8 Ways to Make Money from Medium
From Workbooks to Coaching
Note: This story is not about Medium’s “series” which are stories done on cards and added to over time.
2nd Note: What you see above is a stock photo. I would never put a tea bag in a coffee cup! What we’re they thinking?
A Numbered Series or a Start-Anywhere Series?
A series can be a TV show like “Law and Order” or “M*A*S*H.” It really doesn’t matter which episode you watch. You’ll understand immediately what’s going on.
Harry Potter, on the other hand, although one can start with Book Three and follow it, it makes more sense to start with Book One. The book that starts the series and explains how Harry ends up at Hogwarts for the first time. You continue to read the books in order, if for no other reason than the young wizards get older each year and the stories become more complex.
Medium, your blog, and other social media platforms don’t work as well with series that have a distinct beginning and end, with each post numbered in order. You don’t know where in your series a reader might pick up one of your posts or stories. They might pick up number 3 and not read it because they think they should start with number 1. And you lose the reader.
Since your goal is to reach as many people as possible, you want the easiest way for them to find your series. A “start anywhere” kind of series without numbering makes the most sense.
Five-Part Series
Perhaps you have a health and wellness blog. And you decide to do a five-part health and wellness series to help your readers be healthy and well.
You’re going to include nutrition, exercise, sleep, weight control, and mindset. Each post will have a distinct image — using the same image can be confusing to readers. Unless they’re your regular readers, some may think they’ve already read that story if the image is the same.
Each post could have a similar title to help tie the five topics together:
How to Eat Well to Feel Better; How to Exercise to Stay in Shape; How to Control Your Weight to Stay Healthy; How to Sleep Soundly to Stay Alert the Next Day; How to Maintain a Positive Attitude to Create a Better Life. (Notice the pattern: “How to” blah, blah, and a second “to” explaining the benefit.)
Your next step is to write the first post. Doesn’t matter which one goes first so might as well pick the easiest one. The one that will require the least amount of research.
When you write the second post, you’ll give readers a link to the first one. Something like this: “Now that you’ve learned ‘How to Eat Well to Feel Better,’ you’ll enjoy my story about ‘How to Exercise to Stay in Shape.’”
As you write each story, publishing in on Medium, you’ll want to post it on your Health and Wellness blog and on Facebook.
Turning 5 posts into a Mini-eBook with a Workbook
Next curate all 5 in one post on Medium: “5 Ways to Stay Healthy.” Now you can put the posts in the order you prefer and number 1–5. (See my curated post below as an example.)
Once you’ve got all five in one post, you’ve got a mini-eBook. It only needs a cover and a last page.
Just make sure the last page of 5 Ways to Health and Wellness tells readers how to contact you for coaching. (Even if you didn’t do the whole plan, I’m assuming your probably do coaching or have a group coaching program. Many in the field of health and wellness do.)
Keep reading for suggestions about covers. (Spoiler alert: Do not make the cover yourself.)
But wait . . . you’re not done yet.
You can use 5 ways to Stay Healthy as a free opt-in on your health and wellness blog.
And one more thing to do with your original series: Create a workbook to go with it where readers can plan and keep track of their health and wellness progress.
Obviously, workbooks aren’t appropriate for all topics in a series. But you can probably think of something that would work. For example, maybe a journal with daily prompts at the top of each page.
Before you freak out at the idea of FIVE workbooks or journals, remember that only one is a big deal. Once you’ve got that done, the other four are basically the same format.
Since your mini-eBook covers five different topics, and you have a workbook or journal for each topic, you can sell everything and sell each product individually.
Maybe I’m doing a good job on eating well but I really need to work on sleep. If that’s the case, I only want the sleep workbook or journal. On the other hand, if I’d like to have all five, you’ll give me a bundle discount.
Your workbooks or journals that go with your 5 Ways to Health and Wellness mini-eBook, must look professional. I know DIY is big right now. Even though several nifty graphics programs are out there, including a couple which are easy to use, I still opt for professional graphics.
