Medium is a popular website where you can read stories and articles written by other people.
But did you know that it also offers a way for you to earn? They have what they call a Partner Program that offers an opportunity for you to earn by writing articles.
The big question is, is it worth it? In this Medium Partner Program review, I will reveal the full details of what the program offers so you will know exactly what to expect from it.
Then, you can decide if this opportunity is a good fit for you or not. So, let’s see what the Medium Partner Program is all about, shall we?
What is the Medium Partner Program, and what does it offer?
The Medium Partner Program is the earning program Medium offers to its members. It is a legit program that will let you earn, as mentioned above, by writing articles.
Now, to figure out if it is a good fit for you, the first step is to take a look at the earning opportunity it offers so you will have a clear understanding of how much time and effort is needed to earn from it. So, here’s how to earn from the Medium Partner Program.
The earning opportunity – Writing and publishing articles on Medium
Once you become a member of the partner program (more on how to join later), what you need to do is write content for them. You can write about anything you want, but the key thing you must remember is that it should be an article that people want to read. Why is that?
Well, you’ll only get paid for the article you write if other people read your articles and interact with them. As shown in the photo above, you’ll earn every time someone reads your article for at least 30 seconds.
You will also earn if a member engages with your post or if they follow you. It’s a lot like creating a blog. The only difference is that you don’t have to get advertisers to earn from what you post. You just need to make sure people read your articles/stories.
Herein lies the problem. While it may sound like a simple thing to achieve, getting people to read what you write actually takes a lot of time and effort because you have to grow your audience to get people to read your articles.
You can’t just expect that people will find the articles you write on their own. While that is not impossible, the chances of that happening will be very low. So, if you want to maximize your earnings, you must be proactive.
You’ll have to promote your Medium profile on various other platforms, which will take a lot of time and effort. Once you have an established audience, you will begin to see an uptick in the views you will get from your Medium stories/articles.
As a result, you’ll begin to earn from what you’ve written. That’s usually how it works. Later, I will explain how you will get paid.
The one thing you must remember with this opportunity is that it’s not a quick and guaranteed way to earn. You have to do a lot of work if you want to succeed as a member of the Partner Program.
How do you get paid?
You’ll earn a certain amount from every engagement you get from the articles you post on Medium. Now, the question is, how can you withdraw your earnings?
The good news is that Medium uses a convenient payout method called Stripe. In case you are not familiar with this platform, it is a US-based payment processing platform. It’s a lot like PayPal.
At the end of each month, if you manage to earn at least $10 from your articles/stories, Medium will process the payout automatically and transfer your earnings to your Stripe account the following month. Typically, the amount will be credited to your Stripe account on the first week of the following month.
If you fail to hit the threshold, you’ll need to wait another month to receive your payout. This is the only payout option they offer, so if you are interested in this opportunity, you must sign up for a Stripe account before you apply for the Partner Program.
Overall, I would consider its payout method quite straightforward and convenient. I like the fact that it processes payments automatically because it is very convenient. Now, if you are interested in more sites that use a convenient payout method, I suggest you also check out the top sites that pay via PayPal.
How much money can you make?
The amount you can earn from the Medium Partner Program will mostly depend on how large your audience is. If you already have an established audience, you stand to earn quite a good amount from it. But if you are just starting as a Medium partner, it can take a while and a lot of work to start earning a decent amount from it.
As explained earlier, your goal as a Medium partner is to get your articles/stories read by a lot of people because that’s how you can earn. And the only way to do that is to get a large audience so that there will be more chances of people reading your articles.
As for how much you will earn from engagements, they don’t exactly give a fixed amount, but they do say that you’ll earn more from engagements, meaning your readers must comment, like, or follow you now. In the previous system it had, they valued the time spent by the reader reading your article.
So, the more time they spend reading your article, the more you will earn. However, with the changes, writers tend to write controversial topics that can elicit engagement from readers rather than write longer articles.
That’s why if you want to maximize your earnings from the Medium Partner Program, not only will you have to gather a large audience, but you also have to write about topics that can get the most engagement. That can take a bit of time and research, which means more work for you.
In the end, the time-to-money ratio won’t be that great, in my opinion. That being said, if you are just starting as a content creator, this can be a good opportunity for you because the bar of entry is quite low. You just need to be eligible to apply as a Medium Partner.
But if you’ve been in the content creation business for a while, you might find the earning potential a bit underwhelming if you consider the work that needs to be done.
Can you use it on mobile?
Due to the nature of the work that needs to be done to earn, you’ll need to sit in front of a computer if you plan to become a Medium Partner. That’s because you’ll need to write an article and post it on Medium.
You can’t do that on a mobile phone. The only thing you can do on your phone is log in to the dashboard and check your earnings. For the rest, you’ll need a laptop or a desktop. So, to answer the question above, NO – you can’t.
Who can join the Medium Partner Program?
Now, here’s the kicker. If you want to become a Medium Partner, you must become a Medium member first. The problem is that there will be a membership fee of $5 per month or $50 per year to become a Medium member (refer to the photo below).
Sure, you can create a free membership, but all you can do with that is follow writers and read three articles per month. Plus, you can’t apply to their Partner Program with a free membership.
So, if you want to earn, you must pay the membership fee. The problem with this is that it adds an additional hurdle you must clear if you want to profit from the opportunity it offers. You must earn back the amount you spent for the membership fee to actually profit from it.
And if you are new to content creation, as explained earlier, it can be quite tough earning from the Partner Program because you don’t have an established audience yet. So, you’ll just end up losing money instead of profiting from it.
But if you are already an experienced content creator and you already have a well-established audience, earning back the amount you spent for your membership fee will be quite easy. So, this won’t be an issue.
It all boils down to whether you can afford the membership fee or not. That’s why I would say that it is not for everyone.
Can you get support?
If you have questions about the site or your account, you can check out its Help Center. It discusses everything you need to know about Medium, including its Partner Program.
Now, if you can’t find the answers you need, you can just contact support instead. You can do so by submitting a support ticket through their Help Center.
It’s a very convenient system, in my opinion, which is why I would say that the site provides decent support to its members because it offers an easy way for you to ask for assistance. Plus, Medium is a pretty huge company, so they can afford to maintain a good support department, in my opinion.
Final Verdict
The Medium Partner Program is a legit opportunity for you to earn extra cash by writing articles. It has a couple of good features, but it also has specific limitations you must consider.
To help you with your decision, I have summarized its pros and cons so you can see a clear overview of what it offers.
Pros:
- Offers a convenient payout system
- Suitable for content creators who are just starting
Cons:
- You’ll have to pay a monthly/yearly membership fee
- Doesn’t offer guaranteed earnings
In my opinion, the Medium Partner Program is not for everyone. If you are just starting as a content creator, this can be a decent option because of the low bar of entry. You just have to be eligible to join and willing to pay the membership fee to potentially earn from it.
It has a low bar of entry, which is suitable for new content creators. But if you are already an experienced content creator/writer, it’s not the most suitable option. You are better off writing for your own blog/website, in my opinion.
That way, you won’t have to share the profits with another party. Now, if you are a content creator who is just starting and you don’t want to rely on other websites to earn, your best option is to set up your own online business.
To know how to do that, I recommend you check out this guide on how to build your own online business. It will teach you how to build your online business from the ground up so you can earn even when you sleep.
If you have any comments, questions, or experiences with the Medium Partner Program, I would love to hear from you in a comment below.