Free AI web copilot to create summaries, insights and extended knowledge, download it at here

Abstract

ion, <a href="https://medium.com/an-injustice">An Injustice</a> published the article I wrote about <a href="https://readmedium.com/police-shoots-more-white-people-than-black-people-its-time-to-educate-the-karens-40472e32a811">police-shooting related racism</a> and <a href="https://readmedium.com/farmers-are-forced-to-dump-foods-while-food-banks-are-running-out-94b6bccc1a95">farmers dumping food during the pandemic</a>.But none of those articles made me a significant amount of money. Some of them brought in a few dollars, one piece made around $10, and others barely made it to one buck. I’m grateful for that, even If we’re talking about small amounts! The important lesson here is: publishing in large publications doesn’t guarantee the article’s success.Writing 47 article sounds insane. In my defense, a lot of them were written a month prior and were awaiting to be accepted. I <a href="https://readmedium.com/medium-challenge-365-days-of-writing-b46a1c1ce1c0">challenged myself</a> to write one article per day for the next year, and since some publications take time to respond, June ended up being the largest month quantity-wise.But I don’t recommend anyone to write that many stories. It should be quality over quantity.<h1 id="36bc">Should We Invest All Our Time and Expect a Return?</h1>I invested a lot of time and effort into every one of my articles. On average, it takes me 2 hours to write an article, but sometimes it can be 3 or 4. For humorous stories and poems, it’s often much less. But we all know that writing takes energy and time — the resources we need to invest in our craft. Most importantly, many of us pour our souls into writing.Did I pour my soul when writing about branding and reputation? Probably not. But did I give everything I had and every ounce of my energy into writing about <a href="https://readmedium.com/meet-the-woman-who-started-a-million-dollar-company-while-living-at-a-homeless-shelter-30d36e37499f">a homeless woman turning a millionaire</a>, <a href="https://readmedium.com/when-my-white-friends-are-being-racist-i-bring-up-hitler-8fe2eeba5720">racism among my friends</a> and <a href="https://readmedium.com/being-on-anti-depressants-turned-out-beneficial-during-quarantine-304892ce8506">my experience with depression</a>? Absolutely. I felt quite tired emotionally once I finished some of those articles.This is what we do: we write, and we love it. The truth is, we shouldn’t write hoping to earn a bunch of cash — it should come from the heart.<h1 id="9c02">Pure Luck: My First Semi-Viral Story</h1>The truth behind my success during the second month on Medium is extremely simple: one of my articles went semi-viral. Here it is: <a href="https://readmedium.com/15-lessons-of-a-deeply-miserable-relationship-what-i-learned-4cd1f6c1a2ae">“15 Lessons of a Deeply Miserable Relationship: What I Learned”</a>.I’m not particularly sure what

Options

is considered viral, semi-viral, or if there are other definitions and criteria. At this point, the article in question has almost 15,000 views, and it gained around 10,000 in the very first week — do we consider that semi-viral on Medium?Well, in my eyes, it exploded. As I’m writing this, some of my stories are barely reaching 1,000 views, so for me, it was a huge success.Here’s the funny part: the publication that posted this article had barely over 1,000 subscribers when I submitted my story to them. Right now, they have more, and if I contributed to it with my work — I’m extremely happy to be of service.It wasn’t the article The StartUp selected. It wasn’t any other large pub — on the contrary, it was a very small one. Yet, the story gained a lot of reads.Once the curators noticed this article, it suddenly started gaining a ton of views:<figure id="9c95"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*dMzPDcAZNGGEjpqzumx9UQ.png"><figcaption>Screenshot from author’s Stats</figcaption></figure>It was also recommended by Medium, which was probably the main reason for such attention. Although some of my older articles got recommended as well, this one is the first story that became semi-viral.Out of $473.64 last month, this article brought in $ 323.61. It means that the other 46 articles made me $150 — around$ 3.26. If we assume that I spend an average of 2 hours per article, I’m currently making $1.63 per hour. But let’s not go there!I already proclaimed that <a href="https://readmedium.com/i-will-make-it-on-medium-in-one-year-watch-me-bf88aa1fa74c">I’m going to make it on Medium in one year</a> — let’s see if it happens. This semi-viral article is giving me hope.<h1 id="71cd">What I Learned</h1>If I were to conclude what I learned from this experience, here’s a list:<ul><li>you never know which article is going to attract attention and go viral.</li><li>you don’t necessarily have to publish your stories through large publications to gain a lot of views. Publishing in a small pub might end up bringing in more earnings.</li><li>while writing about trendy topics is great; it may not be the article that gets views. Right now, politics and science are trending, but my largest article so far got curated into “relationships.”</li><li>it might be a good idea to stop trying to predict what topic gets you more attention because you never know. There is probably a correlation between writers’ success and topics, but it’s also a gamble.</li><li>write because you love it, not to make money. Otherwise, you will be disappointed.</li></ul>I hope that it helps or at least motivates some of you to continue your journey on this platform. It might be frustrating sometimes, but Medium is a mysterious place that recognizes our potential.Don’t forget: sometimes it’s all about luck.</article></body>

How I Made Almost $500 in My Second Month on Medium

Was I lucky? Or was I working hard?

