How I Made $400 on Medium in 10 Days With 1 Article

A complete breakdown of how it happened

My article, The Science of Better Blowjobs, made $400 in 10 days. It’s still making around $20 per day.

None of my other articles are making anywhere close to that amount of money — yet. The closest is my other article on blowjobs at $36.21 so far.

On a side note, I almost titled this article, “How I Made $400 From Blowjobs” but I worried about misinterpretation. 😆 On another side note, my gorgeous girlfriend said that I should be called “The Blowjob King” and I will definitely tickle-torture her for that one.

I’m using my blowjob article as a case study so that we can reverse-engineer why it went semi-viral. There are definitely lessons for us to learn.

Here are the main lessons:

• Write articles about topics popular on Medium
• Publish in a publication focused on your topic
• Follow all guidelines so that your article can be distributed on Medium
• Promote your article inside and outside of Medium
• Boost your article by linking back to it in other articles

Those are the big ideas, but the specifics matter on Medium. So, let’s dig into exactly how you can replicate my process to write your own high-earning articles.

Here’s My Proof of Earnings

Anyone can call themselves The Blowjob King on the internet, but only a few can provide actual proof — of earnings, at least.

Here are the current analytics and earnings for my article:

As you can see, my article has made $430.20 so far. Since I’ve published it, the article has made no less than about $20 per day.

I’m sure that won't’ last forever, but I’m not complaining.

Other Analytics That Matter

I don’t know about you, but I’m a data nerd. I think all of the information matters, so here is a quick list of other data on this article:

• Title length: 5 Words, 30 characters with spaces
• Article Length: 1,744 words (7-minute reading time)
• Views (so far): 7.8K
• Average reading time: 5 minutes and 36 seconds
• Member reading time: 265 hr 45 min
• Internal views from within Medium: 6.9K (89%)
• External views from outside of Medium: 881 (11%)
• It was published on January 12th, 2021
• It was picked up for distribution on Medium on January 13th, 2021

To put the data in perspective, here’s the Blowjob article in full:

Takeaways:

• Use shorter titles
• Write articles with approximately 7 minutes of reading time
• Focus on writing articles that Medium members want to read
• Focus on promoting the article for internal Medium views instead of external views
• Follow all Medium guidelines so that your article has the best chance of getting distributed on Medium

How I Chose My Topic

I chose the topic by studying the inside data of Medium.com. I plugged Medium into the “Site Explorer” feature on my paid keyword search tool, Ahrefs, to find the most popular pages.

The term “blowjobs” showed up in the top ten most visited pages on the platform. One of the Medium articles shows up on the first-page search results for blowjobs on Google.

Therefore, I chose to write an article focused on the keyword “blowjobs”.

Consequently, the top pages and keywords on Medium change quickly. Here are the current top ten keywords:

1. Medium
2. Microsoft 365
3. Ikigai
4. Amwf
5. Isaac wright
6. Informative speech topics
7. 444 meaning
8. Encryption
9. Copy and paste symbols
10. How to unblur course hero

These keywords drive tons of traffic to Medium — and to the articles focused on those topics.

Takeaways:

• Use keyword and topic search tools to find popular topics on Medium
• Ahrefs is a paid search tool you can try (but it is expensive at $90 per month)
• Free search tools you can use are ExplodingTopics, Google Trends, Keywordshitter, and Seedkeywords.

Here is an article about other topics that get massive traffic each month:

How I Chose My Title

I chose my title — The Science of Better Blowjobs — based on data on effective titles, search engine optimization (SEO), and Medium guidelines.

• Effective titles are short, clear, and “sexy”
• SEO calls for titles with keywords
• Medium distribution requires clear, correctly styled headlines that avoid clickbait
• Medium guidelines call for topics with evidence to support them

What I did was to write the clearest and simplest headline I could think of for the article. I knew Medium seems to like science-backed articles, so I stuck the word “science” front-and-center.

Plus, I thought a blowjob article based on science would differentiate my article from other articles on the subject.

I used the word “Better,” which I suppose qualifies as a “power word.” Power words get more clicks. I aim to add one to all of my titles.

In full disclosure, I worried a lot about my title. I thought it was too simple and, for lack of a better term, boring AF.

And maybe it is all of those things. However, it still works.

I truly believe that my title is one of the reasons Medium picked it up for distribution.

Takeaways:

• Craft short titles
• Put keywords into your title
• Use power words (here is a list of 700 power words)
• Make your title clear and accurate
• Don’t be afraid of a simple (even boring) title
• Avoid clickbait at all costs (unless it’s humor or otherwise intentional)

How I Chose My Story Image

I chose the image for my article just as carefully as I chose the topic and title. From research into what makes a good image on and off Medium, I chose a simple, unique, and provocative visual.

