I have written a lengthy post full of information on what is Medium.com, how to be successful on Medium.com, how to make money from Medium, and my honest review of Medium.com.

You can also download my FREE eBook: Medium.com Beginners Guide for Ultimate Success 2023. Plus: 7 Bonus Tips & Tools.

Below is the list of article contents, I hope you find it helpful:

• What is Medium.com
• How does Medium work?
• Is Medium.com free?
• Medium Partner Program
• Can you make money on Medium?
• Medium.com tipping system
• How do I get paid on Medium?
• Is Medium.com legit?
• Best types of articles that perform well on Medium.com
• How often should I post on Medium?
• Medium Publications
• Medium.com review
• Alternatives to Medium.com
• Conclusion
• Get my FREE Medium.com Beginners Guide for Ultimate Success 2023. Plus: 7 Bonus Tips & Tools

What is Medium.com?

Medium.com is an online publishing platform founded in 2012 by one of the co-founders of Twitter, EV Williams, based in San Francisco, USA. Medium was created so that anyone could publish written articles on a variety of topics, from personal stories to opinion pieces, and reactions to the latest news.

Medium.com aims to showcase high-quality writing, and also offers features like social sharing, commenting, and highlighting, which enable readers to engage with and provide feedback on articles.

Not only can you read some amazing and insightful writing, but Medium.com offers a platform for writers to be paid for their work, based on the number of reads and read time, and via their ‘tipping system’.

This is the Medium mission statement:

“Medium’s mission is to deepen readers’ understanding of the world and to empower writers to share their best work and biggest ideas. We’re a tight-knit group of 80 employees obsessing over our product that reaches 80 million readers every month. We’re building a subscription publishing platform that connects expert writers with thoughtful readers. Our product allows the best ideas to rise to the top and elevates the most passionate, diverse voices. Our company culture reflects the same. We encourage employees to speak their minds, always do what’s right for our users, and take ownership of their projects. We move quickly to get our ideas into the world, working in small, empowered teams, as we try to build a better place on the internet for ideas.”

Medium Audience

According to similarweb.com Medium had 142 million visitors in last month (April 2023), the majority 26% were from the USA, 66.58% male and 33.42% female. The largest age group of visitors are 25 – 34 year-olds (Desktop). Twitter is the main social media platform writers on Medium use to promote their work.

Some Medium earning statistics:

• The very top writers (under 1%) on the platform are now making $5000-$30,000 a month.
• Around 94% of writers earn under $100 a month.
• Many of the top writers only started earning that kind of cash after working extremely hard for 1 to 2 years — this is a long-haul game.

Some more interesting statistics:

• Jason Gutierrez made $12,184.40 from a single article on Medium.
• The highest-earning Medium author made $49,705.40 in a month.
• 53% of Medium’s readers have an annual income of $100,000+.
• Medium has around 725,000 paid subscribers as of 2023.

How does Medium work?

Medium offers writers a way to make money from their work through a revenue-sharing system based on engagement and readership called the Medium Partner Program. There is no exact formula in regards to reading earnings, but the more reads, and the longer the read, the more you make.

Is Medium.com Free?

Your Medium account is free to use, but also offers a paid subscription service called Medium Membership, which gives users access to exclusive content.

If you are wanting to make money writing on Medium.com, I would highly recommend joining the Medium membership program. It only costs $5 a month, but enables you to read any article in their entire library across all your devices, with no paywalls, story limits or ads.

A big part of your success on Medium.com is engaging with and learning from the Medium community. With free membership, you can only access 3 articles a month and are unable to comment and interact with others.

Medium Partner Program

If you want to make money writing on Medium.com you will need to join the ‘Partner Program’.

The program is free to join and allows writers to earn money for the content they publish on Medium based on engagement from Medium users, as well as users they convert to become Medium members.

To join, you will need to meet the following eligibility requirements:

1. Have at least 100 followers on Medium. Have published at least one story on Medium in the past (Note: stories must follow Medium rules)
2. Enrollment is currently only available if you are over 18.
3. Currently, enrollment is only available in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States
4. To join the Program, you need to link your Medium account with your bank account or debit card via a third-party payment service called Stripe. Additionally, you need to provide your taxpayer information within 180 days to be able to receive payments from Medium.

Can you make money on Medium.com?

Yes, you absolutely can! Many writers make a regular full time income for part-time hours. Some of the top writers on Medium blog are making hundreds of thousands.