I joined Medium in the middle of April without any writing experience. I don’t have a background in journalism or publishing, nor have I ever written anything in my life besides college essays. Despite that, I managed to earn almost $500 in my second month on this platform.

How did I do that? Was it just luck? Was it my hard work? Today, I would like to share my experience. Hopefully, it can come in handy for others looking to succeed on Medium and other platforms on the Internet.

Show Me the Cash: How Much Did I Make?

I barely made anything in April, as I only spent two weeks on this website. May was much better, although I still don’t make too much. But this is a screenshot from my earnings for June, and the amount is much higher compared to the previous months:

Only when $473.64 was directly deposited into my bank account, I believed I actually earned that money. My second month! I still have a hard time accepting it.

But it wasn’t really surprising? If you look at what happened in June, it’s not that’s shocking.

The Hard Work and Large Publications

In the month of June, I published 47 articles. Yes, you heard it correctly: a whopping 47 stories. Publications, including large ones, posted most of them. Better Marketing published my article about Shia LaBeouf; the Post-Grad Survival Guide accepted my stories regarding paying rent during COVID-19 and work abuse. I’ve been having a love affair with The StartUp since the moment I registered on Medium, and they liked my articles about San Francisco, work exploitation and how to build your brand. Not to mention, An Injustice published the article I wrote about police-shooting related racism and farmers dumping food during the pandemic.

But none of those articles made me a significant amount of money. Some of them brought in a few dollars, one piece made around $10, and others barely made it to one buck. I’m grateful for that, even If we’re talking about small amounts! The important lesson here is: publishing in large publications doesn’t guarantee the article’s success.

Writing 47 article sounds insane. In my defense, a lot of them were written a month prior and were awaiting to be accepted. I challenged myself to write one article per day for the next year, and since some publications take time to respond, June ended up being the largest month quantity-wise.

But I don’t recommend anyone to write that many stories. It should be quality over quantity.

Should We Invest All Our Time and Expect a Return?

I invested a lot of time and effort into every one of my articles. On average, it takes me 2 hours to write an article, but sometimes it can be 3 or 4. For humorous stories and poems, it’s often much less. But we all know that writing takes energy and time — the resources we need to invest in our craft. Most importantly, many of us pour our souls into writing.

Did I pour my soul when writing about branding and reputation? Probably not. But did I give everything I had and every ounce of my energy into writing about a homeless woman turning a millionaire, racism among my friends and my experience with depression? Absolutely. I felt quite tired emotionally once I finished some of those articles.

This is what we do: we write, and we love it. The truth is, we shouldn’t write hoping to earn a bunch of cash — it should come from the heart.

Pure Luck: My First Semi-Viral Story

The truth behind my success during the second month on Medium is extremely simple: one of my articles went semi-viral. Here it is: “15 Lessons of a Deeply Miserable Relationship: What I Learned”.

I’m not particularly sure what is considered viral, semi-viral, or if there are other definitions and criteria. At this point, the article in question has almost 15,000 views, and it gained around 10,000 in the very first week — do we consider that semi-viral on Medium?

Well, in my eyes, it exploded. As I’m writing this, some of my stories are barely reaching 1,000 views, so for me, it was a huge success.

Here’s the funny part: the publication that posted this article had barely over 1,000 subscribers when I submitted my story to them. Right now, they have more, and if I contributed to it with my work — I’m extremely happy to be of service.

It wasn’t the article The StartUp selected. It wasn’t any other large pub — on the contrary, it was a very small one. Yet, the story gained a lot of reads.

Once the curators noticed this article, it suddenly started gaining a ton of views:

It was also recommended by Medium, which was probably the main reason for such attention. Although some of my older articles got recommended as well, this one is the first story that became semi-viral.

Out of $473.64 last month, this article brought in $323.61. It means that the other 46 articles made me $150 — around $3.26. If we assume that I spend an average of 2 hours per article, I’m currently making $1.63 per hour. But let’s not go there!

I already proclaimed that I’m going to make it on Medium in one year — let’s see if it happens. This semi-viral article is giving me hope.

What I Learned

If I were to conclude what I learned from this experience, here’s a list:

you never know which article is going to attract attention and go viral.
you don’t necessarily have to publish your stories through large publications to gain a lot of views. Publishing in a small pub might end up bringing in more earnings.
while writing about trendy topics is great; it may not be the article that gets views. Right now, politics and science are trending, but my largest article so far got curated into “relationships.”
it might be a good idea to stop trying to predict what topic gets you more attention because you never know. There is probably a correlation between writers’ success and topics, but it’s also a gamble.
write because you love it, not to make money. Otherwise, you will be disappointed.

I hope that it helps or at least motivates some of you to continue your journey on this platform. It might be frustrating sometimes, but Medium is a mysterious place that recognizes our potential.

Don’t forget: sometimes it’s all about luck.