Writing and Freelancing
A Silver Lining Appears in the Cloud of Medium Distribution World
Uplifting updates on recent improvements in the stats and six practical tips for new writers to grow sustainably
Here’s Why I See a Silver Lining in the Recent Cloud of the Platform.
In the last few days, my optimism increased as I could see some positive changes happening. Therefore, I decided to share this realistic optimism with writers who might be affected by recent changes.
On October 10th, I posted an article titled I Started Feeling Unappreciated on Medium, Just Like Jessica Wildfire. The story reflected my findings, perspectives, and genuine feelings about this valuable platform.
I am pleased that the story received great exposure, with many valuable comments showing the thoughts and sentiments of the writers. In addition, I am grateful for the meaningful engagement on this platform. Friendly interactions inspire me to contribute more and give back to the community.
The stats significantly changed for me and many writers I mentored in the last seven days. Last few days, I received a few hundred emails and Slack messages from writers informing me that their stats started improving.
Hearing such news was inspiring to my editorial team and me. I am delighted with this excellent progress. I hope it sustains and brings value to all writers. Let’s stay optimistic and do our best for success.
It looks like Medium started distributing some stories to topics again. Unfortunately, we can no longer see the distributed story notification, but they are noticeable from the stats. Views of distributed stories spike.
For example, since 10 October, two of my stories have received ten times more views than the previous ones in September. So even though they are not at a desirable level yet, my stats look promising, like other writers who kindly informed me.
In addition, I gained several new paid subscribers. In September, I had no subscribers, which concerned me the most. I thought that readers were leaving Medium. It does not seem to be the case.
Frankly, Medium offers excellent value to readers. With $5 per month, no other platform offers such a rich reading experience without ads and gimmicks. So why should they leave a platform offering such great value?
As I mentioned in my previous story, I keep my optimism because our stats initially decline whenever Medium makes a substantial change. However, after a few weeks, they return to normal. I assume it was a transition phase in September. Therefore, we might have experienced such a dramatic decline.
These preliminary observations indicate that Medium might have resolved the distribution issues and started the usual curation process for great stories that readers demand. I hope this progress continues, as it will make the writers happy, delight loyal readers, and attract new readers to this platform.
I am pleased that two of my health-related stories received at least ten times more views than stories published in September. I link them here for interested readers in health topics.
After 50, Jim Shrank His Belly and Gained Stronger Muscles with 5 Lifestyle Changes.
Here’s How Amy Entered Ketosis without Following a Ketogenic Diet.
Interestingly most of the writers who informed me about their stats improvement have 1,000 or more followers.
New writers who interacted with me don’t seem to have as much improvement in stats as experienced writers.
However, new writers highlight that their stories get more external views than internal ones. For example, a relatively new writer Aiden shared this story recently. I Became a Top Writer in 3 Topics But Haven’t Got Any Benefits Yet.
I still couldn’t solve the puzzle of why some stories get more external views than internal ones. Here is one of my stories with 87% external views and only 13% internal views. This story was distributed to topics on Medium but received multiple times more external views.
I also heard that the new leadership team of Medium is looking for opportunities for monetizing external traffic. If Medium can achieve such a goal, it will be a win-win for writers and the platform. I look forward to updates from Medium on this exciting initiative. I have some ideas and would like to share them in another post.
Established writers already know what to do to become successful on this platform. However, I have a few suggestions for the new writers to consider.
I believe my points can contribute to new writers gaining more followers and creating an audience to become successful on this platform. Please feel free to contact me when you need help or clarification. I’d gladly help offline or explain in the comments section.
Six Practical Tips for New Writers to Get the Best Out of Medium Partnership
In this section, I provide six practical tips, mainly for new writers. They might also be helpful for other writers serving as a checklist.
1 — How to improve views and reading times
Views are essential but not as critical as reading times for writers on Medium. Without views, it is not possible to gain reading time. However, receiving too many external views also does not bring any payable reading times to writers.
