Medium Would Rather You Didn’t Do This to Your Stories
Do it anyway
When you write for Medium you’ve got two big options: One, to toe the line and hope you get chosen by the majors, to write that one, blockbuster story (the one the earns $9,000 in a month), or Two, you can build your own publishing business.
I chose number two from the start.
When you bet all your writing on gatekeepers, you’re at their mercy. You literally allow someone else to have all the power over the future of your writing.
I prefer the bootstrapped, indie way of doing things.
While the instant-gratification factor isn’t there, you have the opportunity to use your Medium to following to help build a legacy-level business you own.
The latest income stats just came out.
94% of Medium writers earn less than $100 per month from the partner program. The means, if you choose option one, it’s almost a guarantee you chose that hard road.
Medium would rather you keep everything on their platform.
While they do allow you to link to your own site at the bottom of every story, if you take that list-building much further it’s almost a guarantee your story won’t get curated.
If all you want to do is earn money from Medium stories, you must get your stories curated.
Else, your stories are basically disposable. Non-curated stories only last a couple days — a few more if you really push them yourself. But if you want to earn hundreds (of thousands) of dollars over the life of a story, you’ve got to get that thing curated.
- This means you play by the rules
- This means you you sit and hope and wait
- This means your future belongs to someone else
Or, you can follow the rabbit down the wormhole.
If you ignore the curation guidelines and focus on writing the best story to serve your niche, while encouraging your readers to join your tribe — you can earn a lot more from a tiny audience.
We’re talking about encouraging your Medium followers to join your email list. A little more-aggressively than you would with a follow-the-rules, curated story.
I love Medium.
I’m all-in on Medium.
I can’t think of a better place to be a writer. They’ve got no (visible) ads. They treat writers well. The partner program is as fair as it can be. Medium appears to work hard for both its readers and writers (as some of us are both).
…and Medium would rather you didn’t take an aggressive, list-building approach with your stories.
They spent a ton of money building the platform. Right now, they own your following. Medium can take your following away any time it wants.
…but not so with email.
With email you own your traffic and when you own your traffic you own your platform. Even if Medium disappears you always have your email list. It’s a portable way to bring your entire business with you, no matter where you write.
Why is email so great for writers and creators?
Because you can sell your best work automatically, while you sleep and while you’re awake. You don’t have to beg readers to buy your book or course. Your automated email sequence does the hard work for you.
This leaves you more time for your craft.
Plus, using the partner program, Medium will actually pay you to grow your email list.
While you won’t earn as much as a fully-curated writer will, you lifetime customer value will be much higher that a couple pennies you earn per read from each person.
The indie route is the long-game.
But this is the path if you want to own your future. While I don’t make thousands of dollars per month from the partner program, my off-medium sales pay all my annual business expenses with only a month of automated sales via email.
Most of my best readers is a member of my tribe. Instead of pennies per read they might be worth thousands over their lifetime.
This isn’t about the money. It’s about the best way you can serve your tribe with a smaller audience, using traffic you own. This about doing your best work for the people you were meant to serve.
I’ve got something. Just for you…
When you build a tribe around your best work, even if you’re starting-out, you’ve got an instant audience when you’re ready to fly.
I built a free email masterclass for you. I hand-crafted the whole thing. It took me a couple months. I call the masterclass the Tribe 1K.
I’ll show you how to get your first 1,000 (or your next 1,000) readers without spending a hot nickel on ads. Past students include New York Times bestselling authors. Yep, the ones you see in the bookstore.
Your email list will help you build a legacy creative business.
If you want to grow your creative business you need email before you lose that valuable reader. Start your list before you need one. Once you need a list it’s almost too late.
Guarantee your seat before I charge an enrollment fee.
We’re waiting for you.
Enroll in my Free Email Masterclass. Get Your First 1,000 Subscribers
August Birch (AKA the Book Mechanic) is both a fiction and non-fiction author from Michigan, USA. As a self-appointed email marketing expert for writers and creators, August helps indies make more work that sells and sell more work they make. The core of August’s process is your email list. When he’s not writing or thinking about writing, August hangs-out with his beautiful wife and handsome son, carries a pocket knife, and shaves his head with a safety razor.