49 Lessons I Learned After 2 Years of Writing on Medium

There’s always room for one more person on the top.

Exactly two years ago, on the 20th of July, I heard of Medium and published my very first post. After that first story, I wrote more than 350 posts on Medium.

While I never considered starting a blog or becoming a writer, I’m now making more than $5,000 per month through writing on Medium. Additionally, I published a German book and wrote content for some amazing brands and publications outside of Medium.

In 2020 alone, I already published +170 articles and made more than $35,000 through writing on Medium. Plus, my articles on Medium lead to almost 100 new email subscribers every single day.

And I’m not sharing these numbers to brag. I’m sharing them to show you what’s possible for a 23-year-old who never thought about being a writer and who’s not a native English speaker.

The past two years taught me that there’s always room for one more person on the top. And if it’s not you taking up that space, it’s going to be someone else.

1. If you only write when you feel inspired, you’ll fail.
2. If you’re writing for yourself, nobody else will read your work. Focus on serving the reader and use “you” more often than “I”.
3. Most of the content on Medium is awful. It’s not that hard to stand out from the masses and be one of the top 5 % of the successful writers.
4. Your first posts will be horrible. But it’s okay.
5. As a beginner, invest time analyzing the work of those who’re ahead of you. Read their work. Join their classes, apply what they teach.
6. On Medium, consistency beats luck. The more good content you produce, the luckier you’ll be.
7. Millions of people are on Medium to read great stories. If you write those, they’ll be happy to follow and support you.
8. The only way to get more readers is to consistently publish high-quality content.
9. Everyone who tells you that you shouldn’t ever write something you’ve already seen is trying to discourage you. Unless you’re doing scientific research, you won’t come up with new insights. Everything you might want to say is already out there, but nobody can tell a story the way you can. It’s your experiences, voice, and style that makes a story unique. It doesn’t matter whether a similar story already exists.
10. A systematic approach for keeping track of your submissions and drafts can save lots of time.
11. The only way to grow an audience that is interested in your work is by creating good content and providing value.
12. Making money on Medium isn’t as hard as most people pretend. The majority either doesn’t know the rules, doesn’t apply them, or just sucks at writing.
13. Responding to comments is a great way to build relationships with your readers. I still give my best to respond to almost all of them.
14. As a blogger on Medium, you are competing with thousands of writers every single day. In 2018, the CEO shared that more than 50,000 writers published on Medium every week. Two years later, the number is much larger.
15. Medium’s readers are interested in actionable advice, inspiration, or personal stories they can relate to. If your article doesn’t provide any of these, it’ll likely flop.
16. To be up to date on current trends and well-performing articles, regularly scroll through the home feed and analyze your competition.
17. If you want to make money on Medium, sign up for the Partner Program and pay the f*cking $5/month. This is a karma thing. Don’t expect to make money if you don’t even invest five bucks per month.
18. If your headline sucks, your post will flop.
19. If the structure of your post sucks, it will flop.
20. If you don’t know how to use images in your articles, your post might also flop.
21. Your profile matters: Make sure to use a friendly profile picture and create a credible bio.
22. Follow-for-follow is a bad idea: It might lead to more followers, but it won’t lead to more readers or earnings. Stop that shit and focus on creating great content.
23. Promoting your posts in Facebook groups (or elsewhere on social media) is not worth the time unless you have a considerable following.
24. Analyzing your numbers and doing more of what worked in the past is a priceless strategy.
25. Grammarly (or any other proven spelling and grammar checker) is a must-have.
26. Following the content guidelines of Medium is the foundation of succeeding here.
27. When in doubt about important questions, reach out to the Medium team via the official help center.
28. Using free stock photos is fine. You don’t need to pay for costly images.
29. Editing and publishing an older article is fine if you make significant changes, but deleting and reposting is against Medium’s rules and might lead to a suspension of your profile.
30. You can share your Medium articles anywhere on the web: Most prominent writers share their popular stories in major publications like Thrive Global, Inc, or Thought Catalog.
31. You don’t need to focus on a niche on Medium. You can write about anything you want and trust the algorithm that it’ll be shown to people who’re interested in the topic of the article.
32. It makes sense to start building your email list as soon as you start publishing your work on Medium.
33. If you’re using Medium for a company blog, you can share a corporate account where more people can log in and work on the profile.
34. Don’t start a publication unless you know why you’re doing it and what you want to achieve. Unless you’re the first, best, or the only publication in a niche, you’ll have a hard time to grow your following.
35. According to Similarweb, Medium is one of the 250 most visited websites.
36. Always diversify the tags you’re using and add small as well as big tags to reach a broader audience.
37. Use exciting verbs and superlatives in your headlines.
38. Medium is a massive traffic source: I’m getting between 50 to 100 new email subscribers for my business Personal Growth Base every single day.
39. If you want people to come back to your profile and read your work over and over again, you’ll need to stand out from the crowd.
40. The only way to become a better writer is through writing. Reading books and completing courses about how to write better is necessary, but only writing itself will make you a better writer.
41. If you want to grow your audience and income on Medium, don’t worry about SEO. Instead, focus on internal growth.
42. Make sure you understand the basics of curation because that’s what really matters.
43. Some people on Medium want positive, uplifting stories, while others want negativity. I’m here to write for those who’re ready to change their lives and want positive vibes. Know whom you’re serving and ignore the rest.
44. Finding your most productive time of the day and building writing routines will help you to accelerate your creativity and productivity.
45. You won’t be ultra-productive every single day. We all have ups and downs and it’s okay.
46. You can’t avoid haters. The more readers you have, the more nasty messages and comments you’ll receive.
47. Your mindset plays a massive role in your (writing) success. If you believe that your work isn’t valuable, you won’t get paid for it. If you believe that you deserve making thousands of dollars through your articles, that’s what you’ll attract.
48. Most of your posts on Medium will flop. But if you keep going for long enough and write good stuff, a few will take off, make thousands of $$$ and lead to many more readers.
49. 90% of a successful writing career is about putting your ass in the chair and doing the work.

I have no idea about where the next two years will lead me and how Medium is going to evolve in the upcoming months and years.

Yet, as long as it’s here, I’ll keep writing, publishing, and empowering new writers to do the same.

Making a living and building a digital business through writing on Medium works for many people and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t also work for you.

Want more advice about Medium? Join my free 5-Day Medium Writing Course.