avatarJ.J. Pryor

Summary

The web content provides an analysis and summary of 15 Medium articles that generated significant income for their authors, along with insights and advice on how to achieve similar success.

Abstract

The web content delves into 15 successful Medium articles, detailing their financial achievements and the strategies employed by the authors to reach a wide audience and generate substantial earnings. These articles, with earnings ranging from 500 to 12,000, cover diverse topics from morning routines to Japanese philosophy, and were published in notable Medium publications such as "Better Humans" and "The Startup." The author of the web content has extracted key advice from these articles, emphasizing the importance of eliciting emotions, storytelling, leveraging publications for wider reach, and the role of luck in viral success. The content also includes specific performance metrics, such as views, internal views, claps, and read time, providing a comprehensive look at what contributes to a high-earning Medium article.

Opinions

  • The author of the web content values the impact of personal stories and emotional engagement in successful Medium articles.
  • Consistency in writing and targeting the interests of readers are seen as crucial factors in achieving success on Medium.
  • Publications are considered important for exposing articles to new audiences and increasing the likelihood of viral success.
  • Luck is acknowledged as a component in an article's success, but increasing output can improve one's chances of striking it big.
  • The author suggests that writing about topics one is knowledgeable about or has experienced can lead to more authentic and engaging content.
  • There is an emphasis on the importance of a compelling headline, vibrant imagery, and a strong takeaway to capture the attention of both readers and Medium's curators.
  • The author recognizes the potential for articles to continue earning over time, especially when they are curated in popular topics or gain traction through Medium's recommendation system.
  • Some authors have found success through affiliate marketing within their articles, diversifying their income streams beyond Medium's Partner Program.
  • The author encourages other writers to learn from these success stories and apply similar strategies to their own writing endeavors on Medium.

These 15 Medium Articles Made $500 to $12,000 and the Authors Described How They Did It

I analyzed what they said and summed it up here

Photo by Elijah O’Donnell from Pexels

I’m sure you’ve seen this before:

  1. “Oh no! Not another ‘How I Made $3 million on Medium in 5 minutes’ post…but here’s another one anyway! Hahaha. I’m so cheeky. Praise me.”
  2. It follows with 500 - 10,000 words about why they wrote the original article.
  3. Half of them mention their stats, theories, and what unique things they did in the story←I like these
  4. The other half mention how great they are.←I don’t like these

Love ’em or hate ’em, a lot of people read these posts. They get views. So authors keep writing them.

I wanted to sift through a tonne of these articles (1 tonne = 25) and extract what was valuable for easy reading.

I couldn’t bring myself to mention at least 10 of them, but I did manage to find 15 that were either great, good, or mediocre but had enough stats to satisfy my inner-nerd.

I won’t mention which is which, the writing always speaks for itself.

Now that’s out of the way, please enjoy this big summary and throw the authors some love on their original popular pieces. Enjoy!

TLDR Fun Stats

  • 4 of these 15 huge articles were published in Coach Tony’s amazing ‘Better’ publications, 5 of them were in The Startup
  • The most earned on a single story was $12,184 (at the time of writing their article)
  • The most views were 900,000
  • Most stories were written in either 2020 or 2018
  • Some articles didn’t go viral for months after publishing
  • Most articles member-read-time was 1 to 3 minutes, even when some of these stories were up to 20 minutes of estimated reading time

TLDR Most Common Advice

  • Ellicit people’s emotions as much as possible
  • Write stories and not just facts
  • Personal stories are best
  • There’s always luck involved when going viral
  • Write about what you know or have done
  • Choose a vibrant picture for the head image
  • End on an awesome takeaway
  • Publications matter to put your work in front of new audiences

15 High Earning Articles on Medium.com

Article #1

  • Original article: Jason Gutierrez wrote an article titled ‘The 50/30/10/10 Rule for How to Wake Up Earlier and Work on Your Dream’
  • How-I-Did-it article: The Secrets Behind How I Made $12,184.40 from One Medium Article
  • Published in: Originally in The Mission.org then moved to Better Humans
  • Date published: January 2018
  • Topic: Morning routines and productivity
  • Earnings: $12,184
  • Total views: 900,000
  • Internal views: 534,000 (59%)
  • Claps: 66,000 claps from 17,353 people
  • Read time: 2 min, 38 sec, estimated 6 min read time
  • Notes: The article had 20,000 views over 16 months, then went super-viral in the Better Humans publication

