A Newbie’s Information to Writing, Publishing & Selling on the Platform

Medium is a platform for writers. When you’re not a author, that sounds fairly simple. However should you write, you perceive simply how enormous that assertion is.

Is it a running a blog platform? Social media or an web optimization useful resource? A web based neighborhood or a approach to earn cash writing? Sure. All the above.

You can be a poet publishing on The Coil, a brand new UX designer studying your craft, or a enterprise proprietor sharing tales about early challenges and triumphs. Regardless of who you’re and what you wish to write about, there’s a spot for you on this platform.

I have been writing about advertising since 2017, I’ve used many alternative platforms for publishing and selling content material. Now, I’ll let you know how I take advantage of Medium, and how one can too.

What’s Medium?

Medium is a social publishing platform that’s open to all and residential to a various array of tales, concepts, and views. Anybody can write for the platform, so it is nice for novices.

Common matters on Medium vary from psychological well being to social media, from world affairs and trending information to productiveness hacks. This makes it a stable selection for anybody who desires to begin running a blog.

As Medium founder (and Blogger creator/Twitter co-founder) Ev Williams wrote when he launched the platform in 2012:

“Medium will not be about who you’re or whom you recognize, however about what it’s a must to say.”

How does Medium work?

The very first thing you will discover on the Medium web site is its website design. As former HubSpot Senior Content material Strategist Erik Devaney says, “It is minimalistic, that includes a number of white house and restricted formatting choices. Wish to change the header typeface to Comedian Sans? You’ll be able to’t. Medium will not enable for such atrocities of design.”

This choice makes nice writing the main target. However that is simply one in all many nuances of Medium.

Medium is for 2 kinds of folks: writers and readers, via on-line content material publishing. Once I began my profession in content material writing and technique, I wasn’t positive what that meant. I found Medium as a result of I used to be making an attempt to determine the place to construct my writing portfolio. I would heard Medium was a sensible choice, however the first time I signed up I wasn’t positive learn how to use it.

When you’re simply getting began on the platform, there is a honest quantity to be taught earlier than you hit publish. Let’s get into it.

High quality results in discovery.

Many writers go for years with out sharing their writing. However when you resolve to turn out to be a author, whether or not you are ending a primary novel or writing content material for manufacturers, you want to discover a approach to share your abilities.

Medium is nice for writers who make investments time and vitality of their work. It rewards in-depth, well-researched, and helpful articles, not simply reputation or model consciousness.

Platform-enabled reader engagement.

Feedback and likes are in style in on-line media. However if you’re new to writing, it is useful to know precisely what individuals are responding to and why. To fulfill this want, Medium provides readers an opportunity to spotlight and remark instantly throughout the textual content of every article. This course of is like the best way skilled editors interact with writers.

Curation and publications.

Medium has curators who evaluation articles for high quality. If a curator chooses your article for wider distribution, it provides you an opportunity to introduce your content material to extra readers. This would possibly embody highlighting your article on the platform, displaying your put up to readers they assume will wish to learn it, or including it to subscriber emails.

Most curators are publication editors. A number of the most popular publications on Medium in 2023 embody:

• The Startup
• In the direction of Information Science
• Private Progress
• UX Collective
• The Writing Cooperative

Medium’s curation and publication fashions aren’t simply nice for writers. In addition they give avid readers and followers an opportunity to help their favourite writers.

Paid alternatives.

Medium additionally provides writers the prospect to earn cash with their tales. As a member of the Associate Program, you may put tales behind a paywall to earn revenue.

On this program, you may enhance earnings with repeat readers, engagement alerts, and extra.

Writing for Medium

Anybody who has a Medium account can write for Medium — there is no different vetting course of concerned.

To get began, merely sign up for a free Medium account (or improve to a $5/month membership for limitless entry), and also you’re prepared to begin writing from there.

However articles should adhere to Medium’s content material tips and guidelines. As an illustration, as a author I am unable to promote controversial or excessive content material on my Medium account. I am unable to do third-party promoting. And there is a separate set of insurance policies if I wish to write about cryptocurrencies.

Affiliate marketing online hyperlinks are allowed, however writers should inform their viewers that they are together with these hyperlinks. For the complete listing of guidelines for content material, check out this put up on Medium Rules.

As a marketer, Medium presents a chance so that you can attain a brand new viewers together with your content material. The platform is open, so some matters lean towards sharing longer-form, extra well-thought-out content material whereas others are quick and topic-focused.

On this manner, Medium is like advertising on many different channels, as a result of success in writing for Medium is not nearly nice writing. It takes some analysis into audiences and publications in a selected space of curiosity. So, what makes Medium an excellent channel for writers?

