3 Steps to Make Your First $10–100 on Medium as a New Writer
This is what I’d do if I had to start over again
March was a tough month for many; even when I made $200, it felt harder than the month before, as this is the new normal for a while.
The Medium game has been harder than ever, however, there are still ways to make your first $10–100.
Three things you have to keep in mind if you are trying to make money while writing on Medium, it’s not the same as a few months ago.
However, one thing that stays constant is how the reader and writer interact on this platform despite all else that is changing.
What determines the final rate is the readers that read your article.
I was looking at some older articles when removing some of mine off the paywall, I realized that what Medium used to pay was instantly high, about $0.30 per read. We were talking about how to make hundreds and even thousands.
Slowly, it dropped month by month to $0.20, $0.10, and now, back to reality, we are at $0.02–0.04 (EPR) for many writers I have met and who share their earnings.
That was the good old days, and many have left because growth and traction are also tied to earnings, but more so, the platform never mentioned why they have to keep lowering it until they dropped all the way to $0.001 in January.
Since earnings are somewhat stable around 2 to 4 cents, I figure it is time to break down what it takes to earn $10–100 on Medium.
It is really about how many reads you can get.
#1 — Choose your niche and start from there
Most of the time, newer writers are trying to find the most profitable niche from the start, which is reasonable but not ideal when you first start.
Unless you have a game plan already, it is best to establish a connection and work your growth up from there. I have to say Medium is much easier for meeting new people and building a community from zero up.
That is because, due to the business model, each interaction is a way of saying thanks for reading or the other way around.
In other words, there is no way to interact with others unless you go to an old comment and try to see if the other writer has the time to keep chatting back and forth with you.
Therefore, it is critical to have a niche that others can resonate with or understand as this will be a foundation bond that you are creating.
#2 — Choosing who to interact with after you publish your article
Lately, I haven’t had a chance to practice this part. As you can see, my results were way worse than average, which proves the point that making a connection and engagement matters a lot for all kinds of writers.
I know for a fact who I can interact with and likely get a read within 1–2 days, but I do not have enough to rotate over the longer run, so I have to look for new faces that I have never interacted with before.
That is not an easy task, especially when most writer here are reducing their time here and trying to grow elsewhere, like Substack.
This order of when to interact matters because the traction of each article is still highly deepened in the first couple hours of an article for most writers.
#3 — Knowing how many reads you should get to reach a goal
Your earnings goal is also how much traction you can get, so don’t be afraid to write down how many reads you need to earn how much. Without knowing that, you’ll always overlook and think about how to but never going to do it.
Here’s what you’ll need to make $10–100.
$10/$0.02–0.04 EPR = 250 — 500 reads
$20/$0.02–0.04 = 500 — 1000 reads
$100/$0.02–0.04 = 2,500 — 5000 reads
One thing to keep in mind is that the more reads you get, the more likely the EPR is going to go down. This has always been the case during normal earning periods.
Thanks for Reading
This story was originally published on [Medium] and is cross-posted here for a wider audience.
thank you for your article. It was one of the most informative articles about how to make $$$ on Medium that I have read.