We’ve all heard the proclamations and read the articles: Medium is dead, right? The era of high earnings for Medium writers is over, many people say.
Although I agree that it’s harder to earn on Medium than it once was, I totally disagree that the age of the blockbuster Medium article is over.
In 2022, it’s still totally possible to earn $500 or more from a single Medium article. In this post, I’ll share some proof and examples from my own stories.
One caveat: I’m no longer writing on Medium with the sole goal of earning through the Partner Program. I’m overall focused on writing quality content on Medium, so I’m not directly optimizing for earnings. Even so, several of my 2022 stories have done quite well.
Can You Still Earn Good Money on Medium in 2022?
In short, yes, you can earn good money on Medium in 2022.
Here are a few examples. My story about my dog Lance and his TikTok fame has earned $510.95 as I write this.
Another story I write about crypto this year has earned $482.
Even stories that aren’t big “hits” can still do well. This hyper-specific piece about greywater systems has earned me about $38 so far.
Again, I’m no longer optimizing for Partner Program earnings—I have a broader and more holistic focus on story quality and uniqueness at the moment. Writers who are laser-focused on the partner program probably earn way more from their stories than me.
So can you still earn on Medium in 2022? Yes, you can.
How to Earn More on Medium in 2022
So given that success is possible, how do you achieve it?
Medium is a more crowded market than it used to be. When there were fewer Medium writers and more Medium readers, I felt like per-post earnings were often higher, at least on average.
Today, the most important way to increase Medium earnings is to write stories that specifically appeal to Medium readers.
What kinds of stories do that? A contact a Medium told me to “write stories that a smart person would enjoy reading.” That’s a pretty good rubric to follow.
By that definition, a good Medium story is informative, drawn from your real-world experience, and a little quirky or different.
My $500+ piece about Lance and TikTok is a perfect example. I spent months running a real-world experiment before writing the piece. The story was unique, well researched, and told a story that fit into broader trends in terms of social media and advertising. Medium’s readers rewarded me for that.
Why Write for Medium’s Audience
Why should you care whether Medium’s audience likes your piece? Because in the Partner Program, Medium pays you for member reading time. To earn as much as possible, it’s thus crucial to write stories that appeal to Medium’s members.
In the case of my higher-earning pieces, each piece was featured (which results in more sharing with Medium members), and at least one was included in the Edition. This weekly curated newsletter goes out to all Medium members, so getting included in the Edition is a perfect way to reach Medium members.
Writing pieces that hold readers’ attention is crucial too. You can measure this by looking at the read ratio for your pieces and taking steps to increase it.
Not Every Post Earns Well
Of course, it’s important to note that not every Medium post will earn you $500, or even $10. As with any creative endeavor, there’s a lot of variability in Medium earnings.
I thought a post I wrote about getting 14,000 views on boring YouTube videos would do great, but it’s only brought me in about $14. That’s about typical for a lower-earning post.
It’s also important to note that I have over 30,000 Medium followers and have been on the platform since 2019. If you’re brand new, you probably won’t earn as much as my posts.
On the other hand, if you’re brand new you might be laser-focused on writing posts that are optimized to earn from the Partner Program.
For example, you might write super-detailed explainers about programming topics, spend hours crafting engaging headlines, and publish your stories in a top-tier publication like the Startup or Better Programming. Do that a few times per week, and you’ll probably handily beat my Partner Program story earnings.
How Much a Medium Article Earns in 2022
To summarize:
- I’ve found that my really strong Medium articles upwards of $400 in 2022. These are often carefully researched, use external sources, and have real-world experiments that share data you can’t find elsewhere.
- Decent articles earn around $40 to $90. These are usually articles that share useful info from my own personal experiences, but aren’t as fully-reported as the higher earning pieces.
- Lower-performing articles tend to be around $10 to $20. These are things like a local restaurant review, a brief analytical article, or a tactical article that answers a user’s specific question about a gadget.
Again, these numbers are also based solely on my own experience and data. Your earnings could be way different from mine, but at least this can give you a ballpark as to what’s possible on the platform in 2022.