How I Started Making 600USD+ Monthly on Medium
Ten tips for writing engaging content and growing exponentially
I thought my world would collapse. In March 2020, I got myself locked alone at home in a foreign country. I was frightened. Everything was uncertain. Reality was harsh, yet I had to deal with it. I found my escape from this dreadful situation in writing.
One of my deepest passions is exchanging insights with other people. Back to the time when I lived in Brazil, my best moments were giving lessons at the MBA. I guess I learned more than the students. Rich exchanges motivate me significantly. That’s why I thought writing could be an excellent alternative to occupy my head during the challenging moment I was facing.
“Pain + Reflection = Progress” ― Ray Dalio, Principles
My goal was to share something relevant to the Product Management community. I wanted to share my learnings from multiple failures. I wanted to help people avoid the embarrassing situations I faced due to a lack of knowledge. What was supposed to be an escape turned out to be a profitable hobby, generating 600USD+ monthly.
Let me share a little bit of my writing stories with you and ten tips to become a top writer.
“Write to express, not to impress” — Ali Mese
My Writing Story on Medium
It was summer 2019 when I decided to share my insights on Medium. Initially, I chose to write in my mother language, Portuguese. I wrote a couple of stories monthly until the end of November. Then, I stopped. I was unsure if readers could benefit from my content.
Readers didn’t engage with my first stories. Something was missing, and I didn’t know what it was.
In Winter 2020, with the Covid-19 outbreak, my life changed dramatically. I couldn’t be with the people I love. I couldn’t go to work. Here I was, locked in my apartment 24h a day. I decided to give a second shot to writing. But at this time, I chose to write in English. I hoped to reach a larger audience and help them somehow.
In 2020, from March until December, every week, I wrote a minimum of two stories. I will be honest with you; I didn’t research how Medium works or how to reach a greater audience whatsoever. I just wanted to share relevant insights for the Product Management Community. My initial approach was:
- Write a story with applicable insights for the Product Management Community.
- Publish the story on my timeline.
- Publish the story on LinkedIn.
Once again, my stories didn’t get much attention until my fourth post. After that, It was the moment when I was invited to publish on UX Collective. It’s a bit embarrassing, but I was clueless about how Medium worked. I followed some publications but never thought about publishing with them. Publishing with major publications was the tipping point. After it, the engagement with my stories grew exponentially.
UX Collective community coached me on how to write better stories. I am grateful for the endless tips Fabricio Teixeira gave me. I understood how to generate better content for the Product Management Community.
A month after I joined the UX Collective, I started publishing in multiple publications. I found my place with the Serious Scrum Community, where Willem-Jan Ageling invited me to become an Editor. The invitation thrilled me.
In March, I felt I would be depressed. In May, I was a top writer on five different themes, and I received the opportunity to help other people improve their stories.
I neither chased growth nor money. I kept pursuing my goal: to share relevant content with the Product Management Community. You can see my current stats and payment stream in the following images.
Writing was my escape from reality. Now it’s a profitable hobby. Although I don’t write for the money, receiving something for my content is gratifying. It proves people value what I share.
Now that you know my story, I want to help you become a top writer on Medium. Everyone has something to share; you just need to start. Let me share with you my top recommendations to write meaningful content.
1 Write about your passion: What are you passionate about? Think about a topic you get excited when you talk about it. That’s what you should write about.
“Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress: Working hard for something we love is called passion.” ― Simon Sinek
2 Don’t chase money, chase engagement: If you want to write to make some additional bucks, don’t even bother starting. Money should never be the reason.
Share your richest insights with your readers. If your content enables people to progress. Money might come as a reward. But the focus should be on meaningful content.
3 Make your ideas stronger by building on top of other writers’ ideas: Medium is a rich platform. Many topics are well covered, but you may have something special to share.
Strengthen your ideas by building on top of other’s ideas. By giving credit to other writers, your idea becomes more relevant.
4 Collaborate with more experienced writers: be humble, ask for help. Many publications are continually looking for new writers. For example, Serious Scrum has a well-thought review process that helps writers create better content.
Ask more experienced writers to review your stories. You will be surprised by how much you can learn from different perspectives.
5 Search for relevant publications: Medium has hundreds if not thousands of publications. You should find publications that share the content you write about.
Share your content on publications where your audience goes.
6 Be consistent, publish frequently: Set a personal goal of writing. Don’t search for excuses not to write; just write something. Consistency is the key to improve your writing skills. You won’t be a top writer from one day to another.
“Your favorite athlete’s first workout was just as bad as yours.
Your favorite chef’s first meal was just as bad as yours.
Your favorite artist’s first work was just as bad as yours.
Keep going.” — James Clear
7 Use inspiring quotes: inspiring sentences are powerful. Readers love quotes. It helps to reflect on something and encourage action. But be careful; before you quote someone, you should validate the quote source.
Use quote investigator to validate random quotes you find on the internet. Don’t blindly trust everything.
8 Start with a headline and let it flow: Writing is magic; you just need to start. Don’t stress yourself by overthinking the whole text.
Whenever you have an idea, write a headline for it. Then, later you come back and write another sentence, then another, and so on. Sooner than you expect you have a great text.
9 Keep your text as simple as possible: Simplicity is the ultimate key for an excellent story. Use simple language, keep your writing as easy as possible to understand. You should write a story to express, not to impress.
Your text is for the reader, it’s not for you.
10 Keep the text clean: ensure your text is clean. An excellent text has no typos. Read it loud until it’s clear. You can use tools like Grammarly to ensure your text has no grammar mistakes, but it’s your responsibility to keep it clear of mistakes.
“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” ― Robert Frost
If you want to get some more inspiration about writing, I’d recommend the following articles to you.
Writing Is Powerful
Don’t be afraid of writing. Although writing might frighten you, it’s a joyful experience for sure.
Be careful with the comfort zone. It’s a dangerous place for everyone, don’t let your fear of the new stop you from starting a unique experience. You should make writing as simple as possible. Start with the headline; whenever you have an insight, just write it down.
Don’t let the stone on your shoe block you from moving forward.