How to Earn $50/Day on Medium

It takes a lot of writing, but it’s easier than you’d think

There are a core group of tools you need to earn a decent wage on Medium. Although it might look cool in your bio to have a lot of followers, there are different metrics that matter, if you want to get paid.

You see the report each month.

There are some real earners out there (five figures per month, six a year). It’s quite possible to do well on Medium. But the earnings come with a cost of entry.

You’ll need to write your face-off. On a consistent basis.

You need to write consistently

I went on vacation and took a week off. I had a few articles in the queue, but my reads dropped dramatically.

Yes, Medium is a bit of a treadmill. You’re either in it or not. That’s personal preference. You can write as little or often as you wish.

You’re in competition with 200,000+ other writers. Think about that. If you slack-off for just a minute, you’ll lose your momentum. Same as any other social platform (and Medium should be treated as such).

Write every day. Try to post every day.

The writers who write and build audiences are the ones who earn.

You need to link to your previous articles

Your old articles will disappear after a few days if you don’t remind your tribe to read them. You’ve got to market yourself on Medium just as much as you have to market yourself in the rest of the world.

If you want your old articles to keep earning, you’ve got to keep reminding us to read them.

Something like 60-70% of the content on Medium has no traffic, so it’s important never to let people forget about you. I like to link to 3–4 older, successful posts per article.

For example, this older post of mine got 21,000 views through this linking practice:

You need to write articles people want to read

Sure, it’s cool you got that think-piece off your shoulders, but if I don’t find it interesting, you won’t have my attention.

Articles that solve immediate problems win.

We like to read stuff about money, safety, relationships, productivity, politics, and fun.

Show your reader how you can offer a transformation from where she is now, to where she’d like to be after reading your piece. If we can’t tell that by reading the title, you won’t get many reads.

You need to get curated

Everyone loves to talk about curation. Those who don’t get curated say it doesn’t matter. Curation matters. If you don’t get curated you don’t get the views necessary to make your article profitable.

There are a few exceptions, but if you want your old stuff to keep earning a few bucks a month, you need to write content worthy of curation.

This is accomplished by writing a lot.

Sometimes you get curated sometimes you don’t. But you keep writing every day. In aggregate, you’ll get some curations that do very well and keep the money coming in.

Your titles matter, a lot

Like any good advertisement, your title is the reason why read or skip your article. Spend as much time on the title as you did writing the piece.

Don’t use the first title that comes to mind.

Write 10–20 titles before you choose one.

Use the sub-titles too. They’ll show-up in the feed and help the reader choose if she wants to read your piece.

Keep your titles positive.

Multiple posts per day won’t necessarily get you more claps

If you spam the feed you won’t boost your ratings much. Keep it constant. Write every day, but don’t try and pump five articles into the morning stream.

You won’t get the reward for your efforts and your readers will probably be overwhelmed, especially the ones who sign up for your email notifications.

You need to keep going

There’s no magic bullet here. Most writers flame-out after a few months of hard-trying.

I got lucky early, but if you want to hockey-stick your Medium income you need to write. All the time. Every day. And post on a continual basis for a long period of time.

They change the rules often.

…but they can’t change you coming back for more. As long as you keep showing-up, there’s a good chance you’ll make $50 per day after writing a few months. You’ll grow your readership.

You’ll increase your fan-base.

You’ll build a tribe.

Keep it positive

No one likes to share a Negative Ned or a Sad Sally. We spread uplifting content with a great message at the end. Even hard stories should give us a boost at the end if you want people to keep reading your work.

I need help with this too, as I sway towards the pessimistic side of the pendulum, but try to make your titles and your endings positive at a minimum.

You don’t have to lose your true voice, but we don’t want to feel awful when we’re done with your piece.

We need to know what you stand for

If you want to build a following of repeat readers, you’ve got to show us what you stand for.

If you write about dinosaurs one day and cupcakes the next, we’ll get confused.

Keep a broad theme. You don’t have to say the same thing in every article (and you shouldn’t), but we need to know where you stand and why you’re here.

Write for publications

As you can see on the front page, the posts that get curated are usually through publications.

Write a few pieces on your own.

Apply to some publications you like.

Follow their guidelines and submit your work.

Publications have bigger audiences than you do. You might as well use their leverage to help boost your articles. Followers don’t mean you’ll get a million claps, but they will give you a boost.

Become a top writer

Niche yourself in a few different categories, so you can become a top writer. Use the same tags repeatedly so you can become known as a dominant writer in your field of expertise.

Do this long enough and you can become a top writer in many categories.

The number of posts required varies by the number of writers competing for the category, but assume you need to write every day for a few months. There are only twenty or so top writers in any given category at a time.

The more places you can get your face, the better.

Be active with others

Get your face on as many posts as you can — Read a lot of Medium posts. Get your face on the clap list. This makes other writers want to follow you. Comment on other people’s work.

Readers will want to follow you if you can show you’re active. I like to dedicate a certain portion of my day to Medium interaction and a certain portion to writing.

The monthly wage isn’t where the real money is

The extra Medium cash is great. However, the real money is made with your own platform (i.e. email list). As a writer, you’ve got to own your customer list.

The rules can change any moment, and with it, your income will go too.

Every post you write should include a call to action to join your email list. earn one new reader at a time.

Once you own your list you can sell your books, writing, and valuable courses to the people who matter most — your raving fans. But you’ve got to build a list before you make something to sell, otherwise you’ll launch your book to an empty room.

… and if you want to build your tribe now, so you’ll have a lifetime audience as you launch your future work. This should be a list you own (instead of relying on Medium). Tap the link below. Enroll in my Tribe 1K indie email masterclass. I’ll show you how to get your first 1,000 subscribers (and your next 1,000) without spending one hot nickel on ads.

We’re waiting for you.

Enroll in my Free Email Masterclass. Get Your First 1,000 Subscribers

August Birch (AKA the Book Mechanic) is both a fiction and non-fiction author from Michigan, USA. As a self-appointed guardian of writers and creators, August teaches indies how to make work that sells and how to sell more of that work once it’s created. When he’s not writing or thinking about writing, August carries a pocket knife and shaves his head with a safety razor.