How does this compare to your earnings?
Is Medium making you rich? Few people will answer yes to that question, but there is value in knowing where you stand in the pecking order. Are you making more than other people? Are you making less?
I’ve been in the Medium Partner Program for a year now. It was an experiment. I used to write for Hubpages, but the CPM rates were dropping through the floor, so I decided to set out on my own with Medium.
Here is how much money I earned from Medium in the past 12 months.
A Quick Disclaimer, Before We Begin
Medium is not my full-time job. As you view the earnings below, that will quickly become apparent, but I wanted to make that clear upfront.
Like the vast majority of writers in the Medium Partner Program, this is a side hustle. It is supplemental income. It scratches an itch I have to write, share, and be creative with words.
I love writing. Technology and productivity are both things I am really passionate about. But, to paraphrase Derek Sivers, if you want to do what you love and live a comfortable life, you need to do something for love and something else for money.
That is precisely where I am right now. So, here are the stats and the context that goes along with them.
January 2022 — $0.01
It was a slow start to the year, but I signed up for the partner program right at the end of January, so I guess that is to be expected. The result? One cent earned.
My highest-earning article that month was Getting Things Done With Gmail. It helped me garner 654 views, and if you want to make money on Medium, it’s all about the eyeballs.
https://jonathanwylie.com/getting-things-done-with-google-workspace-dd7fdf9a2bd7
February 2022 — $139.24
One month into my Medium adventure, I was able to earn three figures. I published five more articles in February 2022. This took my total article count to eleven, and my follower count grew from 629 to 697.
My highest-earning article this month was The 10 Best Note-Taking Apps for 2022. It brought in $106.71. I also managed to 6,838 views and was able to refer two medium subscribers using my referral links.
March 2022 — $326.72
By March, you can imagine that my confidence was growing! I never expected to earn over $300 in one month, but here we are. Medium started promoting my articles, and more readers meant more money.
My highest-earning article this month was 10 Must-Watch YouTube Channels for Productivity and Self-Improvement. It accounted for $94.35 in March, but two other stories brought me $83.19 and $82.68. I also had 15,313 views and 849 subscribers. Overall, an excellent month.
April 2022 — $469.58
At first, I thought this was an April Fool’s joke, but when the money landed in my bank, I knew it was real.
This payment was beyond any expectations I had for the Medium Partner Program, but it filled me with optimism for the future. That optimism, as we will find out, was misplaced, but I digress.
My highest-earning article this month was the same as last month. It brought in $96.61. In April, I had 7 referred members and for the first time on Medium, I got over 1000 views in one day.
https://jonathanwylie.com/getting-things-done-with-google-workspace-dd7fdf9a2bd7
May 2022 — $187.11
Buoyed by my recent success, I continued to write articles in May, but was unable to earn even half of what I earned the month before.
My highest-earning article this month was Which Cloud Storage is Best in 2022? It amassed $30.65 in revenue. I now had 991 followers, but dropped to six referred members. Was it something I said?
June 2022 — $129.97
When I wrote for Hubpages, I became accustomed to good months and bad months for revenue. This wasn’t a bad month, per se, but it started to become clear that March and April were anomalies.
My highest-earning article this month was 5 Things You Need to Know About Apple’s New Stage Manager. It earned me $25.18. That is lower than the top-earning articles in other months but meant that I had enough content being viewed to spread the earnings over multiple stories.
In June, I had 7,236 views. However, my referred members continued to desert me. I was down to just five now, (but still grateful for every last one of them).
July 2022 — $81.19
The summer slide continued, but I went on vacation for a couple of weeks. This meant I was writing less than I normally do, so this number was not a big surprise.
My highest-earning article this month was the same as last month. It earned me $12.76. In July, I had 1,034 followers, and 6,270 views, and add one referral membership to take my total back up to six.
https://jonathanwylie.com/getting-things-done-with-google-workspace-dd7fdf9a2bd7
August 2022 — $67.64
This was another month when I wrote less than I normally do, but again, it was not without good reason. My mother passed away in August. As you can imagine, (and as some of you will know), a major life event like this means some things have to get put on the shelf for later.
