Can You Get Paid on Medium? Short Answer, Yes. How to Make Money Writing on Medium

Last Updated: October 9, 2022 References

How can you earn money for the awesome writing you publish on Medium? When you enroll in Medium's Partner Program, you can place your articles behind Medium's metered paywall, making them available only to paid users. Medium then determines your pay based on how long and often people engage with your writing. Whether you're a short story writer, fashion blogger, or business/technical content creator, read on to learn how to monetize your Medium account and bring in some extra income.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Enrolling in the Partner Program

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Learn how Medium calculates earnings. Medium offers bloggers the opportunity to share free and paid content. When you publish a story behind Medium's paywall, it will only be visible to only paid subscribers (and some non-subscribers who haven't yet run out of articles).^{[1]
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Research source} To make money with Medium, you'll need to place your articles behind their paywall, which you can do once you enroll in Medium's Partner Program.
- Even if you join the Partner Program, you can still publish articles that are freely available to all users. You won't make money on those articles, but they may encourage new readers to check out your paid content.
- Your pay is determined by reading time—the amount of time a reader spends actively reading your post, which includes scrolling and moving the mouse.^{[2]
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  Research source} Medium members pay $5/month subscription fees, and those fees are then distributed to writers based on the time those readers spend on each members' articles.
2
Go to https://medium.com/earn in a web browser. This is the website for Medium's Partner Program.^{[3]
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Click Join the Partner Program. It's the black button on the left side of the page.
- If you're not already signed into your Medium account, you'll be prompted to do so now.
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Review the terms. Before you sign up, click the Terms of Service link to familiarize yourself with Medium's rules. If you agree, check the box next to "I agree."
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Click Continue to payout setup. It's at the bottom of the page.
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Set up your Stripe account. You'll need to add a payment account to start receiving payments from Medium. Medium uses Stripe for this service. To set up payments:
- Click Set up payouts on Stripe.
- Enter your email address and click Next.
- If you already have an account, enter the password. If not, enter a new password.
- Enter all required information. Make sure to use your legal name, even if you use a pen name to write on Medium.^{[4]
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Submit your taxpayer information to Medium. You will not be eligible for payments until you submit your taxpayer info:
- Go to https://www.medium.com/me/partner/taxes in a browser.
- Choose whether you're an individual or paying taxes as a company.
- Fill out the form and click Next.
- You will receive a confirmation email from Medium once your information is approved. Once approved, you can start earning money on articles.
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Check your Partner Program Dashboard. The Dashboard, which you will find by clicking your profile photo at the top-right corner of Medium and selecting Medium Partner Program, is where you'll find a running total of your earnings.
- Medium sends payments monthly, usually by the 8th of each month. Depending on your bank, it can take 5-7 business days for your payment to appear in your bank account.
- Earnings on the dashboard are updated daily.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Making Posts Eligible to Earn

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Open your post on Medium. If you already created a blog post and want to make it eligible to earn on Medium, you'll need to put it behind the paywall.^{[5]
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- If you're not already signed in, sign in now.
- If you're creating a new blog post, you can make your post eligible to earn as you publish it to medium. When you're finished composing, click Publish, which will bring up the Story Preview window. Then, check the box next to "Meter my story so it is eligible to earn money" and click the green Publish now button.
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Click the three-dot icon ••• . It's at the top-right corner of the story. A menu will expand.
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Click Edit story. This opens your post for editing.
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Click the three-dot icon ••• . It's at the top-right corner of the page.
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Click Manage meter setting. Now you can choose whether you'd like to allow or remove monetization.
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Check the box next to "Meter my story so it is eligible to earn money." This ensures that the post is placed behind Medium's paywall, which is how it can generate money.
- Readers without paid Medium subscriptions can still read several paywall stories per month before needing to purchase a membership. This will not affect your earnings.
- If a friend isn't able to subscribe to Medium but still wants to read your paywalled story, you can share it with them directly using a friend link.^{[6]
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  Research source} Just click the three dots at the top-right corner of the story and click Share Friend Link.
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Click the Save button. Your post is now behind Medium's paywall, which means all reads will now generate revenue.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Writing Successful Medium Articles

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Get distributed by Medium. When you publish a post, it will appear on your personal profile page, in your followers' feeds, and in search engines. One way to expand your reach and make more money is to write articles that get noticed by Medium editors and are further distributed throughout the platform.^{[7]
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Research source} If the editorial team distributes your article on Medium, people who aren't already following your work can come across your story, giving you more opportunities to get paid. There's no surefire way to have your work distributed more widely, but here are the basic things Medium editors are looking for:
- High-quality, well-written, error-free, easy-to-follow articles written with the reader in mind.
- Stories that share new insights and perspectives, stir emotions, provide meaningful advice, and offer fresh takes on familiar issues.
- Honest and factual, supported with trustworthy sources.
- Contains no clickbait, advertising, or content that violates Medium's rules.^{[8]
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Perfect your headlines. Your headline should not only give readers context about the story, but also help them decide whether the story is worth reading.^{[9]
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Research source} What makes your story unique? Include that in the headline so readers choose your story over others. Be direct, focus on what's interesting, and use a fresh, clear voice.
- A clickbait headline may encourage someone to click your link, but unless your story delivers on the headline's promise, the reader won't engage with your story for long, and probably won't return.
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Optimize your stories for search engines. A great way to bring more views to your stories from search engines is to focus on search engine optimization (SEO). Setting a proper SEO title and description, using effective tags, including at least one image (with alt text), and easy-to-read formatting are all factors that can help your posts appear at the top of peoples' Google and Bing search results.^{[10]
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Write about popular and trending topics with a unique perspective. Fresh ideas about familiar or trending topics can really drive up your readership. The key is to offer takes that are original rather than reframing other peoples' ideas in new ways. No matter how popular a topic is, nobody wants to read the same ideas more than once. Consider your topic, do some research on what others have already said, and make a list of new approaches that can make your work stand out.
5
Teach your readers something new. What can you teach people that can improve their lives? Make the way they do things a little easier or more enjoyable? Consider the value your words can add to peoples' lives and use your platform to share knowledge.
- If explaining a step-by-step process, test your process thoroughly, and make sure the organization is easy to follow.
- Use valid sources whenever possible—it adds to your credibility.
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Submit your best work to Medium publications. Any Medium user can create a publication, invite other writers, and create their own virtual magazine. Some (but not all) Medium publications also pay their writers for stories, meaning that you can make even more money submitting your work to those publications. As a Partner, you'll receive a newsletter once per month containing submission opportunities for some of Medium's most widely-read publications, so keep an eye out for that.
- Medium also hosts some official Medium-run publications (all open for submissions) including LEVEL (a men's magazine), ZORA (for women of color), and Elemental (science-backed health and wellness).