I came to the same conclusion yesterday as I looked at my stats and then my earnings. It doesn't matter how many reads, followers, or "fans" I get, I will always struggle to make more than $20 or so a month on Medium. And that is okay. Maybe if I didn't have a fulltime job that pays the bills, I could use the time to pound on SEO and market myself, but I think even doing that would be a losing cause. It is like any other creative industry: acting, music, fine art. Only a tiny minority earn money, even the good ones.