Five Medium Income Secrets Even the Newest Writer Can Use
Hint: take the road less-traveled
While all your co-competition scrambles to get curated by the big publications, you can make a lot more money by keeping a low-profile, using a simple writing system that hums in the background.
I get frequent comments and emails from writers looking to ‘break out’ or get noticed by the major publications.
For most Medium writers this is a misguided approach.
Do you want to be recognized or would you rather make a great income from your writing?
You can’t always have both.
Most writers want the stamp, trophy, or ribbon. They want the public recognition they’re a ‘good writer.’ But if you swallow all the vanity bits, you can make a lot more money from your Medium stories.
You don’t need that BIG curation to do well.
You’ll spend so much time begging and editing, to get your single story approved, you could’ve published 30 more stories in the meantime. I recently got an email from a writer who had 150 story ideas targeted to different publications, waiting for permission to write, but none of them were published yet.
What a huge waste of time.
Instead of spend all your time trying to get a credibility-boost, BE a credible writer by publishing frequently. If you can’t convince a gatekeeper, start your own publication.
…or think of it this way —
You might spend a week, going back-and-forth with a big publication. You get one story published. That story earns you $1,000 once. Cool. But that one story, as with all stories, has a shelf-life. You get the $1,000 this month, but your earnings return to $1.98 the next month. Not cool.
Instead of working to get a single payout from one story, plant more trees.
Secret 1: publish frequently
I have a 3–4 dozen stories that earn me money every month. I don’t know which stories will be hits, so I take more swings. I write daily and publish almost daily. The more I publish the more chances I have to write a long-term earner.
If I spent all my time worrying about some gate-keeper I’d never get anything written.
You don’t need permission. You need to get your stories in front of your readers. This is the first secret — to publish daily and not care about the gatekeepers. Care about your readers — the people you serve.
Secret 2: build your own tribe
Medium has convinced us to work for free, for them. This does’t mean you can’t take more-advantage of the perks available to Medium writers.
When you focus on big publications they have their own agendas. Many of them want to be the next Times, or whatever, so they won’t allow you to have self-serving links at the bottom of your stories.
It’s akin to working for free two levels deep.
The publication gets the benefits of your great story and all you get is the temporary partner income. When you publish your own stories, on your terms, you can use Easy Invites at the bottom of your stories.
When you have a valuable, free offer you build your own email list.
When you have your own email list you own your writing business. It’s not longer dependent on someone else’s platform. Building a tribe from your Medium stories is the best gift you can give your writing business.
Secret 3: write more of what works
Your own stats will leave clues. Even if you have a small following you have a readership. They like and dislike certain things. Don’t guess. Success leaves clues.
Use your stats.
Look for pieces of title phrases that worked well in the past. Incorporate those phrases in new titles. Don’t copy other writers. Copy yourself. Someone else’s readers may not respond the same as yours.
The worst thing you can do for yourself on Medium, is to try and be clever. I still don’t take my advice sometimes. Occasionally, I feel the need to be clever and none of those stories ever gain traction. Even with 8.5K followers.
Secret 4: don’t delete your stories that suck
It’s not up to you. Some of my best-performing stories are cringe-worthy. I would’ve deleted them long-ago if they didn’t earn me hundreds of dollars a year.
Let the bad ones sit. Keep publishing.
You can’t re-publish your old stories under a new title anyway. Medium has a way to find these. They’ll let you know. Might as well let the junk sleep where it is and move-on.
Secret 5: Medium is the long-game
The real money is in your email list, not the pennies-per-read partner program.
When we build our email list though our Medium content, one reader at a time, we can earn lifetime customers worth thousands of dollars, instead of six cents per read.
It’s time to make our writing work harder and smarter. Stop worrying so much about getting published in the big name places. You can make a lot more money, automatically, away from the platform.
I’ve got something. Just for you…
When you build a tribe around your best work, even if you’re starting-out, you’ve got an instant audience when you’re ready to fly.
I built a free email masterclass for you. I hand-crafted the whole thing. It took me a couple months. I call the masterclass the Tribe 1K.
I’ll show you how to get your first 1,000 (or your next 1,000) readers without spending a hot nickel on ads. Past students include New York Times bestselling authors. Yep, the ones you see in the bookstore.
Your email list will help you build a legacy creative business.
If you want to grow your creative business you need email before you lose that valuable reader. Start your list before you need one. Once you need a list it’s almost too late.
Guarantee your seat before I charge an enrollment fee.
We’re waiting for you.
Enroll in my Free Email Masterclass. Get Your First 1,000 Subscribers
August Birch (AKA the Book Mechanic) is both a fiction and non-fiction author from Michigan, USA. As a self-appointed email marketing expert for writers and creators, August helps indies make more work that sells and sell more work they make. The core of August’s process is your email list. When he’s not writing or thinking about writing, August hangs-out with his beautiful wife and handsome son, carries a pocket knife, and shaves his head with a safety razor.
