Here's my profile link (below). Mostly I write about funny topics, mystical new age topics, science and science fiction, politics-philosophy. Just general interest weirdness. So never expected it to guarantee me any income but haven't yet zeroed in fully on what does bring in money here.. So your advice would be appreciated Kristina.
Also, a link to one of my stories here from October of 22. Someone asked me if I wanted that in a particular publication on Medium, offered that. But they didn't explain the process of how to go about it so I never followed up. I doubt it would have made a huge difference, but I know getting into publications has some value?
Hi Ray, I left a comment on Medium but want to give you some further advice. The article you shared is interesting. I suggest checking out my 60 Boosted Pub video on YouTube (https://youtu.be/_izUX41LZjg?si=fWap8byHloszku_T) and pick one of the tech pubs. Remember, you have to share the photo credits and it's also important to link to the source of information you're refering to.
) I show how to become a writer for a Medium pub. Feel free to let me know in the comments on YouTube what else you need to know in order to publish a piece with a pub or what questions you have in general :D
Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for our conversation here and that you're one of my subs.
I am trying to transition to writing more about topics that practically help people and, as you said, what Medium wants and incentivizes. I have saved your previous emails and will look back at them and see what I am missing.
I've been on Medium a little over a year now, and have just written stories based on personal interests (about 300+ now). I've taken some down over time too because I thought they were outdated. But its time to transition to something more practical. Making $3 a month on the platform is not a viable use of my time any more... The most I ever made in a month was around $11. That's ridiculous...
I wish the platform would give more attention to the writers with just a few hundred followers. But they don't seem to care much about us, though we are probably the vast majority, and prop up the whole system through our monthly fee.
Anne told me she was surprised about what I heard in the background. Well, if you edit the video you hear a lot of background noise or in this case music from New Zealand. Thanks for your lovely feedback! If you leave a reply on YouTube, Anne will answer ;)
I listened to most of it. And I have to agree with Ash, this is actually pretty disheartening - that she has close to 200,000 followers and isn't even making $1,000 a month on Medium.
For all of us way way down there in the follower numbers, that's really scary. It means you could spend ten, fifteen years getting up to Anne's level of followers, and not be able to even survive on the income (assuming of course Medium is still around in ten years).
It just makes me want to abandon the whole effort of trying to make anything substantial at all from my writing out there.
Another example of how uneven this all is, is that I just read a post by Deepak Chopra - and with him being so well known, he only has a tiny handful of people actually reading his work on Medium, less than I have sometimes...
Hi Ray, thanks for sharing! It shows the power of Medium’s recommendation engine AND that followers can be a vanity metric. That is what makes our interview so interesting. People are always talking about HOW MUCH they make, In fact, you can earn the same amount of money as Anne if you have 1,000 followers or less. However, you can do so much more with your following. You have the reach. You have Medium’s back. You could publish a book (she will soon), sell a course, etc. It also depends on the topic. Regarding travel blogging people tend to skim the text and go from picture to picture. When people actually READ my short stories I can earn more than a super top writer with 50K+ followers. I’m glad it got you thinking. Don’t feel disheartened, Ray. I totally get it but it depends on the focus. In addition, at the moment, if you write about what Medium wants and incentivizes you can earn good money (as shown in my previous stories) and build a following super fast. Then it’s up to you to taka advantage of this. Hope this helps. Much love, Kristina
Absolutely! This interview is a total gem for a reason!
Here's the deal: While a lot of people chase after a huge follower count, it's not always about the numbers. Take our interviewee, for example. She's got the charm to land awesome brand deals and could totally skyrocket her career... but guess what? She's loving life just the way it is. How cool is that? 😄
Now, Ash, this should definitely get your gears turning about the other big names on the platform. I'm super grateful she agreed to this interview because the insight she shared? It's pure gold for all of us.
Fun fact: You can totally rake in $1,000 with just 5,000 followers. Yep, been there, done that.😎
Right now, Eve Arnold and a bunch of other talented Medium writers are reaping the benefits of Medium's recommendation engine. It's like a secret sauce that skyrockets your followers.
Here's my profile link (below). Mostly I write about funny topics, mystical new age topics, science and science fiction, politics-philosophy. Just general interest weirdness. So never expected it to guarantee me any income but haven't yet zeroed in fully on what does bring in money here.. So your advice would be appreciated Kristina.
