TL;DR: The Easy Summary
Thomas Smith, a professional photographer and writer who has been writing on Medium for over 5 years since 2019. He shares key insights about Medium, a subscription-based writing platform where users pay $5/month to access content. In March 2024, he earned over $2,000 from a single article on Medium about AI. He highlights Medium’s benefits such as earning potential, engaged audience, building expertise/brand, newsletter signups, and high domain authority. He explains how to get started on Medium, topics that perform well (e.g. technology, marketing, self-improvement), writing guidelines, getting articles ‘boosted’ for wider distribution, joining publications, and the partner program to earn money. He emphasizes the importance of creating high-quality, human-written content on Medium.
Introduction to Medium
Medium is a subscription-based website where users pay $5 per month to access high-quality, human-written content without ads. It has over 1 million paid subscribers and generates around $5-7 million in monthly revenue, which is distributed to writers based on reader engagement. Medium has a high domain rating (DR-94) and often outranks other websites in search results.
Earning Potential on Medium
The author shares their earnings from the previous month, demonstrating the significant earning potential on Medium, particularly for articles on popular topics like technology, AI, marketing, and self-improvement. Well-researched, high-quality articles that provide practical value and personal experiences can earn thousands of dollars, with the potential for even higher earnings if an article goes viral.
Writing on Medium
Medium offers a clean, minimalistic writing interface focused on text content with limited formatting options. Writers can publish their own articles or syndicate content from their existing blogs while maintaining proper canonical links. The platform values human-written, high-quality content and prohibits AI-generated or spammy content.
Getting Exposure on Medium
Medium’s algorithm recommends articles to users based on their interests, and articles can gain significant exposure through boosting by Medium’s curators. Engaging with readers, sharing on social media, and joining relevant publications can also increase an article’s reach. Publications with moderators can nominate articles for boosting, providing additional exposure opportunities.
Joining the Medium Partner Program
Writers can apply to join the Medium Partner Program and earn money based on reader engagement with their articles. The application process is simple, and writers can start earning from the beginning, even if the amounts are small initially. Consistent, high-quality content and building an audience over time can lead to substantial earnings.
The Importance of Publications
Publications on Medium are collections of articles with their own audiences. Joining relevant publications, especially those with moderators who can nominate articles for boosting, can provide significant exposure for writers, particularly those new to the platform. Publications often have submission guidelines and editors to help writers improve their content.
Conclusion
Medium offers a unique platform for writers to connect with engaged readers, build expertise, and earn money through high-quality, human-written content. Its focus on long-form, valuable content and its distribution and monetization model make it an attractive option for writers, either as a standalone platform or as a complement to an existing blog or website.
Action Items
- Create an account on Medium and put in some basic information.
- Look through the list of topics on Medium and find one that you like to write about or have existing human-written, good quality content on.
- Write an article on Medium with a title, one featured image, and the text content.
- Apply for the Medium Partner Program to start earning from your articles.
- Find relevant publications in your niche, reach out to the editors, and try to get your stories published in those publications to access their audiences.
- Engage with readers by responding to comments and questions on your articles.
- Share your Medium articles on other social platforms and in your newsletter to promote them.
- Build up your following on Medium over time by consistently writing good content that ties into popular interest areas.