How Did I Make 1000$ from My 3 Minute Medium Story in Less Than 40 Days

Everything I Know About Writing a Viral Story on Medium

Writing on Medium is very different from writing a blog post or a commissioned post. First things first, you do the writing here for yourself — because it drives you, and makes you happy — regardless of the kind of pay you get. Secondly, knowing that your article would make some money- be it 0.1$ or 10$, is fun. It almost feels like playing spin the wheel like in carnivals — not knowing where the wheel is going to stop, but know that it is going to stop and it’s going to feel excellent — regardless of the time it takes.

If you are anything like me, you are not in this for money. You are in this for the thrill of writing and making money by trial and the error method. If there is any pay, you are happy and if there isn’t you are more satisfied — because you know you will have to try something else to have a better shot.

After being on this platform for a while and being active for a couple of months, one thing is for sure Medium does not like mediocre or baseless writing. Anything you write has to be backed up by serious data and facts that can’t be denied. Your writing style must be attractive and should benefit the reader. Nobody enjoys Dear Diary kind of stories. Even if you are writing for yourself, your articles must help the average readers and provide value to them.

Now that I have stated the obvious let’s dig into the details of the story that made me more than 1000$ in less than 40 days.

Quick Background Details

I do not consistently publish on Medium. I try. But it’s impossible to produce incredible stories every single day and publish. I have read over a bazillion articles to figure out which is better: quality or quantity. At the end of the day, quality trumps over quantity.

Always.

So, I write every single day but do not publish every single day. I aim for three days for one article — one day for writing, one for editing, and one of polishing. I am still a novice at all of this, and I am still trying to figure out things as it goes.

This article of mine that suddenly went ‘viral overnight’ was my 35th article on Medium. It took me 45 minutes to write, edit, and polish this particular article. As compared to the other items I wrote in the past, this article took me a fraction of the time I invested in others.

I had written and published one article in April, ten articles in July, eleven articles in August, fourteen articles in September. As for the pay, this is how much I made each month.

The Stats Details

On 29th September 2020, my story Four Things Ancient Humans Had That We Don’t was published in the publication History of Yesterday.

I don’t have the stats screenshot for the same day. However, I remember that my total views on Medium before that story was below 2.5k and the total followers I had just hit 200.

But the day after my story was published, the stats were something like this.

To say that I was elated is an understatement. I was almost going to reach 5000 total views and had gained 20 more followers overnight. Crazy!

This is how the graphs turned out on the third and fourth day after publishing the story. My Medium stats as of today (on 39th day of publishing that story) is:

The Story Details

This is how the story stats look.

So far, the story has over 30k views, lifetime member reading time of over 400+ hours, and has made me 1000 USD. This averages to 30 USD every single day since the story has been published.

Here, I have broken down the details of every single day — of how much I made day wise, the number of interview views my article had, and the total member reading time for that day.

Notice how at the start, for instance, on day 1, my story had a member reading time of 2 hours (let’s overlook the minutes’ data for simplicity) and earned only 3.19$. Much later, on the 18th, 20th, and the 21st day, my story still had approximately 2 hours read, but this time I made 17.59$, 15.62$, 19.53$ respectively.

What Had I Done Different This Time?

• For starters, for the first time, I didn't overthink the topic. I knew I enjoyed reading about ancient people, and I wrote something like that for an audience that would enjoy the same as I do. I imagined myself as the reader first and writer the second—easy peasy lemon squeezy.

• I spent a considerable amount of time choosing the cover image for the story. I searched on Unsplash, Pixabay, and Google advanced image search engine. I first typed in the keywords in the search engine for the kind of images I wanted for my article. Then I scrolled down each the entire web-page in quick succession — without pausing or thinking. While I scrolled down at a fast pace, I shortlisted the ones that caught my attention or made me pause scrolling down. Then, I chose the one that felt most relevant to the content of my story.
• I also spend quite a while coming up with the kind of heading that would force maximum people to click. I knew it had to be clickbait enough to be clicked, and relevant enough to be read. That’s important. Writing clickbait headings is one thing, but living up to the expectations is another. The is a thin line between the two and I worked on that.
• It was a big step for me to include a bold statement like ‘things ancient humans had but we don’t’ in the heading. As I said, I chose to think as a reader first and then a writer. If I were to read a heading like this, I would wonder: How on earth is it possible that ancient people had things that we don’t? Aren’t we more advanced than them? Aren’t we at the pinnacle of human evolution? Hmm.. maybe I should click and find out. Did you notice what I did there? I created a sense of curiosity for the readers and promised to answer their questions. Most importantly, I made sure to live up to those expectations.
• Notice how I chose to include the word ‘we’ in the heading. I have noticed that I tend to click on those headings far more often that include ‘we’ or ‘you’ in it because I feel more involved. I am sure it’s the same with most people. I chose to tap into that fact.
• Finally, I submitted the article in a publication that is the best fit for it. I didn't waste time promoting anywhere. I simply focussed on what I would like to read and worked my article that way — keeping the Medium curation policy in mind.

The 9 Takeaways

1. You could have written the best article ever, perhaps it could be even your best work on this platform and would have gotten a few views. Don’t leave writing right away. Your first works are not always going to be a big hit. Any popular writer you see here have gone through years of the writing process before taking off as an established writer. Your first few articles with minimal views don’t say anything at all about your writing potential. Neither does one viral piece either.
2. Constantly remind yourself of your motivation and why you joined this platform in the first place. If you really want some of your pieces to do good, then keep striving until the end. I have seen most people whine after writing a couple of articles. The competition here on Medium is stiff. That’s the best part about it, I feel. Don’t make others your competition — compete against yourself. Strive to better your articles one at a time.
3. You don’t have to publish every single day to get more views or make more money. It’s almost impossible to create masterpieces every single day. All you can do is write every day, but publish only when you feel the article is ready. Quality always wins over quantity — even when you are just starting out.
4. Keep repeating the mantra: cover image, heading, and backed up content. Your cover image is going to attract eyes, your heading will provoke readers to click, and your content backed up by relevant sources will make them stay.
5. Write contents that are unique. Everybody writes self-help articles here. Choose topics that will make you stand out as a writer. Most importantly, select topics that would pique your interest as a reader.
6. How much you are paid on Medium has nothing to do with the number of articles you publish, but has everything to do with the kind of content you provide — unique, relevant, and helpful.
7. Remember the 2 hours of member reading time but with varying pay, I mentioned above? That happened because I didn't merely attract the eyes of normal readers’ eyes. My article also managed to attract the eyes of history and science buffs who are here to only read such articles — relevant to their field. That is how the amount I earned every hour increased.
8. For instance, there are many people who read marketing articles, and there are even more people who write under this category. This then increases both the readership crowd and the competition among the writers. That is, 5$ from one Medium member gets divided among all the writers. However, if you write pieces related to categories like feminism or virtual design — that have fewer writers, then the chances of you making bigger bucks increases.
9. Finally, trust your instincts at every step and go with it. There is no right way or wrong way. I too have a long way to go, as you do. Don’t worry about the money or the views. Worry about the process and putting in your best efforts into it. The money will eventually come to you.