Within the subsequent part, I’m going to get into the subject above, and discuss how I selected between Medium and WordPress.

Medium vs. WordPress

This put up provides an exceptional breakdown of WordPress vs. Medium for pricing, running a blog, and web optimization from a enterprise perspective. So, I wish to use this house to share my private expertise with the 2 platforms.

How I’ve Used WordPress as a Content material Author

I labored with a designer to construct my private web site on WordPress and constructed a separate facet undertaking by myself with Elementor. I’ve additionally used WordPress professionally as a content material supervisor and freelance author. Altogether I have been utilizing the platform for six+ years to create and promote content material.

WordPress is a superb platform for sharing content material on-line inexpensively. It additionally makes it simple so as to add plugins, options, and instruments to attach my websites to different related channels, like social media feeds or fee gateways.

I like WordPress as a content material author as a result of it lets me run impartial websites on-line that I can use to check concepts earlier than broadly broadcasting them.

That mentioned, it took years of studying about search engine marketing (SEO) to start producing visitors on my private websites. With the speedy current adjustments in web optimization, I have been investing extra time in researching social channels for advertising and promotion.

How I’ve Used Medium as a Content material Author

As you may see above, I selected to go along with WordPress for my portfolio. However I began utilizing Medium once I was managing content material for a small ecommerce startup.

I used to be searching for efficient methods to advertise content material for our weblog. I needed a channel that would assist increase the affect of the wonderful writers on my group. So, we began with Medium.

I requested writers on my three-person group to write down an authentic piece for Medium as soon as a month along with their scheduled weblog assignments.

Whereas some posts sat on our model’s Medium web page with out a lot traction, just a few grabbed useful consideration. Particularly, we had essentially the most success with posts that we submitted to in style publications on the positioning.

For instance, I submitted this put up about Ecommerce Easter Eggs to the Marketing and Entrepreneurship publication curated by Larry Kim, and Bryce Patterson submitted this piece on the content writing process to the publication “The Writing Cooperative.”

These publications have devoted audiences, which helped us present our writing to extra folks and construct followers for our branded Medium account.

WordPress vs. Medium — which is best for you?

Whereas these are each wonderful platforms to showcase writing, they’re fairly completely different. I take advantage of each platforms, however I spend extra time on WordPress due to my objectives as a creator. However many writers will discover that Medium is the perfect platform for them due to its concentrate on author discovery, monetization, and community-building.

At this level, you might be able to strive utilizing Medium. Let’s take step one.

Getting Began With Medium

1. Create an account.

Anybody can view free Medium content material. However to publish and work together with people on the platform, you want to have an account and log in.

So, step one is creating an account. Signing up was tremendous simple for me. I headed to Medium.com and clicked the “Get began” button on the high of the web page. From there I had three completely different sign-up choices to select from: Google, Fb, or e mail.

I used my Gmail account to create an account first, which was tremendous quick and easy. They even made including my identify to my profile simple, as a result of it auto-filled based mostly on my e mail.

I additionally arrange a separate account, this time signing up with e mail. All I wanted to do was click on a hyperlink in my e mail to finish setup, and the method was in any other case the identical.

Throughout signup, it helped to do not forget that Medium is a component social media. It is not only a platform to write down blogs, it is a house to share, remark, and curate content material inside a neighborhood.

So, I felt like some components of the signup, like selecting matters, felt extra like signing up for Twitter (X) or Pinterest than creating an account on a running a blog platform.

I like protecting my running a blog and social media accounts separate, however Erik Devaney recommends signing up for Medium utilizing Fb. He says, “That manner all your current connections from Fb who’re on Medium will robotically be following your account as soon as it is created. This protects you the difficulty of getting to construct up a brand new viewers totally from scratch.”

No matter what you go along with to begin, you may all the time hyperlink your Twitter (X), Mastodon, or Fb to your Medium account later within the “Safety and apps” tab within the Settings menu.

The Settings menu can also be the place you may replace your username, profile web page URL, profile design, and extra. You may also management what e mail notifications you obtain from Medium on this menu.

To finish my profile, I added a photograph and wrote up a brief (160-character max) bio for my Medium profile web page. I take advantage of the identical bio throughout my social media accounts, so I simply copied and pasted this from my Instagram account, emojis and all.

2. Observe folks, publications, & matters.

In a Medium feed, the content material that is surfaced comes not solely from the accounts of the folks and organizations you observe, but in addition from publications and tags. What’s extra, when trying to find content material on Medium, folks, publications, and matters all present up within the outcomes.

