If You Think Medium Is the End of the Road, You’re Mistaken. These 5 Tools Can Help You Potentially Earn More as a Writer.
And I only learned about it through other Medium writers!
I enjoy writing. So, if it’s possible to earn from it without publishing an actual book, I’d do it.
So, when I learned from Nicholas Cole in his YouTube interview, which I talked about in one of my previous posts (link at the bottom), that I could earn from writing on Medium, I immediately signed up!
That was November 2023 when I watched that interview. And while watching, I regretted not continuing my freelance copywriting career that I started 14 years ago. When all the Google search algorithms changed how search works, I gave up.
I also regretted ignoring my client when he told me about Medium. Back then, I just wasn’t interested in researching how it works.
What I attempted, though, was to create two blogs, one on Blogger and then another on WordPress, that I failed to maintain. I wanted to make money from it but didn’t know how.
Gladly, though, just two months after joining Medium, I learned other ways to earn as a writer besides selling books.
Medium, as it turned out, is not just a platform for aspiring bloggers and writers. It turned out to be a community of writers who freely shared their ideas online. Something that I really needed.
By observing other Medium writers’ practices through their posts, I learned about these five useful platforms that I will share with you right now.
These platforms can potentially increase your income as an online writer and might as well be a way to make your favorite hobby your primary source of income, which is, I’m guessing, what every writer dreams about.
Vocal Media
Other Medium writers have explained this already. To earn from Medium, you must get readers from other paying members, who must stay on your blog for a time, indicating that they actually read it.
On the other hand, your possible earnings on Vocal Media depend on how many views you get. You even get paid from external views.
If you want to get paid for every view from all audiences encountering your content, this is for you.
This platform is not for you if you don’t like to
1. Wait for your content to get approved before getting published
2. Have your content rejected by being marked as AI content even if it’s not, which is the most frustrating part about this platform.
Linktree
While working as a freelance virtual assistant, I knew about Linktree but never created one for myself.
When I saw another Medium writer using it, I thought, “Hey, I could use this to increase my reach by making it available on my social media platforms.” So, I finally created one for myself.
Now, it’s sitting on my Twitter and Instagram accounts. I also put it at the bottom of each Medium post I create. And I plan to put it on my LinkedIn and Facebook accounts, which will definitely have more reach. Soon.
How will you earn from it? You can use this as leverage by adding all important links to just one page.
This is for you if you want your audience to
1. connect with you on social media
2. know where to go if they wish to read your content or use your service
3. go to a landing page to get your products or use your service
Substack
This is one of the first platforms that I learned about while consuming Medium posts of other writers.
How will you earn? From your subscribers.
This is for you if you are a writer who:
1. have enough fans or established subscribers.
2. have enough time to write content because
3. you like the idea of having a digital newsletter.
Right now, I’m not at the level of having enough subscribers yet, nor do I have enough time to write a lot of content rigorously.
But I have another option.
Buy Me a Coffee
I accidentally learned about Buy Me a Coffee while, of course, consuming one Medium post. In that post, the writer added links after each call-to-action that says “Support Me.”
I checked it out, and from the looks of it, it’s kind of like Patreon but cooler because it’s a lot more simple.
How will you earn? From donations, tips, or membership for the content you create for your fans.
This platform is not just for writers but for all creators. This is for you if you like selling your
1. work of art in video, audio, or written form.
2. Coaching or tutorial service.
3. Others you can think of
Gumroad
I never thought I’d encountered this platform before until I tried to sign up with it myself.
It turned out to be a platform used by Brilliant Nurse for their free crash course. It is somehow like Teachable combined with Shopify, so it’s also cooler.
How will you earn? This is a platform where you can sell anything at any cost.
Take a look at these contents.
You can sell
1. courses, tutorials, ebooks, stories
2. designs, widgets, templates
3. podcasts, audiobooks, music
I joined Medium because I like the idea of writing and the idea of earning from it even more.
Now, if you use these platforms that I just shared with you and use them as leverage, not for your prestige, but for the intent to help others, you will potentially gain more.
You know, in the two full months of my journey here on Medium, I learned that I shouldn’t be afraid to share everything I know.
Why?
Because the more we give freely, the more we will receive in return. That’s how the universe works.
Just observe other writers sharing their ideas freely in this community. Look at their growth. What do you see?
So, why restrict yourself from sharing what you know? Why limit yourself from using one platform when you can potentially reach more audiences out there? With these tools, the possibilities are endless.
Why should we be afraid to dream bigger and extend our arms to share what we know with others who are not a part of this community?
Share what you know.
Remember, whatever you give comes back to you.
Your neighbor,
Wam
Link from paragraph 2
