articles per month is interesting. The people who were selected were all people who wrote about particular topics - not 'how to write' or 'how to earn money.'

        Lastly, the competition is very much about finding quality writing. There's been a lot of heat about it, and if I read between the lines, the kind of people who are moaning about it, are moaning because it's not the kind of thing that they write. They're basically the equivalent of black hat affiliate marketers. I think Williams is trying to get rid of them - but slowly. He needs to replace them with good writers.

        My guess (and it is a guess) is that Williams is trying to find serious writers for the platform, and that's not an easy thing when every dick and his dubious dog is writing less than exemplary prose.

    2. TessSchlesinger profile image60
      TessSchlesingerposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Well, if nothing else, people will read all the entries, and reads mean money. :smile

  5. Solaras profile image94
    Solarasposted 2 years ago

    If it is too good to be true, it probably is.

  6. Kierstin Gunsberg profile image96
    Kierstin Gunsbergposted 2 years ago

    That’s awesome! I like the revenue sharing formula here though. It’s what keeps me here.

  7. Solaras profile image94
    Solarasposted 2 years ago

    Here are a few details on the contest and subject matter.  https://blog.medium.com/introducing-the … 8a95f6d17f

  8. PaulGoodman67 profile image97
    PaulGoodman67posted 2 years ago

    I really don't care much for writing competitions but I will write some stuff for this one for 3 reasons:

    1. Ev Williams is throwing his money at it.
    2. The standard seems generally pretty low at Medium, if my feed there is anything to go by. 50% of it seems like garbage with a clickbait title. I think a lot of the writers here will be at an advantage, provided they can make their writing Medium friendly, which means an article that uses a personal/colloquial style with some sort of takeaway..
    3. The competition titles generally seem easy to fit work around, the only harder one being "Reentry".

    1. TessSchlesinger profile image60
      TessSchlesingerposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      I thought the most difficult one was space, and then found myself writing it first. I'm entering because people will read the entries. Mine got distributed.

  9. Miebakagh57 profile image78
    Miebakagh57posted 2 years ago

    I will consider Medium in the nearest future.

 
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