Folks

First, determine who you wish to observe. Whose writing do you wish to learn? Who’s making content material you may be taught from as you start your new writing journey?

There’s all kinds of writers on the platform, and I am curious about a bit of little bit of all the pieces, so this step was fast to finish. Whether or not you are curious about politics or people-watching, computer science or world travel, you are more likely to discover some writers you wish to observe too.

Publications

Medium publications are collections of tales based mostly round a standard theme. Anybody can create them — your self included — and the best way they work is pretty simple.

Because the creator of a publication, you are an editor by default. This implies you will have the power to:

• Add writers to your publication
• Edit and publish the tales submitted by your writers
• Evaluation the metrics for all of the tales which can be a part of your publication

Because the publication’s creator, you will even have the power to nominate new editors (to allow them to do all that stuff I simply talked about).

Making a publication is simple to do. First, I wanted to submit fee to turn out to be a Medium member. Then, I clicked on my profile picture within the high proper, and scrolled all the way down to “Handle publications.” A pop-up appeared, and I clicked “Create a brand new publication.”

This led to a brand new web page the place I wanted to enter info on the identify, description, social accounts, and subject for my publication. I additionally wanted photos prepared so as to add an avatar and emblem.

The avatar picture seems on featured pages round Medium, whereas the emblem picture seems on the homepage of the publication. You’ll be able to study picture sizes for these necessities and extra in this Medium post.

As soon as I completed coming into this info, I had an opportunity to create a customized design for the house web page of my new publication.

This publication will give me an opportunity to not solely share my very own writing, but in addition join with different writers on the matters I care about.

Matters

As soon as referred to as “Tags,” Matters are the hashtags of the Medium ecosystem. While you publish a narrative on Medium, you get the choice so as to add as much as 5 matters, which seem on the backside of your story.

So, once I click on a subject it brings me to a web page the place I can see extra tales with the identical subject. It additionally provides me strategies for different matters I is likely to be curious about.

As a substitute of surfacing content material based mostly solely on the social graph (for instance, the folks/publications you observe), Medium makes use of matters to floor content material that is based mostly on particular pursuits.

For instance, this article from Beth Dunn, a current Advertising Fellow at HubSpot, consists of 5 matters:

• Consumer Expertise
• UX Writing
• UX Design
• Inclusive Design
• Content material Technique

Following matters like these will help personalize my Medium expertise and make it simpler for my readers to search out extra of my content material.

Now that I’ve arrange an account, began following some accounts, constructed a publication, and adopted some matters, let’s begin participating with content material.

Tips on how to Work together With Medium Content material

3. Advocate, share, and bookmark content material.

Clapping palms are the “Like” of the Medium world. It is a approach to present that you just help and respect the content material that somebody has shared.

When studying a narrative on Medium, you may help it at each the highest and the underside of the particular story, the place you see the clapping hand image.

In both case, I simply click on on the clapping hand icon to help a narrative. As soon as clicked, the palms will change from an overview to stable black. The primary time I supported a narrative, I unintentionally clicked the quantity beside the clapping palms icon. This was a contented accident as a result of it let me see the complete listing of people that beneficial that story.

Observe: You’ll be able to clap as much as 50 occasions per put up, and you’ll clap for as many posts as you need.

While you suggest a narrative, the author, by default, will obtain an e mail notification. (However that is one thing you may management in Settings). The extra help a narrative receives, the extra possible it’s to be shared across the Medium community. Tales that obtain essentially the most likes inside a given time interval get featured on Medium’s residence web page.

In the identical two areas the place you may suggest a narrative, it’s also possible to save, take heed to, or share that story. To save lots of a narrative I needed to spend extra time studying, I clicked the bookmark icon and it saved the story to my studying listing. I also can create particular studying lists on this a part of the platform.

To hear, I simply clicked the play icon, however if you wish to use this characteristic, it is good to know that it is for members solely. Lastly, I shared the story by copying the hyperlink or sharing it on LinkedIn, Twitter (X), or Fb.

While you bookmark a narrative, it would seem in your studying listing, which you’ll entry out of your Medium profile web page or from the Medium homepage on the backside of the right-hand sidebar.

4. Spotlight particular phrases.

Now that I understand how to help, share, and bookmark Medium tales, it is time to unlock a second degree of interplay. I do that by deciding on sections of textual content with my cursor.

As soon as I spotlight some textual content, a pop-up menu will seem that provides me 4 choices:

Spotlight

Clicking the highlighter icon (highlighter image) places a inexperienced spotlight across the textual content I chosen. That is seen to my Medium followers. By default, a narrative’s author will get a notification when anybody highlights a piece of their tales.