However, I want to stress that Medium is not a ‘get rich quick scheme’. It requires dedication and hard work and will take you many months, if not years before you start to see a real income.

To put it in perspective, for the first number of months you will earn not much more than $10 a month.

However . . . if you are able to see it through and continue, you will see your numbers constantly improve. Like a spider slowly building its web, the results will eventually be phenomenal. The opportunities are massive, not just for Medium.com but for the other avenues it can lead you, such as creating your own website, newsletter, blog or even writing your own book . . . Medium.com then becomes an amazing platform to promote these avenues and earn further money.

If you are happy to accept this process will take time, patience and consistency, the rewards can be life-changing.

Ultimately, the amount of money you can make on Medium depends on a variety of factors, including the quality of your writing, the popularity of your medium article, and your ability to build a following/audience on the platform.

Medium Tipping System

Medium.com offer a tipping system where readers can send you money if they enjoyed your work. Many use the ‘buy me a coffee line’ at the end of their articles. This is something that I don’t personally do myself, but is a popular tool for others.

How do I get paid on Medium?

Once you are in the Medium Partner Program, you can create your first story, and put it behind the paywall, then press publish. You can also put your already published stories behind the paywall to start earning revenue from them. You can do this via settings, or when you go to publish a story, click the tree dots at top right, click ‘manage meter setting’ and make sure ‘meter your story’ has a green tick. Example below:

Earn money for referred memberships
Partner Program writers are paid every month based on how members engage with their stories. This is determined by member reading time.

Writers can also earn from referred memberships. For every new reader that you convert to a paying Medium member, you’ll receive half of that new reader’s membership fee. Referral earnings are recurring as long as the reader’s membership plan remains active.

You will need to link your Medium account with your bank account or debit card via a third-party payment service called Stripe. Additionally, you need to provide your taxpayer information within 180 days to be able to receive payments from Medium.

Is Medium Legit?

What are the most popular topics on Medium to write about?

Some of the most popular Medium articles include:

• Personal Development and Self-Improvement
• Creativity & Writing
• Entrepreneurship and Business: Medium is a popular platform for entrepreneurs and business professionals, and there are many articles on topics like startups, marketing, advertising, and side hustles.
• Culture and Society: Articles on cultural trends, social issues, and lifestyle topics are popular on Medium.
• Health and Wellness
• Current Events

The most important thing is to choose a topic that you are passionate about and can write about with authority and authenticity. Don’t write about something that you don’t care about just because you think it will make you money, chances are it will be near impossible to stick with it.

How often should I post on Medium.com?

When starting on Medium, the more articles you are able to create the better. However you also don’t want it to become a chore or a stress in your life, so it is all about finding the right balance.

The general guideline to make the most of the Medium algorithm is to write at least 4x a week. You also want to make sure your Medium profile page tells your readers who you are and what you write about or enjoy.

Medium Publications

If you want your work to reach a new and wider audience, you can submit your writing to ‘Medium Publications’. Once you find your rhythm writing, there are several publications that are highly popular to choose from. I provide more detailed information on this in my free beginner’s guide.

Medium.com Review

So as you may have gathered from this article, my honest review of Medium.com is a very positive one! There is no other writing platform out there that offers the opportunities that Medium.com offers. It blows everything else out of the water.

Alternatives to Medium.com

I have tried many alternatives to Medium.com, from vocal.media, quora, newsbreak, PopSugar, other paid writing platforms etc. In my personal opinion, I would recommend these three things:

1. Write on Medium.com – commit for 2 years, don’t doubt yourself
2. Pick a social media channel to promote (Twitter is my advice for Medium)
3. Have your own blog and within a couple of years you can start a newsletter

Conclusion – Is Medium worth it?

If you love writing, want to find an engaged community, want to improve your writing style, want to learn a wealth of new skills, and are willing to put in the time and patience for it to grow, then Medium is 100% worth it!

I have loved writing on there so much, have made some great friendships, and have managed to create further opportunities from the back of Medium. Not only is it a platform you can make money from, but also a funnel to other avenues.

I would 1000% recommend giving Medium.com a go, here is my referral link HERE. Why not start writing your very first story today, who knows how it will change your life!

Thanks for reading, Nyx

Download my brand new guide below for Medium.com beginners success (coming very soon):

Some quick advice to get you started

Get past the fear

My first piece of advice is to really just ‘grab the bull by the horns’. When we are starting anything new, it is very normal to have lots of doubts and concerns. However, we need to work out which of these doubts are helpful, and which are unhelpful.