Advice snippets:

  • “If I can hit it big, trust me, so can you. Medium money is real and it’s there for those who want it.”
  • “Luck has something to do with it”
  • “Increase your odds of getting lucky by increasing your output. The more you write and the more you publish, the greater your odds of success. You simply never know what’s going to go viral.”
  • “People are here for stories. Find a way to share yours.”
  • “People don’t relate well with robots. They relate to other humans with humanlike faults similar to themselves.”
  • “Emotion is what gets people to engage with the article.”

Article #2

Advice snippets:

  • “You can definitely make money on Medium — if your articles get enough traction.”
  • “Like anything on the internet, some people make a lot more, and most people make a lot less.”

Article #3

  • Original article: Derick David wrote an article titled ‘How Elon Musk’s Starlink Could Disrupt The Telecommunications Industry’
  • How-I-Did-it article: “This Is How Much Medium Paid Me For My 250,000+ Views Story That Took Me 5 Minutes To Write”
  • Published in: He self published before it was asked to be added to The Startup
  • Date published: June 2020
  • Topic: Space, technology, and future
  • Earnings: $755
  • Total views: 253,000 total, 17,710 (7%)
  • Internal views: Not shown.
  • Claps: 625 people clapped 3494 times in total
  • Read time: 2 min 58 sec, estimated time of 8 min
  • Note: A lot of his earnings came much later, most likely from Medium’s ‘commission’ when a non-member signs up after reading your article

Advice snippets:

  • “Ideas are hard to come by, but don’t give up!”
  • “What matters the most is the consistency of your writing and writing something that interests the most of your target readers.”
  • “One thing for sure though, you will never reach that status without consistency in your hard work.”

Article #4

  • Original article: Eduardo Morales wrote an article titled ‘How To Automate An Effective Instagram Bot That Isn’t Spammy.’
  • How-I-Did-it article: How I Make $2,000 a Month from One Medium Article
  • Published in: The Mission.org
  • Date published: March 2018
  • Topic: Social media bots and automation
  • Earnings: $2,000 a month from affiliates (doesn’t mention Medium earnings, although it might not have been eligible back then)
  • Total views: 21,000
  • Internal views: Not mentioned
  • Claps: 3,400 claps from 500 people
  • Read time: 20 minute estimated read time
  • Note: This is different from the other articles as the author made money from highly relevant targeted affiliate ads (instead of Medium itself).

Advice snippets:

  • “Write about something you have deep knowledge in, and others don’t.”
  • “Make your article as detailed and as actionable as possible.”
  • “Promote it to as many new audiences as possible.”
  • “Continue editing and promoting your article.”

Article #5

  • Original article: Danny Forest wrote an article titled ‘8 Important Skills to Learn in Just Under 8 Hours Each’
  • How-I-Did-it article: The Deeply Flawed Medium Article That Made Me Over $9,000
  • Published in: SkillUp
  • Date published: November 2018
  • Topic: Skill learning and self improvement
  • Earnings: Now $10,143 — Thanks to Danny for the update
  • Total views: 870,000 total views
  • Internal views: 397,000 (45.7%)
  • Claps: 38,000 claps from 9,100 people
  • Read time: 1 min 1 sec, estimated 16 min read time

Advice snippets:

  • “If you write a good story, people will read it.”
  • “A good lesson is one you’ve lived, not one you’ve read about.”
  • “If you’ve figured out a great routine, how to learn a specific skill, or a clever way to manage your time and energy, share it.”
  • “The headline and featured images were created so that it would capture the attention of both humans and machines.”
  • “If you’re skilled at any trade and you share your lessons, readers will read what you have to say.”

