How I Made My First $100 Writing On Medium

I’ve been writing on Medium for a little over six months now, with articles hosted in over a dozen publications, including The Startup, Curious, The Post — Grad Survival Guide, Illumination, Illumination — Curated, Making A Millionaire, and plenty others.

I learned quite a bit over the last six months, which is why I’m writing this post now; not to brag about how I made my first $100 — as we all know, that’s really not much — but to share what I’ve learned.

To start, I’ll share what I’ve made over the last few months, as well as what I did to make as much as I did. Then, to end it off, I’ll share my most valuable lessons gained.

My Earnings So Far

Month 1–3

I posted three stories in mid-June but saw few results, so I left it alone — hence, I made nothing. The thing is, it’s almost impossible to post a story or two without making at least a few cents. If I learned anything from the first few months, it’s to pitch to publications.

In the beginning, I recommend pitching to small/medium sized publications, which is how you’ll get your first few followers. Without followers and publications, you’ll get zero views.

If you feel comfortable enough pitching your work to big publications, then do it; however, some larger publications won’t even consider accepting your work until you’ve actively written on Medium for a while and have built up a decent following.

Month 4

I completely forgot that I was paying monthly for my Medium subscription. When I realized that I was, I decided to make something from it, so I got back into writing and made $6 — enough to pay for my monthly subscription. However, I posted an average of 2–3 articles per day, around 60 articles by the end of the month.

Putting in that much work for a measly $6 was discouraging, to say the least.

If anything, my most valuable lesson gained this month was to write for my passion, not for the money.

Month 5

I made $18 in October, which isn’t much, but it’s three times what I made the month before. Isn’t that something! I was still publishing a consistent 2–3 articles per day, but I was growing a following and pitching to a wider variety of publications. My articles went from an average of $0.20–$0.30 to an average of $0.50–$1.00.

Month 6

One of my articles (I Published Over 150 Stories On Medium) was accepted into The Startup

another (How To Become A Master Salesman)was featured on the front page of The Post — Grad Survival Guide.

These two posts made over $70 combined and are still bringing in an average of $2-$3 articles per day. In fact, over 90% of my income earned on Medium has come from those two articles, which taught me that the bigger the publication, the more money you’ll make. I also tripled my following in a week simply by having these two articles hosted with larger publications.

Month 7

This month, so far, I’m at about $20, which — for the most part — all came from the two articles that were hosted in large publications last month. In total, I’ve made over $100 since September, but I feel like I’ll hit $100 this month alone, finally joining the ranks of the 10% top earners on Medium.

I’m learning that the key to making a successful income on Medium is to pitch to big publications. The bigger, the better. We can no longer rely on curation for exposure.

Most Valuable Lessons Gained

• Pitch to big publications — so big they scare you.
• Spend more time editing than writing. Your first draft is usually meant for you, so the goal of editing should be to make it for the reader. Every hour spent writing should be followed by at least an hour of editing.
• Follow and read the works of other successful writers. Identify formats that work. Follow a few successful writers on Medium, like Ayodeji Awosika and Tim Denning. Study their work and try to identify what it is that makes them successful.
• Practice, practice, practice. Like with all things, practice makes perfect. At least 8 out of every 10 of my articles were rejected by publications in the beginning. As my writing got better, slowly, I started seeing improved results; publications started to accept my work more often, with less necessary revision.