What I’ve Learned from Earning $5 to $25 Per Longform Article on Medium

I started writing on this platform in February of this year and it was not until sometime in May that I decided to join the MPP. My earnings have consistently been over $100 since June.

Why didn’t I join the MPP earlier — you wonder?

Here are the reasons:

Since Medium happened to be my first foray into writing, I came in with zero expectations.

I read laments from both newbies and experienced writers about how their articles were earning cents per article. Looking at my stats and engagement then, I didn’t think there was much hope for me.

I just wanted to enjoy the experience of being able to write and put my thoughts out there, unfiltered and unpressured.

This strategy worked for me because by the time May rolled around :

I had developed my own writing style.

I had a small but strong base of readers.

I had decided on the niches and pubs that were a good fit.

My articles were regularly chosen for further distribution which gave my articles more exposure.

I received the Top Writer badge 3 times which helped give me a big boost with regards to new followers/readers.

Out of the 39 articles I’ve written since joining the MPP, several have earned in the $25 — $50 range. My long-form articles typically perform in the $5 to $25 range.

As a writer, I am not afraid of speaking my mind or talking about some unpleasant life experiences I have been through.

At the same time, I have little interest in throwing anyone under the bus or calling out a writer on their article even though it sometimes requires a certain amount of self control, trust me.

I also believe in standing up for myself.

Yes, I get that as a writer you can’t please everybody but I think we can all agree to disagree without coming across as ‘holier than thou’ and laying on the juvenile sounding comments in the hope of garnering attention 🥱.

Recently, I received one such from a hi falutin writer which I promptly turned into an article titled “Letting the Mouth do All the Talking is Not Always a Good Thing for a Writer.”

What I’ve Learned:

Writing about writing on Medium is lucrative. That is a fact.

However, let me also say that as a reader, I can easily gauge if an article holds water or if it’s just fluff. I would say that writing about Medium is lucrative if it provides value to the reader.

2. According to Medium Enhanced Stats, I currently have 1,161 followers. I did not gain them by sticking to just one niche.

What I’ve noticed is that in addition to my core audience, I have a niche specific audience too.

Some only read my Empath Chronicles, others only read my short form posts, many prefer my Medium articles but it is my loyal audience, for whom I am deeply thankful for 🙏🏼 who show up in force to support me in all my articles.

3. I don’t compare myself to other writers, I am not in competition with anyone and I don’t aspire to be the next Tim or Zulie or x,y,z. And this has served me well because it gives me the freedom to write what I want to write, when I want to write and how I want to write it.

Perhaps that’s why I have been able to keep disappointments at a minimum.

4. Yes, I would like an article of mine to go viral someday but I am certainly glad it didn’t happen early on because then my expectations would have sky rocketed and I would have beaten myself up trying to reciprocate it. I am happy where I am right now and enjoying the process.

Win-win or what?

5. Most topics have been thoroughly covered by writers before me and if the plan is to write about the same, make the article stand out by adding a personal touch, a fresh perspective or a new approach in tackling that topic.

And picking a great title would be the icing on the cake 🧁.

6. Finally, writing consistently has given me valuable insights into who I am as a writer.

“Every writer has an archetype and if we lean into that archetype, we’ll be more successful and (even more importantly) happier” Shaunta Grimes

In her article "Every Writer Falls Into One of These Five Archetypes. Yes, Even You", Shaunta Grimes comes up with 5 archetypes:

The Hesitator: This type of writer is the one who is hesitant to get their feet wet. The whole idea of starting from scratch, building an audience and oh yes, the prospect of failure keeps them from putting pen to paper. Perfectionist, much?

The Skipper: They thrive on the excitement of trying out something new without delving too much into any one topic. They are pretty much all over the place. The skippers include freelancers, ghostwriters and copywriters.

The Spiller: I think this is self explanatory. This type of writer is not afraid of baring their souls. I think Shaunta’s words sums it up nicely — “Their storytelling is so healing and so important to them that they’d do it without an audience.”

The teacher: This is the writer who enjoys teaching their audience through the content that they publish.

The Artist: I particularly like this one because I know several writers/poets on this platform whom I consider artists with words (y’all know who you are 😉). Again Shaunta puts it rather beautifully — “ This writer crafts their work and presents it to the world, much in the same way that a fine artist might hang paintings in a gallery….Lyrical, literary, poetic prose is this writer’s happy place….”

Originally published on Medium