You Could Be Earning Thousands Of Dollars, But This First Dollar From Medium Tastes Incredible
Let me buy you a box of candy.
I have never thought I could get paid for showing my mind, my feelings, and my personal stories to people. However, it is really happening. I got the very first dollar in December 2020 by just writing it all out on Medium.
You never forget all the first things
We all have our first things. It’s hard to recall and articulate all the feelings, but the fact is that you will never forget, even though it’s good or bad.
The more you grow up, the bigger your comfort zone will get, so you hardly get to find out something regarded as a very first one.
For me, I cannot remember how long I hadn’t met a totally first thing, which has no way to measure but only by my heart, until last December.
To be honest, the first dollar that Medium paid me is no less great than other first things. I was surprised, thrilled, and happy. It’s not because of how big the one dollar is, but the way I got it.
It’s like when you were a kid, you loved colorful guppies. You tried to save some money to buy and raise them carefully.
You were upset when some were dead, and happy when the first babies were born.
One day, your neighbor came over and couldn’t stop praising how beautiful your guppies were, then he offered to buy some with one dollar.
I bet you were elated.
You could earn thousands of dollars when you grow up, but the feeling would be in no way comparable to that first one.
My journey to the first dollar
I don’t think I’m cut out to be a writer, but I know that I’m long for manifesting my thoughts, so writing is a good way to realize it.
There have been times that I wrote some pieces of writing and posted them on Facebook.
I thought that could be a way for me to feel relieved because what I was wandering within my mind would not be stuck there anymore, and it could be felt by other people as well.
However, the way my friends reacted sometimes frustrated me and made me discouraged.
As time goes by, I’m now having a stable job, so I decide to find something more fulfilling after the 9-to-5 to do, and writing is the first thing that comes to my mind.
I have known Medium for a long time, but my initial purpose was only to learn English because I could practice reading and pick up new vocabulary here.
Then with an interest in English, I often use it to note down thoughts on my phone to stay away from other people’s judgments.
6 months ago, my demand for reading on Medium was higher, so I made up my mind to become a member of it in order to get unlimited access, as well as create my personal writings on the platform.
What Medium motivates me to write is that it not only provides an easy-to-write-and-design format but also facilitates my writings to reach readers.
I got to know the Medium partner program, which allows writers to monetize their writings, but to be honest it was never my motive to start writing in the first place because I have never thought my non-native writings are good enough to make money.
My first writing was published in September 2020, which took me 3 weeks to finish. Well, I did put a lot of thought into it.
Of course, it earned me nothing, but I was glad because I got over the first barrier to go on with later writings. I was gradually forming a habit of writing every morning.
I published 2 in October and 4 in November, which both sent me 0.03$.
Was I disappointed? I was not at all.
Because it is not my goal for writing — Medium is just a tool for me to express my feelings, and even that amount of money really surprised and excited me.
All I thought was that there were some people really reading my writings.
Do you wonder how long would it take to reach 1$ from 0.03$? I thought it would be a really long way, and I was not planning for it.
3 weeks ago, I started to spend all of my free time focusing on writing. The reason simply is that the previous writing frequency didn’t afford my demand for expressing my mind.
And there were 5 pieces of writing published over the last two weeks of 2020.
An amazing thing happened. Statistic numbers kept growing, and one of my posts did reach 1$.
Not just money but a reward
Maybe the first dollar and the journey to it didn’t mean so much to other people because they could be earning a lot more money at the moment, but for me, it is really valuable.
It’s not only an encouragement but also recognition.
Deep down I’d like my stories to have positive effects on a certain group of readers because I think good things are worth sharing. This one dollar, together with claps and comments have proved that good messages of mine are being spread.
I don’t know if one day I could reach 100$ or 1000$ or not, but it doesn’t matter.
I still keep writing because I never stop thinking.
As someone said, “It takes courage to publish when no-one is listening, but you must”. I’m glad that I have been brave enough to write and fight for a life I want.
