5 Steps Will Help You Double Your Earnings Like I Did Last Month

Every tactic and step I used in August 2020

I started writing on Medium in May 2020, and I’ve joined the Medium partner program in June 2020. In August, I changed my methods on this site, and the changes were positive. I tripled my views and reads, and I doubled my earnings.

I made some minor changes to my method and strategy on Medium. These changes turned out to be very positive and pushed me to write further — now I take Medium and writing on Medium seriously.

In this post, I’ll go step by step through my new strategy. A strategy, which I will be continuing in September, and I’ll optimize it further.

Before I start, I was able to gain a Top Writer Badge in Gaming. I was delighted with this achievement, and in September, I’ll aim to achieve another badge in Finance or maybe in Culture or Parenting — I’m prepared for the endeavor.

Let us not waste any time; you are here to read about my 5 steps to double your earnings. I followed the following steps to increase my engagement on this site and you can follow them too:

Step 1: Connect with fellow writers

In June and July 2020, I was using multiple Facebook Groups to promote my stories and posts on Medium. I noticed that I was getting views but rarely any reads. I started to analyze my posts and other writers’ posts, and I observed a trend. Only stories about writing or Meidum’s earnings gained “significant” traffic from Facebook groups.

Medium writers join Facebook groups to connect with other writers, and to join a community. Spending too much time promoting your articles in these groups is counterproductive — unless you write mainly about writing. Instead, use Facebook to connect with other writers, discuss with them about Medium, and exchange experiences. You will be surprised how much knowledge and expertise other writers will offer you; you cannot notice everything on your own.

Step 2: Learn from and follow other writers

Once you have connected with other writers, it is time to learn from them. Analyze their articles and their storytelling. Respond to their stories to get their opinion on a subject, and eventually write about it too.

Tom Handy and Diana Rus are two writers I connected with over Medium. I read their posts, respond to their posts most of the time, and If I have a post similar to theirs, I’ll share it with them too.

I’ve learned a lot from their writing styles, their subjects, and also their titles. For example, Tom’s latest post in Data Driven Investor is titled “Learn How 2 Kids have more Invested Than Millions of Americans”. I knew the content of this post before reading it because I’ve been following Tom for a while now. However, the title is just perfect, and it will suck you in no matter what you do if you are interested in investing and finance.

Learn from others, get inspired, and add your touch on your articles

Step 3: Read big Publications

To get noticed on Medium, a lot of writers suggest writing for major publications. Big publications, however, have a lot of submissions daily, and their acceptance rate is pretty low.

In order to increase your chances to be accepted to a major publication, read their guides for submissions. Follow their requirements and edit your post thoroughly before you submit your post.

You need to understand the type of posts big publications are interested in and are willing to publish. Therefore, reading major publications is essential to get a sense of what they and their readers are looking for in articles.

I’ve managed to get three posts accepted by the Startup — The biggest publication on Medium — in August 2020. If I did not read the Startup, my posts would have never been accepted and curated by them.

You will read on Facebook groups that someone’s first post was accepted to a big publication. Do not allow this to discourage you and continue writing; Someday you will get accepted if you keep writing and learned to be better by the process.

Step 4: Engage with Editors

Editors of major publications will always leave you a private note, whether they accepted or rejected your article. Respond to their note and build a connection with the editors.

By responding to editors and engaging with them in a conversation, editors will be forced to know you and get familiar with your name and content. Their editorial changes and comments will elevate your writing to the next level.

Even if you get rejected, ask them — politely — for a reason and how your submission may be accepted next time you submit to them. Often editors will respond to you and tell you what they missed in your submission, or they may even suggest subjects the publication is interested in at the moment.

Remember to be polite and professional when talking to editors. They are only trying to help you and the readers to get quality content.

Editors are your friends on Medium, engage with them and let them notice you

Step 5: Accept rejection(s)

Lastly, learn how to accept rejections, once, twice, and even more. Accept the fact that not everything you write is gold. The best writers in the world and the best actors in the world had their share of hiccups, and you are not any different.

If a submission gets rejected, do the following steps:

• Ask the editor what you can optimize.
• Re-read your post critically and maybe ask your partner, friend, or another writer to read it and give you their comments.
• Try to re-submit it for the same publication or different publication. However, do not spam the editors with your submissions.
• Self-publish the post; other editors and publications will read your story, and they might offer you to publish it on their publication — This happened to four of my stories in August 2020.

Rejection is not the end of the world, and we learn from our failures. The greatest writers and entrepreneurs in history got rejected multiple times before they got their big break.

In August, I wrote 15 posts on Medium and I have another three pending by publications. I’ve been also working on a personal project besides my posts on Medium. I plan to keep the same pace in September and to write more about finance and culture.

In September I’ll focus on promoting my writings on Twitter, write more personal stories, and keep writing on gaming and gaming culture.

I’ll keep you posted regarding the development by the end of September, stay tuned! 😉

Walid Al Otaibi -WAO- is a top writer in Gaming. He works at an engineering company in Germany as a Project Manager. He comes from a multicultural background and is located in Germany since 2003. He is writing about Arab Culture, Multiculturalism, Finance, and Trending topics.

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