Summary

A writer on Medium shares their journey from earning $411 in December to$ 1,712 in January, emphasizing the importance of quality over quantity and writing for the reader.

Abstract

The author of the article discusses their significant increase in writing-related income and viewership on Medium, comparing their December and January performance. Starting with 37,090 views and $411 earned in December, the author saw a dramatic increase to 80,838 views and$ 1,712 earned in January. They attribute this success to focusing on the value of their content rather than the quantity of articles published. The author advises against daily publishing challenges and emphasizes that writing should prioritize the reader's experience over the writer's personal goals or financial incentives. The article concludes with a plea to fellow Medium writers to contribute meaningful content to the platform, suggesting that this approach will lead to a better reading experience and long-term success as a writer.

Opinions

The author believes that chasing numbers, such as publishing a high volume of articles, is not an effective writing strategy.
They assert that internet algorithms cannot be beaten by sheer volume of content; only unique and valuable pieces have the potential to gain significant attention.
The author is critical of writing challenges that emphasize daily publishing, considering them ineffective and potentially detrimental to the quality of writing.
They advocate for a reader-centric approach to writing, where the primary goal is to provide value to the reader.
The author sees Medium as a platform with the potential to share valuable insights and experiences globally and urges writers to prioritize quality content to improve the platform's reputation and the collective skill of its writers.
They suggest that a focus on long-term writing quality is more beneficial than short-term financial gains from publishing multiple low-quality articles.

Writing | Income | Stats | Money

From $0 to $1700 with Writing. January Review — Stats and Earnings

From 0 to 80k view in 2 months.

The screenshot above represents my writing statistics for January.

January was a great month. I more than double my views. Other params increased dramatically too. Income grew 4 times.

I compare my January results to the December results. December was my first month on Medium. January is the second one.

December Results

Let’s start with December stats and results

Here are the exact numbers:

37,090 views
17,197 reads
599 fans
$411 earned
17 stories
+342 followers
+3 referred members
became a Top Writer — 2 times

December was the first month I started earning on Medium. It wasn’t a lot still, it was awesome to get real money from writing.

Analyzing the above number I did some curious insights about writing style and what is rewarded on Medium. You can check my December Review.

January Results

Let’s have a looks at January stats and results.

Here are the exact numbers:

80,838 views
35,686 reads
1,335 fans
$1,712 earned
16 stories
+686 followers
+13 referred members
became a Top Writer — 11 times

The numbers speak for themselves.

January has a significant growth compared to December. It proves that I do the right things. Even though I’m a newbie writer.

It takes time to become popular here. Still, it’s possible.

How did I do it?

Let’s start with the most obvious thing. I do not publish a lot. No quantity instead of quality. Chasing numbers doesn’t work in writing.

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Everyday writing challenge will never work.

You can’t beat the internet with the amount of your work. Internet would always have many times more new articles published every day. Only unique and valuable pieces have a chance to go viral.

The following crap doesn’t work:

365 articles in a year
Everyday publishing challenge
1000 articles in a year
etc.

Get me right. Writing is a skill. You need to build and develop it every day. But spamming articles doesn’t work. Especially, when publishing becomes the 1st priority instead of writing for the reader.

What amount of value can you put into the article if writing is a secondary goal? While the main goal is to publish a new piece…

I write every day, but I do not publish every day. There is almost no chance that my writing is worth reading after first editing.

Writing isn’t about Author. It’s about Reader.

For 2 months I was working using the above motto. As you see it gave me an impressive result. So, I gonna keep doing the same.

Main Idea

Most readers of this story would be Medium writers that are curious about the Medium system and earning. That is the target audience I am looking for when I write this string.

I have an important message to share. To be honest it isn’t a message. It’s a request for a favor. I ask you about a favor:

Please, dear Authors, write for your readers, not for yourself, your ego, obligations, or money.

We have a unique opportunity to share our ideas and thoughts with the whole world. Medium allows us to do it. Let’s don’t screw this opportunity.

I would like to see Medium as a platform where I can find curious and valuable information about any topic. Where authors all around the world would publish their unique insights and experiences.

So let’s add value to the platform and readers. Do not steal someone’s time by writing just another article because you “have to”.

Working this way together we can improve the quality of content here. We can improve readers’ impression of Medium. We can improve ourselves as writers.

In long term, it is more valuable than earning a few bucks with another “empty” article. A writing career is a marathon, not a sprint.

P.S. If you liked this thing, follow me and clap a couple of times. Good luck!

You can support me directly with your Medium subscription. It helps a lot!