1,000 Stories And Counting

What I have learned from publishing 1,000 stories on Medium

This is my 1,000th story published on Medium. In this story, I will share my top stories of all time, what I have learned, and my vision for the future. I'm also going to share some of my thoughts about Medium and what the future holds. So, let's dive in.

I started to write on Medium consistently in 2019. During this time, I began to see my writing impact people. It was an exciting time for me, and I saw a lot of growth.

Looking back, it seemed like this was the golden age of Medium. People were seeing tremendous growth. Writers were joining, making money, and helping each other out. It was a time when Medium was less about how to make money online and more about helping people out.

I enjoyed writing on Medium.

But, things have changed. It isn't what it once was. I'm still not convinced that things are bad, but it doesn't feel this same. Publications are closing, writers are leaving, and so much of what I see on the platform is about making a quick buck. We will see what happens.

All-Time Top 5 Stories

Over the last few years, I have had some stories to incredibly well. So, I thought I would share what has done well over this time. I will give you my top five stories in views, reads, and fans.

I think it's essential to see the differences between these three categories and the similarities. If you want to see what worked in these stories, you can see the engagement level.

What does this information mean?

I think Medium as a platform for engagement isn't so excellent for me right now. Part of it is related to my chosen topics to write about. But, I think there is a significant reason to believe that Medium is declining. This is important to consider as we look forward.

What I have Learned While Writing on Medium

I have learned to become a writer, published author, marketer, and a better human being. I have also learned this isn't true for everyone. However, I have met some fantastic writers, learned from them, and have had a chance to help others.

That being said, I have three main things that I have learned from writing on Medium for a thousand posts over the last few years. These lessons are helpful for everyone.

Medium is great for starting. This is an excellent place to be if you are starting to write online. Especially if you are looking to grow as a writer. If you are looking to make a quick buck, I hope you go somewhere else. For many writers, practicing in public is hard, but this is a great place for it.
Medium is excellent for growing email lists. And not the Medium prescribed email lists. I'm talking about your email list that you have complete control of. Many people are growing email lists and having great success at it from writing on Medium.
Medium is declining. The company is doing weird things that hurt most writers. Readers and writers are coming and going by the droves. And connections with others on the platform are very self-focused, which is irritating since I have met amazing people here early on who wanted to support each other.

I thought I would give you a list of how to succeed on Medium in this section, didn't you? Well, about a hundred new articles are being written a day by people who have been on the platform for a month who write those. I'm not going to give you that quite yet.

What does the Future of Medium Hold?

While I think Medium is declining, I don't think it is going anywhere. Other websites are trying to copy what Medium has done, but I think it is only being done with limited success.

Medium is still one of the best and easiest places to start as a writer. It is still a great place to get exposure. And it is an easy place to create content. For these reasons, I think Medium could turn it around at some point.

Here are a few things I think will be important moving forward:

Write for outside views. I have 6K followers, but my current articles only realize about 50 internal views each. However, the ones that have gotten some decent views over the last year have come from outside views (Google search, other apps, and social media).
We need to stop rewarding get-rich-quick articles. These are killing Medium as a platform for writers. Sure, you can make a quick buck, but it isn't helping anyone who wants to grow as a writer. They are just distractions and selfish.
Writers need to come together and support each other again. There are dozens of support-my-story Facebook groups, but they don't help much. Writers need to connect, join each other's email lists, and consistently look for each other. This will help us grow and do great things.

On a more personal note…

I'm kind of a mess right now. I have a lot of topics I want to be writing about, but I think it's hurting my writing. I want to narrow things down, but I don't want to at the same time. It's frustrating.

However, I love writing and will probably continue to write on many topics here on Medium. I know the reward will be far less than if I wrote on one or two topics. All that to say, if you like my writing about writing, check out my email list.

My other favorite topics are Christian faith, Productivity, and I'm getting into dividend investing, so I started a Substack newsletter for that. So, anyway, that's where I am at with all the topics.

Final Thoughts

Where are we going from here with Medium?

I don't know. I think abandoning the platform isn't the answer. But, I believe that people need to get their stuff together and start writing good stuff again. I also think writers need to band together and help each other out.

We cannot depend on Medium, so creating your email lists and getting people on those is essential. Don't let Medium control it all. Also, for many writers, money will follow in other avenues than Medium. We cannot count on the partner program to pay us well.

I'm still going to write my books through posts on Medium. I am going to share what I learn on the other topics. And I will continue to be here on Medium. But I won't rely on them to help me out.

What do you think? How long have you been writing on Medium? What has your experience been like? Share in the responses below!

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J.R. Heimbigner is a #1 Bestselling Author on Amazon who loves helping people grow in their faith, find productivity success, learn about investing, and help writers become authors. You can connect with him on Medium, his website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Ko-fi!

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