I’m telling you to get a pro to design your covers and your workbooks need an interior designer too. (You can find inexpensive and professional help at Fiverr. Just make sure the seller has 5 stars and then look at some of what she’s done. I’ve gotten some amazing covers for 10 bucks from Fiverr.)
Why hire a pro? 1. You are a writer. It’s a waste of your time to design covers and interiors of workbooks and journals. 2. A pro can make it look better than you can.
If you’re a graphic designer AND a writer, my hat’s off to you! But ask yourself: “How much writing could I get done if I weren’t designing my workbook covers and interiors.”
Up On YouTube
While you’re twiddling your thumbs waiting for your designer folks to get back to you, record your mini-ebook and put it up on YouTube. Of course, the video also goes on your website and Facebook. You can even put it on Medium.
I understand lots of people prefer video to text. I’m old and learned to read before I went off to kindergarten. I’m a reader. I didn’t get how important video is until an internet marketing guru beat me on the head with a rock. I still don’t watch them, but I do make them . . . and it’s kinda fun. Not nearly as hard as I thought it might be.
Putting It all Together
Ok, back on track. Let’s look at what you’ve accomplished:
— You’ve written five posts on Health and Wellness for Medium
— You’ve posted them on your blog.
— You’ve also posted them on Facebook.
— You’ve combined the five posts into a curated post.
— You’re turned your curated post into a mini-eBook which you’re using as a freebie on your website. (i.e. your opt-in, meaning you get their email and they get your mini-eBook. It’s a win-win.)
— You’ve made a video of your mini-eBook for YouTube.
— You’ve created 5 nice workbooks or journals to go with your mini-eBook after hiring a designer for covers and interiors.
— You’ve put your workbooks or journals up on your website for sale.
— You’ve emailed your list about your workbooks or journals. (Remember: you got their email when they opted-in for the 5 Ways to Health and Wellness mini-eBook.) You’ve told them they’re for sale and carefully explained all the benefits of your workbooks or journals. You’ve let them know that your mini-eBook and workbooks will transform their lives.
More Income Streams from Your Mini-eBook
Now it’s time to think more about making money from this project in addition to selling your five workbooks or journals.
- Coaching one-on-one, focusing on 5 Ways to Health and Wellness.
- A paid Facebook group focusing on 5 Ways to Health and Wellness.
- A six-week course: introduction plus one week for each of the 5 Ways to Health and Wellness.
And On To Your Next Project
Ahh, good job!
Now, how about your next writing and making money project?
Perhaps 5 Ways to Health and Wellness for kids? For seniors? For women? For dogs?
Or if you have raging ADHD and are now bored with 5 Ways to Health and Wellness, try the same process I showed you with a different topic, for example, 5 Ways to Make Money from Your Website.
Now you’ve got the picture of what to do with that original post on “How to Eat Well to Feel Better” and how that led to your mini-ebook, and then to 5 workbooks or journals, and coaching, and a six-week course, and a paid Facebook group. And you’ve got suggestions of how to take this process to another topic, another project.
That makes 8 ways to make money with your series. Just like the title of this post told you. And that doesn’t include the 9th way: making money through the Medium Partner Program. If you aren’t already enrolled, do that today.
Congratulations!
P.S. Of course, you can put your individual posts up on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and on and on. That’s called repurposing, of which there are endless opportunities. Such is beyond the scope of this post.
P.P.S. Or just forget all of the above because, although a recommended and excellent plan, it’s a lot of work. You just want to write and don’t even have a website. No worries, just put 5 Ways To Health and Wellness on Amazon and let them sell it.
If you’d like to be added to the list to receive a free copy of a short e-book, “9 Tips for Readable Writing” and a free review of one piece you’ve written (no longer than 1,500 words), send an email to [email protected].
Watch for my forthcoming e-book, Oh Look, There’s a Squirrel and Other Stories.