Response

Clicking the speech bubble icon lets me write a response to the story I am studying. The part of textual content I’ve highlighted seems on the high of my response. (Extra on responses in a second.)

Textual content Shot

Clicking the Twitter icon generates a “Text Shot,” which is a tweet that robotically pulls within the textual content I highlighted as a screenshot.

Non-public Observe

Some tales may also present a lock icon in a speech bubble. Clicking this icon lets me ship the author a non-public observe. When you do not see this icon, it is as a result of the creator has turned off non-public notes.

You’ll be able to select this on or off in your settings, however I selected to depart it on as a result of I learn that editors sometimes use private notes to offer feedback to writers earlier than publishing.

5. Write responses.

In contrast to conventional weblog feedback, Medium responses are treated as individual stories. In addition to showing on the backside of the tales I reply to, I also can publish my responses to my profile web page.

That is useful for me as a result of it lets me interact with folks on the platform with out having to decide to writing a full-blown story. It additionally helps me provide you with concepts for tales.

Medium’s method to responses provides feedback the potential to take off and get circulated identical to conventional tales.

A fast observe: Responses are engagement alerts on the Medium platform. And, responding is a tip that exhibits up in lots of articles about learn how to promote your writing on Medium.

For me, this makes it necessary to reply genuinely. Whereas responses are a approach to enhance my visibility on the platform, I work to be considerate within the methods I help and interact with the writers I reply to.

Tips on how to Write and Publish on Medium

6. Format textual content in your posts.

Prepared to begin writing my first Medium put up, I click on “Write” on the high right-hand nook of the Medium residence web page. I also can get there by clicking on my profile icon on the top-right of the Medium web page, after which scrolling to “Tales.” I can create a brand new story by clicking the inexperienced “Write a narrative” button. That motion pulls up a display that is prepared for my content material that appears like this:

As Erik Devaney says, “Writing in Medium’s editor is very intuitive and — from a stylistic perspective — almost not possible to screw up.”

As common, it’s the writing that’s robust, however a instrument will help with the main points. Once I write, I typically use a template, like one in all these free blog templates.

Then, I copy and paste my writing into my chosen publishing platform. Medium makes this step simple. It retains hyperlinks and different formatting from pasted textual content.

If I wish to make a change to the textual content, All I’ve to do is spotlight a piece to disclose a number of fundamental format decisions similar to daring, italics, or hyperlinking. It additionally lets me designate textual content as an H1 or as an H2 utilizing the massive T or little t:

And I can select between two completely different kinds of block quotes —

Possibility A:

Or Possibility B:

If I actually wish to get fancy, I take advantage of Medium’s drop caps perform.

Know these enlarged, stylized letters you generally see in the beginning of sentences? These are drop caps. In response to the Medium team, they’re helpful for “pacing, beginning a brand new chapter, or just a bit typographical delight.”

An alternative choice for creating some separation between completely different sections of a narrative in Medium is to make use of a separator. To insert one, I click on the little plus icon that seems on an empty line of a narrative:

Clicking that plus icon will open up a menu with six choices. The one on the far proper — the icon with the 2 little traces — is the separator.

This is what it seems like on the web page:

Try this story for extra formatting how-tos, similar to including inline code, mentions, or emojis.

7. Add photos and media.

Including photos, movies, and embeds to a Medium story may be so simple as copying and pasting URLs into Medium’s editor. The editor, normally, can robotically acknowledge the media’s format and render it accordingly.

For instance, I wish to add a pair movies to my in-progress put up. For the primary video, I simply copied and pasted the YouTube URL, after which clicked “Enter.” Then I added a TikTok video by clicking the video icon that exhibits up after clicking the plus icon. The ultimate end result was the identical irrespective of which steps I adopted.

You’ll be able to add a variety of media to your Medium story together with:

• Importing a picture out of your laptop
• Including inventory images with Unsplash
• Inserting a video with a URL
• Inserting an embed code for approved media

There are additionally completely different measurement and orientation choices for displaying media.

For instance, the choices beneath appeared in a pop-up menu after I inserted my YouTube video. There are three decisions for sizing a YouTube video on Medium:

8. Share drafts and publish posts.

Once I completed my story and was pleased with how all the pieces appeared, I headed as much as the highest navigation to decide on between two choices: “Publish” and an icon with three dots. The three dots spotlight a variety of decisions for writers. These embody sending a draft hyperlink, checking the looks of the put up, unlisted publishing, and extra.

