How I Made $20,000 on Medium in Just 90 Days
In this article, we will talk about how to make money on Medium. In particular, I’ll show you how I made $20,000 in just 90 days on Medium.
When I started writing on the platform in February 2020, I never expected that I’d make more money through my passion than I would with my day job.
During my first months, I didn’t earn much, but I was excited to write on Medium because I felt I was learning a lot and improving quickly.
I saw the “not distributed into topics” message more frequently than you can imagine – which basically meant a article wasn’t going to reach a large audience.
I was rejected by publications quite a lot – I was just starting and I still had a lot to learn. However, this made me improve as a writer. All the feedback received inevitably helped me grow.
Then, in July 2020, it happened. One of my articles went viral. I couldn’t believe it.
Then a second one went viral, and then a third one. Until one day, in September 2020, I realized I had made almost $20,000 in three months.
I’m not telling you this to brag about my earnings, but to show you that being successful on Medium is definitely possible.
On this platform, there are writers who earn two, three, four times what I made during those three months. And you can be successful too.
4 Things That Helped Make Money on Medium
Four things helped — and are still helping me — on this fantastic journey, that you can apply if you want to achieve the same results.
Consistency
I’m not going to tell you that you must publish one article per day to be successful.
Of course, posting every single day helps, but it’s not necessarily the only thing that is going to make you successful as a writer.
However, you definitely have to be consistent. This means you can’t write one or two articles and then disappear for months.
Nicole Akers mentioned in an interview with Medium Blogging Guide, she writes every day but publishes when she feels the writing is ready. I can say it’s pretty much the same for me.
I write every day, even if for just one hour, but publish only when I feel an article is good enough.
I struggle more than other writers with the publishing frequency, probably because I have a full-time job, and I’m a non-native English speaker. However, I do my best to be consistent. Every single day.
Because, after quality, the most important thing here is consistency.
Active reading
As I said, you need to be consistent and write a lot. However, there’s one thing you should do consistently, even more than writing, which is reading.
Read quality content as much as you can, because it will definitely make you a better writer in the long term.
One useful activity on which I spend a lot of time is what I call active reading.
All you have to do is spend some time every day reading articles or books from the top authors in your favorite niches, and taking notes of anything you consider useful to improve your writing skills and style.
I did this consistently and it helped me a lot.
If you observe who is already successful, you inevitably learn.
Patience
This might sound obvious, but it’s vital. As many successful writers on the platform already mentioned, you can’t expect to be successful overnight on Medium.
You have to consistently put out high-quality content and be patient. Focus on the process, not the outcome. That’s what I did for months before seeing the first articles go viral.
Focus on what you can improve
I still consider myself a beginner, and I think this is the mindset that helped me and is still helping me grow and improve every day.
After writing and editing an article, I read it at least ten times before submitting it to a publication, and I ask myself these questions:
- Is there something that can improve here?
- If I were a reader, would I enjoy this piece?
There is an excellent article Itxy Lopez wrote, where you will find other great questions you can ask yourself after writing a piece: How to Edit an Article From Start to Finish and Make It Unforgettable — it helped me build a strong editing routine and I absolutely recommend it.
The Viral Articles
Some of my articles went viral in the last few months. In particular two stories performed incredibly well, more than I could expect.
One is The 7 Habits of Truly Charming People, and the other one is 10 Qualities That Make You Unforgettable.
How those articles went viral
I would say that it was luck combined with good content (also curated). As many top writers already mentioned, you should think of each curated article as a lottery ticket. The more you have, the higher the probability to win.
What they have in common
Both stories had few views during the first days after being published. The first one went viral one month after posting it, while the second one after more or less two weeks.
If you don’t see a story getting hundreds of views immediately, it doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t have any success.
Also, another thing they have in common is they were written with the reader in mind. They both provide a clear takeaway and tell a story the reader can relate to.
Some research was also included in both articles. This doesn’t mean this is what predicted the virality of the two pieces, but I’m pretty sure it helped.
So, in short, the points in common between the two viral articles are:
- They didn’t go viral immediately
- They provided a clear and actionable takeaway to the reader
- They included a story
- There was research involved and cited
Recommended read: 4 Things I Learned After Consistently Publishing Viral Content
How I Made $20000 on Medium in 90 Days – Final Thoughts
You can definitely be successful and make money on Medium.
If I made $20K in 90 days, you can too.
You have to observe the most successful writers in your niche, focus on what you can improve, and consistently write quality content.
Most importantly, if you really love writing, and are patient enough, you will get there. Trust the process. Trust yourself.
Photo by Josh Appel on Unsplash
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