I Made $1000 from 1 Article — Here’s How You Can Too

Find out the methods that increase the likelihood of success.

(Can’t be bothered with the intro? Scroll down to find out what I did.)

When I started writing on Medium I had big dreams.

“I’m a great writer”, I thought. “It won’t be long before I’m raking in the cash.”

“Foolish child,” the algorithm whispered back, “that’s not how this platform works.”

I admit I was naive. But not just naive. I was jealous of other writers and embittered by their seemingly easy success. No matter how many articles I wrote victory always eluded me.

Distributed? Who cares.

Big publication? Good luck.

Well-written? Nobody can be bothered.

I was so desperate for a viral article I even wrote this shameless piece of crap.

You can probably guess it didn’t go viral, not unless you consider 40 reads and $0.90 viral.

Letting go of desperation

My short time on Medium has been a valuable learning experience for me. Among other things, it’s taught me not to be precious about my writing.

Think you’ve written a masterpiece? Great, now kiss that flop goodbye and get back to work.

It’s a lesson in not resting on your laurels. Even a Nobel prize winner can’t sustain herself on one achievement, no matter how glorious.

You’ve heard it all before: it’s about the journey, not the destination. This writing gig is a continuous process and the more you do it, the more likely success will be yours for the taking. What’s more, the less attached you are to your work, the quicker you can move on to the next idea.

It was when I fully embraced this attitude that it happened.

I achieved Medium’s holy grail.

Unexpected success

Here is the article that made me $1000 and jettisoned me to Top Writer status in Life Lessons and Psychology.

As you can no doubt guess, its stats dwarf anything I’ve ever written.

So is everything else I’ve produced crap?

Well, no. Not in my humble opinion. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve written better articles than this.

So why did this particular piece do so well?

How I did it

I’d love to say I stumbled across this success without trying, and was just trying to write another engaging article. While this is somewhat true, there were methods I employed to increase the likelihood of success.

• Subject Cannabis, and drugs in general, are hot topics. People tend to be divided and have strong opinions about them. Legalization, recreational use, health risks, medicinal value — there are a lot of controversial aspects to this subject. While we often hear about the pros of cannabis, my article took a stance that runs counter to the normal leftist narratives — and we know how much humans love a bit of drama. But more than this, it spoke to a surprising amount of people who shared my opinion. I’d managed to touch on something that hasn’t been explored enough. A gap in the market, so to speak.
• Headline When I first started writing on Medium my titles were pisspoor, as if I was penning obscure titles for novels. Fortunately, I managed to learn from the best. While I don’t always agree with her, Jessica Wildfire is a master of great headlines. So I took a leaf out of her book. I made my headline deliberately antagonistic, beginning with a “No” as if I was in the middle of an argument with my readers. By making a show of presuming they think cannabis is harmless, I came out punching. This kind of snappy, combative headline really gets people clicking.
• Structure As Hogan Torah pointed out recently, don’t underestimate the power of formatting. Structuring your articles using sub-headings and spacing helps to keep your readers engaged. Most people on Medium don’t tend to read page-long paragraphs — that’s what books are for.
• Images Like sub-headings, images help to break up the text. They add a bit of color and pizzazz to your article. Though they might not be fitting for every article, images can be extremely effective depending on the subject matter. Use them wisely.
• Honesty and style These are a little harder to define. The internet is brimming with research papers and academia on every subject — so what can you bring to the table? Simple. Yourself. While my viral article did reference studies and broader cultural ideas, the main thrust was personal. It was about my experience with cannabis. The great thing about you, for all your flaws and inadequacies, is your uniqueness. Despite how it may appear, people are genuinely interested in you. All you have to do is tell it your way, and do it with style.

Closing thoughts

So, I did it. I got my coveted viral article. How do I feel? Honestly?

Underwhelmed.

Oh sure, initially, I was happy, validated, and all the rest — but life goes on. Writing goes on. Back to the eternal drawing board. Back to pumping out articles that cap at 40–50 reads. Why do you think I’m writing about Medium earnings? Hell, if you can’t beat ’em, join ‘em.

That being said, I’m truly grateful. It’s a privilege to live in an age where I can write 1500 words and get $1000. Crazy, even.

After writing a modest 70 articles on this platform, I’ve come to see that success is a balance between artistic integrity and actually getting paid.

Walk that line, people.

Walk that line.

If you would like to support me directly you can buy me a coffee.

You can also support me by signing up to Medium using my referral link. Not only do you get full access to Medium, but you will be helping me realize my dream of writing creatively full-time!