How to Get Your First Freelance Writing Client Using Medium
Medium is one of the best freelance writing websites that pay. Maximize its potential to find clients for content writing.
Arguably, Medium is a writing platform for beginners.
While many older content creators write on the site, they have already established themselves elsewhere.
In a span of 1 year of consistently writing on Medium, I became a full-time freelance writer.
Yes, thanks to Medium.
As with everything, that came with a touch of luck. Someone found one of my articles and decided to hire me as a content writer for his start-up. This triggered a domino effect with getting clients.
This first trial article that I wrote for him on Medium is still my highest viewed piece on the platform.
Again, this is all sprinkled with luck but I believe luck comes to those who work hard.
How to get your first client for content writing using Medium
Medium is not dead but it should never be treated as an endgame to your freelance writing career.
If you want to become a full-time freelance writer, you’ll need to learn how to branch out whether it’s affiliate marketing, selling e-books, or starting your own blog.
You should never put your eggs in one basket. That’s my worst nightmare as a freelancer.
But, if you’re a beginner and don’t know where to start, then Medium is a great platform to write on and hone your skills — and it’s free.
Here are 3 tips on how Medium can help you get your first freelance writing client:
1. Create a writing portfolio using Medium
In this article, I explained how to create a writing portfolio with no experience. One of the platforms I suggested was Medium.
When I first started writing on Medium, I was just writing to write. Yes, I like money but it was also one of the few things I genuinely like doing so I wrote — a lot.
I didn’t even know I was creating my writing portfolio until I started applying for freelance writing jobs and all I had to show was my Medium profile.
Surprise, it worked.
Use your Medium profile or create a separate one to collect and store your best works so you have something to show as your creative writing portfolio when asked.
One other thing you could do is link your profile when cold-emailing potential clients.
2. SEO writing on Medium
When you write a blog post on any platform, it is implied that you agree that it’s out for the public to read.
But, what if no one is reading your blog posts? SEO can help you with that. It can help your Medium articles get external views.
Although external views on Medium are still unpaid, it gets you seen by potential clients.
SEO is a process that can get your blog posts seen and read on search engines like Google Search.
Now, there are 200+ factors that help Google determine which blog posts will rank on its first page.
Obviously, I’m not going to get into all 200+ of them but here are a few tips on SEO writing on Medium:
- Write an article that solves people’s questions or problems and make it your headline.
For example, “How to get clients for content writing”.
- Use keywords
Keywords on your blog posts help Google understand what your article is all about.
Here are free keyword search tools to help you:
Some writers like to hate on this rule but this is a general standard for every digital marketing agency I’ve worked with: Your keywords should appear on at least 10% of your word count.
Meaning if you’re writing 1,000 words, it should appear 10 times.
Careful. Only do this when you can naturally incorporate them, otherwise, it can have a negative effect on your Google ranking.
Do I always follow this? No. I agree with the haters, it is too much but I try.
- Mind your white space
White space is the negative space between paragraphs, letters, and words. Even if my profile background is red, the negative space is still called white space.
It is one of the 200+ factors Google minds when ranking blog posts.
Here is a more in-depth article on why white space is important:
3. Continue to write quality content
Truthfully, you can create a writing portfolio or try to do SEO as much as you want but clients are looking for quality work.
While people may argue that Medium is a content mill website if you want a better chance of getting your first freelance client, then you better step up the quality of your writing.
The key point of learning how to get clients for content writing is realizing that if you want to be taken seriously by potential clients, quality work is the answer.
Why is Medium great for beginners?
Medium is a free writing platform. Anyone with a computer or a phone can make an account, login, and start writing.
An online publishing platform like Medium gives new writers a place where they can hone their writing skills while at the same time getting paid for it.
Do you need to pay to start earning on Medium?
No. Writers on Medium don’t have to pay the $5 monthly subscription fee to earn money for the Medium Partner Program.
But personally, I think if you plan on writing to earn a decent amount on Medium, you should.
Here’s why the $5 monthly subscription on Medium is worth it:
- You can read more than 3 articles (called stories on Medium) a month.
The amount of useful knowledge circulating around Medium is astonishing.
You will read and learn about things you haven’t even thought of until you see an article about it. I think that’s amazing.
Reading more articles on Medium will definitely be useful for someone who is just beginning their freelance writing career. There are so many articles on how to succeed on this platform.
- You can connect with great writers
It’s not that non-member writers have a cap on how many they can follow, but they can only read 3 articles a month. Do the math.
Medium has a community of great writers. Truly, there are seasoned writers on Medium. Even writers that have been at the start of digital marketing.
Opportunities to build rapport with people who share your passion. That’s definitely worth the $5.
- The chance to be active in the Medium writing community.
The Medium writing community is friendly and helpful, at least most of the writers are.
As a beginner, these are the questions that I had when starting out:
- How to get more followers on Medium
- How to get into the Medium Partner Program
- How to get more views on Medium
- How to make money writing on Medium
Luckily, there is a Facebook community of Medium writers who can help. They sure helped me when I was first starting out.
In those groups, writers help each other out by supporting each other’s work. Non-members would have a hard time with that if they are limited to 3 articles a month.
You can easily find Medium writing groups on Facebook.
Hey! If you’re looking for a platform to start your writing journey on and get paid for it, Medium is one of the best places to start. Sign up here to get unlimited access to stories on Medium.
Signing up using my link gives me a small commission, and as a freelance writer, it’s always appreciated.
