There Is Only One Way to Make Solid Money On Medium and You’re Probably Not Going to Like it

Think of it as a life lesson

Photo by Brian Kndeneh on Unsplash

I’m having a moral dilemma with this newsletter.

I created it to help Medium writers reach a basic income of $1,000 a month through the partner program. So what’s the problem? I’m no longer making that.

Initially, my income would range from 1k to 4k monthly. To do that, I spent roughly two hours daily either writing or engaging on Medium. Lately, I’ve only been able to dedicate a quarter of that time to Medium, and my income has suffered dramatically.

I feel like a fraud writing a newsletter to help writers achieve something I’m no longer achieving.

Because the truth about Medium is to make money, it can’t just be a side hustle. You can’t throw up an article each month and expect the money to flow. There is a direct correlation between the money you make and the time you spend on the platform.

Making money on Medium is a job. Your boss is the people who read your work, and the timekeeper is the Medium algorithm. Disappoint either of them; you’ll notice it when your check comes.

Putting in the time also helps build relationships on Medium. It’s tough to grow on Medium without them. Having ten or twenty people who read everything you write is insanely valuable.

That leaves me with one conclusion regarding Medium and it’s a lesson that applies to most areas of life. If something is worth doing, it’s worth overdoing. Medium isn’t the platform for half-measures. There’s nothing more frustrating than writing something meaningful for nobody to read it.

If you’re going to make four figures each month on Medium, you’re going to need to take it seriously. You wouldn’t go to the gym once every two weeks and expect to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Likewise, you can’t drop an article on Medium every three weeks and expect the money to flow.

That’s as much a reminder to me as anyone else.

Find two hours each day. Take one of those for your writing and use the other to read and comment on other people’s work. It’s the only way writing on Medium makes any sense. If you can’t find that time, you can still write on Medium, but you can’t expect much in return.

You’ll need a plan and some discipline to find that time. I’ll have to get up a bit earlier to grab an hour in the morning. Soon, I’ll wrap up a class, which will free up more time. I can also read and respond to others sporadically throughout the day.

Find the time, you’ll be glad you did.