This One Medium Story Earned Me Almost $50 as of This Writing

It’s one of my best articles to date.

It is possible to write a viral article on Medium.

But don’t expect to do so all of the time. If you keep at it, then I know that day will come for you.

It certainly did for me.

Here’s how my best Medium story yet has earned me almost $50, the most of any of my story.

I Wrote About My Passion of Music

I’ve always written about music in some capacity. On Medium, the Riff allows me to do so anytime I would like.

In October 2021, I wrote about the ongoing situation between Paul McCartney and The Rolling Stones. You can find this story here:

I was concerned about the topic matter personally and I wrote it with passion. Everything else just sort of fell into place.

I noticed that it kept growing and growing, until one day I find this:

The story earned:

• 27K views, my most ever for one story
• But $48.43, for one story!

How crazy is that?

That’s almost $50 for one story. But something like this is a chance encounter.

Even now, the story is still earning me money. Take a look. This is from February:

It’s crazy to me that one story of mine performed so well. But it’s not impossible.

It’s All Part of the 80/20 Ruling

There’s a saying on Medium that 80% of your success on the platform comes from 20% of all of your work.

When you think about this, it’s crazy. But it’s all part of the ongoing algorithm of Medium.

So how do you write a viral Medium story?

Here are some tips that I’ve learned from this story and many others similar who earned near what this story has:

1. Stay passionate about your work.
2. Don’t check stats all of the time.
3. Always put your best work forward.

Do these tips every day on Medium and you too will probably have a successful and viral Medium story too

Closing Thoughts

I can’t get rich on $50. It’s also not going to let me quit my job. However, it’s the first step in the right direction.

I’ve come to realize not all of my Medium stories will be successful. That’s okay; I don’t expect them to.

However, it is nice to have some success like this story. And I believe all of you can do the same.

Just keep believing in yourself and working toward your goals. I know success is right around the corner for all of you.

I can’t wait to read what you write next.

Noah Nelson is a senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign majoring in journalism with minors in political science and history. He serves as a senior columnist for The Daily Illini, a writer on Medium and the host of his blog called Nothing But Noah. “Life: A Collection of Short Stories” is his first book available now on Amazon. Like what you read? You can write for Medium too!