I made $500/hr writing last month — Here are my best tips
It’s true, I made $599.99 per hour for writing 10 hours during the month of November.
I wrote for Medium and made $5,999.00 from my content.
These are some of my best writing tips that help me churn out my work quickly, drive traffic, and get my stories recommended on the platform.
Let’s go!
5 Tips to Improve Your Medium Writing
I’m no guru here.
Although I’ve been on Medium for years, my traffic and income from my Medium stories only started picking up steam over the summer.
From that, I’ve put together these tips I follow on every piece of writing I publish on the platform.
1. Write interesting sh#t
Really, make it interesting.
I used to write stories like…
- X ways to __________
- How to save money with _________
- How to become _______
These titles have the potential to be interesting but not with those headlines.
When I took a 4 month break from Medium and returned, I naturally started to change the way I titled my stories.
I observed other Medium writers and looked at the headlines of top stories compared to my headlines.
There was a big difference.
While I was making the transition with my stories, I came across a couple stories from top writers on here that talked about irresistible headlines.
This is one of the stories.
I took notes and keep their tips in the back of my mind when it’s time to headline my work.
The headline is what draws the reader in so it’s got to be good.
And then, once you lure them into reading your story, your article has to be equally good or better.
If you feel lost and really have no idea what to write about, look at places like:
Exploding Topics shares info about topics that are trending right now, like these..
Answer the Public lets you plug in your niche into their search engine and then spits out a bunch of questions your audience has about your topic…
You can also look at what your mentors are writing and what other top writers are writing to get some inspiration for yourself.
2. Be illustrative
I’m a big “show and tell” kind of person and I use that in my writing.
If I talk about something, I love to share screenshots, proof, quotes, etc.
I think it helps the reading experience and it gives your reader a little break for their eyes from looking at the text on the screen.
Some ideas:
- Screenshots
- Graphics
- Charts
- Graphs
- Videos
- Quotes
- Embeds from Twitter, Instagram, etc.
3. Write about what you love
I write about stuff I’m into and care about and I write about topics I don’t care about.
It’s easier to write about what you like, for sure.
Not only does the writing come easier but you can churn out your content more quickly and you just have more interest and more enjoyment in what you’re producing.
On Medium, you have the choice about what you can write about.
Write about what you like.
For me, Medium is a great outlet to share what I’m working on, lessons I’ve learned, and other content around my main niche.
That’s how I can create 50+ stories in a month working only 10 hours.
4. Tag your favorite people on Medium
It’s nice to give kudos to other writers and when you talk about and tag others on Medium, there’s a chance they’ll follow you and a chance their followers will follow you!
Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of Edina Abena Jackson, Kristina God, Tim Denning, and Matt Lillywhite.
And some people are so grateful to be mentioned in other stories, they’ll help promote your work by sharing on Twitter, to their email list and other places, which is free promotion for your content!
Win-win!
5. Write around a niche
This is a controversial topic.
I’ve heard people say write in a niche. Others say don’t tie yourself to a niche.
Me?
I talked about writing about what you love in #3.
But, that doesn’t mean everything you love will fall into a single niche.
I typically write in my niche 90% of the time and go outside the niche 10% of the time. That’s not my tried and true formula, it just ends up being that way most of the time.
I think writing in your niche brings many benefits:
- Attract an audience in your target market
- The opportunity to use the same or similar tags for all your stories
- Become an expert in your industry
Do you ever notice the same people commenting on your stories?
That’s a member of your audience and if they’re commenting then that means they’re following your work and reading your stories.
You want this.
And you can have an audience of people who are interested in your niche and follow your work month after month. This helps you get reads and views every month, grow your following and create a niche-specific email list.
Then, the tags.
They can help you make top writer in your Medium topic and this can bring your stories more reads and grow your fanbase.
And writing in your niche can help label you as an expert in your industry.
This is a great online reputation builder and can fruitfully reward you now and in the future with opportunities.
BONUS Tip — Internally link your other Medium stories
In every article I publish on Medium, I try to link at least 2–3 others relevant stories in my content.
Cross-posting your stories can help you increase traffic to those articles. This is really one of the easiest ways to naturally boost your reads on Medium.
For more on how I structure my stories, my strategy for making $125+/day on Medium, and more, check out this story:
Those are my top tips.
What are some of your best writing tips?
I hope you enjoyed reading this. If you’d like to support me as a writer, consider signing up to become a Medium member. It’s just $5 a month and you get unlimited access to Medium.
