Does My New Medium Strategy Work For You?
My views and reads are up, but that is not the point
The most glorious and distracting truth about Medium is that writers might be able to make some money on the platform. As gas prices soar and inflation squeezes our wallets, never has the temptation to earn a living by clicking away at the keyboard been more tempting.
The right Medium strategy for YOU is the one that will keep you writing.
Medium is (too) full of articles explaining how to get more reads. Heck, I’ve written some of them! I’ll sum them up for you here:
- Good writing, especially if its about making money, tech or sex, goes viral.
- People click because of your headline and image, not your genius
- It’s a crapshoot
After two years of writing on Medium, following all of those strategies left me bored and uninspired. It took a month of journaling-only writing rehab to find my mojo again.
I’m Back!
I’m having the best time being back on Medium. I love the community and loving blogging as a practice. It was true old school bloggers like Shannon Ashley and Yael Wolfe, who are kickass writers but who always speak from within the truth of their own stories, that made me fall in love with Medium in the first place. As for me, I do a fair amount of hiding on the platform, alongside my graphic sex writing and general oversharing.
Writing is good for my mental health.
Another Medium sister of mine, Galit Birk, PhD, was explicit about the fact that her first year of writing on Medium was for her own healing. That conviction is, I think, what inspired her to call the publication she founded “Being Known.” I’ve returned to Medium with her wisdom in my pocket, and having so much fun as a result.
Even though I had published a spiritual memoir before ever learning about Medium, I did not consider myself a writer.
After my first story here went viral, I fell into the trap of thinking that I just might want to be the kind of “writer” who could make money on this platform. After all, a subsequent viral story bought me an iPhone, so why not?
“The kind of writer who makes money on this platform” used to be known as a non-fiction writer or journalist. Indeed, in my personal opinion, Carlyn Beccia is the most talented writer on the platform. She is an incredible researcher, knows just how to generate clickable header and sub-headers and to convey accurate information in a manner that is both clear and engaging. The other people who do really well here are those who work as marketing or social media professionals, because Medium is after all, a social media platform, and content is a commodity that must be marketed and sold.
Medium is a Blogging Platform
I was no fan of Ev, but I agree with his nostalgic view that Medium is and was first-and-foremost a blogging platform. For me, that is where the fun is at!
Before coming back, I simply had to write this post to my email subscribers, because the thought of cluttering their inboxes with my ramblings was getting in the way of my ability to write.
Once I gave fair warning, I was off to the races.
This time around on Medium, I am here as a blogger, unfiltered, sharing my quirky impressions on this wild ride called life with any of you who might be interested to hear them. When I write a polished piece, I’ll submit it to one of the few remaining “polished” publications on the platform. I’ve also started a few of them (though, I still stand by this article below), so that my stories would have just the right shaped container to hold them.
Share Your Thoughts
Now that I’m blogging, I love adding a section at the end of my pieces asking my readers to share their own experiences with whatever topic I happen to be exploring.
As Medium continues to grow and improve, I hope that the “commenting” sections get better. For a social media platform, I still find it irksomely difficult for we readers and writers to actually talk to one another. For example, why on earth is there no DMing here?!
(Until the commenting capabilities improve, the best workaround is to make your primary Medium community a Twitter community, to chat there and publish here).
I love when readers share their thoughts. I am here to connect with my readers. I bet you are too.
So, share your thoughts…What keeps you writing on Medium? Are the topics that interest you the ones that “sell”? How do you balance the two?
Sarene B. Arias is a hands-on healer and tantrika. She blogs on Medium and offers 1:1 intimacy coaching those who want to feel more alive. Email [email protected] for details.
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