8 Ways to Earn Money From Medium (Even With a Small Following)

If you’ve been publishing on Medium for a while and wondering whether it can actually turn into income, you’re not alone. A lot of people love the writing part but feel unsure about the money part. The good news is this. It is possible to earn money from Medium, even if you don’t have a huge following or viral posts.

The key is understanding that Medium works best as part of a wider system. For some people, the platform itself becomes a direct income stream. For others, it’s a powerful starting point that leads to clients, product sales, or long-term passive income. Often, it’s a combination of all three.

Below are eight realistic ways to earn money from Medium, based on how the platform actually works today, not hype or shortcuts.

1. Join the Medium Partner Program

This is the most obvious place to start, and for many writers, the foundation of how they earn money from Medium.

When you join the Medium Partner Program, you get paid based on how long Medium members spend reading your articles. It’s not about page views. It’s about engagement. A smaller audience that reads your work fully is often more valuable than a large audience that clicks away quickly.

What matters most here is consistency. Publishing regularly helps the algorithm understand who to show your work to. Over time, older articles can continue earning long after you publish them.

For most writers, the Partner Program alone won’t replace a full-time income straight away. But it can become a reliable baseline, especially when combined with other methods below.

2. Use Medium to Promote Affiliate Products

One of the most effective ways to earn money from Medium is through affiliate marketing — as long as you’re transparent. Medium permits affiliate links, but you must clearly disclose them to your readers in compliance with its rules and broader disclosure requirements like FTC guidelines.

This works best when your articles are genuinely helpful. Tutorials, personal experiences, comparisons, and problem-solving posts all lend themselves naturally to recommending tools, platforms, or resources you already use.

Instead of dropping links everywhere, focus on context. Explain why you use something, how it helped you, and who it’s best for. Medium readers are smart and sceptical. They respond far better to honesty than hype.

Over time, a handful of strong evergreen articles can quietly bring in affiliate income month after month.

3. Sell Your Own Digital Products

Medium is an excellent place to sell low-cost digital products.

These might include planners, templates, checklists, guides, or toolkits that solve one clear problem. Your articles act as the free education that builds trust. The product becomes the next logical step.

This is where Medium really shines for small creators. You don’t need thousands of followers. You need the right readers who recognise themselves in what you’re writing and want a shortcut or structure.

Digital products also scale well. You create them once, then let Medium do the work of bringing new readers to them over time.

4. Build an Email List First (Then Monetise)

If you’re thinking long-term, this is one of the smartest ways to earn money from Medium.

Instead of sending readers straight to a paid offer, invite them to join your email list with a relevant freebie. This could be a short guide, a checklist, or a simple resource related to your article topic.

Email allows you to build a deeper relationship beyond the Medium platform. You’re no longer relying on algorithms or distribution. You can then introduce products, services, or affiliate recommendations in a much more natural way.

Many successful Medium writers make far more money off Medium than on it, using Medium purely as the traffic source.

5. Attract Freelance or Consulting Clients

If you offer services, Medium can work as a powerful credibility platform.

By writing about what you do, how you think, and how you solve problems, you position yourself as someone worth paying attention to. Clients often come from readers who feel like they already know you because they’ve read several of your posts.

This works especially well for writers, coaches, designers, virtual assistants, marketers, and consultants. You don’t need to pitch aggressively. A simple line about how people can work with you is often enough.

For many people, this is the fastest way to earn money from Medium, especially in the early stages.

6. Sell Courses or Workshops

Once you notice recurring themes in your writing, you may find you already have the outline of a course.

Medium articles work well as “lesson previews”. You introduce ideas, share insights, and answer common questions. Readers who want the full step-by-step process are often happy to pay for something more structured.

Courses don’t need to be huge or expensive. Short workshops, email courses, or focused trainings often convert better than large programmes, especially when your audience is still growing.

7. Grow a Membership or Community

Some Medium writers use the platform to attract people into a free or paid membership or community.

This works particularly well if your writing focuses on shared values, experiences, or long-term journeys rather than one-off tips. Readers who resonate with your perspective often want ongoing support, accountability, or connection.

Memberships offer recurring income and can feel more aligned for creators who enjoy showing up consistently rather than launching new products all the time.

8. Combine Multiple Income Streams

This is where earning money from Medium becomes far more sustainable.

Relying on just one method can feel fragile. Algorithms change. Reading habits shift. But when Medium feeds several income streams at once, everything compounds.

A common combination looks like this:

• Medium Partner Program for baseline income
• Affiliate links inside helpful articles
• A freebie that builds an email list
• One or two digital products or services

None of these need to be huge on their own. Together, they create momentum.

Where to Start If You’re New

If you’re just getting started, don’t try to do everything at once. Focus on writing consistently and learning what your readers respond to. Then add one monetisation layer at a time.

If you’re already publishing regularly, look at what you’ve built and ask where the biggest gap is. Often, it’s not more content. It’s a clearer path for readers who want to go further.

Learning how to earn money from Medium isn’t about gaming the platform. It’s about using it intentionally, as part of a wider system that supports your goals.

I also write regularly on Medium, where I share practical, behind-the-scenes posts about earning money from writing and building online income. If you’d like more real-time insights and experiments, you can follow me on Medium here.

A Quick Tip on Paywalls and Exposure

One thing worth knowing if you’re trying to earn money from Medium is that paywalling every post isn’t always the best move, especially early on.

Personally, I’ve seen my biggest spikes in traction, reads, and new followers when I didn’t paywall certain articles. I didn’t earn directly from the Medium Partner Program on those posts, but I gained far more exposure.

That extra visibility led to:

• More followers
• More email sign-ups
• More traffic to my blog and other income streams

In other words, sometimes choosing reach over immediate earnings creates more money later. Medium works best when you treat it as part of a wider system, not just a payout platform.

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