The System That Helped Make My First $10 On Medium

It’s not much, but it’s honest work

Most people struggle to make their first internet money.

I was one of those people.

7 Months ago I was barely earning 1 dollar.

Now I am so close to making $10.

It might not be a big achievement but it was a HUGE progress for me.

Measure your progress only to your past self, not others

Why should you care about making money writing?

Most people say that they love writing.

But it’s just a hobby for them.

And then they go back to their regular job, which they don’t necessarily hate, but I wouldn't say love either.

If you love writing that much, why don’t you marry it?

Getting married to writing is working as a writer.

If people have this passion for expressing their thoughts and ideas to the world…Why don’t they do something about it?

The digital economy allowed the creation of internet educators.

People who can make a living doing what they love and teaching.

Imagine this

You are “working” on the beach, writing away your thoughts.

The sun is bright, the weather is hot and the chill wind from the sea is relaxing.

You get a notification and $1000 just got deposited into your bank account.

That reality is a dream, get it out of your head.

Yes, writing is fun and all. But if you want to make money from it, you need to treat it as a job.

Treat it as something that matters.

Go all in.

Taking the first steps

I can’t give you every step of writing as a living.

That will take more articles from me and more work from you.

What I can give you is a more elaborated way of saying:

Write more. Discover where your words earn the most. Know your stage and keep at it.

Write more.

Beginner writers get NO attention.

Medium is not a good place to start writing 7-minute articles right off the bat.

Nobody knows you. They won’t spend their time reading your article. And that’s in the best-case scenario if they DISCOVER your article in the first place

More volume. Don’t forget the quality though.

But where should you write? Where are your words worth the most?

I am a small account. What can I do?

The thing that changed the game for me was two words.

Borrowing Engagement.

• Creating more short-form articles.
• For me, it meant commenting more.
• Publishing more of my work in publications.

Comments on the story brought people to my profile.

My profile had pinned my best stories.

The best stories aren’t the ones that I (big accent here on I) liked the most.

It was what my readers liked the most.

It was what got the most engagement.

Pain and Solution

Pain and Solution. Drill it inside your head.

Please…

Because this is CRUCIAL to any writer.

Whether you create a product, sell a service, or create articles.

People need to know that they got something from it.

The best framework you can use?

DAVS:

• Desire
• Anti-Vision
• Vision
• Solution

Take your readers on an emotional rollercoaster

Constantly ask yourself what you want them to feel, and do when they read your work.

You have to make the conscious decision that your words are NOT supposed to be read by everyone.

You have to make them want to read them.

Pubs. Yay or Nah

Publications are great.

But should you use them?

Let me explain something first.

Different creators grow in different ways based on their reach

A small creator needs to borrow reach. He will:

• Comment more
• Engage with smaller accounts
• Need to publish more short-form articles

But we already talked about these. Now in comparison, a big creator just has to:

• Post

Sounds too simple?

Well, it is. But don’t make them sound mean or something.

They are just reaping the harvest of their hard work.

They have what is called: organic reach. Enough followers to get their work seen, engaged with, and snowball into something that attracts even more people.

Notice the key ingredient in this success pot?

It’s the reach and followers they have.

Who else has a big reach and followers?

That’s right. Publications.

That’s why you should try your best to get your work published there.

Conclusion

As you progress through the stages of becoming a full-fledged writer you will experience a lot of negative emotions:

• Self-doubt,
• Boredom,
• Impostor Syndrome

Getting past them is all on you.

In the beginning, you’ll have to come to terms with the fact that not every article will become a viral hit.

You will write and write.

But as long as there’s progress.

As long as you get just one follower daily.

You SHOULD continue going at it. Bettering yourself. Reading a lot, studying what works, and most importantly:

If you truly believe in your passion for writing.

Never give up on it.

Thanks for reading!