Writing on Medium

Writing On Medium Pays Better Than Dividends

.367 return on my $50 investment

I’m 10 months into writing on this platform. It cost $50 dollars to “play.”

I hit the break-even mark 7 months into the investment. The $14.82 I’ve earned on Medium since beats the 52 cents earned in my savings account. I did the math comparison to help me feel better about the “pennies for my thoughts” I’ve been earning on Medium.

Sure I’d love to have a piece go viral. Who am I kidding? Certainly not me, I’d be thrilled to get more than 50 reads! My high point is 41. I just can’t seem to generate any traction on this platform.

One piece of advice is to write in one vein, to be more targeted. I can’t seem to do that, I write according to my varied and eclectic interests. Though satisfying, this strategy just does not feel profitable. I am happy to know that my efforts however are beating the bank!

I read hundreds of articles on how to build readership to improve profits. One suggestion was to work on writing more attention grabbing titles. I’ve written better titles using a title testing app. For example I originally wrote

Writing on Medium Beats Current Interests Rates

then weshare.net/headline-generator/ suggested (warning annoying pop-up window — ’cause nothing is really free)

Writing On Medium Pays Better Than Dividends

I’ve entered challenges and contests. I even won a cup of coffee from Coffee Times. That sure felt good! Check out the Coffee Times Publication, they have some excellent tips for generating passive income from your profile page. I’ve earned 43 cents for just being me and that feels great!

Because I know how hard most of us work writing for pennies I make sure to at least pay you with claps. I clap generously and genuinely. But seriously if you already have 1k in claps, I’m not piling on another 50, unless the article is really stellar.

I also leave a comment, almost always. I know how good it makes me feel to read them, so I try to respond to something that strikes me in other’s writing. At one point I thought my bell was broken! I had no green notifications of interactions — my self-esteem as a writer dropped then revved right back up when the bell rang as I was writing

I also love the highlight feature, I want the author to know I really read and appreciated their work. When I first started writing on medium Spyder and Kris Downey were so kind, always clapping and responding. It was payout enough to read their kind words.

I’ll admit 10 months in, I want an actual payout! Tapping into my developmental psychology skill set, I realize I’ve hit a space where I need to redefine and refine my skill set — Pivot or Perish!! I won’t annoy you with another embedded story, but if you are curious please search for the title Pivot or Perish.

I recently read a piece that suggested it was best to view writing on Medium as a hobby. That looking to earn a living here is an unrealistic proposition for the vast majority of us. It helped me reset my goals to a more realistic target rather than my dreamy-eyed vision of hauling in bags of coin spun from the golden threads of my syntax and metaphor.

I’ll heed that advice, while still striving to improve my writing as well as marketing myself more effectively. Like a savings account, the dividends may be next to nothing but over time they will add up.