If I can make money on Medium, so can you.
I’ve always loved writing. Well, not for school anyway. But on my own? For fun? You betcha. Now that I’m all grown up and have bills to pay, making money with my writing sounds like a dream come true.
I’ve tried blogging in the past, and I’ve made a bit of money with my writing over the years, but nothing substantial.
That’s where Medium comes in.
Essentially, Medium is an online platform that is focused on providing a supportive platform for authors and a pleasant reading experience for readers. Medium offers a membership for a few bucks per month (or an annual fee) that allows readers to read an unlimited number of articles (which Medium calls “stories”) while supporting the authors they read as a portion of that subscription fee is passed along to the authors whose content they read (or through whose link they signed up as a member).
Medium also offers what it calls the Medium Partner Program. Writers who are part of this program can be paid based on how much attention their content earns. Whereas previously there was no such requirement, Medium recently adjusted the terms of the Medium Partner Program to state that all members who want to be paid must have at least 100 followers or they’ll be removed from the program.
I joined the site a couple of years ago but didn’t do much with it. I think I wrote only a couple of articles, earned a few cents (not even a whole dollar) and then gave up. Clearly, I didn’t try very hard. I had one follower. One.
I knew (thought) that I had no chance of getting to 100 followers before the Partner Program rule change took effect, and I basically gave up. Eventually, I deleted my content and moved on.
Then, in May of 2022, I said to myself, “Eh, why not give it another try?” And by the end of the month, I had enough followers to join the Medium Partner Program and start getting paid. It took way less time than I thought. I guess my former pessimism was unwarranted, eh?
By the end of May, I had earned a few dollars. Not much, but coffee money.
By the end of June, my first full month in the program, I had earned significantly more, and now I’m feeling pretty motivated.
As time goes on, I may post an occasional update to hopefully encourage someone to check out Medium. But for those of you who found this post because you’re curious about Medium or the Medium Partner Program, let me just say a few things.
Medium is a great place to write.
I haven’t been actively writing on Medium for long, but in the time I have been active, I have been very pleasantly surprised by how welcoming and supportive the community is. One of Medium’s best features is the ability to respond to other authors’ writing and “clap” for their content (not too unlike a “like” on Facebook, except you can “clap” up to 50 times for a single piece of content).
It’s a very social, very supportive platform.
There are Facebook groups for Medium authors looking to promote their work and encourage others in their writing journey, and there are publications on Medium to which work can be submitted for an even wider audience.
Being in the Medium Partner Program is not a guarantee of earning.
Before you go and join Medium (and I hope you will with my link) make sure you understand this: Just because you’re a part of the Medium Partner Program doesn’t mean that you will actually earn anything for your writing.
If you write content that no one reads, you won’t see much – if anything. On the other hand, if you write something that goes viral and gets loads of traffic, you could make quite a bit.
But no one can guarantee that you will actually make a good amount. I’ve been fascinated to see how some of my posts make almost nothing (or even actually nothing) while others keep earning when I didn’t think they were that well written.
Go figure.
I don’t say that to discourage you. So please don’t misunderstand me. I say that so that you don’t join Medium expecting to make a full time income just because you write a few words. That isn’t how it works.
Medium Partner Program earnings aren’t always consistent.
One thing I hear frequently from seasoned Medium authors is that earnings aren’t consistent. Some months you might earn more than others. Last month, I earned more than I think I’m currently on track to make this month, but that could change.
What I do know is that I’m not going to expect what I earned last month to be the same as what I earn this month. I’m hoping I make more, but I could make less.
Either way, I’ll be interested to see where my Medium journey takes me.
Would I recommend joining Medium? Absolutely.
Even though I created my Medium account a while ago, I still consider myself new to the site since I’ve only been truly active since May of 2022. Now here we are in July, and I’m excited to continue learning the ropes and interacting with fellow authors.
Will I ever make Medium my full time income? Probably not. But I’m hopeful that it can be a significant part of my side hustle income.
If you’d like to join Medium for a small fee each month to support me and my writing, you can do that here: https://medium.com/@michaelswengel/membership
You don’t have to be a paying Medium member to be a part of the Medium Partner Program, however.
Personally, I’m both a paying Medium member and a member of the Medium Partner Program so that I can read as many articles (stories) as I’d like, and at the same time, I’m earning money for my own content.
How cool is that?