Ignoring Medium’s Partner Program Helped Me Make 13k So Far This Year

You should ignore it too

Photo by Johannes Krupinski on Unsplash

I hate sharing what I make on Medium.

It feels like walking up to a podium and asking the crowd to focus on me. While that might not bother some of you, it feels icky for me. I'm an introvert by nature, so hitting publish on an article, attending a party, and yes-sharing my earnings drains my battery.

I share because you might wonder what others are making on Medium or what's possible if you're a new writer. I also share because I see too many articles declaring Medium isn't worth writing on.

Ignore those articles by the way; good writing can be successful anywhere.

There isn't one answer for how I've made money on Medium. A lot of it was luck, with some articles getting boosted, some of it was showing up every day, and another portion of it was learning by spending countless hours on the platform.

Interestingly, I largely ignored the partner program.

It's a bold statement, but my first boosted story changed my life and my mindset toward writing. It was a story about quitting my job as a 13-year police detective. It was raw and honest, and hitting publish was painful.

Then the comments came.

The comment section was flooded with people sharing real feelings. It resonated with people with similar feelings; those heartfelt messages left me speechless. Suddenly, I had one of those moments of clarity that changed everything.

Writing isn't about enriching ourselves, although it can achieve that.

Writing is about using your knowledge and experience to give something meaningful to another person. If you can do that, your writing will make money and create opportunity simply as a byproduct.

Let yourself ignore the partner program, the algorithm, and the claps. Money is nice, but the real value is putting yourself out there and making lasting connections.

In addition to writing, I also consider myself an investor. The best investors trade infrequently, are always accumulating, and think in decades. They don't concern themselves with news and market dips. Writing on Medium is a form of investing, and it follows the same rules.

Write with the goal of still being a writer in ten years.

If you do that, you'll stop worrying about one article that bombs or a poor month from the partner program—the algorithm will become almost irrelevant. If you want to conquer Medium's partner program, ignore it and play the long game.

Almost everyone is playing the short game.