An example of a helpful doubt is: ‘I don’t know what to write about’ . . . We can do something about this.

An unhelpful doubt is: ‘I don’t think I can do this. I’m not good enough’ . . . This is more of a statement and a damaging one at that.

We need to realise that this is just our brain’s twisted way of ‘protecting’ us. The best thing is not to ignore it, but acknowledge it, and then move on.

‘I understand you are scared and trying to protect me from failure, however, I’m ok thank you, failure is part of growth, this is what I want to do’. Or something along those lines.

The best thing is realising that people do not care as much as you think they do. Although that sounds harsh, it is incredibly liberating.

The best thing about being a beginner creating on Medium is nobody is reading your stuff anyway, so go for it!

So a summary of my first tip is, in the nicest way possible, ‘Get over yourself’. I had to, the sooner the better.

Write as much as possible

You need to be writing as much as you possibly can. There are two reasons for this.

1. Practice makes perfect. I cannot believe the difference in my writing in as little as six months. I thought the stuff I was writing back in the day was the ‘bee’s knees’, but when I look back now, it’s absolute pants. I’m sure in another six months I will feel the same.

If you are not looking back at your work from a year ago and thinking it’s rubbish, you are not growing.

2. The Medium algorithm depends on you posting as regularly as possible. If you want to do well, the first year minimum you are going to be writing an awful lot (for very little reward). What do I mean by a lot? Well, only you know your limitations. As much as you are able to, but not so much that it causes you stress or takes away the joy of writing.

When I first started on Medium, I was writing 2–3x a week. I have recently upped it to writing most days, but I am sure it will drop down again.

Write as much as you can. Enjoy it. Don’t stress.

Learn as much as you can

Not only do you want to be writing as much as you can, but you need to be learning as much as possible. Congratulations, by reading this article, you have already started!

Read as much as possible, and research as much as you can. Check in each couple of weeks so that you are not becoming overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge out there. Remove the chaff from the wheat (unsubscribe from all those newsletters). Follow some of the top Medium accounts.

Accept ‘Ignorance Tax’

I recently came across this term and it explains perfectly what I have been experiencing. This term seems to be coined by the ever-popular ‘Alex Hormozi’, and quite simply ‘Ignorance Tax’ is the price we pay for not knowing what we should know by now.’

A lot of the beginning of your journey is going to be learning, experimentation and trial and error. You need this to be able to build, but it is during this time you will see nothing in return for your efforts.

Accept a very long road of learning and failing, which takes us nicely to our next point . . .

Medium is a long game and you will struggle

Medium is not a ‘get rich quick’ scheme. It will take a very long time before you start to see the results you are most likely looking for. The sooner you can accept this, the better.

The more you focus on where you think you ‘should be’ rather than where you are, the more likely you will want to give up.

There have been many times I have been close to giving up, but I’m really glad I didn’t.

Stop obsessing over your ‘niche’ or worrying about your stats

This is something I was really bad at, but I’m improving with time. At the beginning of my Medium journey, I read so many articles on the importance of ‘finding your niche’. Apparently, the ‘riches are in the niches’. Well, it’s true but also not true.

The narrative that you need to ‘find’ your niche is so unhelpful. I am here to tell you, the more you write, your niche will ‘find you’.

Secondly, please stop checking your stats. Stop checking how much you are making or your follower count. It will make you miserable. Just focus on one foot in front of the other, one day at a time.

If you want to be successful on Medium you need to wear two hats

If you are wanting Medium to become more than a hobby, you need to be wearing two hats. The first hat is your writer’s hat, which is pretty self-explanatory. However, many people forget to wear their ‘second hat’ which is your ‘business hat’.

Your business hat is really important for Medium success and might be something you need to work on as it may not come as naturally as writing.

It is really important to remember that Medium is a social media platform. Because of this, it has an algorithm that needs feeding, i.e you need to be writing at least 3–4x a week for maximum potential to build Medium followers.

You also need to be thinking about how you will promote your work, how to write more successful articles and headlines, and how to look at your statistics to see what is performing well within your medium stories.

I have some good news, pop on your business hat because you can download my guide for beginners and save yourself a lot of time!

Medium really is a great opportunity to create and make money from publishing your writing. I wish you all the luck in the world on your journey ahead, and I hope you love it as much as I do!