One word: Amway. When I was in my early 20's and early 30's I gave Amway shots. The promotions for Amway are the precursors to the scripts promoters of Medium use: large promises of loads of cash if you just master the formula. This is a pyramid scheme. Those who get there first in such situations do well, but no one else really does. How many writers out of all medium writers make a decent living just from writing for medium? How many Amway merchants out of all Amway merchants make a decent living just from selling Amway products? Medium works for me as a place to layout writing I plan to share widely across platforms. Additionally, I have found two publications that reliably promote my pieces once they are accepted. I know they do this because I get more reads when I am published in those venues, and those venues reach readers who are interested in the types of things I write. In this way, medium is better than Amway. I am cool with this.