According to a study published in The Journal of Marketing, “viral” images:

• Include characters (such as babies, animals, and celebrities)
• Arouse strong emotions
• Tell a story
• Include a surprise

First, I created my image using my pro account on canva.com. I wanted the image to be extremely unique, colorful, and surprising.

That’s why I went with an animated gif of a mouth blowing a bubble with bubblegum.

The image felt clear and accurate to me, another way to subconsciously inform the reader about the subject of the article. Not to mention that the mouth and “blowing” action relate suggestively to the topic of “blowjobs.”

Finally, I hoped the movement of the gif might grab attention on Medium. My theory was that more attention might correlate to more views.

Takeaways:

• Use unique images your reader has not seen before
• Use colorful, clear images
• Use relevant images that further clarify the topic of your article
• Use symbolism and positive associations (in my case, associations with sex)
• Use images that arouse strong emotion
• Consider using animations and gifs

How I Did My Research

To research the article, I relied heavily on Google. I read scores of articles on the subject, then turned to scholarly journals.

Since my article focuses on science-based tips, I needed to dig into the nitty-gritty research on blowjobs. So I hopped over to Google Scholar. On this site, you can find evidence-based studies on almost any topic.

As I’m conducting research, I make note of any interesting and unique ideas for my article. I don’t want to write generic tips or stories everyone has already heard in other articles.

My goal is always to choose the best of the best information backed by research and, when possible, personal experience.

In this case, personal experience was by far the most fun 😉(I love you, baby).

Takeaways:

• Google your topic and read all of the articles on the first-page search results (called the SERP)
• Make note of unique ideas for your article
• Use Google Scholar to find research on your topic
• Cite several reputable sources in your article
• Whenever possible, get personal experience with the topic

Where I Published My Most Popular Article

I published The Science of Better Blowjobs in the Heart Affairs publication. If you don’t know it, it’s a publication focused on sex, dating, love, and relationships.

Currently, Heart Affairs has 2.9K followers.

Before I published this article, I had already published several other articles in the publication that have made me money. In fact, I published my second most popular article, Blowjob Science is Clear: You Should Swallow, in this same publication.

Therefore, I figured my latest article on blowjobs would do at least as well.

In my limited experience on Medium, where you publish really matters. Bigger publications usually mean more views, reads, and earnings.

However, the most important aspect of publications seems to be their topic or topics of focus. An article about veganism in a publication about eating as much meat as possible likely won’t do well.

Takeaways:

• Submit your article to a publication focused on the topic of your piece
• Study the publication’s guidelines, preferences, and audience to ensure a good fit
• Submit to bigger publications but choose relevance over audience size

How I Promoted My Article on Medium

Since Medium earnings focus on member reading time (at least for now), I focused my promotion on Medium.

All of the strategies mentioned in this article helped my article earn more money — choosing a popular topic, crafting a clickable title, choosing a provocative image, etc.

The following are additional ways that I promoted my article:

• Tagged my story with relevant popular tags — Sex, Sexuality, Dating, Love, and Relationships
• Posted a link to my article on Facebook
• Posted a link to my article on Twitter
• Posted a link to my article on Pinterest
• Included a link to my article in my weekly email newsletter
• Linked to my article in several other Medium articles (including this one)
• I responded to every comment to engage with my audience
• I used basic SEO by placing my keyword “blowjobs” in my title, image ALT description, meta description, and body of my article.

Takeaways:

• Focus on promoting inside of Medium to get more member reads
• Promote outside of Medium on social media to expand your traffic
• Link to your popular articles to boost their momentum (Choose one article at a time to promote)
• Apply basic SEO
• Respond to comments with personal, thoughtful engagement

Suggested read:

Final Thoughts

There’s everything I did to earn $400 from one article in 10 days. Well, that and sacrifice a new Medium writer to the curation gods.

But I’m sure that had nothing to do with it.

If you asked me what I think are the main reasons for the success of my article, this is what I would say:

• Choose a topic that is popular on Medium (sex, technology, current events, controversy, etc.)
• Write the best damn article on the topic (at least make that your mission)
• Follow all of Medium’s curation guidelines so that you give your article the best chance for distribution
• Craft a simple, clear, and curiosity-triggering title that avoids clickbait
• Write something personal, unique, and highly informative or entertaining — or both

With any luck, we’ll all write something that blows up next month.

Thank you for reading! You are awesome 😍. Keep in touch.