Having a niche has been invaluable professionally. The deeper I go into counseling/postsecondary education/ disability services, the better my chances are to get to the next plateau of success. That success is in the form of financial rewards (and career respect). I'll never be rich, but the kids won't have to struggle as much as I did. That's invaluable.

On Medium, readers seem to want to read interesting writing. My pieces will often have humor-infused elements, but when I haven't had as much of that, the crowd still seems to respond well.

The human connection part of this site is what people seem to really enjoy here.

Medium serves up alternatives to any content that's being read, which lets readers 'change the channel' if they're not interested. I'm not seeing any great benefit to being stuck to one content area. Medium is the one place to write about anything and everything.

The common statement I see is that the 10% of Medium writers make ~$100/ month or more. Truly elite make more. That's a lot of grind for not much money. I'm not too sure of the veracity of the claim, but if that is anywhere near to truth it... Medium should be pointing to other writing jobs, rather than be an economic focal point.

At this point, I've become fully self-aware that this response is way too long, which is what I do best. This question is ultimately a personal finance question. If it all goes into a HYSA, VOO (or similar ETF), or to juice up a retirement fund, it might be worth it. If Medium is used for everyday expenses for a non-elite writer, it seems like a lot of work for not much pay.