Can Writing on Medium Be a Side Hustle? (2024)

If you love to write and want to make some extra dough, you may have been told you should check out Medium. I’ve been writing consistently on the site since May of 2022, and I’ve enjoyed it. But can it truly be a side hustle?

Medium is a great platform for a writing side hustle provided you are willing to work hard and be consistent, but it’s important to remember that earnings fluctuate from month to month and the required time investment is considerable.

But let’s unpack that a little bit. There are a few things you need to keep in mind.

Yes, you can make decent money on Medium

My first month in the Medium Partner Program, I made a whopping $6.51. Last month I made $407.66. While that’s not job-quitting income yet, it’s still a nice chunk of change, and it felt good to see that hit my bank account.

I know some people are making thousands per month on the platform, and I’m reaching for that goal. I don’t know how long it will take me to get there, but I’m excited to see my progress so far.

So I can confidently say that yes, you absolutely can make money on Medium. Each month, Medium has paid me reliably, and I’ve not had a single issue with the Medium Partner Program. So if you’re just wondering whether or not you can get paid on Medium, here’s your answer.

Medium pays a writer based on the amount of time paying Medium members spend reading his content. If paying members spend 40 hours reading my content, I’ll earn more than if they spend 15 hours.

So in order to make more money on Medium, you need to maximize the amount of time Medium members spend on what you’ve written.

How much you can make depends on lots of factors – including but not limited to what niche you’ve chosen, how much you have published, and how popular your content is.

Writers in the Medium Partner Program also have the option to earn more by referring people to Medium who become paid Medium members.

Because of the multitude of factors that affect how much you can make on the site, I can’t predict how much you will or won’t make.

You’ll have to work hard to make significant money

My first few months on Medium, I made less than $100. While that may be more than enough for some people, I don’t consider that really side hustle territory. To get to the payout that I had last month, I had to write quite a lot.

I was writing at least every few days and watching my stats. I learned a bit about what works and what doesn’t work. And along the way, I fought a lot of discouragement that my progress wasn’t faster.

I would post a story on Medium and watch it get only a few views. It was only later that I discovered why.

But eventually, all that hard work really started to pay off. My September payout was my first major payday from Medium, and I’ve been writing on the site in earnest since May of 2022. So that’s what? Four months?

But in that time, I had a lot of stories on Medium that were total flops. Even after I thought I had it all figured out, some of my content just… sucked. So clearly I had a lot to learn.

I spent lots of late nights figuring out what to write and finally found a niche that I truly feel I can write about and actually provide value for people.

Even then, though, I still had some stories that just… sucked stats wise. It seemed like even some of my best content was lost in a black hole, but after learning from some other writers on Medium I was able to learn what I was doing wrong.

Finally, I was able to write for a couple of publications and even earn Top Writer status in Technology, and my stats have been increasing ever since.

Earnings fluctuate from month to month

If there’s one constant on Medium it’s change. As much as I’d like to, I’ve learned that I can’t really predict what I’ll make from month to month. That makes it a bit hard to budget based on what I expect to earn.

I’ve only been making money from Medium since May, so I have a limited sample size, but even during that time, I’ve seen my earnings go up and down – both monthly and from day to day.

Each morning, I like to log in and check how much my Medium writing made me the day before. Since it updates once a day, there’s really only sense in checking it once a day. But each time I do, I try to calculate how much I’ve earned since the previous day.

At times, it’s been only a few bucks, and at times it’s been more.

How much I make at any given point depends on lots of variables, and those variables can change from day to day and month to month, no matter how much I write and how passionate I am or am not about what I have to say.

These are my earnings from May 2022 through September 2022.

I don’t count May really since I was only a member of the Medium Partner Program for a few days that month. June was surprising to me. I didn’t expect to make that much that soon. But then July saw a bit of a dip, at only $62.48. August was better, and then September blew me away.

But I’ve seen earnings reports from other Medium writers that confirm my suspicions. Earnings on Medium can vary significantly from month to month, and that can make it hard to budget if you’re relying on Medium for side hustle income.

Making money on Medium requires a significant time investment

I’ve tried to write on Medium at least every few days. Some days I’ve posted more than once – all while working my day job and trying not to neglect real life.

Needless to say, keeping up that pace has required no small amount of time, and I’ve spent some late nights up writing and even breaks during my work day planning out content. During that time, I’ve developed what I hope will be a successful content strategy, but time will tell.

Clearly I don’t want to spend an inordinate amount of time writing instead of spending time with my family, so I’ve worked to optimize my process, hopefully creating enjoyable, valuable content quickly so. I can get back to living life.

But this is something to keep in mind about Medium. If you’re going to make money from the site, you can expect to spend a decent amount of time planning and writing.

Beyond that, you also need to make sure to interact with others on the site to ensure maximum visibility of your content. That takes time and thought too.

Don’t jump into Medium with the idea that you’re going to be able to write a few words and make a mint without spending significant time actually brainstorming ideas, writing content, and interacting with other members of the site.

Many people have proposed shortcuts to success on Medium, but in my albeit limited experience, I think I can reasonably call them all bunk.

Remember, it took me several months to start seeing significant results. That’s several months with consistent effort. Give yourself time to succeed on Medium.

Does Medium work as a side hustle?

There’s no question that you can make good money on Medium. I’ve been very excited to see my own results so far, and I’m looking forward to the future on the site. But it’s important to remember that it takes time to start making decent money, and how much you make depends on so many variables that no one can really guarantee how much you’ll earn.

And when you do start earning, what you earn from month to month can fluctuate significantly, which makes it a bit hard to budget.

But lastly, don’t discount the time investment required. If you’re going to build an audience and produce the kind of content that people want to read, you’re going to need to invest no small amount of time into planning out what you’re going to write, actually writing great stories, and interacting with other people. Otherwise, you probably won’t get the results you’re looking for.

So taking that all as a whole, can Medium be a side hustle? I would say yes. It absolutely can be. But depending on what you’re looking for in a side hustle, it may not be best to rely on Medium alone for your income. Personally, I have a day job too, so what I earn from Medium and other sources is a nice bonus. I would love one day to be making job-quitting income from sites like Medium, but whether or not that will ever happen has yet to be seen.

However, I have been grateful to be earning from Medium, and I am excited to see how those earnings grow over the next months and years. In my case, Medium is definitely a side hustle. It’s something that’s helping me add to my savings and giving me a creative outlet. And in my book, that’s a win win.

No, I don’t expect that writing on Medium will make anyone rich, though I’m sure there are outliers. But it’s still a great site for those of us who want to use our writing skills to pay a few bills.