To increase views and reading times, I posted an article providing practical tips. Here is the link to the story How to Write Content Guaranteed to Get Views and Reads.
Here is the summary of the story with takeaway points
1 — Write attractive titles.
2 — Add attractive photos.
3 — Provide an eye-pleasing format.
4 — Answer Important Questions
5 — Solve unsolved problems.
6 — Mention your experience in a relevant way.
7 — Tell an authentic story.
8 — Provide Takeaways.
Quantity is important to find new readers. However, the quality of stories is critical to increasing reading times. Therefore, I provided a checklist that helped thousands of writers to improve their content. Here is the link for new writers: Essential Checklist for Writers and Bloggers.
2 — How to increase followers without stressing too much
Followers do not mean much to established writers. But they are essential for new writers to be eligible for the partner program and find readers initially supporting their content.
Without having some followers, it is not possible to create a solid audience. However, begging followers is not a strategic approach and does not bring value to new writers.
Undoubtedly new writers face a dilemma in gaining new followers due to the challenges of the platform. Therefore, I provided practical tips in a story titled Beginners: Increase Followers on Medium In Six Easy and Proven Steps.
3 — How to create a solid audience
The most essential success criterion for writers is to gain a solid reader base. Fortunately, Medium created an excellent audience-building capability for writers. It is much better than other platforms.
By leveraging audience-building features, writers can extend them to their platforms and support their readers. The critical point is to turn occasional readers into fans by delighting and supporting them with care.
I documented my audience-building experience in an article titled 8 Proven Tips to Build a Rock-Solid Reading Audience on Medium.
Here are critical points for your consideration. You can check the details in the article mentioned.
1 — Start with a Growth Mindset
2 — Test the Waters with Diversification and Incremental Steps
3 — Find a Niche and Show Differentiators
4 — Show up Consistently with Enthusiasm
5 — Transform Followers into Regular Readers
6 — Keep Experimenting
7 — Giveback Generously and Meaningfully
8 — Move from Loyalty to Advocacy as a Game-Changing Strategy
4 — How to Increase the chance of viral stories
In addition to the eight points in section #1, viral stories require additional considerations.
The key factors, as I explained in this story, are:
1 — Emotional and Controversial Content
2 — Spectacular Opening and Conclusion
5 — Platform-Based Promotional Aspects
6 — Social Media Friendliness to Boost Reachout
In 2021 I conducted a comprehensive analysis of viral stories and documented my findings in an article.
When I checked over 100+ viral stories in my publications, I noticed that the writers of viral articles made a significant effort to make them extra attractive.
5 — How to leverage affiliate marketing to Increase Income
Income is a significant factor for freelance writers. In addition to earning from the content and its diversification, one of the best tools is affiliate marketing.
Interestingly, some established writers earn multiple times more income from affiliate marketing than the actual content. For example, a protege who earns around a thousand dollars from her content earns around eight thousand dollars from affiliate links.
When I reviewed the progress of this writer, I noticed that she owns a blog and repurposes her content published on Medium on her website and other platforms that allow affiliate links.
Writers on Medium and Vocal Media are fortunate as these platforms allow affiliate links. Some platforms like NewsBreak do not allow affiliate links yet. We cannot even link our books as a reference on NewsBreak, but we can on Medium and Vocal Media.
Affiliate marketing is not complex, but it requires time and effort. Even though affiliate marketing is considered a passive income stream, writers initially need to make some investments, such as for education and setting up affiliate links.
I documented my decades of experience in a book and two recent articles.
Why Affiliate Marketers Fail And How to Fix the Problems in Five Steps
The key point on Medium is to declare affiliate links, as I guided in a story titled The Use of Affiliate Links for Writers on Medium. I don’t use affiliate marketing on Medium much, but I helped many writers to use them successfully.
