Summary

The article emphasizes the importance of creating a network of interlinked articles to increase readership and earnings on Medium.

Abstract

The author of the article encourages writers to build a robust strategy for attracting and retaining readers on Medium, akin to using a net rather than a single fishing line. The strategy involves writing daily to produce content that can be interconnected, using bold hyperlinks and in-text boxes to link to both new and old articles, and updating previous content with current links. The author also advocates for supporting other writers without expectation of reciprocity, which can lead to increased visibility and networking opportunities. The article suggests that this approach can yield more consistent results than relying solely on being featured in prominent publications or by Medium's curation system.

Opinions

The author believes that writers can significantly increase their earnings on Medium, potentially reaching $1,000 in a month, by employing specific strategies.
Bold hyperlinks are seen as more effective than underlined ones for encouraging readers to click through to other articles.
Linking to previous articles and editing old articles to include links to new content is recommended to keep readers engaged with more of the writer's work.
The author values the practice of supporting other writers as a means to gain visibility and build a community, which in turn can lead to more readers and earnings.
The article posits that a consistent and strategic approach to content creation and interlinking can be more profitable than waiting for distribution through large publications or Medium's curation.

Catch More Readers in Your Net

Don’t depend upon going viral; build a net to catch more readers.

**Photo by DoDo PHANTHAMALY from Pexels (edits by Ryan DeJonghe)**

How’s your fishing going? Are you reeling in thousands of plump readers, where you are straining yourself to bring them all into your writer’s boat? No, you’re not catching those fish? Are you using the right bait, as I told you about last month?

It’s not too late, my friend. I still believe you can make $1,000 in a month from your writing, three months from now. There are a few things that you should be doing, such as writing every day, making your titles and pictures punchy, and playing around with the SEO in settings. That’s why I think this poem will make $100 (read it to find out why):

This Poem’s Worth $100. Read It to Find Out Why.

Yes, even poems can be lucrative. Let this poem explain how.

ryandejonghe.medium.com

Let’s Take Your Fishing Further

You may have started noticing a few fish on your line, but you’ll catch a whole lot more by using a net. Keep the bait the same, as I’ve linked above. But now, create a net that retains the fish you catch.

Let me illustrate it. Here is the traditional path: you publish articles, and readers may find one or two, click your profile, and see the same recent one or two that they’ve already read.

I’m surprised at the number of writers that don’t even do the next step: link to your previous articles. There are two ways to do this: create a hyperlink within your text, or past the link in your article and hit “return”. The latter method creates a neat little box for readers.

Here is a strategy for each method: for hyperlinks, I’ve discovered that you should make them bold, so readers know to click them. Merely having an underline seems to get lost; I’ve had higher success with click-throughs using bold hyperlinks. For creating boxes, keep the focus of your article’s pictures in the middle. The image appears as a square in the box, cutting off the edges.

A Small Extra Step for a Bigger Payoff

By now, I hope you see why you should be writing every day: not only are you strengthening your creative muscle, but you are creating bountiful content to sew together with links.

A bigger net equals more readers. Instead of readers finding your recent articles and going to your profile, only seeing your same pieces gives them more items they haven’t yet seen. Use links to your older articles.

Take this a step further. Edit your old articles with links to your newer articles. You don’t need a publication’s permission to edit your old articles. Once they’ve gone live, you can edit and update all you want.

Do two things:

Add a line at the top of the article with “Updated on XXXX”. Readers love this. I love this. It shows you’re keeping things relevant.
Go through your article and put in some links (hyperlink or in-text boxes) that bring readers to the newer articles.

Another Small Step for an Even Bigger Payoff

Here’s your money-maker: recognize and support other writers. I talk about it in an article about overcoming the frustration of not getting noticed on the platform. The best way to get seen is to support other writers.

The key is to do this without expecting anything in return. You will talk about and tag other writers (while typing, use the “@” symbol and type their name), as well as link to their articles (hyperlinks and in-text boxes).

This practice doesn’t mean that they will link to you in return. However, this practice puts something out into the universe, and other writers WILL begin tagging you and linking to your articles.

A Wide Net Catches More Fish than a Single Line

I see many writers sitting alone on the side of Medium’s river, watching their lines bobbing along. They are hoping to catch that big fish of curation (selected for further distribution).

Here’s the thing: you’ll catch a lot more readers by creating a net than you will through distribution. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a prominent publication or chosen by Medium itself. You may get lucky and catch a whale or two — of course, that’s always nice! But you’ll get more consistent results with nets.

I prove this theory in my article, Forget Video Games, Play Medium. I’ve made twice as much money on smaller publications and articles with shorter read time than I have with big publications and articles with longer read time.

Forget Video Games, Play Medium

You’re still playing a game, but at least make some money from it.

medium.com

You may get frustrated waiting by yourself, hoping for that giant whale to bite. But with a couple of extra steps, you can catch plenty of fish.

Thanks for reading! I write about being unproductive, breaking habits, and getting lots of sleep, AND still getting things done.

Follow me on Twitter at @LifeisPresence.

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