The Problem Isn't Medium or Substack.

It's That You're Afraid to Sell.

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There, I said it.

“You’re afraid to sell.”

Not because I want to start a fight, but because I’ve lived both sides.

I’ve been the writer pouring my soul into free stories on Medium, hoping exposure would lead to income. It did until it didn’t.

I’ve been the creator obsessively formatting Substack posts, thinking “Maybe if I sound smart enough, someone will pay.” They didn’t.

Until I did the one thing most writers won’t:

I stopped waiting for praise and applied everything I knew from my decades of experience about how to sell.

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No, Selling Doesn’t Make You a Sellout

It makes you a professional.

Let me be clear:

If your goal is to make money as a writer and you’re not selling anything — not a product, not a service, not even an idea that leads to some kind of a transformation — you’re not building a business.

You’re doing literary performance art on borrowed land, hoping someone drops coins in your digital hat.

That’s not a strategy. That’s exhausting.

You’re just having a digital boss — the algorithm.

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Medium Trains You to Beg for Applause

But Substack trains you to build an audience.

I restarted my publishing schedule on Medium — daily. But here’s what I don’t do anymore: rely on it for earnings.

Because that “top writer in Creativity” badge doesn’t convert.

That 5,000-view article doesn’t pay your rent.

That $6.78 monthly payout is not passive income. It’s passive delusion.

Meanwhile, Substack is where I made $10,826 in 11 months. And this doesn’t include the additional revenue I get from that very same email list.

Something you can’t achieve on Medium.

Not because of the algorithm. But because of the business model.

I stopped acting like a content creator and started acting like a business owner.

I applied everything I knew from my 9–5 to my writing:

• Package my knowledge

• Write emails that convert

• Create offers people actually want

And build relationships instead of chasing reach. Business is made by people. If you avoid the relationship-building part you’re broke.

And here’s what happened:

280 people paid me.

Not for being clever or because I went viral many times.

But because I solved real problems FOR THEM with my writing.

Here’s the proof:

screenshot by author

6% conversion rate is not the norm. It’s proof of good sales skills.

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If You’re Still Anti-Sales, Be Honest With Yourself

It’s not that you hate sales.

You hate rejection.

You hate not knowing what to sell.

You don’t feel confident, the sales pitch doesn’t sound like you.

You hate the fear that if you ask, people will say no, or worse — unsubscribe.

But it’s not your fault. Everyone who tries to sell something feels that way. Until they figure just one simple truth:

When you stop trying to sell and start trying to solve the problems of your readers, they will ask how to pay you for more.

Don’t try to hide behind the illusion of purity.

You tell yourself “I just want to write.”

But guess what?

Writing is not the business. Writing is just the delivery system.

The business is built around what your writing leads to.

If you refuse to make an offer, you’re refusing to lead. You’re failing your future self.

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This Isn’t About Guilt. It’s About Ownership.

Own your expertise. Own your voice. Own the damn list you’re building — and give your subscribers something to dobesides silently appreciate you.

Want to keep your newsletter free? Great.

Want to stay off social media? Smart move.

Want to never charge $5/month for a paywalled diary? Please don’t.

But if you want to make money from your words, then at some point, somewhere, you need to sell something.

Not someday. Not when your following is “big enough.”

Now.

And if that makes you uncomfortable?

Good.

Because that discomfort is the door.

Open it.

Stay Unplugged!

Yana

P.S. Here’s my deep dive on how to find what problems to solve for your readers.

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