I Quit Medium For 6 Months to Explore New Ways of Making Money as a Writer
Here's everything I learned.
6 months ago, I took a break from Medium to build this newsletter.
And, I finally feel as though we’re in a great place.
So, last week, I announced my return to Medium. Here’s how I plan to leverage Medium to help Writer’s Hub reach a wider audience. And, everything I learned during my 6-month sabbatical.
Let’s get into it…
Why I took a break.
At the beginning of this year, I posted this story outlining why I felt the need to take a step back from Medium.
In short, my earnings were becoming inconsistent and I wasn’t sure if Medium was the best place to monetize my efforts.
For some background… ⏮️ 📝
…I had just started receiving sponsorship deals on my YouTube channel. And, I was finding success on various platforms like Newsbreak and Substack. All of this, led me to become wary of what I call my effort-vs-earnings ratio.
So, I dove headfirst into my experimental YouTube content — to reveal the best ways to monetize your words, as a writer.
Every writing platform I tried.
I’ve been writing on Medium since 2019.
It has been a home for my words, a staple of my weekly routine, and a revolving door leading to the wonderful world of digital writing. But, truthfully, writing on Medium has always been a labour of love.
If I were to calculate my hourly rate writing on Medium… well, let’s not do that.
So, I’ve always had side projects to help pay the bills. 👨💻💰
This has allowed me to write freely without needing to squeeze every penny out of my readers. And, over the past 5 years, I’ve written on just about every writing platform there is:
Fiverr
Quora
Twitter
Upwork
Substack
LinkedIn
WordPress
Newsbreak
Vocal Media
Blogger.com
Not to mention numerous attempts at turning non-writing platforms into writing platforms. More on that later.
But, for whatever reason, Medium has always pulled me back. Even during my latest (and longest) stint away from Medium, I felt as though something was missing.
Maybe it’s the aesthetic.
Nostalgia.
Or, the community.
Whatever it is, Medium’s story composer feels like home for my fingers — despite finding many more lucrative ways to make money as a writer.
Everything I learned.
Hindsight is always funny.
Back in 2017, I resisted my passion for writing. Although it brought me joy and mental peace, I didn’t think anyone read anymore. And, making a living as a writer seemed next to impossible.
I could never have imagined finding a niche group of humans who enjoyed writing as much as I did. And, shared so many of my philosophies on life.
And, as is the way of the world, I wasn’t able to find them until I let go of expectations of any kind.
I started writing on Medium while working a 9–5 as a way to express myself. And, by following my heart, I’ve now paved a road leading to financial stability.
For me, the lesson has been this:
Explore your curiosities. 🛣️❤️
They don’t always lead to greener pastures. But, you’ll never know until you walk the path.
Here are 5 of the most interesting paths I walked during my 6 months away from Medium…
As a premium member, you can also DM me anytime. Plus, I’ll send you exclusive discounts on digital products from my online store. 💰
#1. Writing A.I. articles:
For the record, I don’t love the concept of writing with A.I.
I much prefer to use it as a personal assistant — clearing up time and mental space to actually write. But, I’ve been intrigued by the idea of using A.I. to siphon money into my bank account.
The reality of our modern society is:
Time = money.
So, my philosophy has been to use A.I. to buy time. And, spend it doing what I love. Writing.
Fortunately/unfortunately, I discovered there are many lucrative ways to leverage A.I.-generated articles. Here’s one method I found particularly lucrative:
👉 Here’s the A.I. tool I used. Use code ‘hudson25’ at checkout to save 25% on the Pro version. 🎁
Disclaimer: signing up for the Pro version will earn me a commission.
#2. Leveraging audio:
I wholeheartedly believe audio is the future of writing.
There are tons of statistics showing the power of audio articles on user retention and click-through rates. And, offering audio versions of your writing is one of the quickest ways you can capitalize on this growing trend.
Here’s how to turn your articles into mini podcast episodes:
👉 Here’s a written article on the same topic.
#3. Writing on Substack:
One of the biggest projects I took on during my sabbatical was starting a Substack newsletter.
Having a built-in audience on YouTube and an existing email list of around 1,500 people, I figured it would be easy.
I was wrong.
