How I Increased My Income on Medium by 3.5X
Why Reads Have Dropped and Profits Have Grown: My Working Medium Strategy
My monthly Medium subscription costs were $5, and my income didn’t exceed $0.88. I’d been in the red for almost a year. I was wasting hours writing articles that simply disappeared into my feed. I’d already accepted that “success stories” weren’t for me.
But everything changed in September 2025. I finally earned more than a dollar, $1.71 to be exact. It’s far from the number I dream of seeing in my monthly report, but it’s a 3.5x increase from last month, when I earned only $0.49.
I implemented just two steps that increased my income. Below, I’ll share how I found the right publicity, why the number of views doesn’t matter, and why this method will be even more important after the October 1st update.
Action 1: Publications
In July, I learned about publications. I’d never noticed any information about them before. The guy in the video said his reach had increased several times over, thanks to publishing articles on that platform.
I started actively searching for what it was, then how to access it. It turned out that this information was only accessible with a paid subscription. So I paid another five dollars, and I came across an article about 401 publications.
I spent several hours analyzing which ones were suitable and interesting to me. I created a Google spreadsheet, entered the titles, topics, submission instructions, unique features needed for the article to be accepted, and submission links. Of all the publications, I found about 20–25 that suited me.
I submitted applications, and only about half of them accepted me as an author. Then there was an update, and it became possible to submit my articles to open publications without a quest.
Publications serve as a content enhancement, increasing the chances of an article being found by an interested reader, and I see:
- Increase in Member Reading Time (the reading time Medium pays for).
- Increase in new subscribers (+16 subscribers in September, significantly higher than in July and August).
Action 2: Increasing the Number of Articles
I assumed that every site wants its author to provide regular content so it can be seen. So, I wrote more articles than usual:
That is, every month, I wrote twice as many articles. The algorithm encounters my articles more often, recommends them, and they get read. Even if each article brings in a small amount of income, the total number of articles has doubled.
So, writing for publications plus increasing the number of articles is a necessary foundation.
On the one hand, it’s true: for the first time, I earned more than a dollar, but also less than two dollars. But these aren’t exactly the numbers you want to see after spending a couple of hours on a job.
The Secret Is in Quality, Not Quantity
The graphs show that:
- In July (318 Reads), I earned $0.16.
- In September (261 Reads), I earned $1.71.
This “breakthrough” happened not because of views, but because of publications that attracted a high-quality audience (paid subscribers) and their reading time.
On October 1st, a new update! Of course, it’s too early to say, but it seems like articles aren’t showing up. And I suspect that the main earners will be those who maintain and share on social media… And these are popular authors again. But we, the less popular ones, will start earning even less…
If I hadn’t found the video about Publications and increased the number of articles, nothing in the analytics would have changed. This double whammy led to a quantum increase in income (3.5 times), which neither of these factors alone could have achieved.
Anyway, instead of waiting for the next big update, I’m putting my energy into creating content and products that I genuinely believe have value. Maybe you’ll find something useful for yourself here or just something cute here? 🦝
Are you already using Publications in your strategy? Which tool has worked best for you? And have you noticed a drop in views since the Medium update on October 1st? Share your thoughts in the comments 👇
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