Case Study: Medium Article Read Counts & Revenues: Before and After "Being Boosted"
That vast difference! The power of the platform and marketing.
I published the article, “Don’t you think it’s absurd that most university IT researchers are focusing on AI and machine learning?”, three days ago (2025-02-01). As expected, only a small number of views: 22, 7, and 3, respectively for the first three days. (I am an author with 13 books in the field, rated No.2 in “The Top 5 Software Testing Writers on Medium”, with 150+ articles featured in leading software newsletters, and ~6K followers on Medium). This is just what Medium nowadays is, for technical bloggers, sadly.
Below is an excerpt from a newsletter by Tim Denning, a well-known influencer and blogger with 327K followers on Medium, commenting on the platform’s current status.
Yesterday, I received an email from Medium, titled “Congratulations! Your story has been Boosted on Medium”.
For those unfamiliar with Medium, the platform’s Boost program highlights and promotes high-quality stories to reach a broader audience. I read a Medium monthly update stating that only about 0.2% of articles that month were selected by Curators to be ‘Boosted’. I assume the rate is even lower for technical articles. This is my fifth ‘Boost’ article.
Anyway, the purpose of this article is how vast the difference is in terms of reaching more audience after an article is ‘Boosted’ on the Medium platform.
After being 'Boosted,' the total view count skyrocketed from 3 to 432 on the first day (the fourth day after publication).
Please note, the article is still the same content. The only difference is that the platform started promoting the article more. What a huge impact!
Some might wonder how much I earned from this boosted article. Here’s the breakdown:
Income over the first three days before boosting: $0.13, $0.16, and $0.01.
The income on the day it was boosted: $32.73! The reason: besides more reads, Medium pays a higher rate for each member read on 'Boosted' articles.
However, the surge in reads for a newly 'Boosted' article typically lasts about a week before dwindling to nearly unnoticeable.
Takeaway #1: If you're on Medium, aim to write high-quality articles that get boosted
As the stats show, boosted articles can make a massive (~100X) difference in both reach and earnings. If you can consistently produce Boosted articles, it's still possible to generate considerable passive income on Medium. However, getting a “Boosted” article on Medium isn’t easy, as it’s largely outside the author's control. Moreover, I believe technical articles are even less likely to be chosen.
I have five 'Boosted' articles (listed below), and I didn’t do anything extra—no planning, no promotion, no affiliates. Motivated Medium authors interested in learning more can read them for potential clues on what Medium curators might prefer.
My most popular article, "What Happened to ThoughtWorks?", received significantly more likes and reads, but it was not "Boosted". Frankly, I think it deserves ‘Boosted’ status.
Takeaway #2: Marketing and promotion make a huge difference.
The above stats remind me that many content creators—bloggers, authors, and app developers—don’t succeed because of their product, but due to a lack of promotion. I have to admit, this is one area where I’ve fallen short.
However, this does mean I will compromise my independence. My articles have always been direct and bold in making predictions—most of which have proven correct, such as avoiding record-n-playback automation tools, “Protractor,” “Cucumber for E2E test automation,” “Codeless Test Automation,” “AI Test Automation,” “Cypress,” and others. I recognize that software testing newsletters now feature my articles less nowadays due to their arrangements with commercial companies.
The key takeaway for motivated & talented & hard-working content creators or software developers building their apps is this:
Your product could be outstanding, but it might just need the right promotion or support from the right people at the right time.
“Harry Potter & The Philosopher’s Stone” was rejected by no less than twelve publishers. (source)
“The 4-Hour Workweek” book, The NewYork Best-Seller, was turned down by 26 out of 27 publishers. (source)
Now looking back, I have received some negative feedback on my side-hustle work, such as:
"Zhimin, English is your second language, writing a book might be too overwhelming.”
As of today, I have published 13 books and guided my daughter to become a press-published author at the age of 22.“What, you are developing a testing IDE? Also in your spare time? Give me a break”.
TestWise (my innovative functional testing IDE) was demonstrated at the Agile 2009 Conference Workshop and was a finalist for the 2010 Ruby International Award. I have been using the TestWise IDE daily since 2007. Several dozens of individuals and companies have paid for licenses, while numerous others use the free edition, though they remain unaccounted for. Additionally, I developed and have been maintaining the BuildWise CT server, which won a 2018 Ruby Award, along with several highly acclaimed apps such as ClinicWise, SiteWise, and WhenWise, all of which I developed (& still maintaining) in my spare time.
Pursue your ambitions and find a mentor who has walked the path before you—it can accelerate your journey toward achieving your goals.
Related reading: