avatarChristopher Kokoski

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How I Make $15 Every Time I Write an Article on Medium

Sometimes I make more

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

I make $15 every time I write an article on Medium.

Actually, I usually make between $15 and $30 dollars, depending on the variables that I will make clear in this article. Sometimes I make up to $50 dollars or more.

Here’s the kicker: Medium doesn’t pay me the money.

You might be wondering if I make the money from affiliate income. Nope. I have nothing against an honest affiliate approach, I just haven’t dipped my toe in that water on Medium yet.

What about other people paying me to write articles for them? That is something I do, but it’s not how I make money every time I write a Medium blog post. It’s not the point of this article.

Although I am a full-time freelance writer, I’m fairly new to the Medium platform. What I know is that articles like this one don’t get curated and that many publications reject them outright.

Fair enough. But I still made at least $15 writing this article. So can you.

How Do I Make Money Writing Medium Articles?

The keyword is “writing". My simple strategy (truly, it’s a no-brainer) pays you for writing the article.

Yes, you don’t even have to publish your article to make money. You should publish, and publish often, but publishing content on Medium has nothing to do with my strategy.

I know, I know. It sounds too good to be true.

But I promise you it isn’t. I wouldn’t do that to you. I wouldn’t promise you something that I can’t deliver. When you hear my method, you might roll your eyes, but you will be able to take my approach and use it immediately.

So, if it’s not Medium earnings, affiliate income, contract writing gigs, or even publishing on Medium, what the heck is it? Magic?

The simple way I make money every time I write an article on Medium is to write the article while I’m getting paid to do something else.

I’m not talking about ripping off your employer or taking extra-long bathroom breaks to secretly type out stories in the locked restroom stall. I consider that stealing.

I’m talking about working smart, working efficiently, and applying compounding principles to ensure that you earn as much as possible for your efforts.

How to Monetize Your Time (Step-by-Step)

In short, my approach monetizes your time. How? By maximizing your output, ideas, and productivity.

Let me explain.

As a new writer on Medium, I don’t make much (yet) from each story. I’m working on building my content and audience on this platform, but that takes time.

Each article takes me between 1–2 hours to write, on average.

When I compared what I earn on Medium right now (pennies) to what I earn writing for my other contracts ($150 per hour), I felt motivated to figure out a solution.

Here are the straightforward steps I took to figure out my solution:

  1. Ask quality questions (questions direct our minds according to Fast Company)
  2. Apply lateral thinking (heck, as a writer, I’m supposed to be creative, right?)
  3. Apply the solution (over and over again)

Ask quality questions

If you want to raise the quality of your life, then start asking yourself quality questions. — Tony Robbins

In my personal experience, Tony Robbins is right. Every time I start asking myself better questions, my life gets better.

I asked myself, “What if could get paid to write Medium articles no matter how many claps, reads, or views I got?”

I also asked, “How else can I get paid to write articles on Medium?”

Apply lateral thinking

Now that I had the right questions, I put my writer's brain to work. I brainstormed as many ideas as possible, even if they sounded a bit crazy.

You already know my conclusion: write articles while I’m getting paid to do something else.

That, of course, reversed me to my first step. I had even more questions now. Questions like:

  • What can I do to get paid?
  • Where do I get paid to do nothing?
  • What content can I upcycle?

In his insightful article in Fast Company, Want To Know What Your Brain Does When It Hears A Question?, David Hoffeld says:

Questions trigger a mental reflex known as “instinctive elaboration.” When a question is posed, it takes over the brain’s thought process. And when your brain is thinking about the answer to a question, it can’t contemplate anything else.

Again, I brainstormed. I leveraged every ounce of lateral thinking to come up with a shortlist of ideas:

  • Write articles while I work a side hustle.
  • Write articles during paid breaks and lunches.

Since I’m a full-time freelance writer, I don’t get paid breaks. Therefore, I opted for a side hustle.

Apply the solution (over and over again)

When I landed on my solution, I immediately started to implement it.

Here’s exactly what I do: I write articles using voice-to-text directly into the Medium app on my phone between picking up passengers for Lyft or making food deliveries for Uber Eats.

It’s how I monetize my time. It’s how I make money every time I write an article on Medium. If I get tips or if there is a special bonus from Lyft or Uber, I earn even more money.

For now, I do it every time I write a Medium article. I’ll continue to do it until my Medium payments earn more than my side hustle.

Conclusion & Takeaway

Making money on Medium requires hard work and a long-term approach. But that doesn’t mean you must wait to get paid.

You can earn money right now by taking advantage of time monetization. You can write articles on your paid breaks or lunch. You can use voice-to-text to write articles while you work a side hustle.

Best of all, your Medium articles will also start making money each month. Some might make a lot of money.

That’s how you ethically, efficiently, and resourcefully monetize your Medium articles.

Thank you for reading!

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