Summary

A Medium writer shares their insights and strategies for adapting to and thriving under the new Medium Partner Program rules, emphasizing the importance of engagement over mere visibility to increase earnings.

Abstract

The article discusses the author's journey over the first month following the changes to the Medium Partner Program, which now prioritizes reader engagement such as claps, comments, and follows, rather than just views. The author highlights key strategies that have proven effective, including selecting a niche that resonates with readers, crafting engaging headlines that avoid clickbait, providing genuine value through personal experiences and actionable advice, actively engaging with the audience, soliciting feedback to increase time spent on articles, enhancing articles with relevant images, and using analytics to understand what content performs best. The writer also points out the benefits of promoting articles on social media and participating in publications to reach a wider audience. By implementing these approaches, the author reports a significant increase in followers and earnings on Medium.

Opinions

The author believes that technical articles have become less lucrative under the new MPP rules, with life experiences and storytelling receiving more engagement.
Engaging and valuable content, as opposed to attention-grabbing clickbait, is seen as crucial for success under the new program.
Personal experiences, insights, and actionable tips are considered more impactful in connecting with readers and encouraging engagement.
The author emphasizes the importance of responding to comments and encouraging discussions as a means to foster a loyal readership and boost earnings.
Soliciting feedback within articles is a tactic used to increase reader engagement and time spent on the article, which positively affects earnings.
The inclusion of relevant images and graphics is deemed essential for making articles more visually appealing and engaging.
Paying attention to analytics is important for understanding what content resonates with the audience and tailoring future articles accordingly.
The author suggests that promoting articles on social media and through publications can help deliver content to the right audience and increase visibility.

Medium Article

Lessons Learned after 30 Days of The New Medium Partner Program.

For many, it’s a game changer, while some lost their 80% of earnings.

If you’re like me, you’ve been excitedly watching the updates to the Medium Partner Program (MPP) and wondering how to make the most out of these new rules.

Well, I’ve been experimenting with a few strategies, and I’m here to share a few lessons I’ve learned throughout the first month of new rules.

Understanding The New Golden Rule

The first step was understanding the new rules themselves.

Medium has shifted its focus from mere visibility to engagement.

Now, it’s not just about how many people view your article, but how many people interact with it — through claps, highlights, comments, and follows.

These are now collectively referred to as engagement points. Also, if your story is read by existing followers, or if it gets boosted, you earn extra points!

Now coming to the lessons part…

Picking the Right Niche

I quickly realized that the technical articles many people used to write weren’t bringing in as much income as they used to.

Screenshot from The PyCoach on his Technical Articles

Instead, life experiences and storytelling articles were getting more engagement.

So, I decided to pivot and focus more on different areas.

I started writing more about personal experiences, life lessons, and storytelling.

For example, I wrote an article about the lessons I learned from Every Article That Made $100 and Went Viral, and it received a lot of engagement because many people could relate to it.

Framing Effective Headlines

Medium clearly mentioned “We don’t want to incentivize attention-grabbing clickbait, formulaic derivative or AI-generated writing”

To honor this and make the best out of it, I started focusing on creating more engaging headlines.

For example, instead of a headline like

“ Mind-Blowing Reality Check: The Insane Amount of Money I Earned on Medium in Just ONE MONTH! ”

I experimented with something more engaging like

“After My First Month And 18 Articles On Medium, What I’ve Earned? — It’s better than YouTube.”

This subtle shift made a huge difference in the number of people who clicked on my articles.

Providing Value

One of the most crucial changes I made was focusing on providing real value to my readers.

I started to share personal experiences, insights, and actionable tips that my readers could apply in their own lives.

For instance, instead of just writing tips about how to get to the first 100 followers, I shared my own journey by creating a new account and implementing tips on it. and the concrete steps I took, made the change on the new account already.

Engaging with the Audience

I made a conscious effort to engage more with my audience by responding to comments on my articles, asking questions, and encouraging discussions.

I try to reply to each and every comment on my article

I also started to share my articles on my social media platforms and actively participated in conversations related to my articles.

Ask for Feedback

The more comment you get, The more you earn.

Two factors are most important, One is 30 sec spent on an article and the second is Comments/Responses on the article.

I always ask for feedback from my readers in the middle of the article. What it does is while the reader is commenting on my article it takes more than 30 seconds (That counts as one read), and I get a comment. Two targets with one arrow!!

Also, I get very valuable feedback.

Don’t forget to leave your valuable remarks on this article 😉

Add Images

Picture says a thousand words

I incorporated relevant images and graphics into my articles to make them more visually appealing.

For example, in an article about finance, I included infographics showing the exponential growth of the wealth of Warren Buffet over the years.

Learning from Analytics

Double down on what works for you

I started to pay more attention to Medium’s analytics to understand what type of content performed well.

This helped me tailor my future articles to maximize engagement.

Publication also plays a key role in delivering your article to right audience

Hence I have created a List of popular publications on all categories
You can download it from below link.

📌 Quick Glance Features: 
- Direct links to each publication ✅🖱
- Insightful follower counts 📊✅
- Category List ✅
- Info on whether they are accepting new writers 🖋✅

🚀📚 LINK TO DOWNLOAD LIST OF 220+ MEDIUM PUBLICATIONS

Results

Since implementing these changes, I have seen a significant increase in my followings on Medium.

I went from zero to 200+ in the first month of writing on Medium.

If I had not implemented all these, I wouldn't have crossed even 20 followers mark in a month.

Summary for Fellow Writers

Here is the summary for fellow writers who are looking to increase their earnings on Medium:

1. Focus on Quality over Quantity: Write well-researched, thought-provoking pieces that provide value to your readers. 2. Engage with Your Audience: Respond to comments, ask questions, and encourage discussions. 3. Images: Incorporate relevant images or graphics to enhance your articles. 4. Promote Your Work: Share your articles on your social media platforms or personal blogs.

Happy Writing!!

The new rules of the Medium Partner Program provide a fantastic opportunity for writers to earn more by creating engaging and valuable content.

By understanding the new rules, picking the right niche, crafting compelling headlines, providing value, engaging with the audience, utilizing visuals, and learning from analytics, I have been able to significantly increase my earnings on Medium.

I encourage fellow writers to incorporate these strategies into their writing process and see the results for themselves. Happy writing!