3 Surprising Lessons I Learned From Making $10,000 in a Single Month on Medium

These things matter — a lot.

In July 2018, I published my very first story on Medium.

In July 2020, I made $11,163.62 in 31 days.

Given that I started taking Medium seriously in January 2020, my earnings and views increased fast.

And while virality, to some extend, is tied to luck and algorithms which we can’t influence, it’s never a coincidence.

I see people in Facebook groups claiming that writing viral articles can’t be taught and that it’s just a matter of luck. Well, did you ever see a lousy article going viral? You didn’t. What a coincidence, right?

My $10k month was no coincidence, either. I’ve been writing and publishing almost daily for the past seven months and had several pieces going viral. I made more than $5k three times in 2020 until I finally hit my target of $10k.

I even shared my goal at the beginning of the month in my Facebook community:

When I made +$10,000 in a single month on Medium, I had already published 350 articles.

At least 100 of them sucked because I had no idea what I was doing.

But given that the majority of the content published here is awful, learning how to create good stuff wasn’t too hard. It took time, two years, to be precise, but it was no magic.

I started on Medium with zero expectations and zero writing experience. So I had lots of room for improvement, just like 99.99% of all writers who start out writing on Medium.

Yet, what differentiates me from the majority is that I knew that my work was terrible and that I could improve. Additionally, I was willing to invest time and money into understanding how A) Medium works and B) how to actually write great stuff.

Most people, however, believe that their work is excellent and that they deserve to be rewarded for the first ten posts they publish here. They want to see the $$$ on their bank account before they deliver stuff worth reading.

Guess what? That’s not gonna happen unless you are really lucky, or you’re a great writer and understand how Medium works.

But if you work your ass off, deliver good stuff, and stay on the path for long enough, a $10,000 month might also become your reality.

Input doesn’t equal output

One of the core lessons I teach in my course about succeeding on Medium is that quantity matters.

Some people join Medium and make 4-figures in their first months due to a viral article. Yet, in most cases, you’ll need to produce a lot until you see significant results.

A) Because your writing will likely suck when you’re a beginner. And B) Because you’ll need to figure out how Medium actually works and what the audience wants to see and read.

However, the good news is that most of the content published here is terrible. So, if you’re serious about growing your readership and if you’re willing to put in the work, you still can create massive results.

Compared to other writing business models, writing on Medium is pretty simple. It will take time and you’ll never be able to predict your income, but all you need to do here is write. You don’t need to do social media marketing or cold pitch clients, all you need to do is understand the rules and produce stuff people want to read.

And even though writing a lot plays a significant role, quantity doesn’t necessarily translate to higher earnings.

My strongest month in terms of earnings was actually my weakest month in terms of published articles. I only posted 21 pieces in July.

Yet, many of my older articles took off and led to the massive result in earnings.

So, yes, quantity matters, but writing more articles doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll see better results. If you don’t understand the basics such as headlines or how to structure an article, you’ll probably fail, no matter how many articles you publish.

In fact, most of my articles go viral more than a month after being published:

If the quality is not on point, this won’t happen.

Shitty articles don’t go viral and there’s indeed a lot you can learn about how to write pieces that have a high potential to reach the masses. It obviously won’t work every time, but that doesn’t matter; If some of your articles make thousands of dollars in a single month, you won’t bother about the rest.

But the more you give, the more you receive

Even though I didn’t publish much on Medium last month, I created lots of value for the community by giving away free advice and supporting new writers.

One of my core beliefs in life is:

Give and you will receive.

If I give away free advice to person A, I know that I’ll receive a return on that investment, no matter if it’s person A, B, or C rewarding me.

In my Facebook group, I’m responding to almost every comment and message I receive. My partner and I are sharing relevant postings every single day to support as many Medium writers as possible on their journey.

At the same time, I’m receiving hundreds of messages on Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, and per mail every month. And I’m giving my best to respond to each of them as quickly as possible. I know I don’t need to do that. Instead, I could spend those hours writing more articles, but I do it because I know that everything I give will find its way back to me.

I didn’t put too much time into my writing in July, but I kept providing value to the members of my group and responded to all messages I received (unless it was a “Hi, can you clap for my article?”).

Whatever you’re doing, you’ll always reap what you sow. If you do good, the universe will reward you with even more of it.

Building real, human relationships is what matters most

Even though writing on Medium might sometimes feel lonely, it’s actually a fantastic opportunity to build amazing relationships.

Through Illumination, Dr. Mehmet Yildiz built a community of like-minded people who heavily support each other, but you can even take it one step further.

I know that many of my readers are coming back to my articles and reading them regularly because they feel connected to me. Not only because I respond to messages I receive, but also because I give my best to reply to all comments on my articles.

Sometimes, I can’t deal with all of it and it takes me longer than usual to reply, but 90% of the time, I read all messages and comments I receive.

Apart from that, the past months taught me how important a network of fellow writers is.

A few months ago, I finally started connecting with some amazing writers here. I hopped on a few calls with amazing people such as Michael Thompson, Luke Rowley, Todd Brison, Barry Davret, Amardeep Parmar, Reed Rawlings, and many more and not only left these calls more energized than before but also with incredible insights. Additionally, each of these calls gave me the feeling of being part of something way bigger than just me.

And while I’m responding to all messages and comments I receive, these guys answered all my questions. Whenever I have a writing or online business-related question, I know that I can reach out to a bunch of amazing people and ask them for advice, which, to be honest, is more valuable than any course or book you could ever buy.

Seriously, get active and build your own little tribe of like-minded, supportive people, and enjoy this journey together.

And if you don’t want to reach out to people, feel free to join my community.

Final Thoughts

I’m not only grateful but also proud of the notable results I created on Medium during the past seven months.

If Medium disappeared tomorrow, I wouldn’t regret a second I spent here. I honestly learned more by writing articles and connecting with all the fantastic people than I learned during three years at business school. Additionally, I built relationships with people all over the globe, which will hopefully last forever.

Last but not least; Be aware that if a 23-year-old, non-native with zero professional writing experience created these results, you too should aim high.

Wanna create similar results? Join my Medium Writing Course for free.