20 Mistakes I Made Writing 1,001 Medium Stories in 615 Days

…plus five things I got RIGHT

Today is a big landmark for me. This story marks number 1,001. In the 615 short days I’ve been writing on this platform, I’ve learned a few things I’d like to share, especially for new writers looking to grow on the platform.

While there’s no prize on Medium for generating a prolific amount of content — as Spiderman once said, “with prolific writing comes great rewards,” ...or something like that.

With 1,001 published stories come hundreds of opportunities to make a bunch a mistakes, test new theories, and learn from my data.

While I’m nowhere near one of the top writers on Medium, I managed to build my followers to 7,600 while starting from zero, with no external boost of social media.

In story below I’ll summarized all the major things I learned.

I made a ton of mistakes, so I hope my 615 days of trial and error can help cut-down your success timeline.

Keep reading. Maybe you’ll recognize a few things you do too.

20 Mistakes from 1,001 Medium stories in 20 months

1. I tried to be clever — No one appreciates clever as much as you do. We want to either be entertained or we want a solution to our problems. It took me awhile to recognize the difference, but once I did I got a lot more reads.
2. I was pessimistic — No one wants to feel worse by reading your story. We’ve got enough negative stuff going on. We won’t seek more of it out.
3. I tried too hard — I went on tangents and gave multiple messages in a single story. I found it best to give one answer to the question posed in the title.
4. I didn’t test my Easy Invite early enough — Instead of testing my placement and wording early, I used the same link for a bunch of stories, before I wised-up, tested
5. I didn’t engage — I read the comments as they came in, but I rarely engaged. I didn’t realize how many random readers engage with other people’s comments. Now I try to comment more frequently, but there’s room for improvement there. Engagement definitely boosts your reads.
6. I didn’t use publications — I wrote rogue forever, until I realized that was a losing game. For awhile I wrote for other publications, now I almost write exclusively for my own.
7. I was obsessed with checking my stats — I’d look at my stats over 100 times per day… like every couple minutes. Nothing good comes of that. You can’ control the stats. You can only control what you write and how often you publish. I check stats less-frequent now.
8. I thought Medium-alone would replace my day-job income (fast) — I earned about $92 my first month on Medium and $700-something my second month. I thought that growth-rate would continue and I could retire by year’s-end. What I didn’t count on was the frequent changes to the way writers are paid on the platform, and the importance of looking at Medium income as a nice bonus, but not a stable source of income.
9. I didn’t promote my stories on social right away — It took me a few months to realize the benefits of a potential viral story. It’s easy to share Medium stories to social. Most wont go anywhere, but some will.
10. I didn’t add LinkedIn to my promotions until recently — I now have one additional stream to share my content, with only a few seconds of work per story. Just press one more share button when you publish.
11. I never expected such a wide, international following — Thanks to Medium I now have customers in 85 countries. I let really run an international publishing business from my pocket. Sometimes I think my writing is to American-centric, but I’m still learning and adjusting.
12. I was obsessed with curation — Until I got banned. Recently, I’ve had a few stories squeak-through, but while I was obsessed with curation, I was writing for the curators, not my readers. I’ve since stopped doing that.
13. I followed only the major players at first — However, these aren’t the folks who help grow your platform. It’s not like Gary Vee is going to clap for my stories. Once I started to engage with the mid-level folks, engagement changed for the better.
14. I didn’t pay to become a subscriber right-away — I thought I could just earn money here without immersing myself in the community. Big mistake. It took me a couple months before I realized how important it is to be able to read all the stories behind the paywall. Now, I rarely follow anyone who isn’t a paid reader.
15. My titles weren’t clear — While I’m still guilty of a rando-title on occasion, I’ve gotten better at describing the content inside. If we can’t tell what your story is about we won’t open it. Assume your reader doesn’t know you…well, because she doesn’t.
16. Readers weren’t looking for my content — Once I switched to content that was more stats-driven to my audience, I got a lot more engagement.
17. I focused on me too much — While I still love talking about myself (who doesn’t), I ty to focus more on the reader. The reader doesn’t care about me. He cares about himself.
18. I got a little desperate at times — I still have a day job that I despise. When I tried too hard to write stories that earned money, those stories didn’t do well. Now I just try to help people and write snappy titles that get opened. Readers can smell desperation, even if it’s digital.
19. I wrote when I was mad — No one likes a mad story… Not in a crazy-mad sort of thing. There’s always room for that — but angry. Anger bleeds through, into the content and you come-across like a jerk.
20. I didn’t have enough fun — Now I try hard to have fun with my stories. I can’t tell you how long I’ve been waiting to write this one. When you have fun (especially with titles) your readers can feel the fun. They have fun too. Maybe they’ll come back the next time you write something.

5 Things I got right

1. I paid attention to my stats, strategically — I learned to stop writing the clever stories and focus more on the stories my readers are willing to read. I try to keep the clever stuff to a minimum, unless I absolutely must get something off my chest.
2. I included a call-to-action — Every story I write includes a call-to-action to join my email list. I’ve done this from the beginning. If Medium didn’t allow this practice I would not be here. That’s how strongly I believe in the power of email.
3. I chose a niche from the start — 95% of my stories go towards serving writers and creators who want to sell their work. I’m a firm believer in establishing a single niche and become a dominant voice in my little corner. This helps create loyal fans who eventually become subscribers. Some of them become buyers, which allows me to continue doing my best work.
4. I put all my content-eggs in Medium’s basket — I chose to focus all my content marketing time on Medium. Their readers fit my demographic perfectly. And I don’t serve a very big niche. I then take my Medium content and promote it on social. Sometimes my stories get shared a lot and I gain new fans. This strategy allows me to focus on a single, daily writing habit, instead of trying to become a multi-media factory. I can’t keep up with everything, so I dominate one thing.
5. I took a more-aggressive approach to list-building — I now use roughly the last third of every story to encourage readers to join my Tribe 1K email masterclass. I used to give a little, whimper of a call-to-action. With the more-aggressive approach I’m rarely curated, but I get a lot more subscribers per day.

My tribe is everything

As I mentioned, I include a call-to-action at the bottom of every Medium story. I do this to build a tribe I own, on land I own (email), instead of trying to build a business on someone else’s platform.

When you own your list you own your traffic. If you don’t own your traffic you don’t own your business. The social platform controls whether or not you deserve to get paid today.

I don’t want anyone to have that much control over my work.

While I appreciate Medium for all it’s done, I know the importance of building my own email list. We all start from zero. And today it’s more important than ever to have control of your direct contact with the people who love your work.

I’ve got something for you .

I built a free email masterclass for you. I hand-crafted the whole thing. It took me a couple months. I call the masterclass the Tribe 1K.

I’ll show you how to get your first 1,000 (or your next 1,000) readers without spending a hot nickel on ads. Past students include New York Times bestselling authors. Yep, the ones you see in the bookstore.

Your email list will help you build a legacy writing business.

If you want to grow your writing business you need email before you lose that valuable reader. Start your list before you need one. Once you need one it’s almost too late.

Tap the link.

Guarantee your seat before I start charging an enrollment fee.

We’re waiting for you.

Enroll in my Email Masterclass. Get Your First 1,000 Subscribers

August Birch (AKA the Book Mechanic) is both a fiction and non-fiction author from Michigan, USA. As a self-appointed guardian of writers and creators, August helps folks who want to make work that sells and sell work they make. When he’s not writing or thinking about writing, August carries a pocket knife and shaves his head with a safety razor.