I Tripled My Part-Time Writing Earnings With This Substack-Medium Hybrid

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By

Kristina God

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Which is better, Medium or Substack?

If you've also been wondering that, I understand. But also, it's the wrong question because it's like comparing apples and oranges.

For me, it's not an either-or, it is an and. I'm writing on Medium and Substack. Both can be in one ecosystem. The two platforms fit together very well. They complement each other.

As I always say:

They fit together like peanut butter and jelly or peanut butter and cookies, whatever you prefer.

Who am I to tell you anything about Medium and Substack?

I'm a top writer on Medium with 12,000 followers and a Substack bestseller with 9,000 subscribers and 300+ paid subscribers.

In our 1:1 sessions, (part-time) writers often tell me:

Kristina, I don't have the time, attention, the bandwidth to write on both sides.

But is this true?

I write on both sides. I'm a part-time creator, spending only about two to three hours daily on my online writing business.

I have to agree that if I put more focus on Substack, I often don't manage to write on Medium as much as I'd love to but the reason isn't Substack alone. I'm also creating videos on YouTube which I share via my newsletter, and often I need to prioritize this to publish one video per week, which is my goal.

In addition, I now amplified my interviews with inspiring voices that have gone before us via my new Substack podcast—a podcast that is native to Substack.

However, if you're thinking about Medium and Substack, it doesn't have to feel the way it feels for me in this content triangle.

Of course, you build and feed another platform, but the two go together perfectly like peanut butter and jelly.

Here’s what you can do to create, as I call it, a Substack-Medium hybrid

#1 The first thing you can do is to link to your email list on Substack via Medium.

#2 You can link to your best-performing or trending stories on Medium via Substack.

#3 You can also collect data points on Substack Notes (or Medium) and then write an original in-depth piece for your newsletter audience.

I shared this one here…

and it got 80 likes, 16 replies, and 12 restacks.

This is a data point for me that I could use and then say:

Hey, I should write a long-form piece about this!

#4 You can also take parts that people highlighted on Medium and create a story around it for your Substack audience. You can grab some pieces of a successful post and share them on Substack Notes as a short-form post or create a long-form post newsletter.

These are just a few of the many recommendations I have to help you start this hybrid.

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My Substack/Medium hybrid funnel

So what you can do is you can use Medium at the top of the funnel where you gain followers, because, of course, Medium wants to help you gain more followers - at least if you're writing about the topics that the platform prefers and gets paid members for.

From there, I have, for instance, my YouTube tutorials and interviews and the new Substack podcast where I amplify my interviews with top voices.

Medium would be at the top of the funnel and Substack at the bottom. However, it could also be the other way around, with Substack at the top and Medium at the bottom, depending on what you want.

As a marketing and brand manager, I believe that your email list is your most valuable asset in your business. And that's why it's so important and should take center stage.

I see Medium as my blog and Substack as my newsletter

Your Substack is a publication on the internet. It can also be your website and newsletter, whose posts I can republish on Medium if I wish.

Often people ask me:

Kristina, can I republish my writing on multiple platforms?

Of course, you can. You own your content on both Medium and Substack. It's your original piece, so you can share it. You could tweak it and then put it on Medium or vice versa. Also, you can set a canonical link.

But keep in mind:

There’s no such thing as duplicate content on the web, so you don’t have to set a canonical link.

You’re ill-advised if you put all your eggs in one basket

In my opinion, it’s crucial to be on multiple platforms because you never know what might happen—the algorithm or rules could change, or the platform could shut down.

In 2022, when I started my Substack, I didn’t want to put all my eggs in one basket. So, despite being a top writer on Medium with badges of honor in multiple categories and earning about $800 to $1,000+, I didn’t want to rely solely on Medium.

My marketing and branding background taught me that an email list is the most valuable asset in any business, so I wanted to focus on building that.

On Medium, you can also gain subscribers, but the focus is less on that. For me, with 12,000 followers, I have about 550+ subscribers.

