What Happened to My Medium Income in January? Let’s Investigate

Atif Sharif
Cash Flow
Published in
5 min readFeb 4, 2024

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medium January 2024 income report
image made with Canva by Atif Sharif

As you may know, I have been writing on Medium for a few months now, and I have been enjoying the process of sharing my thoughts and insights with you.

I have also been grateful for the income that Medium provides, which helps me cover some of my expenses and motivates me to keep writing.

However, I noticed a significant drop in my Medium income in January 2024. I earned $109.88 in December 2023, but in January I only earned $84.95. That’s a decrease of 22.7%! but Alhamdulilah (Thanks God for everything)

What caused this drop? Well, there are two main factors that I can identify: my writing frequency and my engagement level.

Screenshot by Atif Sharif

Writing Frequency

The first factor is obvious: I wrote fewer articles in January than in December. In December, I published 16 articles, averaging one article every 1.7 days.

In January, I only published 15 articles, averaging one article every 2 days and I got 8.6K views with 3.6k reads.

Screenshot by Atif Sharif

Why did I write less?

The main reason was that I had exams in January, which took up a lot of my time and energy. I had to study hard and prepare for them, so I had less time and inspiration to write.

This is understandable, but it also shows how important it is to be consistent on Medium.

The more you write, the more views, reads, fans, and claps you get, which translates into more income.

Writing regularly also helps you build a loyal audience and improve your writing skills.

Engagement Level

The second factor is less obvious, but equally important: my engagement level with other writers on Medium. Engagement means reading, clapping, commenting, and following other writers who write about topics that interest you or relate to your niche.

Why is engagement important?

Because it helps you grow your network and visibility on Medium. The more you engage with other writers, the more likely they are to engage with you back. This creates a positive feedback loop that boosts your exposure and reputation on Medium.

Engagement also helps you learn from other writers and discover new ideas and perspectives. You can find inspiration, feedback, support, and collaboration opportunities from engaging with other writers.

Well, I have to admit that I was less engaged in January than in December.

Again, the main reason for this was my exams. I had less time and energy to read and interact with other writers. But this also affected my income, because it reduced my chances of getting more views, reads, fans, and claps from other writers.

Final Thoughts

So what can we learn from this analysis?

Well, the main lesson is that if you want to earn more income on Medium, you need to be consistent on writing and engaged with other writers.

Of course, this is easier said than done. Sometimes life gets in the way and we have other priorities or challenges that prevent us from writing or engaging as much as we would like.

That’s OK. We are human beings, not machines.

But we can also try to find ways to overcome these obstacles and keep our momentum going on Medium. For example:

  • We can set realistic goals for our writing frequency and stick to them as much as possible.
  • We can schedule our writing time and treat it as a priority.
  • We can use tools like Grammarly or Hemingway to improve our writing quality and readability.
  • We can use platforms like Quora or Reddit to find questions or topics that interest us or our audience.
  • We can use social media or email newsletters to promote our articles and reach more readers.
  • We can read widely and diversely on Medium and other sources to expand our knowledge and curiosity.
  • We can clap generously and sincerely for the articles that we enjoy or learn from.
  • We can comment constructively and respectfully on the articles that we read or relate to.
  • We can follow the writers that we admire or resonate with.
  • We can join publications or communities that match our niche or goals.

These are some of the strategies that I have used or plan to use to improve my Medium income. I hope they are helpful for you too.

What about you?

  • How did your Medium income change in January?
  • What factors influenced it?
  • What strategies do you use or plan to use to increase it?

Let me know in the comments below.

Also Read,

Thanks for reading

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Atif Sharif
Cash Flow

SEO & PPC Expert, Content Writer. Helping companies attract potential customers through organic search results. Contact me: https://direct.me/atifsharif