The Unedited Truth: My First Week on Medium

Taking the plunge, both feet first

Today marks the end of my first week on Medium. It seems to be the accepted norm that we share our experiences (this is a fantastic idea by the way, before I signed up I would read these stories and it would motivate me. So to all those that I read, thank you), allow me to do just that:

The Views

For the first 7 days, starting on the 19th, I have amassed 113 views across all of my published pieces, currently 20. Of those 113 views, 50 equated to reads, if my math is correct then that is a read rate of approximately 44%. I believe in this context a ‘read’ is 30 seconds spent on a piece. Taking into consideration that my first pieces were literal…rushed drivel…I’m extremely happy with that conversion rate.

The Followers

I want to start here by extended a warm welcome and an honest thank you to each and every person that has followed me during this past week. The social aspect of Medium (a gift and a curse) has really driven me along on my own journey and I have interacted with some truly great people. Again, Thank you.

As you can see, for the 7 days I was able to gain 118 followers. I’m not entirely sure why you crazy people have decided to follow me but I'm extremely grateful, and to the email subscriber “I’m sorry”. I have no idea how to use the e-mail function of Medium. If I'm spamming your inbox several times a day I hope you see this and accept my apology.

And Finally, The Finances

I'm going to take a minute here. Indulge me that.

Okay, I'm back. Now, I know $8 is not a lot of money. I’m not trying to be over dramatic or as my english teacher used to say “over egg the pudding” but this is the first money I have ever made as a writer. The first! To add even more context, that figure just yesterday morning was 50c!

Thats a $7 increase in a day. My membership paid for. I paid for that, MYSELF, WITH MY WORDS! I'm not even going to apologise for the Caps Lock.

There we have it, my first week in all its glory.

What next? I’m going to continue to post articles, I'm going to remain consistent and i’m going to read more. This platform has given me more than $8. It has given me back the confidence I had lost. It has given me a routine. It has given me hope.

I can do it.

And so can you.