Confessions of a Not-Top Rated (or Rated-at-All) Medium Writer

Summary

Jill Ebstein discusses her personal approach to writing on Medium, emphasizing quality and personal interest over achieving a top-rated status.

Abstract

Jill Ebstein, a business consultant and side writer, reflects on her writing process and priorities on Medium. She admits that her articles undergo multiple revisions and professional editing, which aligns with her preference for quality over speed. Ebstein's writing is informed by her business expertise and focuses on topics like generational language differences and the emotional aspects of customer decisions. Despite not being top-rated, she values the development of her Medium community and the joy of writing over chasing high ratings. She aims to engage with readers and writers who share her interests in language, business partnerships, and the peculiarities of modern life.

Opinions

Ebstein prioritizes the craft of writing, taking time for revisions and professional editing, over rapid content production.
She balances her passion for writing with her primary work as a business consultant, which also funds her writing.
The author is intrigued by the nuances of common expressions across generations and their potential to enhance mutual understanding.
Ebstein is interested in the emotional investment customers make in their chosen businesses and its implications for company messaging.
She acknowledges the importance of publications for visibility on Medium but does not focus on attaining a top-rated status.
Ebstein is in the process of building her Medium community, aiming for a diverse mosaic of interests and engagement.
She values the Illumination publication as a foundation for her writing community.
The author prefers quality content and meaningful interactions, such as commenting, over the pursuit of high ratings.
Ebstein seeks to explore and quantify softer aspects of business, like collaboration, which she feels are underexplored.
She emphasizes the importance of humor and not taking oneself too seriously in her writing.

What if You Don’t Care About Being a Top-Rated Medium Writer?

Jill Ebstein

Ok, I’ve read Good to Great and who doesn’t want to be great? But if I am honest with myself, being “top-rated” is not that high on my wish list.

While I don’t consider myself a slacker, here is my reality that maybe some can identify with:

• My pieces take a long time to write: They usually go through 3 revisions, and then I ask my copy-editor son to take a look. For me, speed equates with less craft. Maybe I am just not sufficiently talented to be a high-quality speed-writer who can bang out three pieces a week. • I earn my living doing other work: I fit writing in as a side passion. My other work, as a business consultant, informs my life views and most importantly funds my hobby. I sometimes get paid to write for clients so I always put that first.

Whether it is corporate messaging or more casual musings for Medium, writing takes time and focus. So I fit in “fun writing” when I can and feel proud that I make it happen.

Two topics are top-of-mind for me and tap into my energy: I often think about how common expressions are used within and across generations. Having a “chip on your shoulder” for example means something different to a baby boomer than a millennial. I wrote about this because I wonder whether understanding differences like this might help us understand each other better.

On the business side, I am intrigued by the emotional underpinnings of the decisions we make as customers. We may not realize it, but we spend significant emotional capital on whether the companies we choose to do business with will be good partners for the long haul. This has profound implications about how we message our value which is particularly important today and in the post-Covid-19 future.

An unintended but positive consequence would be if by developing content around these topics, my Medium rating boosts, and I fit into a category that I will call, “not-top rated but moving higher.” Actually, I have never seen that category with Medium’s metrics. Am I missing something?

• I haven’t exactly found my Medium community (yet): My profile will tell you that I write at the intersection of business, family, and modern-day peculiarities. That means there are a lot of places I can go, but it might also mean that I am not sufficiently targeted.

A piece that summarized my outlook (and maybe explains why I don’t care whether I am top rated) was posted last year and titled, “From Great to Good.” It is still one of my favorite pieces, but it fell into a black hole because I didn’t know back then that publications were essential to being seen. That short piece serves as my example of how I try to merge a bunch of oddities into one coherent whole, and wrap it with a philosophy that maybe good is just good enough.

Bottom line: I am in the process of creating my Medium community which will be a mosaic of interests, people and publications. I have found that the recently-created Illumination is the best amalgamation of voices and views and is a wonderful base upon which to build.

The Net-Net

What is my take-away from not being a highly-rated Medium writer and not really caring? I am mostly ok with it. I still love to have written. I still opt for quality over quantity at whatever pace that is. I am still developing content in my areas of particular interest.

I think my goal is actually becoming clearer to me as I write this. I would like to find my Medium community that is responsive (this means commenting on pieces as well as writing them) and interested in some specific topics that make me curious. Top of mind is:

Language use across the generations

A softer aspect of business specifically around being a collaborative partner which I hope to be able to quantify over time. A lot has been written on leadership, strategy, design, technology and sales skills for example. I hope to dig a new hole and build.

The peculiar intersections in our life around work, home, and modern-day trends that change and/or explain certain behaviors.

Final note: I prefer conversations over monologues. I give loud shout outs to people who both write and comment (I usually post 5 to 7 comments a week). Above all, I love it when writers bring humor into our view and help us not to take ourselves so seriously.

Bottom Line: All of the above is way more important to me than earning a top-rated status as a Medium writer.