Also, a link to one of my stories here from October of 22. Someone asked me if I wanted that in a particular publication on Medium, offered that. But they didn't explain the process of how to go about it so I never followed up. I doubt it would have made a huge difference, but I know getting into publications has some value?
https://medium.com/@rayjhawk
https://medium.com/@rayjhawk/george-jetson-finally-gets-his-day-in-the-sun-the-flying-car-a81a82f8daed
Hi Ray, I left a comment on Medium but want to give you some further advice. The article you shared is interesting. I suggest checking out my 60 Boosted Pub video on YouTube (https://youtu.be/_izUX41LZjg?si=fWap8byHloszku_T) and pick one of the tech pubs. Remember, you have to share the photo credits and it's also important to link to the source of information you're refering to.
In my video about Medium's Top 10 pubs ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwkU7KtmwhI&list=PL6YzmRpF2njvczb3hoo77SyBWY0HXZodn&index=7
) I show how to become a writer for a Medium pub. Feel free to let me know in the comments on YouTube what else you need to know in order to publish a piece with a pub or what questions you have in general :D
Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for our conversation here and that you're one of my subs.
Thanks for the encouragement and advice Kristina.
I am trying to transition to writing more about topics that practically help people and, as you said, what Medium wants and incentivizes. I have saved your previous emails and will look back at them and see what I am missing.
I've been on Medium a little over a year now, and have just written stories based on personal interests (about 300+ now). I've taken some down over time too because I thought they were outdated. But its time to transition to something more practical. Making $3 a month on the platform is not a viable use of my time any more... The most I ever made in a month was around $11. That's ridiculous...
I wish the platform would give more attention to the writers with just a few hundred followers. But they don't seem to care much about us, though we are probably the vast majority, and prop up the whole system through our monthly fee.
Hey Ray, could you share the link to your profile? I'd like to check it and share some (unsolicited) advice 😂
P.S. In Janaury 2024 I'll open the the doors for a Medium and Substack for Beginners course. Zero to hero :D Maybe hat will be something for you.
Very fun interview. I loved hearing the birds sing in New Zealand!
Anne told me she was surprised about what I heard in the background. Well, if you edit the video you hear a lot of background noise or in this case music from New Zealand. Thanks for your lovely feedback! If you leave a reply on YouTube, Anne will answer ;)
Kristina:
I listened to most of it. And I have to agree with Ash, this is actually pretty disheartening - that she has close to 200,000 followers and isn't even making $1,000 a month on Medium.
For all of us way way down there in the follower numbers, that's really scary. It means you could spend ten, fifteen years getting up to Anne's level of followers, and not be able to even survive on the income (assuming of course Medium is still around in ten years).
It just makes me want to abandon the whole effort of trying to make anything substantial at all from my writing out there.
Another example of how uneven this all is, is that I just read a post by Deepak Chopra - and with him being so well known, he only has a tiny handful of people actually reading his work on Medium, less than I have sometimes...
Hi Ray, thanks for sharing! It shows the power of Medium’s recommendation engine AND that followers can be a vanity metric. That is what makes our interview so interesting. People are always talking about HOW MUCH they make, In fact, you can earn the same amount of money as Anne if you have 1,000 followers or less. However, you can do so much more with your following. You have the reach. You have Medium’s back. You could publish a book (she will soon), sell a course, etc. It also depends on the topic. Regarding travel blogging people tend to skim the text and go from picture to picture. When people actually READ my short stories I can earn more than a super top writer with 50K+ followers. I’m glad it got you thinking. Don’t feel disheartened, Ray. I totally get it but it depends on the focus. In addition, at the moment, if you write about what Medium wants and incentivizes you can earn good money (as shown in my previous stories) and build a following super fast. Then it’s up to you to taka advantage of this. Hope this helps. Much love, Kristina
Definitely inspiring. ❤️
Hi Paolo, that's wonderful to hear! Thanks. Anne is a badass writer and Medium seems to really love her
That's really weird.
She says - Even though she has that many followers, she never makes more than $2k a month...
I was expecting that she's making more than 6-fig per year from writing on medium, but she's not...
I don't know how she make that less with 180k+ followers...
BTW, nice interview Kristina 👌
Absolutely! This interview is a total gem for a reason!
Here's the deal: While a lot of people chase after a huge follower count, it's not always about the numbers. Take our interviewee, for example. She's got the charm to land awesome brand deals and could totally skyrocket her career... but guess what? She's loving life just the way it is. How cool is that? 😄
Now, Ash, this should definitely get your gears turning about the other big names on the platform. I'm super grateful she agreed to this interview because the insight she shared? It's pure gold for all of us.
Fun fact: You can totally rake in $1,000 with just 5,000 followers. Yep, been there, done that.😎
Right now, Eve Arnold and a bunch of other talented Medium writers are reaping the benefits of Medium's recommendation engine. It's like a secret sauce that skyrockets your followers.