I Quadrupled My Income in Just 10 Months on Medium
Here are 8 things I've learned along the way.
Is there any ceiling for Medium earnings through the Partner Program? I don’t know but I'd like to find out. According to the February recap, $8,597.53 was the most earned by a single writer, and I got pretty damn close to that.
If you've been following my work lately, you might have read that I am seemingly on my way to earning $10K in one month. It's another progressive goal of mine. Last week, I earned nearly $2,400, so I only need to keep pushing a bit harder to reach a $2,500 weekly average.
Can I do it? I am definitely going to try.
Perhaps the craziest thing about this whole venture is that I haven't even been at it for a year. My Medium "birthday" is coming up on April 25, and last year, I never would have guessed that I could start out at zero and get this far.
As I try to reach and maintain an earnings level I never even dreamed of, here are 8 valuable lessons I know I'll take with me--wherever my writing takes me.
1. Good things happen to those who take action.
I am not a particularly early riser. In fact, I'm not even a great sleeper. When I do wake up early, I don't actually get out of bed until my 4-year-old wakes up. I spend my time writing. Essentially, every waking moment of mine is spent writing, brainstorming, or reading--when I'm not actively "momming." I figure that's the way it should be at least for now as I try to create my career.
One rule I have when I'm writing is to not answer my phone or messages. It's too easy to get distracted and wind up accomplishing nothing. My friend Shaunta Grimes often messages me in the morning when I'm still not ready to respond to anybody. One thing that's taught me is how much can be accomplished within just a few hours when you first begin your day.
Shaunta seems to get a lot of writing done first thing in her day--she might have 2 to 4 solid pieces done before I've even got 1 finished. It's a great reminder that a writer can have all of the inspiration or ideas in the world, but without action, what they really have is... nothing.
Writing is not passive or easy money. It's damn hard work, and your first step to success is taking action to actually do that work.
2. Positivity may pay off much more than you think.
I wasn't always a positive person. For most of my adult years, I wallowed in self-pity, self-hatred, and a world of disappointment in the midst of mental illness. I'm not proud to admit that I used to be such a melancholy person, but I am proud of how far I've come.
Writing on Medium to earn a real living has more or less forced me to take on a much more positive mindset. But I never imagined how powerful a positive outlook would actually be.
It's made my writing better and more inspirational. And it's given me the strength to keep writing even when it's freaking difficult.
As a single mom, I have seen my newfound positivity pay far greater dividends than any other mindset. Including any supposed "realistic" effort to not get my hopes up.
Get your fucking hopes up, I say. Get them up high, and put yourself out there. Just make sure you're willing to put all of that positivity to work. Writing is active (as opposed to passive) work.
3. Persistence is practically everything in writing.
If you seriously want to be a writer and you honestly believe that's the right career move for you, then you've got to adopt some damn persistence. Persistence is a lot like focus--you basically put on blinders and go after your dream regardless of anything anybody else says.
Motivation will come and go. Persistence will keep you tenacious.
No, you're not going to be an overnight success. Hell, you don't even know exactly where this writing journey will take you, but that isn't what matters.
A spirit of persistence means you keep writing anyway.
It also means that you're not looking at writing like some get-rich-quick scheme. Let's be honest--at some point, most writers are going to earn pennies--especially in the beginning.
You've got to persist to get beyond those pennies.
4. When you share your passions, others will inevitably share them with you.
I only write about the things that matter to me. Luckily, that covers a pretty wide range of topics. Along the way, I've built a voice that mostly tackles vulnerable subjects--even if I'm talking about writing.
In fact, the best way to create your own authentic writing voice is to make an effort to write about the things that really matter to you. If you're not particularly excited to write a story about a certain subject, you can't expect anybody else to be excited to read it.
Don't make the mistake of writing about issues that don't even appeal to you. Writing to please a certain audience isn't helpful in crafting your own voice.
When you choose to write about the subjects that genuinely matter to you, your enthusiasm will help shape your writer's voice. And that's what you need to help set your work apart from other writers. Or, to align your writing with certain writers' styles.
Readers will respond to that voice--not all readers, but the right ones.
5. As you rise, some folks will go especially low. Keep rising anyway!
Every once in a while, I'm shocked by some of the negative feedback I receive. It's not as if I believe I'm above criticism--believe me, I don't think that highly of myself.
