I Made $104 in My First Partner Program Month and I’m Probably Crazy

This happened because I am an extreme, obsessive person. Kids, don’t try this at home.

One dream of mine in this life has been to create valuable written content. I love writing, so it’s a great feeling to get a payout from that labor of love. In December 2020, I realized that dream when Medium paid me $104 for my writing. I also became part of the 6.4% of Medium writers who make over $100 in a month.

Now that you’ve clicked on this article, I am saddled with the incredible task of figuring out how I made $104 in my first month on Medium and explaining it to you.

Rude.

December was my first full month on the partner program. I signed up in late November, not knowing what to expect. At first, I was happy to make less than 50 cents per day. I was predicting that I’d make $20 for the month.

So, how on earth did I come away with $100? You be the judge. Read on.

The proof is in the pudding.

First, have a look at the screenshot below, and you are welcome to check the links of the highest-earning articles that I’ve offered below the image. Do these articles represent my best work? Probably not. Are they well-written? Yeah, I guess. Does it seem kind of like a crapshoot that this article about Scrooge and Narcissists earned $76 while none of the others crossed $10? Absolutely.

Sorry, readers, but I don’t have a good explanation for why the Scrooge article was so lucrative. But as for the others, I believe I wrote a really SEO-friendly and clickable title for each, and they were well-structured. They were also valuable for the reader, so that is probably why more time was spent reading each.

Narcissism is a hot topic, and always will be. People are very riled up about any content about the topic, especially narcissists. The article was tagged for “mental health” and “psychology” though primarily the topic is spirituality. It attracted a wonderful number of totally un-narcissistic psychology buffs who felt the need to leave a comment on it and tell me why I know nothing about narcissism or psychology. I don’t know if Medium knew this article was so controversial when the algorithm decided to circulate that article, but in the end, the way it annoyed people probably played a large role in my paycheck. I definitely don’t sit down to write articles with the aim to troll or annoy readers, and won’t recommend that to anyone — but this is a true story, nonetheless.

(I should point out that there were clearly also some people who actually understood the spirituality I was describing in that article, and read it for the intended purpose. They also commented and let me know the fact.)

Your takeaway should definitely not be to write things that are controversial and designed to annoy mental health professionals. Or maybe it should be. If you come up with a strategy to write annoying things and follow it through, let me know the outcome.

I manifest abundance.

You may scoff at me. You may tell me I’m totally insane. Fine. But I promise you, I manifested this. I should have probably saved this part for the ending so you would keep reading.

In all seriousness, I took a very personal journey into my own soul in late November, and I asked the universe for a way to make things work financially. Shortly after, I started seeing signs from the universe (referenced in detail in my second most lucrative article from the month.) I saw the signs in my Medium profile primarily. I knew by the first week of December from these messages that Medium was something I needed to keep working on.

Why would I believe such a thing? I was still making less than 50 cents per day then. I had no right to believe I’d be successful. But I kept cranking out articles after work and on weekends. Publishing 3–5 articles a week was my goal. I had no idea where it was going.

Sometimes blind faith is everything.

You just have to keep writing. Trust in yourself, and allow signs to guide you to your best decisions. You can manifest your desires. I am no Tony Robbins, but I know this for sure — when you think about the future you want, and you don’t let fear get into your head, good things materialize before your eyes.

“The only thing that’s keeping you from getting what you want is the story you keep telling yourself.”

— Tony Robbins

I hustled. (And I’m probably crazy.)

Yeah, I did. I don’t play around. When I do something creative like this, with the promise of a new future, I go all in. I become unhealthily obsessed. I woke up every morning of December thinking about writing and went to bed weary-eyed from writing late into the night. I couldn’t wait till the end of the workday so I could write. I kept a journal near me at all times so I could jot down story ideas. It was everything. Still is!

I did the same a few years ago when I was learning to code.

That’s just my personality. I may need to take it easy sometimes, but I just can’t. I will keep editing an article, seeing it through to being publish-ready, even when I really have to go to the bathroom and I’m starving.

It’s probably really horrible since I am also a single mom. Only my daughter can interrupt this flow. (Just as I was typing this paragraph, she climbed onto my lap and broke my concentration.)

So, there you have it.

Now you have the idea that writing annoying articles makes money, and two reasons to believe I’m crazy — I claim to manifest money on Medium, and I write until my bladder is bursting — and almost no reasons to believe I got $104 last month based on any actual skill or strategy.

So, readers: maybe this is your answer today. Crazy is the new hot.

Despite my quips and self-deprecating comments, I genuinely hope that this article helps someone else starting out. Hit me up if you want to know more about manifesting abundance.

Hi, I’m Emily. I write about consciousness and existence and enjoy connecting with others who are waking up. I have a master’s degree in philosophy, metaphysics always has been my passion, and have lived around the world. Find more about me at Shakti Mindful Awakening.