Although monetizing Substack has proven much more difficult than I anticipated, I’ve fallen in love with the culture. And, moving forward, I believe Substack is one of the best places for writers to grow an audience.
Here’s a full breakdown of my Substack stats. And, everything I’ve learned thus far:
#4. More ways to earn on Medium:
Last week, Medium opened up its Partner Program to 77 new countries. Which, is very exciting for writers who were previously ineligible.
In the past, writers who couldn’t earn from the Partner Program were forced to get creative to earn money on Medium. And, one of the most lucrative ways was (and, frankly, still is) to promote affiliate links or sell products/services.
Here’s a method you can now use in tandem with your Partner Program earnings:
#5. Cold hard statistics:
In addition to clearing my entire to-try list, during my break, I crunched the numbers on every major writing platform.
Numbers don’t lie. So, here are the facts about who, why, and what people are reading. And, perhaps most importantly, where.
👉 Here are the best (and worst) places to post your writing.
Plus, a plain-speak breakdown of what those numbers actually mean:
🍿 For more videos like these, I’d love for you to subscribe to my YouTube channel. 🎥
My new Medium strategy.
As you’ve probably guessed by now, my Medium sabbatical has come to an end. And, once again, I’ve felt the pull to begin posting regularly to Medium.
This time, a little differently.
If you’re like me, your brain may move faster than your fingers — both literally and figuratively. As a result, finding time to execute all of your various ideas becomes tedious.
So, I’ve decided to condense my routine to focus on what really matters:
Writing
Learning
In the past, I admittedly spent too much time worrying about things that didn’t contribute to my overarching goals. Things like…
… making sure every sentence flowed like a beautiful poem. Or, engaging with a million profiles to make sure my stories garnered lots of engagement.
At the end of the day, my primary goals are to:
Help others
Make money
Ironically, ‘helping others make money’ has become the best way for me to make money. So, a lot of my content now surrounds the very meta niche of ‘how to make money as a writer’.
With that said, I get bored writing about the same topics over and over again. So, as illustrated in my bio, this profile will remain a place to “write about all sorts of things”.
A true smorgasbord of stories relating to the human experience.
In addition, I’ve created a Medium publication to house older posts from this newsletter. My hope is to grow our community accross platforms. And with it, gain new subscribers who can share new knowledge with all of us.
This newsletter will continue to be the best place to receive posts on maximizing your income as a writer. But, if you’re on Medium, feel free to double-up to catch any posts you might miss.
👉 Follow Writer’s Hub on Medium.
Time is a fleeting commodity.
So, I’m hoping by repurposing content between Medium and Substack, I’ll have more time to plan, experiment, and produce more quality content for you.
Final thoughts: time away makes the heart grow fonder.
I’m a big proponent of exploring one’s curiosities.
It’s easy to become blinded by what’s directly in front of you. So, I always find it helpful to step back to gain perspective.
To summarize this story into one lesson:
Take breaks and try new things. If for nothing else, it will help you appreciate what you have. 💌 🙌
I’m happy my 6-month stint led me back to your screen. And, with what I learned in the process.
Happy writing! As always, leave your questions below. I respond to all comments, every week. 😇👇
Thanks for reading! 🙌
If you’re not yet a subscriber to Writer’s Hub, why not become one? 👇
👉 And, for weekly videos on how to make money as a writer, subscribe to my YouTube channel. 🍿
Finally, if you know anyone who will benefit from this post, share it with them. 👇
That’s it from me.
Talk soon! 🙋♂️
— Hudson
Writing resources:
🙋♂️ Here’s everything I’ve got going on
💸 Download your free $100+ article template
🗣️ This voiceover was edited using Capcut Pro
Well, I have been making dollar $325+ since last six months in Medium.
I enjoyed reading your post and found it both informative and thought-provoking as all your posts always are. I'm writing in a niche market, pro wrestling, but my focus is largely '80s/'90s centric and not the current scene. The potential audience is vast, but the challenge is there's a huge amount of wrestling content across many platforms and often from "celebrity" personalities from the current wrestling scene or generally well-established content providers. Your posts (and youtube channel) always gives me marketing ideas to try to explore to bring wrestling fans from outside substack to my own work. Thanks!