I Wrote on Medium for a Month; Here’s What I Learned
I finally took the bait. Several years previous I had written a few blog posts on Medium, but that was before the partner program was live and my interest wained quickly. I returned this past May, partly to try out the partner program that I’d heard some about and partly because I was INCREDIBLY BORED due to the pandemic forcing me to work remotely. I wrote six articles over the course of that month before the creative juices stopped flowing, but I learned a lot. Here’s some advice as you begin this journey.
As I said, I wrote six articles. These articles ranged in topic, but generally fell within an overarching category: growth and millennialism (whatever that term may mean to you). I wrote three articles on finances, with the other three articles being on relationships, mental health, and tiny homes (because why not).
Discovery #1: You submit to a publication or nothing.
Publications are an incredibly useful tool on Medium. It’s essentially a curated feed of articles that fit a certain topic. I published two financial articles to The Startup and one article to a mental health publication. Depending on the audience size, this can grow your readership quite a bit. This is also one of the best ways to reach paid readers, which helps you monetize your blog through Medium’s partner program.
The two articles on finances are now two-thirds of my reader stats thanks to the audience size of The Startup. They also account for 90% of my revenue from the blog (which isn’t very substantial, to be honest).
Discovery #2: Having an audience outside Medium helps
Of the articles that I published but did not submit to a publication, the stats were horrendous in comparison. The only saving grace was if I posted it to my social media feeds where friends and family checked it out. Otherwise, I would have had very few readers of these articles. As a comparison, one of the articles I wrote for The Startup is nearing 1,000 views, whereas my last article (on charitable contributions) is at 17. Yes, 17 views in total.
Discovery #3: The payoff can continue
I published these articles over the course of one month, five months ago. I saw a total of $5.39 in revenue during that month. However, over the course of these last five months, I’ve continually seen between $2 and $3 in revenue stemming from those articles.
If you spent time and really developed your blog, there’s a possibility that this could be a nice chunk of change each month. I had my doubts when I first started writing the blog, but five months later, this idea doesn’t seem farfetched. You won’t get rich, but it could pay for a few meals each month.
For more detailed information, check out some of the posts that Medium has put out on the partner program and monetization. It may be worth the time!
