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A short guide to every mistake in the book
Sometimes, knowing how not to do something is more beneficial than knowing how to do it.
This morning, I did an experiment for fun — I Googled “How to make money on Medium.” Oh, what a shit-storm that was!
The results were filled with either really bad advice or with the same very obvious run-of-the-mill advice. To top it off, most of the people giving advice only had one hit article and thought that was enough to prove they know what they’re talking about.
My point here isn’t to complain or to boost my own ego, but it’s to share things I’ve seen done over and over again without much success. Here are some ways you won’t make money on Medium:
1. You Don’t Follow Medium’s Guidelines
Following their guidelines isn’t as easy as it sounds. Print their guidelines and stick them on the wall in front of where you write. There’s a lot to consider in there, and the more you write the easier it will get to understand exactly what they’re looking for.
2. You Worry Too Much About Perfection
The other day I shared about how one of my deeply flawed articles had made me over $9,000. Quality content and ideas trump perfect literature on Medium.
3. You Don’t Post Enough High-Quality Content
Have you seen Tim Denning go in 2020? This guy skilled up big time and upped the quality of his daily posts. The result deeply paid off. Many people post often. Not everyone can do it to the right level.
4. You Don’t Post Over-the-Top Good Stuff
If you fail to post regularly, fret not, there’s a good alternative. Check out Michael Simmons’ articles. There aren’t that many, but man, they’re all extremely good and well-researched. If you post sporadically and infrequently, you better make sure it’s the best article anyone has ever seen on the topic.
5. You Are Not Authentic Enough
Every really good writer I know on Medium is as authentic as it gets. If you can’t share your own story with what you write about, good luck making money. People read people. Check out Michael Thompson, Jessica Wildfire, Jordan Gross, John Gorman, and so many more people for inspiration. Ping me if you want other names.
6. You Are Not Original Enough
When you’ve been writing for years on Medium, you get tired of seeing the same topics over and over again. I’m deeply inspired by Sean Kernan and Niklas Göke’s ability to write about absolutely anything in a way no one ever talks about. I mean, Nik wrote a masterpiece about a juice company’s rebranding! Can you do that?
7. You Copy From Other, More Successful Writers
Ugh… please don’t do that. Oh, the number of times I’ve seen new writers blatantly copy+paste from another writer’s articles… Writers who make money on Medium don’t have time to copy from others, they focus on creating their own stuff.
8. You Niche Down Too Much or Not Enough
That’s a tricky balance to get. I remember when I wrote about 23 topics when I started. I had had some success that way, but not as much as when I had niched down in Travel, Education, Productivity, and Learning. Except for Ayodeji Awosika and Tim Denning, most successful writers are better off choosing only a select few topics they can completely rock.
9. You Use the Wrong Tags
I see this one so frequently. Use tags people are looking for but are also on topic. Don’t tag Life Lessons if you’re simply reporting on a book you read. Here’s how you know how popular a tag is:
See the number in parentheses? That’s the number of times that tag was used. Aim for at least three popular tags and get creative on others. Popular = >50K.
10. You Aim for Top Publications
“Publication fit” matters a lot more than being in a big publication. The really good big publications will reject your piece anyway if it’s not on topic. Know a publication’s mission and only post the right content for it. You’ll reach the right audience that way. Remember, 1,000 true fans trumps 1 million fake followers. For example, I run three publications. Epic Quotes is about inspiring quotes from successful people, SkillUp Ed is about skill development, and Deep Dive is about in-depth guides.
11. You’re Going at It Solo
Medium is a community of writers. The more people you know on the platform, the more you’ll stay accountable and elevate your game. Send private notes helping others. Comment on people’s posts. Clap to your heart’s content for articles you like. Be active on the platform and you’ll get noticed.
12. You Don’t Write in Flow
Being in “flow” can be summarized as a period of intense focus. All the good writing that I know was produced when the author/writer was deeply immersed in what they were writing. Find a moment you can get in flow and write then. Check out Erik Hamre’s How to Enter a Flow State of Mind.
13. You Think You Know It All
Unless you already have proven authority, readers will dismiss your claims. If you use statistics, link the source. If you write a how-to article, you better explain how you know what you know. Alternatively, be very honest about it simply being from your experience and not from science.
14. You Need Inspiration to Write
Most good writing I know starts from a blank page, or, sometimes, with only a brief headline idea to get started. Many aspiring writers overthink what they want to write about. They create an outline and bullet-point lists, but from what I’ve seen, this often limits creativity. Just live life, get inspired by your experiences, and sit down to write.
15. You Take Breaks
The more number of sittings it takes you to write a piece, the more flow you break. Most good articles I know had their first draft written in one sitting, or at least the main ideas written down.
16. You Don’t Edit Your Work
Once you have your first draft done, what do you do? A lot of new writers just publish. Well, at least put it through Grammarly first! Sit on your draft for a day and go through it again to reorganize the flow and fix any mistakes you find. Whenever possible, have at least one other person read it before you publish.
17. You Think About Money
Did you know Tim Denning wrote an eBook about how to make it on Medium? He charges $20 for it and it’s absolutely worth it. Anyway, before publishing it, I asked him how much he’s expecting to make from it. He said “zero.” I was baffled. He had spent money and time creating it and he didn’t care whether it would make him money or not. Guess what, it did make some money.
18. You Write About Trendy Topics Just to Rank
If you join a trend, you’re already late. Truly successful writers start trends. Benjamin Hardy, PhD wrote about self-improvement on Medium before it was sexy. Look how sexy it is now. He helped start the wave and it paid off.
19. You Read Articles Like This One
Most writers I know who make money on Medium never seriously read an article about making money on Medium. While some of the articles on the topic are very good to get inspired, they’re no substitute for consistency, persistence, and quality. Always take more action than you study.
20. You Don’t Treat It Like a Job
Shannon Ashley gave up everything to write full-time on Medium. At her prime, she was making serious money (she might still be). But man, it wasn’t an easy job at all. You should have seen all the effort she put in. Regularly cranking multiple high-quality articles is nothing to scoff at. Yet, to be truly successful, that’s exactly what you have to do; spend eight hours a day and hone your skills as you go.
21. You’re in It for the Short-Term
Trust me when I say Medium is a long-term game. It took Anthony Moore five years of hard work to finally see it pay off. I think it was the same for Tim Denning. I started hitting my stride after one and a half years. And even then, top writers still tank frequently. It’s very much an up-and-down kinda game, like the stock market. If you do it for the long-term, you’re more likely to succeed.
Hope this helps. You can do this!