6 Best Writing Platforms for Bloggers: Make Money Doing What You Love
All the ways you can get paid to write on these platforms [pros & cons]
If someone had told me 2 years back that I would be a full-time blogger, I would have laughed in their face.
See, I was an engineer and I always thought writing as a career or even a side-hustle would be tedious. I imagined slogging at a novel till 3 A.M and getting little to no book sales after years. I didn’t realize until 2020 that the digital writing world has come a long long way.
We live in a time when anyone can build an audience online with a laptop and storytelling skills. It blew my mind to learn that viral articles have actually led to book deals and thriving businesses for quite a few writers.
That said, none of these platforms are ‘get-rich-quick’ schemes. Approaching them with only money in mind will lead to burnout or frustration.
So, let me give you a detailed overview of 6 of the best writing platforms in 2022, with all the pros and cons you need to know.
1. Medium
Medium is one of the best platforms to start blogging, at no cost to you. It is a website with thousands of writers, stories, publications, and over 100 million readers. [Psst: It’s where you’re reading this right now].
‘Every idea needs a Medium. The best ideas can change who we are. Medium is where those ideas take shape, take off, and spark powerful conversations.’
— Medium’s About Page
Medium has revolutionized digital publishing and is famous for being home to stories of celebrities, politicians, powerful personalities, and basically anyone with a story to tell.
Monetization
You can sign up for the Medium Partner Program and start getting paid for your stories.
When a paying member(Medium members pay $5 monthly for full access) reads your story, you get paid a portion of that fee, depending on the read time and how many stories that member has read this month.
Pros
- Medium has a domain authority of 95, which works wonders for SEO purposes. If you want your stories to rank higher on search engines like Google, this is where you post.
- A sophisticated system for distribution(curation), promotion, and publication. This writing platform markets your stories for you if they are of good quality.
- No ads. No clutter. A minimalistic design with great functionality.
Cons
- The Medium Partner Program is not open for writers from countries like India, Pakistan, and Brazil, where Stripe is not fully active yet.
- The platform is quite saturated. It may not be as easy as it was in the early years to truly stand out.
- There is ambiguity surrounding a lot of updates, and the algorithms and the platform can be a little wonky at times.
If I had to start all over again, I would choose Medium. Again. Because this platform helped me find my writing voice and has generated $6500+ for writing 100 stories so far.
It’s fun, it’s simple, and can be incredibly rewarding.
[You can check out my free Medium writing guide here. I spill my viral story secrets and help other writers find their winning formula.]
2. Vocal
Vocal.media is one of my top favorites for writing online. It has plenty of stories, communities, and high-paying challenges(contests) that can be really interesting.
The functionality, the story editor, and the layout is pretty similar to Medium and it’s easy to write and publish here.
Monetization
- You get paid $3.8 per 1000 reads, and if you are a Vocal+ member, $6 per 1000 reads.
- Vocal challenges pay huge amounts to channel your creativity and be the best at writing according to the themes or prompts they give you.
- Readers get to tip their favorite writers.
Pros
- This is a great place to hone your writing skills and engage with the writing community on Vocal Facebook groups.
- If you’re into creative writing and fiction, Vocal is a delightful platform to try.
- Vocal has a high domain authority of 65, so your article gets good SEO powers from the start.
Cons
- The platform is not yet the best it can be. There are editing features, advanced settings, and follower options that are still being worked on.
- Challenge wins are definitely ‘hit-or-miss.’ Hundreds of wonderful stories don’t end up winning, so even though the payout is high(as high as $10,000 per challenge), you cannot depend on this as a sustainable income source.
My advice: Work on your creative ideas here, make friends, and focus on SEO(if you want any articles to rank on Google).
3. HubPages
Hubpages has been around for several years and is widely considered a splendid blogging platform for new writers. As the HubPages home page says,
‘HubPages is a network of sites where people write about their passions!’
Freelance bloggers can write and publish original, high-quality blog posts, creating your own ‘hub’ for free. If you’re looking to build a reputation as a blogger, this is a good place to start.
Monetization
Ads are placed on your published posts, and you can earn money through AdSense. Depending on the number of views and traffic your hub gets, you can earn a significant passive income on HubPages.
You can also earn through affiliate programs of large companies like Amazon and eBay.
Pros
- Articles on HubPages rank well on search engines since the site is highly reputed.
- Simple process to set up and start publishing
- Payment via Paypal, which is an inclusive option for many Stripe-unsupported countries.