My highest-earning article this month was, Is This the Best Note-Taking App You’ve Never Heard Of? It earned me $9.33 of my $67.64 paycheck.
September 2022 — $214.33
This month I was back in the three figures. When I wrote for Hubpages, there was often a decline in the number of views over the summer months. I don’t know if that was specific to Hubpages, but it tracks for what I was seeing on Medium this year.
My highest-earning article this month was 8 Great Updates for Apple Reminders, which brought in a healthy $98.33. I also got 19,627 views. After an upside-down summer, I felt like I was getting back on track.
October 2022 — $133.81
He who writes less gets paid less. I also didn’t seem to write anything that particularly caught people’s attention. There are lessons here, but more on that later.
My highest-earning article this month was the same as last month. It earned $42.67 in October. Followers continued to climb, (+34 this month), and views were 14,581, but referred members stayed constant at five.
https://jonathanwylie.com/getting-things-done-with-google-workspace-dd7fdf9a2bd7
November 2022 — $102.19
It was about this time that changes were starting to filter through the Medium ecosystem. Articles weren’t being promoted anymore, and the new CEO was making plans for 2023. I’m not making excuses, just noting that I was aware I would have to adapt to be successful here.
My highest-earning article this month was, Have You Tried the New iCloud Beta? It earned me $13.43, so I was starting to see a more consistent spread across other articles. I also got my referred members back up to six!
December 2022 — $72.88
As the calendar year drew to a close, the media I follow was full of year-end reviews. I resolved to do the same with my writing on Medium. Would I take a new approach in 2023? Could I be more prolific? Time will tell.
My highest-earning article this month was based on a productivity book I had read recently. The article, How to Capture Digital Content to Build a Second Brain, brought in $10.83 in December, and the view count for the month was 7,785.
https://jonathanwylie.com/getting-things-done-with-google-workspace-dd7fdf9a2bd7
January 2023 — $93.95
My Medium membership was renewed this month, so that tells me it has been about a year since I started this little adventure. It had its ups and downs, but I expected nothing less.
My highest-earning article this month was, Should Apple Be Worried About These New Products From CES 2023? It accounted for $34.93 of my monthly earnings. My tally for referred members was now just three, and views were up to 11,140.
One Year Total: $2018.62
What Did I Learn?
Probably not much that you haven’t heard in a hundred other “How to Succeed on Medium” articles. Here’s a quick summary:
- I should niche down.
- I should write more often.
- Listicles are like candy for the brain.
- Medium doesn’t surface “old” articles very much.
- You never know what will be popular, you just have to write.
- Publications are your friend. Write to them.
Will I put any of that into practice for the coming year?
Some, yes, but probably not all of it because I don’t want to lose the joy and spontaneity of writing. I need to find a balance between fun and focus.
Was the Medium experiment worth it?
Absolutely. I have really enjoyed writing on Medium. I think I could be more strategic about what I create on here, but the experience, the community, and the platform are just what I need right now.
I don’t know if I will be able to earn $2,000 in 2023, but if Medium stays true to the values that we have all become accustomed to, I will still be here.
Would I have made more money on Hubpages?
It’s hard to say. I wrote more for Medium this year than I ever did in a single year on Hubpages. But, I don’t regret leaving Hubpages. On Medium, I don’t have to deal with editors and the SEO is secondary, (at least for now), so you can just concentrate on writing good content.
Do I have writing goals for 2023?
It would be great to earn over $100 every month. However, I am realistic enough to know that there is only so much I can do to accomplish that. If I knew that doing A, B, and C would guarantee that paycheck, I would try to do those things, but there are few guarantees with this gig.
I just need to keep showing up, keep writing, and pay attention to what Medium is doing to support and reward writers.
Still here? Great! I’m glad you made it to the end. If you enjoyed this article, here are some ways to show your appreciation:
- 👏 Click the hands to clap for this story!
- 📫 Subscribe to get all my latest posts
- 👋 Follow me on Medium
- Not a Medium member? Sign up with my exclusive referral link and get full access to everything on Medium for $5 per month or $50 annually.