On Substack, my goal is to gain more subscribers than followers on Medium because I know the follower metric is somewhat dead. With 9,000 subscribers, I am well on the way to achieving this goal in the first quarter of 2025.

I want to invest in Substack’s subscriber model, where you get paid to be yourself. If people vote with their wallets, the money goes directly to you.

On Medium, it's different—you never know exactly how much you’ll earn. There’s also the option for boosts, where people can nominate your stories for a big boost, and you might earn $100 instead of $10. That's fine, but if you have a family to feed and work as a part-time writer, a regular income is always better and healthier for your mental well-being. However, you can earn money on both.

Turning on the paid button on Substack changed my life - forever

I was flailing around in 2023 because I gave birth to my baby. But then in January 2024, I decided to go paid and offer a premium newsletter with paid perks such as my membership experience, live workshops, and courses.

After 15 months of occasionally writing on Substack, I wanted to be strategic about it. So I knew exactly what I wanted to offer as paid perks. I knew my audience would be Medium writers, Substack noobs, and people who would want to start, grow, and monetize their online writing business.

Often these are also people who are part-time writers, as I am. The last thing they want is to feel overwhelmed, confused and stop writing. They have to manage a lot of things and keep all the balls in the air. So the idea was to help them “make it easy” and learn from the writers I interviewed in live workshops inside the membership experience.

Back then, I didn’t know turning on the paid button would change my part-time writing life - forever.

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Your first sale probably won't (and shouldn't) be your membership

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Here’s what happened with building my Medium-Substack Hybrid

So again, back then, I was earning about $800 on Medium and I said to myself:

Hey, I finally feel ready to turn on the pay button on Substack!

And since this happened in January, I can say I tripled my income.

So I tripled my income from $800 to more than $2,400 income every month, which I love.

Especially if you're a part-time creator. You need sustainable members in your tribe and people who support your work and say:

Hey, it's so valuable. Keep going! I want to vote with my wallet for you.

Otherwise, you’ll feel lost and quit quietly.

Tripling my income was amazing, and I believe you can do the same.

Here are some tips and things to keep in mind when creating a hybrid for Medium and Substack:

Medium vs. Substack - What you need to know

You don’t know what you don’t know. Substack is another animal than Medium. You can’t compare both platforms as this would mean comparing apples and oranges.

However, there are some things you need to know:

Subscribers vs. followers

Followers can be a vanity metric, and often they are dead—not engaged.

Subscribers are more important than followers. With engaged subscribers, you can see exactly how much money you could make on Substack with a subscription of $5 or so.

It’s amazing. With just 50 subscribers, you could already gain a nice recurring monthly income, which is awesome.

You can monetize both platforms—Substack and Medium

On Medium, you can join the Medium Partner Program, where you earn money with your words based on engagement and reading time.

There’s also a new feature called Medium Boost. Recently, Medium added 77 countries to its Partner Program. You pay $5 per month to join and earn money with your words.

On the other hand, Substack is totally free, forever. You can gain paid subscribers, who will pay you a recurring income, supporting you with their subscription. This is one of the biggest differences.

On Substack, if someone votes with their wallet for you, Substack takes a 10% cut, similar to Gumroad (This platform lets you offer all your (digital) services.) which I think is fair.

If I can do it, you can too

Tripling my income feels amazing, and I believe you can do the same. If I can do it, you can too, especially since I'm a non-native speaker with two kids in the house. If I was doing all this in German, I could express myself much better.

If you think both platforms make sense, and you can swing it, go for it and create a Medium-Substack hybrid your way! If you need support, I’m happy to help with my first Substack-Medium Flywheel Bootcamp.

Now is the best time to take action and start an email list on Substack while writing on your Medium blog.

Substack is the fastest place for new writers to grow, but with 1M paying members, Medium is bigger than ever.

So why not harness the power of both, and accelerate your growth?

Together with

Derek Hughes

("The Headline and Subject Line Guy" and Medium top writer ), I'll show you how to get paid to be you by creating a Substack-Medium hybrid.

This bootcamp runs from November 18-22 and you can sign up now!

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