As the first year draws to a close, it’s time to reflect on new experiences.

As the first year of writing draws to a close, it’s time for a look back at some of the highlights to see if any improvements can be made for 2024. Like anything in life, it’s fair to expect improvements as things progress and because of that, there are always lessons to be learned.

Stats & Sites

2023 was a busy year, with 105 articles published on Medium by the year's end. This works out to around 2 articles per week. While the real world looked a bit different from that in terms of frequency, it’s typically a good idea to publish regularly to allow yourself to build a following. However, it wasn’t just Medium that received attention. We also published on Amazon before joining the community on Publish0x and eventually finding a home on Bulbapp.

By the year's end, we’d accumulated over 900 followers on Medium and over 6000 on Bulb. But it didn’t start that way. The first story posted in the first month received just 4 views and no reads. It’s fair to say that the Medium algorithm can be a tough master for those who are new.


However, persistence pays off because while small, the following month showed improvement. At this point engagement was key, clapping commenting, and engaging with other authors showed benefits in increasing engagement in our work. Always a nice benefit to have

Lesson Learnt:

Even the longest of journeys starts with a single step. Engagement is a key part of building a community and while it can take time to see the payoff from that, it’s quite rewarding when it happens.

Strategy Matters

For some people, writing can come naturally. For others though it has to be taught. Regardless of your style, you’ll find that most algorithms like consistency, so those who are publishing regularly should see more success than those publishing on a reduced cycle. However, quality matters. While you can use AI-generated content to pump up your rate, you’ll typically find that both readers and the algorithm tend to favour content that’s been researched, well produced, and well put together. Sometimes, it can be helpful to figure out exactly what type of story you’d like to read and then work on that. Finding your niche early and having a solid strategy for being able to achieve growth within that niche is a large part of avoiding burnout and feeling satisfied with what you are producing.

Lesson Learnt:

The best writer in the world can still fail spectacularly without a solid strategy. Worse still, a good strategy is always evolving with the latest data, ensuring that your strategy remains viable as things change. Don’t over-invest and don't be hesitant to change your plan should it be called for. Adapting will allow you to overcome, and growth follows consistency.

Where’s The Growth?!

When you look at the early stats with single-digit reads and little engagement, it’s easy to extrapolate that over a year and feel like it’ll take forever to have some success. And if you’re writing on a niche topic, you may find that to be true.

Like we mentioned earlier though, consistency is your friend here. Regularly publishing quality materials is your best shot at achieving consistent and steady growth. Pairing that context with regular and genuine engagement means that provided you're producing, the growth with eventually come. Focus on working within your niche and producing great writing. You can also try to get your writing in front of someone within your field for critique and advice. If you can win over people within your field of relevance, you’ll find it far easier to win over strangers as well.

Lesson Learnt

While we all want thousands of followers, the fact is it takes time to build engagement. Be seen in your community of choice and engage with others' work as well. You’ll find it far easier to become known in your community if you do and growth will follow.

Keep The Passion Burning:

Most have probably heard the saying “If you enjoy what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life”. Essentially, it means that those who enjoy their work will find greater satisfaction while doing so. It’s pretty hard to agree with logic like that, but the reality is it’s true! So when you apply this to your writing, try and focus on what you enjoy and what you’re good at. Often, they’ll be the same thing. A few months isn’t long in the social media world, once you have your following you’ll need to capture their attention by producing regular articles of interest. Producing this all on the go in one sitting can be difficult, so start looking for story ideas around you. Produce lists of what's coming next and try to balance your content across your niches. If you’re teaching, providing good resources along with community support will keep your readers' attention while ensuring that you can build excitement for your next piece of work. Ultimately, those who can speak with passion, yet still translate the jargon for regular users will achieve far more success than those who can’t.

Lesson Learnt:

Process come with effort and consistency is regularly rewarded. Find topics that allow you to lean into your strengths when writing. You’ll probably produce better content and have a more enjoyable time while doing so.

Partner Program

Our last lesson touches on the Medium Partner Program, as well as others like it. Often, you’ll see people denied access to the program, which makes it harder for creators to receive legitimate payment for their work and turn their hobby into a paycheque. However, the fact is there is now a large assortment of websites that work well as legitimate companions to those who publish on Medium. You’ll also find that often, people think they can’t make money without being in the partner program. The reality is, that if you have an audience anywhere, then you can work with that. While the partner program is great, it shouldn't be a single benchmark for success.

Sites like Publish0x & Bulbapp provide crypto-focused ways for authors to earn crypto and receive their share of the reward for writing engaging content. So if you’re geographically restricted, look at some of the other ways you can leverage your audience. Can you produce tutorials, or build products? Perhaps you can leverage your tech skills to help others and earn some money. Regardless of your situation, you’ll find that sometimes there’s another way of achieving the same goal. Often, we’ll simply need to apply creative measures to obtain the same outcome. So focus on building up a community and obtaining regular readers. Once you’re able to do this reliably, you’ll find it far easier to produce content of value.

Lesson Learnt:

While single-mindedness is sometimes a good thing, if it leads to tunnel vision in your projects then it’s no longer a good thing. Look for outside opportunities that leverage your existing skills and play to your strengths.

Step 3 has caught many people out. Source: Wikipedia

In Closing

So there you have it! Some of our favourite lessons learned from 104 articles and a year of publishing. Medium has gone through fresh growth lately and we see the refinements continually added to the partner program. Medium is a great place for beginning authors to find their community, so it’s always great to see attention paid to things like the partner program as they bring instant benefits for creators.

While the referral member no longer exists we’d like to remind others that the Friend of Medium membership returns a greater percentage back to support writers you enjoy reading on medium. If you haven’t heard of the Friend of Medium account, it’s worth checking out.
In the meantime, we’re marching steadily through the second year heading on our way toward 200 articles. May 2024 bring success for us all.

Medium has recently made some algorithm changes to improve the discoverability of articles like this one. These changes are designed to ensure that high-quality content reaches a wider audience, and your engagement plays a crucial role in making that happen.

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