6 — How to diversify content on multiple platforms
Diversification of content is not rocket science. All you need to do is to identify various platforms, read their guidelines, and share your original content with each of them.
When you write a story on Medium, you can slightly change it and publish it on other platforms. Medium is the most flexible one that does not require a specific size and format, but others do. For example, you need a minimum of 600 words in Vocal Media, and you need to format and reference your stories on NewsBreak.
In addition, creating your own website and posting a blog, including the summary of your story, can be valuable. Or you can publish your story on your blog and use canonical names to drive traffic to your own blog. I explained it in an article titled Canonical Links: Actually, Medium Favors You.
Lastly, creating a newsletter through free sites such as Substack, Revue, Ghost, or Convertkit can help diversify your content to reach a broader audience. I explained the importance of subscribers in an article titled Here’s Why Subscribers Can Produce 50 Times Better Results Than Followers for Freelance Writers.
Final Words and Takeaways
As I mentioned in my previous story, there is no perfect platform. However, they all evolve and improve with client interaction and feedback. I believe Medium leadership takes input from writers and readers on board and makes the necessary adjustments to make stakeholders happy.
Change is essential and inevitable in life. Everything changes constantly. The important thing is to adapt ourselves to changes to survive and thrive. Those who cannot adapt to changes might struggle in life.
Even though we need to understand and analyze the negatives, living with optimism can bring many more benefits than living with pessimism. A growth mindset with a realistic and optimistic approach can be invaluable for success and life satisfaction.
My decades of content development and strategy taught me that serendipity is essential for growing and scaling our business. Therefore, we must think outside and beyond the box to create serendipity through synergistic activities. I call it giving back meaningfully, generously, and graciously.
Writing, even if it is for business, still has therapeutic value. For example, we earn income from our writing as freelance writers, but we also enjoy it when many readers read our content and show appreciation. I know that writers whose content goes viral experience a euphoric state.
My fervent wish is for the growth of this platform and the success of all ethical writers who put their hearts and souls into delighting their readers.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
I mainly write about health and well-being. As a new reader, you might check out my holistic health and well-being stories reflecting on my reviews, observations, and decades of sensible experiments. Here are sample health improvement articles for new readers:
Anxiety, Dementia, Depression, Bipolar, Schizophrenia, Brain Health, Heart Disease, Strokes, Brain Atrophy, Type II Diabetes, Fatty Liver Disease, Metabolic Syndrome, Liver Cancer, Immunotherapy, Dysautonomia, Lungs Health, Pancreas Health, Kidneys Health, NCDs, Infectious Diseases, Cardiovascular Health, Neonatal Disorders, Skin Health, Dental Health, Bone Health, Leaky Gut, Leaky Brain, Brain Fog, Nervous Breakdown, Autoimmune Conditions, Chronic Inflammation, Insulin Resistance, Elevated Cortisol, Leptin Resistance, Anabolic Resistance, Cholesterol, High Triglycerides, Metabolic Disorders, and Major Diseases.
I wrote about valuable nutrients such as:
CoQ10, PQQ, NADH, TMG, Boron, Urolithin, taurine, citrulline malate, biotin, lithium orotate, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetyl-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, creatine, choline, digestive enzymes, magnesium, hydrolyzed collagen, nootropics, pure nicotine, activated charcoal, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine, and other nutrients that might help to improve metabolism and mental health.
I write about health as it matters. I believe health is all about homeostasis.
I hope these stories inform and inspire my readers.
Disclaimer: Please note that my posts do not include professional or health advice. I document my reviews, observations, experience, and perspectives only to provide information and create awareness.
I publish my lifestyle, health, and well-being stories on EUPHORIA. My focus is on metabolic, cellular, mitochondrial, and mental health. Here is my collection of Insightful Life Lessons from Personal Stories.
You may also check my blog posts about my articles and articles of other writers contributing to my publications on Medium. I share them on my website digitalmehmet.com. Here is my professional bio. You can contact me via weblink.
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