I Built an AI-Powered Publication — And It Blew Up

What if I told you the secret to turning a dead Medium publication into a six-figure traffic machine… doesn’t start with better writing?

In this episode, I break down exactly how we grew our Medium reads from just 784 a month… to 184,000. No paid ads. No staff. Just a dead-simple two-step strategy powered by AI automation — and a surprisingly human touch.

I’ll walk you through how a $5 product article made one of our writers $700 in 15 days, and how that moment sparked a realization that changed everything. You’ll see how I went from being a frustrated solo writer to building a publication where other authors promote me — because they want to.

We’ll talk about the automation I used to republish every article to social media without lifting a finger, the exact message I send to each author that makes them reshare every post, and how this feedback loop works better than anything I’ve tried in 20 years online.

If you want to stop begging for traffic and start building a content machine powered by relationships and AI, don’t miss this.

You’re just one automation away from changing everything.

For months, I thought I had cracked the code. I was publishing solid articles, building a community, and even growing my Medium publication slowly but surely. But it wasn’t until one automation quietly ran in the background for a few weeks that I realized something massive had changed.

Three days ago, I published a story about how my publication hit 184,000 reads. But I left something out—one simple automation that multiplied everything. It didn’t just help me grow faster. It made everything easier, more consistent, and more effective. And now I can’t imagine running a publication without it.

In this article, I’ll break down the overlooked strategy that drove a 54,000% increase in reads, how it’s helping writers earn thousands of dollars, and how you can use it—even if you’re just getting started.

Section 1: The Problem Most New Editors Miss

The Strategy Was Working… But Something Felt Off

When I first started growing a publication, my daily workflow looked like this:

• Publish great content.

• Share it once on social media.

• Hope for the best.

It was working—but not at the pace I wanted. Even worse, I had no idea which stories were taking off or how to create consistent traction. There was no momentum.

I knew other writers were seeing spikes in earnings, like Marcelines who earned $700 in just 15 days from one article in our pub. That post got 14,000 reads and 23,000 views. So I asked myself: what was the hidden trigger behind these results?

Turns out, the key wasn't the writing alone.

Most People Stop at “Publish”

The biggest mistake I made early on?

I assumed that publishing was enough.

But stories don’t get read just because they’re good—they get read because they’re seen.

If you’re not sharing them daily, in places where the right people hang out, you're relying on luck.

The Simple Automation That Works In The Background

Step 1: Install the RSS-to-Social Automation

I used Make.com to build an automation that does one thing:
It takes every new article published to my Medium publication and automatically:

• Summarizes it in a high-quality social media format

• Shares it on LinkedIn, Reddit, Facebook

This automation runs every four hours—no missed posts, no manual formatting. It gave me consistency without burnout.

Step 2: The Magic Follow-Up That No One Talks About

The next morning after the automation runs, I do one high-leverage task manually:

I message the author privately to let them know where I shared their article.
Here’s the exact message I send:

Why does this matter?

Because:

• It gives the author a reason to reshare

• It builds relationships with contributors

• It creates a compounding echo effect across multiple networks

And over time? That echo effect turned into a tidal wave.

Step 3: Rotate Where You Focus

Every couple weeks, I change where I focus:

• One week I’ll highlight LinkedIn shares

• The next, I’ll message authors about Facebook

• Then I’ll focus on Reddit

This rotation helps authors share across all platforms without overwhelming them. It keeps the content cycle stacking assets.

The Results Were Bigger Than Expected

I didn’t set out to grow by 54,000%. That number still shocks me.

But here’s what changed:

From Writer to Editor to Leader

By using this automation, I shifted from being the main content creator to being a curator and promoter of others’ great work.

• I went from chasing readers… to attracting them.

• From writing every day… to building systems.

• From publishing solo… to hosting a team of high-performing authors.

The best part?

Some of those writers are better than me. They write more, have bigger audiences, and bring that traffic back to my publication.

Writers Earn More, So They Stick Around

When I saw Marcelines earn $700 on one post, it lit a fire. That one article didn't just make him money—it gave us both confidence.

Multiply that across dozens of authors and hundreds of stories? You build a publication that makes money for everyone involved.

According to ChatGPT’s estimate from the reads and views I shared, we’re pacing at around $9,500/month in Medium earnings for contributors.

That's real income—for writing.

This Is Not a Fluke. It’s a Repeatable System

You don’t need a huge following. You don’t need to be the best writer.
You need three things:

1. A Medium publication in your niche

2. The Make.com automation blueprint

3. A daily habit of connecting with your authors

If you do this consistently? You’ll have a growing publication that helps others earn, builds your brand, and becomes a platform you can monetize however you want.

What You Should Do Next

This automation isn’t just a convenience—it’s the foundation of my growth.
It helped me go from sporadic success to reliable traction. From one-time hits to daily compounding. And from a solo writer to the editor of a 190,000-reads-per-month publication.

So here’s your next step:

• If you haven’t already, create a Medium publication in a niche you care about.

• Join the AI Business Plans community to get the RSS-to-social automation blueprint during the 7-day free trial.

• Invite authors to contribute. Start small.

• Use the daily message strategy to create loyalty, community, and reach.

You don’t need to write 10x more. You just need to leverage what you already have with systems that do the heavy lifting.

I’ve made the blueprint free to try, and I’ll personally walk you through the setup inside our community. The rest? Is compounding.

Let’s build something together.