Article #6

  • Original article: Stephen Moore wrote an article titled ‘What It Takes to Go from $0 to $1 Million in Less Than One Year’
  • How-I-Did-it article: Dissecting a Medium Article That Made Over $6,000
  • Published in: Entrepreneur’s Handbook
  • Date published: July 2019
  • Topic: Entrepreneurship and success stories
  • Earnings: $5001 (Now over $6,000 — thanks to Stephen for the update)
  • Total views: 180,000
  • Internal views: 126,000 (70%)
  • Claps: 20,000 from 3,762 people
  • Read time: 2 min 1 sec, estimated 6 min read time
  • Note: It took almost 6 months before it went viral on Medium

Advice snippets:

  • “Context Is Important. Here’s the problem — when you don’t provide context, the lessons have less impact.”
  • “Here’s a fact of life — when advice is too complicated, or too difficult to implement, nobody acts upon it.”
  • “End It on a Strong Takeaway. A vital factor of this story’s success lies in its conclusion.”

Article #7

Advice snippets:

  • “Share what interests you and put it all out there.”
  • “Only half the people that viewed the article read it, but it’s the fans, claps, and engagement that seem to determine a story’s success.”
  • “If something intrigues you — and you believe others will find it interesting — just write it. You never know.”

Article #8

Advice snippets:

  • “All I wanted is to share my struggles and how I overcame that using daily habits.”
  • “You never know when your article becomes viral and earn more money than you could imagine.”

Article #9

Advice snippets:

  • “I told them that this article was for them. I didn’t say “why,” I didn’t get down to specifics; I left it hanging — I left the key in the lock.”
  • “Everyone can make grand promises; it’s bloody difficult to deliver on them, though.”
  • “I told a story about my personal experience, and I told it in the simplest way I could.”

Article #10

Advice snippets:

  • “Look for gaps in knowledge or information that you could plug with your articles.”
  • “Don’t rush to publish an article as you might be selling it short.”
  • “Publications matter if you want fresh eyes to look at your writing.”
  • “Medium interest does not readily translate across platforms.”
  • “The earning power of an article isn’t its only benefit.”

Article #11

Advice snippets:

  • “This article took me a couple of weeks to write. I would do a bit then have a block. Then I’d procrastinate and read a lot instead of actually writing. I was very unfocused.”
  • “People could read this article in ten years’ time and still find value in it. This is really important for longevity.”
  • “I read my article out loud several times to check. Whenever I stumble on my words, I take it as a red flag and update the wording.”
  • “If you can add value to people’s lives then the story will grow and you will benefit. I choose to be a force for positivity and it can lead me to success.”
  • “…only saw a massive success when curated in a popular topic with a great story.”

Article #12

Advice snippets:

  • “If publications are Medium’s bread and butter, curation is its special sauce. It’s the magic that keeps the aforementioned clickbait, rabid political articles, affiliate marketing, and all the Internet’s other assorted filth off the platform.”
  • “A strong headline and hook matter as much to Medium’s editors as they do to readers.”

Article #13

Advice snippets:

  • “Excellent illustration is a must to go viral.”
  • “I took an existing idea and targeted it perfectly to my audience.”
  • “Screenshots weren’t enough, so I decided to make GIFs for each command. I hadn’t created a GIF on Mac before and found a handy tool called LICEcap through a Google search.”

Article #14

Advice snippets:

  • “My goal from the beginning was to be as authentic as possible, intertwining tidbits from my life with lessons that others can learn from.”
  • “Publications provide you with a pre-built audience and reputation.”
  • “Social media will also allow other Medium users to find you, increasing your short-term earnings.”

Article #15

Advice snippets:

  • “Use unique images your reader has not seen before.”
  • “Use colorful, clear images.”
  • “Write the best damn article on the topic (at least make that your mission)”
  • “Write something personal, unique, and highly informative or entertaining — or both”

Bonus

Here’s one by Jared A. Brock on how he made $6,000 with a beauty of a piece. Go read his stuff, you won’t regret it.

I hope the above summary of the how-to articles was helpful. I enjoyed reading all of the write-ups, especially to see what insights the authors had.

But now that I’m finished writing this article about the articles about the original articles — I’m left pondering a giant question:

When will your article be added to this list?

So get out there, soak up the best advice, sprinkle your stardust, and start going viral. I want to see you here in a few months.

J.J. Pryor

For more petal on the mettle, come join my free newsletter. Thanks for reading!

Medium
Writing
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