I Finally Got 2000 Views. Here’s How Much Medium Paid Me.
I was surprised, to tell the truth.
Here’s How Much Medium Paid Me For 2000 Views
As a writer, I’m always curious about what other writers are earning for their work. So when I saw that Medium was now paying writers based on how much their articles are read by paying members, I decided to measure it, and compare it to my WordPress blog.
Starting with the facts
The story I published is titled Make $178.75 per Hour: You Write It, They Sell It. While 2000 views aren’t necessarily something to write home about, it’s worth writing on Medium about, for the curious minds to be satisfied.
Therefore, I’ll share the numbers and then dive into whether or not I think these are good stats compared to blogging on my own website using the WordPress platform.
At 2000 views, I made a total of $52.97. Today, it has 2300 views and has earned a total of $64.12.
Is this good money?
Most bloggers that monetize their websites track a metric known as RPM. This stands for Revenue Per Mille, or in other words, how much money you make per 1000 views.
To calculate my Medium RPM, I figured out how many 1000s there were in 2000. That’s easy, there are 2. And $52.97 divided by 2 = $26.49 (rounded). Therefore, my RPM is $26.49.
In my experience with monetizing websites with display ads, this number is above average for most niches.
The finance niche, which I would consider this type of blog to fall into, typically pays a higher RPM than other niches, between $18 and $25 on average, but high-performing, topical authority blogs have reported earning more.
That being said, this is a small sample size.
And if you gathered all of the blogs on my medium profile, and calculated the RPM, it would be much lower, considering many blogs don’t perform as well.
In general, RPM is figured collectively, including all of the pages that display ads.
The bottom line is this: If all of my stories that earned 1000 + views earned an RPM of $26.49, I’d be very happy with that result.
Why this story outperformed others
Any time we sit down to write, considering our audience is paramount to success. While I love the occasional passion post, the ones that make the most money are always the ones that teach people something or provide value in some way.
This particular story was about making money as a writer, and I think it did well because it’s an evergreen topic that will continue to perform well over time.
This story was written with a very specific type of person in mind: The person who is interested in making some quick, easy money on the side. And since everyone publishing on Medium is a writer, writing for writers is a strategy.
For me, however, it’s not only a strategy. It’s what I do. I’m a teacher, a guide. I want to help people learn how to make money online because that’s what I do.
I think it’s important to note that this is not a get-rich-quick scheme article.
It’s an introduction to a new way of monetizing your writing, and I think it performed well because the title was clear, to the point, and promised something that it delivered.
Benefits beyond dollars
Beyond the earnings for paid member views, an article that does well on Medium can have other benefits, as well.
For example, this story has been read by over 2300 people and continues to be one of the most popular stories on my profile.
As a result, I’ve gained the most amount of followers in the past 2 months than I have since I started writing which is always nice. I generated one Membership referral which can earn a couple of bucks as an affiliate each month.
The article has allowed me to link to other stories on my Medium profile which people clicked, read, and increased the earnings of those stories.
With the ability to embed Youtube videos on articles, I’ve been able to increase views on sponsored videos, increasing earnings, subscribers, and brand awareness.
Links to my personal blog from Medium have grown exponentially as well, which has increased my blog’s traffic, subscribers, and earnings.
The benefits keep going.
The stories that failed before I succeeded
I’ve been earning money on Medium for years but wasn’t giving it much attention. I started as a real estate writer (as I’m in real estate in Las Vegas). While they did generate traffic to my website in the beginning, I wasn’t part of the Medium partner program.
In fact, I never wrote to “sell” or “monetize” my content through means like this. I wrote to build brand awareness and generate leads for services. In 2021, however, I entered the Medium partner program and switched my focus to writing for writers.
It hasn’t been an overnight success. It’s taken months of refining my process, testing different strategies, and failing miserably before I started to see any success.
And while earning $100-$200 per month on Medium isn’t going to pay the mortgage, it’s exactly what I needed to see to measure potential and keep me motivated to continue writing.
The 5 biggest takeaways from what I’ve learned so far
1. Write evergreen content
2. Write for a specific audience
3. Be clear and concise in your titles
4. Don’t be afraid to promote your own work
5. Write consistently, frequently, and on topic.
In closing, I want to say that I’m grateful for the opportunity to write on Medium and to be a part of such a supportive community. While it’s been a lot of work, it’s also been a lot of fun.
I appreciate the creative outlet, and you for taking the time to read this article.
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