Making money with the Medium Partner Program involves writing and publishing articles on Medium, a popular online publishing platform. Through this program, you can earn money based on how many people read, engage with, and clap for your articles. Here’s how you can start making money with the Medium Partner Program:
1. Sign Up for the Medium Partner Program
- Create a Medium Account: If you don’t already have one, create an account on Medium.
- Join the Medium Partner Program: Once your account is set up, apply to the Medium Partner Program. You need to meet the following eligibility requirements:
- You must be over 18 years old.
- You need to have a Stripe account (for payment).
- Your account must be in good standing with Medium’s guidelines.
Once you’re accepted, you can start earning money through the platform.
2. Write High-Quality Content
To make money, you’ll need to create content that resonates with Medium’s audience. Here’s how to write successful articles:
- Choose a Niche: Focus on a specific niche that you are passionate about and that has a dedicated audience on Medium. Topics can range from personal development and technology to business, culture, and lifestyle. Research what’s trending and find your unique angle.
- Focus on Value: Your content should provide value to readers, whether it’s through solving problems, educating, entertaining, or sharing personal experiences. Quality is crucial for building an audience.
- Write Engaging Headlines: The headline of your article is your first chance to capture a reader’s attention. Make sure it’s compelling and clearly communicates the value of the article.
- Maintain Consistency: Consistent publishing will help you grow your audience over time. Posting regularly increases the likelihood that readers will return for more content.
3. Join Medium Publications
Medium publications are collections of articles based around specific topics. They have a built-in audience, and being featured in a publication increases the chances of your articles being read and engaged with. Some well-known publications on Medium include:
- The Startup
- Better Humans
- Mind Cafe
To get your articles published in these publications, you typically need to pitch your content to the publication’s editors. If they accept your piece, it will be published on their platform and receive exposure to a wider audience.
4. Monetize Through Claps and Reads
The Medium Partner Program pays writers based on two key factors:
- Claps: Medium members can clap for your stories. Each clap is essentially a sign of appreciation, and the more claps your article receives, the more likely it is to earn you money.
- Reads: The more readers engage with your article (whether they finish reading it or not), the more you’ll earn. The program uses a pay-per-read model, with payments based on the amount of time paid members spend reading your content.
5. Promote Your Articles
While Medium has a built-in audience, you’ll need to promote your articles to reach a larger number of readers:
- Social Media: Share your articles on social platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram to drive traffic to your posts.
- Engage with Other Writers: Read, comment, and clap for other writers’ content. This increases your visibility within the Medium community and encourages reciprocal engagement.
- Email Newsletter: Build an email list where you can notify subscribers when you publish new content on Medium.
6. Use Analytics to Improve Your Content
Medium provides analytics that helps you understand how your articles are performing. Track your:
- Engagement rates: How many people are reading and clapping for your articles.
- Audience growth: How many followers you have and how quickly they are growing.
- Reading time: How long people spend on your articles. This is important because Medium values articles that people spend more time reading.
Using this data, you can improve your writing, optimize for what resonates with your audience, and adjust your topics or writing style for better performance.
7. Optimize for SEO
While Medium has a built-in audience, search engine optimization (SEO) can help your articles get discovered by people outside of Medium. To optimize your Medium articles:
- Use Keywords: Include relevant keywords in your titles, subtitles, and body copy that your target audience is searching for.
- Optimize Meta Descriptions: Medium automatically generates a meta description, but you can edit it to better capture search engine attention.
- Use Internal and External Links: Link to other related Medium articles and external sources to make your content more valuable and credible.
8. Get Paid Through Stripe
Once your articles start generating revenue, Medium will pay you through Stripe, a payment processing platform. To ensure you can receive payments:
- Link your Stripe account: When you join the Medium Partner Program, you will need to connect your Stripe account for payments.
- Earn through Reads: As readers engage with your content, you’ll accumulate earnings that will be paid out to you monthly.
9. Experiment with Content Types
To maximize your earnings, try diversifying your content types. Some formats might perform better than others:
- Personal Stories: Personal experiences tend to resonate deeply with readers, especially when they offer insight or inspiration.
- How-To Guides: Articles that teach people how to do something, especially those that solve common problems, are often popular.
- Listicles: Posts formatted as “X ways to do Y” or “Top X reasons” perform well due to their structure and clarity.