How I Earned $1,906.27 in June 2021

Income report: how much I wrote and what my earnings were.

I’ve been writing on Medium since May 2020, and so far, I have been very transparent about the results. I get it: most parents tell their kids it’s rude to ask how much you earn, and many other money-related questions too. As a financier and someone passionate about finances, let me tell you: it’s the worst advice ever, especially in the artistic field. Writing is an art, and art doesn’t always have to be free. In fact, everyone should get paid for their work.

Medium has become an important part of my journey to financial security and independence. Will I retire at the age of 40 or even sooner, thanks to this platform? Maybe. Do I have an extra emergency fund or start saving for a down payment thanks to writing? Yes, and yes. Whether you like it or not, writing can change your life, so does getting paid for your craft and passion.

I made $1,906.27 in June 2021, and let me share with you how I did it. Maybe you can get something useful out of this, and you may learn some new tricks from the comment section. Ready? Let’s roll.

The Magic Is in the Numbers

Amount earned: $1,906.27 USD

Timeline: June 1 — June 30, 2021

New articles posted: 9

Articles published to date: 208

Medium monthly bonus: $500 USD

New viral articles in June 2021: 1

The last line says it all. Out of 9 articles published on June, 1 went viral Everyone has a different definition of “viral,” so let me show you why I consider this particular peace a viral one. Here’s the article in question:

And here is a screenshot of how much money it made me so far, with most of it being from June:

Out of $1,460.65 earned so far (not counting the bonus), I received $1,216.79 in that particular month:

As you can see, I only had two other articles bring in a little bit of income:

Many others earned me a few dollars here and there. I published over 200 stories to date, so it sure feels good to see many of them bring in a little bit of income, even if it’s $1–5 per month.

Let’s Unpack This for a Moment

I want to be blatantly honest about what happened that month:

1. I wrote an article about a topic I was passionate about.
2. The topic I chose happened to be a very controversial one — about women proposing to men.
3. I chose a somewhat clickbait-y title. A moment of honesty here: I didn’t do it to clickbait anyone; I was simply experimenting with titles. As you can see, it paid off.
4. I wrote on one of two topics I usually explore on Medium: Relationships. If you’re familiar with my portfolio, the two main topics I explore are Relationships (plus, Love, Dating, Sexuality, Family) and Money (plus, Business, Finance, Entrepreneurship).

More than a few Medium writers keep repeating the same mantra: choose a few topics that interest you the most and write about them. Why? Because your readers will come back to read your work, and the more stories you have to interest them, the better it is. If you write about 38 different things, people may not follow you as much. You need to find a niche.

Another moment of honesty here: I didn’t come to Medium to write about dating and relationships at all. I actually joined to talk about mental health and finances. Well, at least I stuck with finances! But I also happen to have a ton of silly dating stories a bunch of friends whose stories are too good not to share. I’m pretty much a real-life Reddit thread on r/horrible_relationships if there is one (maybe I should start such a thread).

So, what happened in June? I simply wrote a dating-related story with a catchy headline, and people were reading it. If you check the comment section, there’s a pretty active discussion there, ranging from some calling me toxic and sexist to other commentators labelling them incels. I’ll be honest with you: I’m not happy about starting a yelling contest in the comments. I’d rather not have any negativity at all, but… we’re on the Internet, and I wrote about something extremely controversial.

Conclusion

To sum this up, the main reason I succeeded in June 2021 was that I wrote a story with a clickbait-kind-of-title, which amounted to 64% of my monthly earnings. To add to that, it was probably one of the reasons I got the $500 bonus, although I’ve been fortunate enough to be receiving those since April.

What is the lesson here? I suppose, here’s my formula for success so far:

1. Pick your niche on Medium: one, two or three topics.
2. Write articles primarily in that niche.
3. Choose a topic people have very different opinions on.
4. Come up with an appealing title.
5. Select the right publication — I published my article in the same pub which hosts ALL of my viral and semi-viral articles.
6. Watch what happens.

I sincerely hope this helps some Medium writers get a little bit of clarity on what’s happening on the platform, how to make money here, and what some writers do to succeed. I shall continue sharing my financial successes and failures with you — stay tuned.