Here is How Much I Earned for 10.8k Views — Prepare to be Surprised!
A candid account of the financial rewards behind online content creation.
When I started writing on Medium some 2 years ago, I didn’t think I would come this far.
But things went on.
There were days, even months when I hadn’t had the chance to write a single article, but still, I never gave up completely.
I showed up oft and on to write something and things went on a smooth ride.
I am not a person who publishes every day.
Heck, I don’t like it — to be slow in publishing.
One must be consistent in what he is doing and then the rewards get doubled with time.
I had months that I hadn’t crossed $50 bucks.
Yet, I have articles that earned a whooping $230+ bucks alone.
For example, this article earned me $234 with 4k views:
Another article earned $125.49 buck with 2.5k views.
Here is the article:
And yet another one earned me $220.50 with 4k views.
Here is the article:
Now look at the turn of events. There is another article I wrote that went semi-viral and remained popular for a few days on Medium and got a whooping 36k views but hasn’t earned me the desired bucks compared to the other article mentioned above.
I had many hopes but it failed to bring the desired income.
Here is the article:
And now, the one I am talking about.
The article that I loved the most and the article that came straight out of my heart and got 10.8k views.
Here is the article:
What did You learn from the screenshot?
If you look closely at the screenshots I have taken of my article, you will see a huge difference between views and earnings.
You will wonder why greater views have returned lesser revenue.
Let me explain.
If you look at the screenshot again — a bit more closely, you will see the difference in the “Average Reading Time”.
And that makes the real difference.
Increase your Average Reading Time to earn on Medium
Medium doesn’t pay you because you have garnered tons of views.
The platform pays you well if you were able to capture the attention of the readers and kept them reading your articles.
The more the readers stay on your article, the more you get an increase in your Average Reading Time.
Now, If you look at the screenshots again, you will realize this difference and your suspicion will evaporate.
How to increase your Average Reading Time?
The best way to increase your Average Reading Time is to provide value to your readers.
Now what’s the value and how do you define it?
Value differs from reader to reader.
Yes, you read that right.
If you are writing for book lovers and you don’t discuss books, they won’t read your articles.
If you want them to read your articles, bring them with new book reviews, and convince them that these books are worth reading.
Tell them the crux of the books, but not all to kill their curiosity.
Just entice them to read those books and give them hints of how such books can help them overcome hardship, mitigate their loneliness, or simply solve their problems.
That’s the formula with other niches too.
Focus on solving the problems of your readers.
Aim at their pain points and discuss what pinches them.
Thus, they will stay more on your article.
Use a friendly language
Now, even if you provide value, but your language is too complex or ambiguous, not everyone will enjoy your writing.
To make them love your writing, talk in a simple and understandable language.
Make complex things easy and don’t do the other way around to appear pedantic.
However, “brevity is the soul of wit”, as Shakespeare said.
But, first, you must aim for simplicity. You shouldn’t sacrifice the meaning and clarity of your thoughts because you want to achieve brevity.
Niche is important
It doesn’t mean that you should stay on one topic. But to align multiple topics with your main niche/idea.
For example, if you write about self-improvement, you can write self-improvement in writing, mental health, physical health, self-help books, improvement in business, improvement in sports, etc.
Thus, your main niche is self-improvement, but you align health, books, sports, and writing with it.
That’s how great writers write about multiple niches/topics but align them with their major niche.
Final words
Views aren’t the only bar you should cross to earn through writing on Medium.
You should aim for increasing your Average Reading Time to generate more revenue.
And you can do that by providing value. You can add value to your writing by solving your readers' problems.
Grab your reader’s attention by providing them with what they want to read.
Readers feel a gap and you should fill that gap by providing them with the right thing you can do that by aligning multiple niches with your main niche.
