How I Began Making Over $100 per Month in My First 7 Months as a Tech Blogger
Forcing myself through writer's block was not part of the success.
I didn’t get into the top 10% of monthly earners by forcing myself through writer’s block or by publishing an article every single day.
Nor did I begin making over $100 a month by promoting my articles on social media or using clickbait headlines.
While my success (as I define it) isn’t as shocking as some of those who accomplished the same thing in less time, I still managed to do what I didn’t think possible when I began writing.
Since I’ve come across many smoke-and-mirrors articles in my time that has distorted the reality of what writing as a side-hustle actually looks like, I wanted to share how I achieved my version of success in a transparent way.
What I’ve achieved in seven months.
- As of this writing, my profile has 1000 followers.
- I published 60 stories, 59 of which were curated, giving me a 98% curation rate.
- I published two stories that went #1 and #3 trending on Medium.
- I joined the top 10% of monthly earners on Medium in my third month of writing, making over $100 per month every month since then.
- Achieved Top Writer status in 7 topics: Climate Change, Sustainability, Future, Education, Technology, Self Improvement, and Artificial Intelligence.
- I have been published in The Startup, Towards Data Science, and Better Programming.
Here are the 7 things I did to begin making over $100 per month as a tech blogger.
1. I did my homework.
Before I jump into anything headfirst, I do my research. As the British Army says, “Proper planning and preparation prevents piss poor performance.”
My first stop was Youtube, where I began to learn about the quirks of Medium and how the top writers had gotten to where they are today. However, I was leary because I had previously (unsuccessfully) tried to set up a monetized blog with little success, despite how many Youtubers had convinced me that I too could make $30,000 a month simply by writing a blog.
After Youtube, I made my way onto Medium and paid for their premium membership so I could get access to all the self-help articles I could find on becoming successful on Medium. I began to take notes on what niches did well, how to use hashtags, how the paywall worked, how curation was done, and how to get into publications.
Having successfully gone through every aspect of publishing on Medium with a fine-toothed comb, I formed my plan of attack and began writing.
2. I targeted publications from day 1.
If you’re looking to make money, you need to know your way around submitting and getting accepted into publications from day 1.
Self-publishing your stories will maybe garner you a handful of views unless you write something particularly insightful or scandalous. To really get views though, you need to submit to publications.
Publications are the guaranteed way to get your article seen by hundreds or even thousands of people. And, with more views, comes more money.
Some will argue that it doesn’t matter the size of the publication and that smaller publications can generate the same kind of revenue for articles that a large publication would be able to. However, in my experience, and through simple probability, larger publications tend to bring in more revenue. With more eyes on a publication, chances are that more people will be inclined to read your article — especially if it benefits the reader in some way.
For example, the articles that have brought me the most revenue have been published in Towards Data Science, a publication that boasts over 500,000 followers. My other successful articles have done well in Better Programming (100,000+ followers), and The Startup (700,000+ followers).
To get into the large publications, I made sure to do three things every time I was pitching a new publication:
- Before I even wrote the article, I had a specific publication in mind.
- I mastered my sales pitch.
- I only submitted my best work to get my foot in the door.
By writing the article for a specific publication, I made sure that I was already following their requirements from the get-go. Instead of writing an article and hoping a publication will accept it, the best way to ensure success is to find a publication and write the article for that publication.
Second, I mastered my sales pitch. Quite a few publications require that you email them first or complete a form to pitch your first article with them. By refining my pitch, I’ve found a pretty good one that has gotten me into large publications. The most important thing about a good pitch is to make it short, to the point, and honest.
Finally, I focused on only submitting my best work to get my foot in the door. Call it courtesy, or just ensuring that you have the best chance at success, the first article you pitch to a publication must have value for the reader, has all of the i’s dotted and the t’s crossed and is a good fit for the publication.
It must be said that while I love supporting smaller publications, I also have to draw the line where my time may be better spent writing an article that when published in a large publication, is guaranteed to make me money. If you want to write as a lucrative side hustle, you have to be mindful of putting your time into writing something that will earn you money.
3. I set a writing goal.
Before I began writing, I wanted to set a monthly quota of articles that I needed to meet to make sure that I was being diligent about publishing.
Publishing regularly has two main benefits: one, you become a better writer; and two, your earning potential is much higher.
For me, I decided that I would attempt to write ten articles a month. Ten articles per month seemed reasonable given that I’m a full-time student, I work part-time as a consultant, and I volunteer. Here are my stats so far:
October 2020 (started writing late in the month): 3 articles
November 2020: 10 articles
December 2020: 11 articles
January 2021: 9 articles
February 2021: 10 articles
March 2021: 10 articles
April 2021: (so far) 7 articles
With 60 articles published in seven months, I’ve ensured that I’ve created a writing habit that has both contributed to my ability as a writer and also to a lucrative side hustle.
