3 important lessons from my first $10,000 writing on Medium
At some point last month, I crossed $10,000 in earnings from my online writing activities.
Given how many times I tried and failed to get proper side hustles going in the past, I’m deeply proud of this milestone.
If you’d told me 10 months ago when I started writing again that I’d reach five figures in earnings from sharing my thoughts and experiences in writing, I’m not sure I would have believed you.
But here we are.
In total, this all adds up to $10,346 USD.
Grind grind grind
Believe me when I say this: it hasn’t been easy.
I worked my butt off, publishing close to 300 articles in as many days. I also started a YouTube channel, a collection of Substack newsletters, and Twitter account to help promote my work
BUT, just because something isn’t easy, doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
As I acknowledged crossing the $10,000 barrier, I reflected on the process that got me here.
Here are 3 important lessons from my own journey that I can share with writers who are just starting out.
Lesson 1: This is not a get-rich-quick scheme
I think this is the most important thing people need to understand.
The reason for that is it can be hugely disappointing when something doesn’t meet your expectations, and that causes people to quit way too fast.
Actually, this is probably the reason most people quit side hustles of all kinds, whether it’s writing, YouTube, print on the demand, KDP, or whatever.
People are expecting their lives to change overnight and for all their problems to go away.
Sorry folks, it simply doesn’t work like that.
In fact, I’ve heard plenty of successful content creators say it typically takes 2–5 years to accomplish anything in this game.
I love writing here, for example, but it’s not going to make you rich overnight.
Actually, it’s not going to make you rich ever.
You can make significant, life-changing money, however.
I think people need to recalibrate what they think “life-changing” means, by the way.
You don’t need to be MrBeast to change your life with YouTube, and you don’t need to be Tim Denning here.
Like I said, I’ve made more than $10,000 in 10 months. That’s not nothing!
That’s a pretty nice starter stock portfolio, or a full year of payments on a really nice car or two very nice vacations!
Forget being a millionaire right now.
Focus on picking up little wins and stacking them on top of other little wins.
One day, almost without noticing, you’ll realize those little wins have compounded into massive victories.
Lesson 2: This is not passive income
Yes, after you publish a story or video on a platform, it will continue to earn for you.
But if you stop producing at your previous pace, you can expect your views and earnings to fall off a cliff.
Let’s revisit one of the images I posted above with one area in particular highlighted.
So what happened here?
As you can see, I started earning pretty decent money by early winter.
Rather than seize that momentum and write more than ever, however, I turned my attention to a bunch of side projects like my YouTube channel and building my own website.
The result: after publishing between about 25–50 articles in each of my first five months, I published just 15 total in January, and then 15 in February.
The result was a face-melting 40% drop in earnings.
Yes, I you can stop writing for a while, but take your foot off the gas and you will slow to a near stop eventually.
Without bringing new eyes to your work, you will stagnate.
In that sense, it’s not passive income at all.
Lesson 3: Consistency is everything
Seriously, I know I repeat this a lot, but there’s a reason for that: consistency is absolutely critical to your success.
Everyone talks about platform algorithms in the context of the viewer being hooked.
I think one of the reasons they’re built the way they are is to keep the creator hooked.
That’s because the more you write and the more momentum you build, the more good things happen for you.
I’ve said this before and I’ll repeat it over and over again until I’m out of breath: consistency is everything.
Don’t believe me? Go look up any YouTuber earnings video and they’ll tell you the same thing. The more momentum you build, the more success you have. Period.
The reason most people fail is that consistency is hard.
There are a million reasons NOT to write.
You’re tired. You’re bored. You feel pressured. You’re overwhelmed. You have to do the dishes. There’s a really good show on Netflix right now. Instagram is calling out to you.
They’re all excuses.
The more I write, the more momentum I build, and the more money I make.
It’s the people who show up and do the work anyway who ultimately succeed as online creators and in every aspect of life.
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I am delighted to see your success. Medium is changing the way it works out earnings and I am sure this is going to benefit those who put in the effort to write quality stories and not clickbait.