How I Write a Couple Blog Posts a Day
And make money on Medium.
Your cumulative output matters more than any single thing you write. The secret to becoming a better writer is to become a prolific one.
So, write.
Write like there is no one watching. Because in the beginning there won’t be. And, you can use that to your advantage when first starting on Medium. If you want to be a writer, you have to get the practice in first, and Medium is the perfect place to get in the practice.
There are no other writers’ websites like Medium that serve as your blog with such little effort from you. Medium allows new writers to publish and quickly find an audience for free. Well, virtually free, there is a small annual fee to sign up for the Medium Partner Program, but with that comes the potential to make money and not just a small amount.
You can make a lot of money on this platform if you are willing to put in the time, work, and energy.
It is worth it.
I write over 3,000 words a day, possibly more. Even though writing is not my only gig, I’m able to fit it in. It’s not easy with all I have to get done during the day; driving, reluctantly parenting a teen, working on my other online businesses, exercise, complaining about politics, and avoiding FB. Despite all of this, I’ve made writing, and specifically writing on Medium, a priority since July.
My Medium Journey
I jumped over the $100 per month threshold within the first three months of publishing, and have been climbing ever since.
Only 10% of writers on Medium pass the $100 per month mark each month.
For the first three months, I did not miss one day of publishing, including Saturday and Sunday. I treat Medium like a job, and that is what you have to do to gain followers, create an audience, and get traction to turn into momentum and make a chunk of money per month that can make a difference in your life.
The giants on Medium who make thousands of dollars a month have been here a while, and they support each other more frequently than they do the smaller writers on Medium. It is much easier to get into the smaller publications and in-house Medium publications when you have made a name for yourself, but that could be you in a year or two, do don’t allow rejection to get you down, keep at it.
Until you have some momentum, you need to show up, like a lot. Write and publish, write and publish, and then write and publish.
The writers who have been writing for this platform for years can post a quality post a few times a week and see significant results, but for those of us starting, we need to show up more.
At least five times per week.
Don’t be a perfectionist
Don’t be a perfectionist even when you are a good writer, but especially when you are a new writer or new to sharing your work.
Perfectionism will stop you from sharing.
Every writer, even the greats, wrote poorly first before they wrote well. Write poorly first, and put your lousy writing out into the world. It will make you a better writer, I promise. Be brave, have courage. Be willing to be vulnerable. You can’t do anything daring without vulnerability.
You have to share.
I know this because I put off sharing for way too long. When I took the leap and wrote and shared my work every day after three months, I was like, “what the heck was I so worried about?”
I wasted so much time. Don’t. Share your work now.
Have gratitude
To stop being a perfectionist, think of perfectionism as procrastination because that is what it is.
Try changing your mind set from a perfectionist mindset to a gratitude frame of mind. Be grateful you have something to say, be thankful for the followers you do have, even if that’s only three people who read your work, concentrate on the good, not on how you messed up on the spelling of that one word five posts ago.
Everyone makes mistakes, just focus on gratitude.
Nothing can be perfected, unless you release it. When you release your work into the world, you breathe new life into it. You give it to others to mule over; it’s no longer yours, it’s theirs — your audience.
This notion gives me relief.
I rarely look at work I’ve written in the past, I have no interest, but other people do. Use this mindset to set your ideas in motion. Have the idea, articulate the ideas into words, and then release it — let it go.
Write any time and everywhere
As I’ve mentioned, I have other responsibilities as a single mom and a couple of online businesses to write content for, deal with WordPress, and everything that goes into blogging.
I fit writing in when I can, usually in the morning.
I’ve developed a daily strategy that works well for me. Routine increases my output drastically as does doing my main thing — writing — at the beginning of the day when I’m at my sharpest, which is when I’m the most productive because focused energy comes more easily for me in the morning.
The morning proves to be the best time for me to write.
My creativity soars during my power hours, and I have a much easier time reaching the flow state most writers experience after long periods of writing.
Here is my daily process and what’s allowed me to keep writing consistently for Medium and earn an income while doing it.
6:00 AM — Writers often suggest writing as close to waking as possible for a reason — you are closer to your dream or subconscious state when you first wake, this brings more flow and creativity to writing.
The realities of the day haven’t bombarded you to waken your conscious rational mind. A stillness hangs in the air from the night before, the world is quiet, and you can tap into your thoughts with less effort.
I try not to look at my phone in the morning to enjoy the quiet as long as I can and not get distracted and consumed with the noise of social media.
I sit down to write sometimes for an hour or sometimes for just 20 minutes.
Even if it’s only 20 minutes, it sets the tone for the day.
When you set your intention for the day by writing or reading something positive as soon as you wake, you will experience a better daily outcome.
My best writing comes when I’m in a positive, confident state of mind, and I can reach that more immediately in the morning.
I can write 600 words in 20 minutes. If I can, you can too — that is like half a blog post. I’m not saying those 600 words are ready to go out, but it’s a start.
7:00 AM — After I write in the morning, I have family responsibilities to take care of, mostly a lot of reminding and driving.
8:00 AM— I sit down at my desk at home or in a coffee shop.
I’m more productive at a coffee shop, first of all, there is caffeine, secondly, I’m less distracted. I work on my Medium post, refine it, edit it, pick a photo, and a headline, post it, and share on social media. All of this can take up to two hours.
10:00 AM — I work out for at least an hour. Exercise gets my mind-body connection in sync. While I exercise, I either zone out, or I’m thinking of ideas to work on for the afternoon, or listening to a podcast while I work out.
Noon — I write again for a few hours, or edit.
2:00 PM — I finish busy work: Email, social media, respond to comments on my posts and get other work complete for my other blogs.
4:00 to 7:00 PM — Family responsibilities.
7:00–9:00 PM— Read and work out ideas for the next day, and sometimes more writing.
When I stick to this routine, as I have been for nearly eight months, my output is abundant, and my results have been substantial. I’m kind of amazed at the results; I have doubled my followers count, my income has increased, my writing is better, and ideas come more quickly I do not have time to write about all of them well.
Your journey will look different from mine.
You may hear crickets in the beginning if you don’t have followers to start, but ignore that for right now. If you dwell on the negative, you will be more likely to give up.
Keep going.
Medium is the slow burn, it takes time. But once you find your niche or someone comments on a piece you’ve written telling you that you helped solve a problem for them or made them see something in a new light, you will know you are on the right track.
My advice to newbies, is not to look at your stats right away, and just write.
Try Medium for a year, and if after a year, you like the unpredictability that goes hand in hand with a writer’s life, keep going. You will see results; you just have to see them when there aren’t there to see yet.
Trust that things will turn out well even if you don’t get the response you want at first.
Just put the thing in motion. Get your ideas in motion.
