Summary

The author shares insights into their successful Medium story about cheating habits that earned them $243.36, discussing the impact of income reveal stories and the role of Medium's algorithm in content visibility.

Abstract

The article titled "The Secrets Behind My $243.36 Medium Story" delves into the author's experience with publishing content on Medium, particularly focusing on a story about infidelity that significantly increased their earnings. The author reflects on the initial success following their first income reveal story, the subsequent decline in earnings, and the decision to share another successful piece despite earlier reservations. The article emphasizes the importance of authentic stories that provide valuable insights into content strategy and reader engagement. It also highlights the significance of Medium's internal traffic and the algorithm's role in amplifying content, as well as the potential for writers to learn from each other's successes and set realistic expectations for their own writing journeys on the platform.

Opinions

The author initially believed that revealing high earnings might lead to a punishment by Medium's algorithm, a notion they refer to as being penalized for seeming to have "it all figured out."
After experiencing a drop in earnings, the author considered avoiding future income reveal stories but later decided to share their success to motivate and provide learning opportunities for others.
The author values the sharing of authentic experiences and believes that analyzing successful earning stories can offer lessons on content optimization, topic selection, and reader engagement.
They suggest that the success of their article on cheating habits was due to the intriguing topic, credible content, a catchy title and subtitle, and the support of Medium's algorithm and internal traffic.
The author hopes that their transparency will inspire fellow writers to create content that resonates with readers and to achieve greater success on Medium.

The Secrets Behind My $243.36 Medium Story

A bold income reveal story and why I am daring to tell it.

In December 2021, I published my first Medium income story. It was about “How I Went From $10.28 In November To $106.92 In December”. This was to announce to the world that following the success of my story: “The Surprising Things When Cheaters Cheat,” yours truly was now part of the Medium elite $100 Club!

At the end of my great income reveal story, however, I joked about how I had had to think long and hard before writing the piece because I had a nagging suspicion that once someone writes a big income reveal story, the “ALMIGHTY ALGORITHM” punishes them. After all, they dared to proclaim they had it all figured out.

Well, I was joking but the Medium gods weren’t laughing

My suspicions seemed to be confirmed because, after just one month of grace, my earnings went down like a sky-diving rhino with a malfunctioning parachute! By February next, I was out in the cold again and everything I tried to get back in seemed to fall short of recreating the magic.

I even resolved never to write another income reveal piece again:

‘One Hit Wonder’ I hear you say?

As it turns out, No. I had another ‘hit’: “7 Habits of Highly Successful Cheaters” which, I self-published in July 2022. It was also undistributed (unboosted) and has 800+ claps with only 5 people commenting on it, and before Medium changed the stats page you could see the total read time was 79hrs 36mins and counting (it is also still getting a few views and reads now and then).

Why I am doing it again

Seeing others achieve earnings that they are proud to showcase (regardless of the amount) always motivates me to persist and try to improve, believing that my efforts can also yield rewards. Perhaps through these insights I share, you too will be inspired to trudge on.

I believe it is always a learning opportunity when you come across an AUTHENTIC story that provides valuable insights into what works and what doesn’t in terms of content and strategy. Analyzing successful earning stories usually offers lessons on how you too can optimize your content, select topics, enhance reader engagement, etc.

I am happy to add my story to the plethora of stories showcasing varying levels of success because, hopefully, it will help set realistic expectations for writers, old and new alike. Having a broader view of actual earnings achieved by their fellow writers on the platform gives writers a clearer picture of what is achievable and the level of effort required to get there.

“Analyzing successful earning stories usually offers lessons on how you too can optimize your content, select topics, enhance reader engagement…”

So, here goes…

The stats:

Views = 4.4K
Reads = 1K
Internal traffic = 85%
External referrals = 15%
Total read time = 79hrs 36mins (as of early 2023)
Lifetime earnings = $243.36

The success of the article might be attributed to several factors:

The story touches on a topic that never fails to intrigue and resonate with many people: infidelity and the habits of cheaters. Such a topic usually attracts a wide readership interested in relationship dynamics. Which is just about, everyone.
In writing the piece I provided a detailed breakdown of the habits of cheaters and also relayed insights provided by experts to lend credibility to the content. In addition to highlighting the habits of cheaters, the story also attempted to give practical advice in employing potential defenses or early warning signals for individuals in relationships.
The catchy title along with the intriguing subtitle, I believe, was/is able to grab the attention of readers, drawing them into the story. Once inside I tried to make it as engaging and as easy to read as I could so readers could flow through the story.
Last but by no means least, why the story did so well was because of the benevolent Medium Algorithm and internal traffic. The self-published story seemed to have gained traction within the Medium platform, as it got put in front of a lot of eyeballs (4.4k). While I did share the story of external sites like Twitter (X) and Facebook, the views by traffic source analysis only showed a combined 44 clicks on my links to the sites.

So there you have it I hope that apart from satisfying your curiosity, this will illuminate the pathways for fellow writers seeking to elevate their game and potentially enhance their earnings on this platform. Perhaps you find some inspiration in crafting contents that also resonate deeply with readers, as you embark on a more prosperous writing journey on Medium.

“Having a broader view of actual earnings achieved by their fellow writers on the platform gives writers a clearer picture of what is achievable and the level of effort required to get there.”