My 5 Strategies to Generating $100/Month as a Writer
Sharing my personal stats and advice
I started writing on Medium about three months ago. I didn’t really know what to expect. I read and studied the stories of top writers on this platform. I tried my best to stick to the rules of Medium’s guidelines to increase my chances of curation.
After three months of writing, this documents my experience as well as advice for writers.
My Stats:
- 487 followers
- 9,648 views and 4,939 reads
- 935 fans and 17,300 claps
- $3.69 my first month, $27.59 my second month, and $140.75 my third month
- 9 of 31 stories were curated = 29% curation rate
- Top writer in Investing, Social Media, and Finance
- Most often curated for Social Media, Marketing, and Business
Advice #1: Forget About Curation
My top earning article on this platform, My 8 Sources of Income at Age 25, was not curated. It wasn’t published in a large publication either. The story published in Making of a Millionaire only has about 10,000 followers, compared to the 600,000+ followers of large publications like The Startup.
The story generated roughly 50% of my total income from writing last month. To this day, I am still shocked at the strong performance. Medium must really love this story to push it in front of users every day.
I did notice that this article generated a lot of claps ever since I published it. I am assuming that this is the reason why it went “somewhat viral” even without curation or publishing in a large publication.
This article breaks many myths that your stories need to get curated or published in a large publication to make money.
Advice #2: Share Personal Stories
The two stories that generated the highest pay for me last month were personal examples. My 8 Sources of Income at Age 25 and How I Generated 50,000+ Leads With Facebook Ads were my top two earning stories. Both of these were examples and case studies from my personal experience.
Readers want exclusive content. They want to hear about your life and experience. They can easily find answers to questions they have in mind on Google. However, they cannot Google your personal life experience.
I’ve found that readers are more likely to engage with content that gives them a look into your life and past experience.
Advice #3: Market Your Articles
I’ve said this over and over, in order for your articles to generate reads, you will need to market it. I wrote an in-depth article about that here: Why Medium Writers Need Marketing. Post links and descriptions of your stories each day on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Quora. I do this at least once a day and this is one of the main reasons for my success.
However, do not just post and spam social media groups. You will need to build a relationship and interact with other writers. Drop comments that relate to the article, give writers some praise, or even ask some questions.
Below are examples I believe as strong interactions with other writers on social media. By consistently reading and engaging with other writers, this increases the chances that they will also read and engage with your content.
And we all know that reads + engagement = more money!
Advice #4: Pick A Niche and Build Your Audience
Picking a niche is also very important for success as a writer. For me, my main topics include Business, Finance, Investing, Marketing, Writing, and Productivity. My followers want to learn more and read about my experience regarding these topics.
I do believe that writers should also write about topics outside of their niche to expand their creativity. However, find a way to tie the story back to your niche.
Your followers followed you for a reason. They enjoy the topics you write about. If you were to switch your niche suddenly, it could leave a sour taste in your follower's mouth. Sticking to my niche allowed me to grow and maintain my followers throughout the months.
Advice #5: Focus On What Sells
Your title and images are the most important components of your story. They are what users will see first in their newsfeed. However, don’t fall for the clickbait trap.
Instead, focus on finding high quality and eye-catching images. My favorite platform to find free high-quality photos are Unsplash and Pexels. Top writers will spend hours looking for the perfect photos.
Create a title that sells your story. What is the point that you are trying to convey? I’d recommend the Long Tail SEO strategy. Instead of short word phrases that have high competition, focus on more descriptive phrases. This will increase your chances of standing out on Medium and search engines.
Final Thoughts:
I know I am not a top writer that generates thousands of dollars in revenue each month. This is my personal experience based on my first three months of writing. I believe that my recommendations could be helpful for writers at any stage.
In summary:
- Forget About Curation
- Share Personal Stories
- Market Your Articles
- Pick A Niche And Build an Audience
- Focus On What Sells
Following these steps will help you improve as a writer overall. And it may even help you generate $100+ a month.
Thanks for reading! Let’s stay in touch.