For instance, “Share draft hyperlink” generates a hyperlink to the draft of my story, which I can share with anybody — even when they do not have a Medium account. And the folks I share the draft with also can go away me notes.

Clicking the “Publish” button, in the meantime, opens a menu the place I can select as much as 5 matters for my story. It is a type of pre-publishing dashboard, with reminders so as to add a featured picture and a hyperlink to be taught extra about what occurs after publishing. I like that it additionally provides an opportunity to schedule my put up if I wish to share it later.

It is also the place I hit the “Publish” button to share my story with the world. 

Tips on how to Get Paid on Medium

Now that I’ve gone via learn how to use Medium, I am desirous about learn how to profit from it. I’ve completed some analysis and located just a few methods writers monetize with this platform.

First off, there’s the Associate Program. If you wish to earn cash together with your tales, that is an thrilling approach to receives a commission on Medium.

The Medium Associate Program pays writers instantly every month. To receives a commission on Medium I first have to turn out to be a paid Medium member. Then, it’s time to use for the Associate Program. The necessities for this are easy. I have to:

• Have revealed at the very least one Medium story
• Be 18 years or older
• Stay in an eligible nation

This course of additionally consists of signing up for Stripe, to gather funds, and Tipalti, for tax functions. As soon as I am a part of the Associate Program, I can put new and already-published tales behind a paywall for premium members. When somebody reads my story, I am going to earn a share of their membership payment.

That is the bottom elevate selection, as a result of it is monetizing one thing I am already doing — writing tales for the platform. It additionally makes use of engagement metrics to resolve how a lot I receives a commission for every story, connecting what readers like to what I make from the platform as a author.

Whereas I will be making an attempt the Associate Program to earn on Medium, I am additionally inquisitive about different choices. For instance, I arrange tipping by going to “Settings,” then “Publishing” and updating the settings underneath “Handle tipping in your tales.” I can add a fee hyperlink and I am going to be capable to obtain ideas from readers. There are alternatives to make use of Patreon, PayPal, and different in style platforms.

One other approach to monetize is utilizing my tales on Medium to advertise a enterprise or model. The brand new audiences I introduce to my tales on the platform can drive new curiosity to my enterprise. This method is like what I discussed above once I talked about my previous expertise utilizing Medium.

9. Measure your outcomes.

I revealed my first Medium story and I’m set to earn cash on the platform, however the affect I could make with Medium will rely on how my tales carry out. To see metrics for my Medium content material, I clicked my profile icon within the high right-hand nook of the Medium homepage and scrolled all the way down to “Stats.”

Once I arrived on the “Stats” web page I did not see a lot (but). However quickly, I am going to see the combination variety of views and claps my tales and responses have acquired over the previous 30 days.

There’s additionally a graph that gives day-by-day granularity, with particulars on follower counts and highlights.

Image Source

As I scrolled down the web page, I has the choice to click on on particular tales to view particular person stats. The Medium group can also be making changes to the Stats pages. It seems like most of those adjustments are for monitoring fee metrics or serving to writers tie fee to efficiency.

This is a fast rundown on what metrics Medium at present tracks:

• Claps: The variety of claps a narrative receives.
• Responses: The variety of responses a narrative receives.
• Lifetime earnings: The entire quantity a narrative has earned.
• Views: The quantity of people that visited a narrative’s web page.
• Reads: Tracks when somebody views a narrative for 30 seconds or extra. Scrolling to the underside of the story was required, however is not anymore. Views and reads for particular person tales reside on story element pages.
• Member learn ratio: This stat tracks member reads divided by member views.

Fast observe: Member-only and non-member exercise is tracked individually in Stats.

The Medium App

I journey continuously, so consuming and interacting with content material on the go is greatest for me. For this, I am utilizing the Medium app. The app consists of the identical tales and content material I can discover on my laptop computer, with the added bonus of a mobile-first interface.

On the app, I can floor content material associated to my pursuits. These curated lists rely on the tags, publications, or authors I observe. I additionally use the app’s Discover characteristic to search out new, fascinating content material and to have interaction with fellow readers, becoming a member of conversations as they’re occurring. I hoped I may begin drafts within the app, however no. That mentioned, I can verify story stats wherever I’m, which is useful.

Use Medium for Writing and Sharing Your Greatest Tales

Medium is a strong platform for writers and content material creators to share concepts, interact with readers, and even earn cash. By following the steps I shared on this article, you may unlock the complete potential of Medium. So, begin writing and exploring the chances. Your viewers is ready.

Editor’s observe: This put up was initially revealed in August 2021 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.