Summary

The author discusses the unexpected financial success of their viral Medium story about Nightbirde, emphasizing the importance of authentic writing and the potential for content to generate revenue outside of Medium's paywall.

Abstract

The author's short-form Medium story about Nightbirde's golden buzzer moment on America's Got Talent garnered over 16,000 views, leading to earnings of $3.76 from Medium's Partner Program despite the story's virality occurring largely outside the platform. The author reflects on the power of viral content to attract new subscribers to Medium and the personal satisfaction derived from writing authentically. They also note the indirect benefits, such as increased YouTube subscribers, and the unpredictable nature of viral success. The article concludes with the author's realization that writing with genuine intent can resonate deeply with readers and that financial gain, while welcome, is secondary to the joy of connecting with an audience.

Opinions

The author believes that a viral story on Medium can still yield financial returns even if the majority of views are outside Medium's ecosystem.
They suggest that Medium benefits from viral stories as they can attract new subscribers, which is advantageous for both the platform and its writers.
The author emphasizes the importance of authentic writing, stating that pure intentions can lead to a story resonating with a wide audience.
They express that while the financial rewards from a viral story may not be as high as some might expect, the personal fulfillment and reader engagement are invaluable.
The author acknowledges that there is no guaranteed formula for creating a viral story, and SEO expertise does not always predict viral success.
They highlight the additional benefits of viral content, such as increased visibility and subscriber growth on other platforms like YouTube.
The author concludes that the true measure of success as a writer comes from the ability to connect with readers and the personal satisfaction derived from writing, rather than solely from financial earnings.

Medium Pays You Twice the Money for Your Viral Story

My Nightbirde story has over 16,000 views, and this is how much Medium is paying me as of today.

Show me the money, Jerry Maguire.

When I first wrote about Nightbirde, I wasn’t thinking of anything except that I wanted to write how I feel about her, her song, and her golden buzzer moment.

With very little information about her, I decided to write whatever comes from my heart, and it was a story of fewer than 150 words, enough to call it a short-form.

What You Need to Know about “Medium Shortform” in 3 Minutes

I didn’t know I can do that with Shortform until today. Check out #3 on the list below.

medium.com

And I decided I will not wait for it to be published on a popular Medium publication, so I published it under my own Medium publication “body-mind-soul” — You Can’t Wait Until Life Isn’t Hard Anymore before You Decide to Be Happy — Nightbirde.

As soon as I hit publish, the views are coming, but they are coming outside the Medium ecosystem.

As if it was invisible from the Medium paying members. At first, it went to 1,000 views very quickly, and as of today, it has over 16,000 views.

I even went as far as to experiment. I published the story outside Medium’s paywall.

Full disclosure, I have ticked on (back) the “Meter my story, so it is eligible to earn money.” I realize you can turn it on and off.

When I checked the stats today: I‘m surprised by how much money I made, remember this story has become viral, and without further ado, I have made — drum roll, please … $3.76.

Medium is paying me more than double.

Medium would love to have viral stories on its platform. By being popular either on social media or landing on top of the SERP (Search Engine Result Page), non-paying members end up discovering Medium.

It is like getting the attention of readers who otherwise will not know anything about Medium, and if they are hooked as any paying Medium member like us have become. There is a chance that a reader will turn to a subscriber, and that is good news for Medium and also good news for us.

Remember, what Medium pays us comes from the revenues the company gets from its subscribers.

With only about 246 paying members who have read the story and with 33 minutes and 10 seconds of total reading time, my “royalties” as of today is $.3.76, which works out to about $ 6.80 per hour of reading time.

Actually, it is 3x more than the average payment I get, ranging from as low as $1.25 to about $2 per hour of reading time.

You complete me.

Again, this is from my personal experience. I have no personal access to any information on Medium's metrics to determine how much we earn from our stories.

All this shows is that a viral story can still earn you money outside of the Medium ecosystem.

I have linked my YouTube channel in the story, and my YouTube channel that has been dormant for a while finally breached the 1,000 subscribers.

All I need now is to reach 4,000 watched hours, and I can monetize my YouTube channel, and all because of one viral story on Medium.

There are no templates to follow on how our Medium stories will become viral, and contrary to what the experts here have to say, we don’t know how a story becomes viral.

While many SEO experts say keyword research can help, we really don't know when a story will become a viral hit.

Final Thoughts — You had me at hello.

You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy. -Nightbirde

I wrote about Nightbirde after she had me at hello, and I am sure that is how the millions of people worldwide who witnessed how she triumph over her audition and her life as she grapples with cancer felt the very same moment was watching America’s Got Talent.

My motivation wasn’t to write a viral story, my intentions were pure, and I should always look back at that moment if I want to capture the hearts and minds of my readers, and they too can say, You had me at hello.

This is more of a reminder to myself. I only have to stay true to myself, always to remember my “whys” as a writer.

And while I have been telling myself that money is as important, it is really not everything.

As Nightbirde said when she had her golden buzzer moment, You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy.

I sometimes fall into the trap of writing fast, writing as much as I can, and there are times that instead of being happy because writing does make me happy, all I feel is that I’m tired.

While the money falls short of what many think a viral story gets, for me, every nickel and dime makes me grateful each day to @Medium for giving me a platform to write my thoughts, become better at writing, meet new friends and hopefully entertain my readers.

It gives me more joy when something I wrote resonates with my readers. I may not (yet) be in the big league of Medium writers. But I can count myself as a successful Medium writer.

And most of the time, when something we wrote becomes viral, it is magical, and just like in the movies, it is because, in the first five seconds of reading, we had our readers at .. hello!