In order to make money from Medium, you need apply to be a member of the Medium Partner Program. Once you’re accepted, you can set your Medium stories to be eligible to earn money on the site. But there are a few reasons why your application might be rejected instead.
The Medium Partner Program requires all applicants to have posted at least one story in the past six months, have at least 100 followers, and reside in supported geographic region. If your application is rejected, don’t panic. You can reapply when you meet the criteria.
Let’s dive into this a bit more.
Rejection isn’t the end of the line
If you are rejected from the Medium Partner Program, don’t fret. It’s not the end of the world. You can apply again after 30 days.
However, if you’ve been rejected from the Partner Program, it’s likely you don’t yet meet one or more of the requirements. Unless the reason for the rejection is that you reside in an unsupported geographic region, you can easily fix the problem and reapply after 30 days.
Before applying to the program again, run through the requirements and be certain you do meet them all. Otherwise, Medium will almost certainly reject you again.
Have you posted at least once in the past six months?
In order to be eligible and stay eligible for the Medium Partner Program, you need to have posted at least one story on Medium within the past six months, and you’ll need to ensure that you keep posting at least once every six months.
This requirement is in place to ensure that everyone who is earning from Medium is actually an active participant in the site.
The stories that you post to remain active don’t need to be long, drawn-out articles. They could be quick 200-word updates. An opinion piece. Or something else short and simple.
Before you apply to the Medium Partner Program, be certain you have published something within the last 180 days, and to stay in the program, make sure you publish every so often.
Do you have at least 100 followers?
Even if you’ve posted within the past six months, you still won’t be able to join the Partner Program until you have 100 people following you on Medium.
This requirement frustrates lots of new Medium writers who want to get started making money immediately. For better or worse, this means there’s a bit of work to do first.
In order to get to 100 followers, you need to be writing the kind of content people want to read and interacting with others on the site. Be patient with this process. Getting to 100 followers isn’t an overnight process.
A “follow” (properly used) on Medium, is like a vote of confidence. When you “follow” a writer, you’re essentially saying – and telling Medium – that you want to hear more from that particular person and that his or her content is worth your time investment. Essentially, Medium wants prospective Partner Program members to get 100 votes before they can start making money. And while some have attempted to game the system, I think this is a great way to help ensure only those who write high quality content are accepted into the program and not those who would misuse the platform.
Do you live in a supported location?
Unfortunately, the Medium Partner Program is not available to everyone everywhere. In order to join, you’ll need to reside in one of the supported countries:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States.
Those outside of these countries can still write on Medium, but they are not able to join the Partner Program to make money.
This requirement is a bummer for a lot of people, and it’s the only requirement that can’t really be “fixed” for most people who don’t meet it. If you don’t have 100 followers, you can get them. If you haven’t posted for six months, it’s easy enough to write a post. But if you don’t live in a supported country, it wouldn’t make much sense to move just to be able to make money on Medium.
Why do people have to apply to the Partner Program?
It’s frustrating to have to apply to the Medium Partner Program and potentially be rejected, but the reasoning for it makes sense. Medium wants to ensure that content on the platform is high quality and that they aren’t paying users that produce low quality material.
While this does mean there’s a hurdle to clear before joining the Medium Partner Program, these requirements do help to ensure Medium remains a platform that is trusted and safe for its readers and writers – that means us.
The good news is that, with one exception, these requirements aren’t difficult to meet, and if you don’t currently meet them, you can meet them with some effort.
Even if you’re starting with zero followers currently, don’t let that discourage you. Just start writing on Medium, and as you go, read other writers’ content and comment on their stories. Get to know other people on the platform. Write the kind of content you would want to read, and the followers will come – provided there’s a market for your content.
Don’t let being rejected discourage you
If your application to the Medium Partner Program wasn’t accepted, don’t be discouraged. As long as you reside in one of the supported countries, it’s not difficult to meet the requirements. It may take time, and that process may not be as fast as you would like it to be, but it’s doable.
If you haven’t yet applied to the program, make sure you read through all of the requirements carefully first and then apply only when you do meet them. Otherwise you could be setting yourself up for disappointment. You can read more about the requirements here.
When I first started writing in earnest on Medium back in May of 2022, I had a single follower – and I’m not even sure she was even active on the site anymore. (If fact, I was in the Medium Partner Program a long time ago with only a single follower, before the requirements were changed, and I was kicked out of the program for not having 100+.) It took me just under two weeks to get my 100 followers. If I can do it, so can you.