Why you must STOP writing about Medium to make real money on Medium

“What an ironic headline,” you may be thinking. “Your whole account is about writing on Medium.”

When you first start writing on Medium, you’re understandably curious about how the platform works and how to make a few bucks sharing your awesome writing with the world.

As such, if you’re like I was anyway, you gravitate toward stories focused on those very topics.

In those early days, you may even be led to believe that writing about Medium might be the fast lane to riches.

Let me tell you about how I fell into this trap early in my Medium journey.

Then I’ll tell you why I still write about Medium even though it isn’t the moneymaker you probably think it is.

A laptop with dollar signs on the screen (Illustration credit: James Gordon/Dall-E 2)

№1: I was where you are now

Here’s the real, secret truth: writing about Medium isn’t going to make you much money on Medium.

That’s because Medium doesn’t distribute stories about Medium. 

It’s right there in the platform’s distribution guidelines:

• No meta — no stories written about Medium

As such, it’s really hard to make much money writing about Medium!

In order to join the $100 club and eventually crack the $1,000 club the way I did in December over at James Julian, you need your stories to find a very wide audience.

That means you need Medium to distribute your story into other people’s feeds.

Without widespread distribution, you’re not really going anywhere.

I want to clear up what is probably a misconception about how I write here.

If you look at my follower count on this account and the amount of engagement I get — lots (sometimes hundreds or thousands) of claps and comments on my stories about Medium — you might think I’m just raking it in.

In fact, my engagement on this account probably far outpaces what I get on what I call my main account James Julian.

But making a lot of money from writing about Medium?

That could not be further from the truth.

Earnings gap

My earnings from my main account, where I write about health, fitness, and sobriety and published 15 stories in January, were $1,032.96.

My earnings from this account, where I published 12 stories mostly about writing on Medium?

$63.78

“Well, why are you wasting your time writing about Medium?” you may now be asking yourself.

Allow me to explain.

№2: Content is king

Here’s the thing, I look at content like a little chameleon — it can adapt to its surroundings.

Now let me tell you a little secret: I love helping people out who are just getting started here because I LOVE this platform and its potential. 

Although earnings stories like the ones I put out here really inspired and motivated me early on, the real purpose of my writing on this account is to serve as a foundation for video content.

Every story I write here serves as a de facto script for a YouTube video. 

Trust me, it wasn’t always like this.

Early on, my objective WAS to make money on Medium writing about Medium because I fell into the trap I already mentioned.

But I soon realized this was pretty much a dead end.

When I started out, I published some stories about health and sobriety and those did really well.

Then I got seduced by the “this is how much I make on Medium” stories that seemed to get so much attention and engagement and thought: “why can’t I duplicate that? I’m doing OK on Medium!”

Then I wrote this story at James Julian: I’m going to write 700 legitimate articles in one year. A snappy headline that will surely be embraced by writers just starting out, right?

Do you know how many views I got on that? Literally less than 10.

Compare that to my highest-viewed ones which are both hovering around 17,000 views.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that every story I write here will wind up being a video. 

Sometimes an idea just blurts into my mind and I decide to tap it out knowing it has no future in the video world (or anywhere, really) and where this might be the most appropriate place for it. 

Sometimes writing is just fun!

But for the most part, I keep an eye on how I can “stack” my content, or rejig it to make it relevant for another audience.

The market for videos about writing on Medium, for example, is very underserved on YouTube.

I use a tool for my YouTube channel called VidIQ (affiliate link here if you’re interested in trying it — it’s amazing). 

VidIQ allows you to do keyword research for topics that have high search volume but low competition.

It also makes suggestions about keyword opportunities for your channel in particular. Here’s what it suggests for my YouTube channel (please subscribe!):

My VidIQ keyword suggestions (author’s screencap)

So while I quickly came to realize that writing about Medium is a very limited proposition on Medium, there is decent opportunity elsewhere.

Although it’s a very small niche based on keyword search volume, I’m betting that it’s my path to monetization on that platform because there’s so little competition.

Content is malleable

I’ve written about why I think Medium is the most underrated way to make money online. 

I love the low bar for monetization and the fact you can start getting paid right away (as opposed to on YouTube, on which it usually takes somewhere in the neighbourhood of a year to get monetized, or blogs, which take forever to build an audience on).

While writing stories about Medium is no road to riches, there are people who will seek it out and appreciate it. In fact, I do have four referred members on this account (thank you my wonderful friends!).

Meanwhile, by using Medium as the foundation for whatever content I produce on other platforms, I’m actually getting paid to develop stuff that will actually do a lot better elsewhere.

As a content creator who is just starting out and cognizant of the limitations on your own time, you need to be smart about getting the most bang for your buck.

In my experience, starting on Medium and then branching out is an exceptional way to do this.

If you’re interested in how to improve your performance here by tackling subjects that aren’t Medium, I get into all that and more in this just-published, 30-minute tutorial:

Good luck, and keep writing!

The latest from me

• Read this underrated and inspiring book if you absolutely hate your job

• 3 powerful early lessons from my YouTube monetization quest

• How I use VidIQ to give a powerful boost to my Medium earnings

• Why my Medium earnings are about to crash but a larger victory awaits

• 6 lessons from my $825 Medium story

My most-read stories

1. I made hundreds on Medium in my first month

2. You’re depressed about low views on Medium — this is how to fix it

3. Why Medium is the most underrated way to make money online

4. My Medium earnings finally exploded in my fourth month

5. How I became a top 6% writer on Medium in 23 days

6. I tripled my hourly wage on Medium in my second month — you can too

7. My Medium earnings dipped in my third month and it’s all my fault

8. Avoid the mistake I make every time my story goes viral

9. My first viral story taught me not to chase viral stories

10. Why writing on Medium is far superior to freelancing

11. Can you have more than one Medium Partner Program account?

12. How to get ignored as a writer on Medium

13. If you want to succeed on Medium, ask yourself this question

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