Depending on who you ask, successful writers have split down the middle on whether you should publish an article every single day or whether you should focus on quality and only publish your best articles.
While I’ve never attempted to write an article every single day, I’ve had plenty of success by just focusing on publishing ten great articles every month.
4. I switched niches.
When I first began writing on Medium, I wrote about climate change, sustainability, and future technology. These were all topics I knew well thanks to the degree I’m currently pursuing in geoscience. However, at best, I was getting 400 views, and an article would at most make $15.
While I was happy with my success, I knew that I could be making more money.
So, I began to list off the knowledge and skills that I could share.
I decided to draw upon my educational background in software development. Furthermore, I strove to represent the sub-niche of women in tech. An evergreen niche, I immediately began to have major monetary gains once I began writing about data science, programming, and software development. If this swing in a new direction taught me anything, it’s that drawing from your personal experiences gives you the richest stories to tell.
This switch of niche instantly increased my monthly earnings. Thanks to a beneficial conversion from USD to CAD, I’ve been able to turn this whole writing thing into a pretty nifty gig.
The thing to keep in mind about blogging is those big paycheques aren’t guaranteed every month. More often than not, an article that you thought would go viral ends up tanking, and an article that you threw together in a couple of hours goes viral. There is no rhyme or reason for what readers want. Sometimes I’ll get lucky and pay for two months worth of living expenses using one monthly paycheque. Others I’ll only be able to cover groceries.
The key is to keep writing until you strike gold. This can mean switching niches dozens of times before you find the one that hits home.
5. I wrote about what I know.
One of the things that my favorite authors do is write about what they know.
Much like how you can sense someone smiling when they’re speaking in a podcast, you can tell when an author is writing about something they know when you read their article. Passion and the deep understanding the author has for the subject comes across in the words they use and how they discuss particular concepts.
I wanted my articles to come across the same way, so I made a point from the beginning of writing about what I know.
Writing about what I know helped me gain my following. Once I realized how much value I could give my readers by helping them become more successful in the tech industry, I managed to grow my following seemingly overnight. By offering solutions to frequently asked questions in a conversational and easy-to-digest way, readers began to trust that the articles I get published will benefit them in some way.
Not only did this trick help me gain my following, but it also helped me develop my high curation rate. While curation used to be a bigger deal, it’s still indicative of the quality of your writing. It’s still a rush for me to see that a professional in the industry deemed my piece good enough to be curated. By always putting my best foot forward, I ensured that I gave myself the best chance possible to be curated. This means going through each article with a fine-toothed comb and ensuring that my headline isn’t clickbait, that my subtitle is properly formatted, that credit was given for any images, and that all of my facts were properly cited.
6. I didn’t force myself to write when I encountered writer's block.
I find that those who have a lot to say often don’t end up saying much at all. In other words, there’s a reason why many don’t achieve success by publishing an article every day.
From the beginning, instead of focusing on writing quantity, I focused on writing quality. This sometimes meant that I didn’t hit my monthly quota of articles. However, what it did ensure, was that each time I sat down to write, I had something important to say.
I didn’t want to waste my time or brainpower forcing my way through an article that I knew wasn’t going to do well or wasn’t of high enough quality to be curated. Instead, I would focus my attention elsewhere in a more constructive manner.
On the days where I didn’t have anything to say, I would watch niche-related Youtube videos, read blog posts in my target publications, work on personal projects, and listen to podcasts talking about the latest industry news. That way when I finally decided I had something I wanted to talk about, I would be chock full of ideas that I could share.
7. I’m always thinking of how I can further my brand.
Now that I’ve found success writing about tech, I want to expand my horizons to writing for other publications in completely different areas where I know I can add value.
For instance, I’ve set the goal for myself to be published in Better Marketing, The Post-Grad Survival Guide, and Curious in the coming year. Having built up relevant experience that could benefit readers of both of those publications, the next step naturally is to target those publications.
By expanding my niche to also include topics about work, startups, and writing, I’ll be tapping into an increasing number of readers every month, thus furthering my brand.
Final thoughts.
What has contributed to my success as a tech blogger has been my willingness to change when things weren’t working. While normally I’m the type of person who will drive a square peg into a round hole if it will get the job done, I decide to take a more fluid approach to my writing.
My biggest tip for new writers looking to achieve success is to not be afraid to completely change their direction and focus. Trial and error will be your best friend as you learn what works and what doesn’t. However, if you learn from the mistakes of others, and myself included, you’ll be well on your way to achieving success sooner than you think.