What's surprising is how vicious strangers can be. That includes readers and fellow writers too. Not too long ago, a fellow writer here on Medium came after me pretty hard. He left insulting comments on my stories, promised to never quit until Medium stopped promoting my work, and even wrote an entire story about how I was so overrated.
The truth is that his criticisms cut pretty close to my deepest insecurities as a single mom. I've written a lot about the expectations other people have tried to hold me to since becoming a mom, whether through unsolicited advice or other sharp comments.
If I listen to such feedback, I will never feel good enough to accomplish anything.
In the case of this particular criticism, my fellow writer didn't like seeing me all over Medium because he believed that a.) I publish too much, and b.) I couldn't possibly have anything worthwhile to say about life or relationships because I haven't been dating much for the past year.
I know, I'm a monster.
When fellow writers spoke out on my behalf, the angry Medium dude mistook the response as a consequence of "identity politics." He believed his opinions about me faced persecution because he's a white male.
In reality, he was rude and privileged. Our circumstances are completely different. I'm a full-time single mom of a young child and a full-time writer on Medium. I quit my lousy contract writing gig to be here full-time, so of course, I am going to write as much as possible.
I can't afford to fail.
There are different schools of thought about dealing with your critics, but I for one have adopted a policy of speaking up for myself. I don't go low by meeting ruthless attacks, but I do call out bad behavior.
I know some of my peers have their own policies of blocking "haters," and I understand. But as a survivor of abuse, and a single mama who's had more than her fill of cruel criticism...I'm done taking it.
The old me would have given up when her feelings got hurt. Packed up and gone home. But now, I refuse to quit rising.
6. Make choices you can feel good about regardless of what others may say.
While I understand the value of not keeping all your eggs in one basket, focusing on Medium has been a good choice for me. Right now I am saving for a car--my first car at 36-years-old--and trying to break this generational poverty that's haunted me with a scarcity mindset my whole life.
The way I see it, nothing in this life is guaranteed. But I know myself, and I know how hard it is for me to juggle and divide my focus. So I made a deliberate choice to put all of my eggs in one basket with Medium, and I choose to believe that it will still lead to bigger and better things.
Since I began writing on Medium last April, I have had to repeatedly go against the current. And I've had to do my own thing even when other people--whom I respect--disagree.
I'm also learning how to accept the fact that I can't make everybody happy, and how following my dreams will naturally disappoint some folks. I used to be a people pleaser... but I've realized that I'm the one who has to live with the choices I make.
Don't be afraid to live your life on your terms. It's the only way to live authentically or live well.
7. Never underestimate your own influence or value.
When you start treating yourself like you matter, other people will do it too. It's not like I suddenly woke up with this itch to write. I have had a passion for art and writing my entire life.
The problem was that for most of my adult life, I never believed I had anything to offer. And I didn't think I was allowed to write anything unless I accomplished something amazing first.
I never imagined that the amazing thing might be creating something out of nothing, and writing anyway.
Can you honestly help anyone out if you aren't fully healed yourself? I think you can. I'd say I'm living proof of that. People like myself who have survived a lifetime of trauma may in fact never have our shit together, but we still offer valuable perspective and vulnerability.
When I first began writing here, I decided that honesty was all I had to offer. I still feel that way, but I value it more than ever.
You have gifts to give the world--gifts the world needs from you. You've got to believe it too.
8. Your mental health and hygiene matters.
Back when I became a mother in 2014, I was unprepared for how hard it would be on my mental health. Motherhood brought up so many issues and baggage I had never even tried to unpack.
Writing on Medium has brought up its own kind of baggage, and that's been much harder than I ever imagined. I'm carrying a lot of guilt about reaching a certain level of success. And that includes guilt for not doing better too.
Nobody knows me outside of Medium. So maybe I'm not a real writer. And maybe I don't deserve to earn this money. It's funny the ways success can feel so awkward and confusing.
In many ways, my depression and borderline personality disorder symptoms are under greater control because I'm so focused on improving my life. But in other ways, my anxiety and mental health symptoms have grown a bit worse.
You can't ignore your mental health and positive mental hygiene when you're following your dreams. Instead, you've really got to double-down on the self-care.
Success is wonderful, but it can seriously mess with your head. That means you've got to create plenty of boundaries and limits to protect yourself as you go after your goals.