How to Write a $600+ Article on NewsBreak

Summary

This article will first cover some basic differences between NewsBreak and Medium, and then delve into techniques I’ve used to earn over $600 on a single article on NewsBreak.

Introduction

I recently wrote “The Definitive Guide for Writing a $700+ Story on Medium,” and I wanted to follow it up with the NewsBreak version. The original article is more general, covering things that are beneficial to consider in an article posted anywhere, while this one will focus more on Newsbreak specifically. I’d recommend reading the previous article as well for a more complete view on how to make money by posting stories.

If you’re new to the game of content creation, you might think that content is content, and it’s either good or bad. But like any other product, its value varies depending on the market it’s sold in. Just how the same water bottle can go for $0.20 when it’s sold in a package of 24, for $1.50 when sold individually at a gas station down the street, or for $8 in a night club, your writing can get you more attention and more money depending on where it’s posted.

Certain types of content and promotional styles do better on certain platforms. I’ve had an article make over $700 on Medium, but it only made a little over $20 on Newsbreak. Conversely, an article that only made $31 on Medium made me over $600 when I reposted it, as is, to NewsBreak. This goes to show you that not only is it good to make sure you’re focused on the right platforms, but you should also be on multiple platforms.

You’re going to want to understand exactly how Newsbreak is different from Medium, so that you can take advantage and get the most out of your articles. There are three main differences between Medium and NewsBreak: 1) purpose, 2) funding, and 3) audience.

1. Purpose

NewsBreak is, as the name entails, primarily an app for local news. This comes with some extra challenges for indie writers. For one, monetizing your content on NewsBreak is not as easy or straightforward as it is on Medium. You’ll have to have five articles reviewed by their team, and approved for publication, before you can even apply for monetization. Personally, I found this hurdle easy to get past, which wasn’t the case with some other platforms, like HubPages, that rejected my first 25 articles!

Second, there are no publications to help you along as a writer on NewsBreak. On there, you’re going at it alone. There’s no boosted feature or anything else like that. If you want your articles to have more visibility, you have to get engagement and game the algorithm.

2. Funding

NewsBreak doesn’t charge readers to view the articles posted there like Medium does. Instead, it uses an advertiser-funded model. This seems to come with much greater read potential: The clicks on my articles on NewsBreak are about 10x higher than on Medium. However, the payout is significantly lower per view/read. Thus, as a content creator, it pays to be a little more “sensational” on NewsBreak. The tinder is there, so you need to make sure your article has a spark to it.

Perhaps because it is free for readers, NewsBreak readers tend to invest less time in the actual article. In fact, my most popular articles on the platform are popular for exactly one reason: The headline is framed as a question that people want to answer. My first article to pass 50,000 views has the title “When Should You Leave Someone You Really Love?” As the comments on the article continued to roll in, I noticed many people weren’t even glancing at the article, they were simply answering the question!

You may be asking yourself right about now, “What self-respecting writer wants to make money or get views this way, when it’s not even about the content of your writing?” Well, that same article has over 2,600 shares. This means there are a lot of real readers mixed in with the title-responders. Strategically, then, I approach writing the content exactly as I normally would, but I frame the title as a relevant and engaging question. This way people that just want to respond to the title will offer engagement, and get the algorithm to further promote the post, so that it can reach more of the real readers.

I cross-post almost all of my content from Medium to NewsBreak (and a number of other platforms). When I do, the only thing I change is the title. Some examples are as follows:

• What was “How Highly Sensitive People Control the Rest Of Us” on Medium became “Opinion: Are Overly Sensitive People Trying to Control the Rest of Us?” on Newsbreak.
• What was “The 4 Stages of a Breakup” on Medium became “Opinion: When Are You Really Over a Break Up?” on Newsbreak.
• What was “Why Creatives Shouldn’t Be Afraid of AI” on Medium became “Opinion: Is AI Going to Replace Creatives?” on Newsbreak.

3. Audience

On Medium, a lot of the readers are writers themselves. This comes with some perks. One of which is that responses to stories on Medium are usually a lot more thoughtful and less vitriolic than on NewsBreak. Honestly, NewsBreak comment sections tend to be quite toxic and aren’t for the faint of heart.

The NewsBreak audience is older and more female, whereas Medium’s reader base tends to be more male, higher earning, and younger. Just based on my personal experience, NewsBreak readers seem to lean right-wing politically and are mostly based in the U.S. (especially rural areas).

My best performing articles on NewsBreak have focused on either relationships or politics. Some of my most popular articles are as follows:

• Opinion: Should the U.S. Pay Reparations to Black Americans?
• Opinion: Is Joe Biden Going to Win Again? (now deleted)
• Opinion: Should You Still Talk to Your Ex?

Obviously, I’m not going to misrepresent my beliefs based on which platform I’m on, so I’ve used my naturally left-leaning political views to stir up some controversy on the app. Angry commenters come in by the droves. I’ve had over 7,500 comments on a single article, while another got just over 6,900! All of this engagement tells the algorithm to start pushing my content far and wide.

Conclusion

I’ve made comparable money on NewsBreak as I have to Medium, but it’s given me access to many times more readers — almost 400,000 in the last year alone.

That’s why it was important for me to tell other people about it. For just the work that it takes to repost (and maybe slightly tweak) content, you can double how much you’re making on your articles. NewsBreak is a little different, and that warrants a slightly different approach to match:

• To monetize your content on NewsBreak, you need to pass a screening round.
• Frame the title as a question to get respondents who just want to give an answer to said question.
• Try to be a little sensational with your titles where you can, since you know NewsBreak is a headline-focused platform.
• Know your audience and tailor things to their demographic.
• Understand that the most popular niches on one platform can be practically non-existent on another, so you need to find where your niche is valued.

There are lots of platforms for posting your content online, and I hope to review them all in time. One of the most profitable things you can do with your writing is cross-post it. If you’ve just been stuck on Medium, it’s a good time to try your luck somewhere else, and depending on what type of content you write, NewsBreak is a great place to start.

Enjoy this article? I’d recommend following it up with: “The Definitive Guide for Writing a +$700 Story on Medium”