Medium's Partner Program pays writers based on how long paying members spend reading a story, instead of on ad impressions, which changes how affiliate promotions work on the Medium platform compared to a typical blog.
This guide covers affiliate marketing on Medium and how writers can add affiliate links to a Medium article without breaking reader trust.
Key takeaways
- Writers can start affiliate marketing on Medium as a side hustle, using the online publishing platform to create content and reach readers without building a niche blog first.
- Any post that includes affiliate links needs a clear disclosure near the first one. Medium's rules require writers to disclose affiliate links upfront.
- The Medium Partner Program pays writers separately from any commission earned by promoting affiliate links, so a single post can earn money two ways at once.
- Understanding how affiliate marketing works and matching a product to what a reader can actually afford is what makes the best affiliate marketers successful.
- Publishing content on Medium works best as one of several other channels feeding into an owned website and a broader affiliate income plan.
Medium's rules on affiliate links and disclosures
Medium's rules treat unsolicited third-party advertising as spam, so affiliate content needs to read like an educational post or an honest product review. Following these guidelines starts with disclosure: writers add a clear affiliate disclosure near the first affiliate link so readers know upfront that a link pays a commission.
Placing the disclosure too far down in a Medium post, or wording it like an ad, usually triggers a violation. Medium also restricts images and embeds that function as third-party ads, so a product photo needs to support the story rather than act as a banner.
Amazon affiliate links on Medium
Amazon affiliate program's Associates policy lists the social networks it accepts for affiliate promotion: Facebook (excluding personal pages), Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch.
Medium doesn't appear on that list. Writers who plan to add Amazon affiliate links to a Medium post should confirm their Associates account status against a listed site, such as a personal website. Medium traffic alone doesn't qualify.
Building a content strategy for affiliate articles
Start a solid content strategy for affiliate articles with a value-first narrative, well before adding any promotion. Keeping most posts purely informative, with only occasional posts built around a recommendation, keeps an account reading like a source of insightful articles.
Professional writers who already run a niche blog can republish a top-performing post on Medium, with a canonical link back to the original, and reach a new audience without creating a duplicate-content problem for the original page.
Submitting a story to a relevant Medium Publication puts it in front of an existing target audience beyond personal followers, and testing one affiliate product per post makes it easier to see which product and format generates traffic and converts before scaling up.
Tip:
New to the concept? Printify's guide on what affiliate marketing is breaks down the basics before diving into Medium-specific tactics.
Choosing affiliate programs: Amazon, Printify, and alternatives
Commission structures vary more by product type than by platform, so treating every affiliate program the same way can leave decent income on the table. Physical goods typically pay 5% to 15% per sale, while digital products pay 20% to 50%.
For print-on-demand (POD) content specifically, the Printify Affiliate Program pays 5% of the product price on every order a referral makes, for 12 consecutive months, with no cap on total earnings, a steady source of passive income for writers who already cover POD topics. That structure suits Medium's review-style format well, since a reader clicks straight through to the exact product the article recommends.
Before joining any program, writers check whether its terms restrict promotion on Medium specifically, and keep every affiliate link in one central tracker, tagged and shortened before publishing, so a broken or mismatched link doesn't reach a live post.
Tip:
Ready to start? Apply to the Printify Affiliate Program to see current commission rates and sign-up steps.
Writing a Medium article that converts
Craft the story and hook
A relatable problem or a real case study from the writer's own experience works better as an opening than a generic hook, and it sets up long-form, in-depth content.
Writing stories this way means walking through the result or lesson first, then bringing in a product afterward. When the post takes a review angle, the review stays honest about downsides before any promotion appears.
Integrate product mentions naturally
Product mentions work best once the article has already delivered value, and it lands better when the writer has personally used the product or can otherwise vouch for it in good faith.
Affiliate marketers who focus on a single product per post build more credibility than those running a roundup of five or six options. Matching the product to what the target audience can actually afford matters as much as matching it to their interests.
Use one clear CTA
One call to action per article, placed near the end once the value has landed, converts better than several scattered asks. Something like Subscribe for more recommendations works as action-oriented link text, giving readers an easy way to sign up for more without asking for the sale directly.
