How to Earn Your First $100 As A Newbie Writer

When it comes to earning money by writing online, it basically comes down to two things: views and attention. Whatever the platform or content, it is all about reaching the greatest number of people and keeping them for as long as you possibly can.

If you do this, you will make money. Simple, right? The problem is, figuring out where to focus your energy can feel like a full-time job in itself. So I’ve done the work for you analyzing every major writing platform to help answer some big questions:

• Which platform is the best fit for your content?
• Where can you reach the most people?
• How do you hold your audience’s attention?

Let’s get into it.

Medium

You’ll realize the most loved platform for writing and earning is Medium; essentially it is a blogging hosting company where they take care of most things. All you really do is write, and there’s this concept of getting money because somebody else has read your articles up till the point that the page is finished. Here are all the nitty-gritties of Medium: it does have a good user base. And here are some statistics

• Total visits: 186.4 million
• Visit Length: 8 minutes 42 seconds which is increasing very fast.
• Audience: Mostly 25-34 years old. -
• Top platform to promote your content: Twitter and YouTube.

If you want to promote the articles you write on Medium, Twitter and YouTube are perfect matches.

Newsbreak

It has a much smaller user base than Medium, it does allow AI-generated content, which makes churning out articles a much easier way to earn money.

Here’s what you need to know:
• User Base: Much smaller than Medium which is 84.5 million
• Visit Duration: Around 3 minutes.
• Demographics: Slightly older, mostly based in the U.S.
• Top Referring Platform: Facebook.

Newsbreak’s user base and demographics reflect a more traditional audience, which might work well for certain types of content.

Substack

Substack is a newsletter platform with a subscription-based payment model. While it has a smaller user base, it can be very lucrative once you build a dedicated audience.

Key details:
• User Base: Small but loyal around 24.6 .
• Visit Duration: Longer than Newsbreak around 6 minutes.
• Demographics: Mid-range age group, mostly U.S.-based.
• Traffic Source: Primarily direct searches.

If you’re good at writing long-form content and building a loyal following, Substack is a strong choice.

Vocal Media

Of course Vocal media 😉. I have started using Vocal media recently. What i like to do is post my story on medium than post the same story on vocal media with a note (This story was originally posted on Medium by me)

Here’s what I’ve found:
• User Base: Small about 5.29 Million.
• Visit Duration: It is quite long which is impressive its around 8 minutes 25 seconds.

That said, Vocal Media does have some fun contests, and if you’re just starting out, it can be a great place to get feedback on your writing.

Hubpages

HubPages is pretty much the same as Vocal Media: very small user base, low visit duration. It is not the most popular of sites, but it serves its purpose.

How it works for you:
- You do not have to have your own blog, and it can serve as a portfolio for you.
- Especially useful if you're already creating content on Pinterest.

You will make very little money at HubPages, but it's a nice platform to get your words out there.

Other two platforms are not traditionally used for earning through writing but these platforms have a massive audience and you can use these for direct client hunting

X (Formerly Twitter)

X has since been filled with long-form video and podcast features, but X still fundamentally is a text-driven site, and offers monetization, readers just love the content they are writing.

The stats:
• User Base: Massive around 2.7 billion
• Stay Duration: Very high as compared to all other platforms around 9 minutes.
• Demographics: Youth-oriented.
• Top Referring Websites: YouTube and Reddit.

You can host your writings on X, or use it as a channel for promoting them, which, again, works in two ways: large exposure and coverage.

LinkedIn

Like X, LinkedIn is a text-centric network, and its users love reading posts. It also has a newsletter feature for long-form content.

Here’s why LinkedIn is worth considering:
• User Base: Large and positive around 1.77 billion.
• Visit Duration: Around 12 minutes.
• Audience: Professional, engaged, and open to reading detailed content.

It’s a great platform for experimenting with headlines and building an audience for your writing.

So which platform you choose totally depends on your end goals, if you want to build a loyal audience or if you want to earn rapidly.

(Of course this post was originally posted on Medium.com by me)