Ha ha ha ha ha, I see what you did there with your referral link. Clever!

Perhaps the solution here is for Medium to figure out how they can pay for external views. This is all anyone here wants right? :-)

I do use the referral link, I have a template that I have in my drafts and I stick it to the bottom of all my stories. It has helped a bit. Win some and lose some. And you never know when a piece may do quite well - even if it is externally. Atleast there is something there that may be able to drop a few pennies in my direction.