Cons
- Too many ads can be off-putting for readers.
- Less creative freedom with branding your blog
4. Simily
Simily is a new writing platform on the block. When it became a little popular in January 2022, several Medium writers flocked here, curious to learn more.
Simily has a strong focus on fiction(drama, romance, horror, fantasy, etc) while also having sections for non-fiction. There are also groups to share stories and engage with others on the platform.
Monetization
Authors get paid $0.02 for every unique view their stories get per month. So if you got 1000 unique views, your monthly payout is $20. If it’s 10,000, then you get $200.
Pros
- Flexible payment options(Paypal and Stripe). It gets rid of geographical boundaries from the get-go.
- Pays fairly well for external views
- Promising payment model and exciting goals as a platform
Cons
- Low domain authority — This will improve only with time and a stream of high-quality articles being published.
- Very much at the infancy stage still, there is a lot of technical work and designing to be done.
I would say give this platform a try and repost your stories here(make sure to add a canonical link on the original story so that you pump some SEO juice into your Simily story and get paid for external views).
5. Substack
Substack is another widely popular platform for writers. As Substack puts it,
‘The home for great blogging.
Bloggers come to Substack to do their best writing and build thriving subscription businesses.’
You may already know that Substack is mostly known for being a newsletter platform. But it can also be a blogging platform — A blog, but with email.
With Substack, you can publish your stories on the web, find new readers, and build an audience efficiently. You can import your content and mailing list from anywhere on the internet (or start afresh here too, of course).
Monetization
Choose which stories to give for free and which ones to put behind a paywall. For exclusive content, you can charge your readers a subscription fee every month. So, if you have 100 paying readers and charge $5 a month, you get $500 every month.
Pros
- Substack is a fantastic way to turn your blog into a media business. With 1000+ true fans, you could make a comfortable living.
- Neat features for newsletters, email marketing, and connecting directly with your audience.
- Good domain authority score for SEO rankings.
Cons
- Content discoverability on Substack is not high. You’ll have to market your blog/newsletter and promote strategically to earn subscribers.
- Payment is through Stripe, which doesn’t allow writers from unsupported countries to earn.
6. LinkedIn
Surprised to see LinkedIn on this list?
LinkedIn is not just a job-hunting platform or a place for creative writers to avoid anymore. Creating content on LinkedIn can be beneficial for your career in many ways.
According to these statistics, LinkedIn has more than 500 million users and half of them are active on the platform every month. Now if you are serious about your writing and you’re looking to make connections and build a business or a blog, this is a powerful writing platform to try.
You can also start a newsletter on LinkedIn, which is an easy, efficient way to reach people. Writers can invite(seamlessly) their connections to subscribe and the newsletter issues will be sent directly to their email inboxes.
Monetization
There is no direct monetization system on LinkedIn. But LinkedIn helps build a network that indirectly generates a lot of monetary value, so I wouldn’t call this a con now.
Also, LinkedIn has recently launched creator programs in which they have funds for select creators to provide value on the platform.
Pros
- Gives you a lot of exposure, boosts your brand awareness, and helps you rank high in search engine results.
- Aligns your content with your personal brand conveniently [People can view your profile and your blog together to get a glimpse of your expertise in less than minutes].
- Free and minimal effort(especially if you have created posts already and just want to repurpose them.)
Cons
- I have found that long-form LinkedIn articles tend to have lower reach/views as compared to LinkedIn posts.
That was my list of the 6 best blogging platforms to try in 2022. I hope this helped you get a better understanding of which platform would be best for you, personally.
Just remember —
- To see traction and results on any writing platform(or any creative pursuit, at that), you have to be consistent. Popular digital writer Ayodeji Awosika wrote about his 5-year-rule for succeeding at any venture that transforms your life. He wrote patiently for 4 years before his writing career skyrocketed into the marvel that it is today.
- Diversify. Don’t depend on one single platform as an income source. Keep experimenting and testing different strategies so that your passion doesn’t turn into unnecessary pressure.
Writing online is a wild ride that is chaotic, frustrating, exciting, and satisfying. Have fun trying these writing platforms and getting creative with them!
My newsletter ‘Create with Bertilla’ is about the latest trends, resources, and insights into the creator economy. I share exclusive interviews and takeaways from my creative projects, so if you’d like a free front-row seat to watch my journey, you’re welcome to sign up here.