Where to place affiliate links
The first affiliate link goes in after the value delivery, once the reader already has the advice they came for. A second link near the conclusion works too, especially alongside a subscribe prompt or any other link that drives traffic to an off-Medium landing page.
Three outbound affiliate links per story is a reasonable ceiling. Past that point, tracking gets harder to manage, and the post starts reading like a link farm.
Turning Medium traffic into an affiliate funnel
Dedicated landing pages on the writer's own website give Medium traffic somewhere to go for a deeper offer or a lead capture form. They are the foundation for business models built on multiple income sources beyond Medium payouts.
A niche lead magnet on that page builds an email list from readers who want a next step off Medium. Segmented follow-up sequences, tied to the products mentioned in a given post, keep the promotion relevant to what a reader has already shown interest in.
The payout side, an email platform, an affiliate network, and the bank account commissions land in, and only needs setting up once. For POD content, sending Medium traffic to Printify product pages keeps the funnel focused on products readers have already seen in the article.
Growth tactics for affiliate income on Medium
- Reading and commenting on five other niche writers' stories a day, in a way that's genuinely useful, builds the kind of visibility that gets returned and brings in more readers over time.
- Keep a consistent publishing schedule around a handful of relevant tags. That helps grow a following, since a returning Medium member is worth more to the Partner Program than a one-time visitor.
- Joining the Partner Program itself doesn't require a follower count: writers need a complete profile, at least five published stories, two months of activity on Medium, a bank account, tax residency in an eligible country, and an age of at least 18.
- Republishing a refined post puts it in front of readers who missed it the first time, and cross-promoting on other social platforms brings in an audience that hasn't seen a writer's Medium work yet, which is one of the more reliable ways to make money on the platform beyond the Partner Program payout alone.
Tracking performance and scaling affiliate income
Appending UTM tags to every affiliate link makes it possible to see which post, platform, or CTA actually drove a click. A simple weekly table tracking views, clicks, sign-ups, and commissions side by side shows which posts are actually converting to income, and helps decide which new post idea to try next.
On the Medium side specifically, Partner Program earnings come from member reading time, engagement points from claps, highlights, and replies, and a boost multiplier for boosted stories, with external traffic, including reads that arrive from search engines or email, earning at a higher rate than reads from inside Medium.
That means a shorter, well-read story can out-earn a longer one that gets skimmed. Doubling down on a format only makes sense once a few months of data, including received payments, back it up, and A/B testing headlines and CTAs on a monthly cadence keeps that decision grounded in results.
Compliance, ethics, and sustainable income
Always disclose every affiliate link. That protects both Medium standing and any affiliate program's terms. Retrofitting a disclosure after a post has already reached readers undisclosed doesn't fix the problem.
Exaggerated claims or misleading comparisons cost more in reader trust than they gain in clicks, especially in niches where the readers can fact-check any claims.
Some posts monetize better behind Medium's own paywall, where only a paid subscription unlocks the full story, than through an affiliate link, particularly deep how-to content a casual reader wouldn't click through on anyway. Keeping payment records from every affiliate program and from Medium's own payouts in one place makes tax season and program audits far less painful.
Quick publication checklist for affiliate marketers on Medium
- Add an affiliate disclosure statement near the first affiliate link.
- Confirm program approval for Medium traffic before publishing.
- Add UTM-tagged links to every outbound URL.
- Check that any linked landing page displays properly on mobile.
- Confirm every image or screenshot loads, and use the view image option to check full-size quality before publishing.
FAQ
Conclusion: Building a long-term income plan
Medium works best as one channel among several feeding into a broader business model built on multiple income sources, since an account there depends entirely on Medium's own rules and algorithm.
- Reinvesting affiliate income into testing new formats and small ad spends compounds faster than letting it sit idle.
- Reader engagement data should decide which topics and products get a second post.
Once a Medium audience is established, building an owned affiliate website gives that traffic a permanent home, and a YouTube channel becomes a logical next step for writers who want to make money from the same audience and content ideas in video form.
