How I Earn Over $1,000 Per Month On Medium

…and why it doesn’t matter

There’s a dark corner of Medium that likes to talk about money, because earnings get eyeballs. Money gives us a dopamine squirt. But, when we use the platform as a means to an end, we’re leaving the bigger money on the table. I’ll explain in a minute…

I love writing for Medium.

This up-and-coming platform has brought me new opportunities, never afforded elsewhere. I love the payment model (as magical as curating may seem). And I believe most creators on this platform are sincere folks, who mean well, and want to help others.

But Medium isn’t a means to an end.

Yes, there is a very small group of people who make a great living on this platform. Of the tens of thousands on the platform, I’d be willing to bet this is fewer than 20 people. For the rest of us, instead of posting how discouraged we are with the platform, how little we earn each month, or how we can get curated — let’s use Medium’s baked-in audience for good.

As a writer, when you use this platform to the best of its abilities, you can build an entire business on your own platform, using your article tags (and big publications) to help sort Medium readers into a tribe you wish to serve.

Instead of asking Medium to pay your mortgage, ask it to build your platform. This is the fishing pole versus the salmon plate.

Medium is the only platform I know of, that will pay you real money to build your own email list, without you paying a penny in advertising. Sure, we create all the content, which helps grow their site. But, by using locked-posts, you can earn money while you build your own list.

Medium pays me well-over a thousand dollars every month to help me build a platform I own. And this isn’t some trick. They welcome the practice.

Why we need to own our platform

If all your readers live on Medium, Medium owns your traffic. Your account can disappear any day. They can change the payment terms any time they wish (and they have, many times). Medium controls who sees your content, when they see it, and in what order they see it.

If I based all my income on this platform I’d be very nervous.

When you own your customer platform, you control the message, the delivery sequence, the frequency, and the way you engage. If you set it up this way, every new person who joins your list will get the same, measured experience.

Not so, with Medium.

Here, we’ve got a different experience for every reader, based on her behavior. You can have 10,000 followers, but those numbers don’t matter if you can’t encourage people to read your work.

Email platforms take hard work to do well. The process is slow, but worth it. All the income is on the back-end, through automated sales, and through a long-term relationship you create by serving your customers as best you can.

When you own your platform no one can take your business from you.

Whether you write, paint, film, or code — as an indie creator, you’ve got to own your platform. Medium has given us a priceless opportunity, but we’ve got to take action ourselves. Most won’t. But you might.

You must decide who you wish to serve

I write every day. I publish almost every day. Sometimes multiple times per day. I don’t have much control over the curation process, but I do my best to create interesting content that attracts the people I wish to serve.

I don’t write in fifty different directions. I niche as far as I can.

My content is deliberate. Everything starts with a good title. I want to attract those I wish to serve and repel those I don’t. Some of the people who enjoy my content join my tribe. These become the people with whom I can build a long-term business relationship.

The monthly article income is a bonus.

Yes, this is a ton of work, but Medium allows me to double-dip. Not only do I earn money for sorting and serving the people I wish to serve, but I’m also paid to grow my own list.

The partnership money is a bonus, but the real income comes from earning a new customer for life.

Writing on Medium can become a hamster wheel of content-generation if you’re not careful. If it’s your only source of income, it can make your writing sound desperate.

If you take a daily deliberate approach to build your customer list, the Medium money will be a bonus.

It’s time to build a business you own, so you’re no longer at the mercy of a giant platform to deliver your monthly income. It’s a dangerous light switch that can be flipped-off any moment. Kind of like having a day job.

Instead, if you serve them well, your tribe will feed you for life (it’s that whole one-thousand true fans thing).

… and if you want to build your tribe now, so you’ll have a lifetime audience as you launch your future work. This should be a list you own (instead of relying on Medium). Tap the link below. Enroll in my Tribe 1K indie email masterclass. I’ll show you how to get your first 1,000 subscribers (and your next 1,000) without spending one hot nickel on ads.

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 guardian of writers and creators, August teaches indies how to make work that sells and how to sell more of that work once it’s created. When he’s not writing or thinking about writing, August carries a pocket knife and shaves his head with a safety razor.