I Earned My First Passive Income as a Freelance Product Designer

April 2025 Edition

Hey guys! šŸ‘‹ 

Okay, this is the post I didn’t expect to write.

When I thought about diversifying my income as a designer/solopreneur, I pictured the usual suspects: Figma templates, icon sets, illustrations, maybe even career advice kits or checklists. But getting paid for writing? Nope, never crossed my mind.

I’m a visual person. Writing isn’t something I naturally enjoy, and English isn’t even my first language. I’m from Belarus, lived in Poland for five years, and have never been to the USā€Šā€”ā€Ševen though 90% of my clients and design network are based there.

It takes me a huge amount of effort, endless rounds with ChatGPT, and a human sacrifice (aka my partner, who proofreads everything) just to finish a single post. Even Instagram captions feel like a stretch.

But visual work? I could make illustrations and thumbnails for hours without blinking.

And yet… here we are.

Screenshot from my Medium stats page

Last month, I earned $350 USD on Medium from a single article I originally wrote for my newsletter.

Was it a lot? No.

Was it satisfying? Absolutely.

Because passive income is the kind of income that keeps givingā€Šā€”ā€Šyou do something once, and it keeps working for you. That $350 didn’t come from a design gig, or a client, or hours of deliverables. It came from hitting publish on something I already had.

Here’s how it happened (and how you might do it too):

Write about stuff no one’s talking about

Living and working across different cultures as a digital nomad made me notice all sorts of design differences. One question kept nagging at me: Why do Western and Asian interfaces feel so different? I couldn’t find a solid answer onlineā€Šā€”ā€Šjust scattered bits, nothing deep.

So I wrote the piece I was looking for.

Not another ā€œTop 10 portfolio mistakesā€ or ā€œHow to write your case studiesā€ post. (If I see one more of those, I swear my eyes will start bleeding.)

That’s the thingā€Šā€”ā€Špeople are tired of content that’s been written a thousand times. We crave new, personal, un-googleable perspectives. That’s what gets noticed. That’s what gets shared.

And in my case? It worked. People started tagging me in their LinkedIn posts and sharing the article. That hadn’t really happened before. It turns out: originality actually works.

Be authentic (even if it’s messy)

We’re living in the age of AI-generated content. Which means a lot of posts sound… the same. Polished, sureā€Šā€”ā€Šbut kind of soulless?

If you just copy-paste from ChatGPT, there’s no you in it. No personality. No voice. No weird little thoughts that make someone go, ā€œYep, same.ā€

Don’t get me wrongā€Šā€”ā€ŠI use AI a ton (this post included). But I use it to support my voice, not replace it. I want people to recognize me in my writing.

That’s what cuts through the noise these days: realness.

Hit publish (even if it’s not perfect)

I overthink everything I post. 

Is it good enough? Is the idea clear? Is the structure okay? Maybe I should just save it as a draft and come back later… like in my next life, when I’m reborn as a confident writer from an English-speaking country?

But here’s what that $350 taught me: done is better than perfect. A published post will always outperform the 100+ half-drafts hiding in your Notion.

This post? Same deal. Not perfect. But it’s out thereā€Šā€”ā€Šand maybe it’ll encourage you to publish something, too. 

Luck? Sure. But also strategy.

Why did my article get traction? It was boosted. Medium selects high-quality stories to feature and promote. They also push those stories out to their wider network of readers.

Screenshot from my Medium stats page

This wasn’t my first boostā€Šā€”ā€Šback in January 2024, another one of my articles (ā€œIs humanizing Crypto even possible?ā€) also got picked up. Same formula: authentic voice, original take, no fluff.

So yeah, luck is part of it. But you can increase your odds by writing about interesting things in an honest way. You don’t have to be Tolkienā€Šā€”ā€Šyou just have to be you.

And even with the boost, only 56% of traffic came from Medium itself. The rest? People sharing it. So yes, Medium helpsā€Šā€”ā€Šbut good content finds its people anyway.

Publish under a big publication (if you can)

I published my article under UX Collectiveā€Šā€”ā€Šone of the biggest design publications on Medium.

Why does that matter?

  • First, it’s validation. If they accept your post, that’s a quality signalā€Šā€”ā€Što you and to readers.

  • Second, it gives you access to their audience. Your writing gets in front of way more people than your own network alone could reach.

Since publishing under UX Collective, I gained 80 new followers and got 26 thoughtful, deep, perspective-shifting comments. That’s not just vanity metricsā€Šā€”ā€Šthat’s connection. That’s people engaging, reflecting, asking questions.

Without that publication, I might never have seen those commentsā€Šā€”ā€Šor met those readers.

So, if you’re on Medium, pitch to publications that align with your topic and your audience. It’s worth it.

Instead of a summary…

I’m not sure where this writing thing will take me. But now that I’ve seen it workā€Šā€”ā€Ševen just onceā€Šā€”ā€ŠI want to do more of it. I want to share more stories, more ideas, more thoughts sitting in the back of my mind.

Even if they’re messy.

Even if they’re imperfect.

Even if I still make typos (thank you, Grammarly, for saving me).

If one of those thoughts connects with someone out there, then it’s already worth it.

If you’ve read this farā€Šā€”ā€Šhi! šŸ‘‹ I’d love to hear your story too.

That’s all for today! If you found the newsletter interesting, don’t forget to share it with your friends šŸ˜‰. And if you have any cool links to share - drop them my way. šŸ“® 

See you next time!
Kristina

P.S. To ensure you don't miss any future editions, consider adding my email to your contacts, primary inbox or whitelisting it. I promise, no spam - just a good cup of Designer's Coffee each month! ā˜•

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