Summary

Ilam Padmanabhan reflects on a productive fourth month on Medium, marked by significant writing output, platform growth, and personal achievements, while also sharing insights and future aspirations.

Abstract

Ilam Padmanabhan has completed four months of writing on Medium, during which he wrote nearly two posts per day and saw substantial growth in his readership and followers. Despite the intensity of his output, he maintained a high quality of writing, with an increased percentage of his posts being distributed by Medium. Padmanabhan also became a Top Writer in the topics of Future and Writing, and he experimented with various content formats and publication strategies. While celebrating his successes, including several viral posts and a growth in fans, he also ponders the sustainability of his growth and the stiff competition on the platform. Looking forward, Padmanabhan plans to explore a broader range of topics and focus on productivity, while also considering ways to help budding writers.

Opinions

Padmanabhan values both the quantity and quality of his writing, evidenced by his satisfaction with the increase in distributed posts and his commitment to maintaining writing standards.
He believes in the importance of understanding platform statistics to gauge true performance and growth, as indicated by his cautionary note about the significance of stats-heavy reports.
Padmanabhan is open to experimentation, as seen in his trials with different content formats, promotional strategies, and publication venues.
The author is humbled and excited by his recognition as a Top Writer and by the engagement from his growing fan base.
He is contemplative about the future, questioning the sustainability of his rapid growth and the challenges of competing with established writers like Tim Denning.
Padmanabhan is considering diversifying his writing topics beyond the niches that Medium currently associates with his profile.
He acknowledges the financial aspect of writing as a growth indicator rather than a primary motivation, emphasizing his love for writing over monetary gain.
The author is reflective about his potential role in mentoring emerging writers, showing both interest and uncertainty about his qualifications to provide guidance.
Padmanabhan endorses Medium as a writing platform, encouraging others to join and offering insights into his writing journey for those interested in becoming a writer.

How Did The Fourth Month Go?

Lot of writing (almost 2 posts/day), lot of growth, and a lot of questions

I now complete four months on this platform. I wrote more than ever (almost two posts a day). The success was phenomenal by every measure! This month has only 28 days, that makes these numbers slightly sweeter!

Caution: The report is stats-heavy. I write my monthly reports to share my journey (both success & learnings), hoping that it may help another writer in their journey and give some hope. I have no interest in bragging.

If you are interested only in the top-line numbers, the picture above or the table below will suffice. No need to read the entire report. But I have a feeling that you’ll find it interesting, so take a risk and read the whole thing! Previous months reports here.

Quick view of key stats & my reflections:

Fourth month overview. Screenshot Ilam Padmanabhan

Writing — Quantity: I wrote even more than in January- almost two posts a day! I don’t know if I will be able to continue this intensity. But I enjoyed the creative burst. I have added over 300+ topics I may potentially expand later.
Writing — Quality: 44% of the posts were ‘Distributed’ by Medium in the previous month. That increased to 60% this month. 19 of my last 23 posts were ‘Distributed.’ I’m now more surprised if my posts do not get distributed. I am happy that I did not lose quality while writing a lot. I don’t know any other measure for quality, so I will continue using this.
Short form/Long form: I tried both short form (less than 200 words) and long form (over 1000+ words). Both seem less natural to me. I’ll stick my sweet spot now — 600+ words for now.
Top writer: I became a Top Writer on the topic of Future & Writing. I was surprised by the second one. I think ‘Writing’ is one of the most popular topics on Medium. And I suddenly find myself in an elite company of Top Writers (like Tim Denning, Zulie Rane, Abena Talks etc). That is exciting and scary at the same time.
Followers: I almost doubled my followers in Feb. I added 862+ followers this month. I’m running a few experiments to but need to confirm that it isn’t just luck that’s helped me here. I will share more next month. The email subscribers count doubled as well.
Fans: Of all the numbers, this is the most heartening one. I nearly tripled my fans. These are people who appreciated & engaged with my work. In the long term, this may be more important than the views/reads/dollars! (thank you, lovely people!)
Virals: I happily celebrated my first viral post on the 3rd Feb. Remember, this is my definition of viral! I have had three more viral posts since then. One of them became a Mega Viral (by my standards)! It is strongly pushing with 3.5K claps.

What You Didn’t Know About Your Stats

I’m sorry to break your heart, but you may not be doing as well as you think! You need to understand your stats better!

medium.com

I experimented a lot more than usual.

Promotions: I tried to ride on the success of a few posts and promoted others. I worked with decent success. I wrote about it here if you are interested.
Videos: I added videos in a few of my posts. It was an experiment to see if the watch time increased. I’m not 100% sure if it helped, but it didn’t harm anything.
External Publications: I primarily self-published. I did publish a couple on a few popular publications. But I’m not entirely convinced it makes a difference to the views/reads.
Own Publications:

I started two new publications to give an option for my followers — they can follow the publication instead of following me. I would keep them as an audience, and they don’t have to read everything I write, just the ones they are interested in reading.

Career Guru: Focus on Career Advice and Mental Health at work
Writing Magic: Hub for all my posts about writing

I’m still experimenting, will share more next month. I love the ‘Stats’ part of the publication -it consolidates a lot more than the individual author’s version.

Stats from Publications consolidate numbers from all post! screenshot — Ilam Padmanabhan

Challenges:

Is the growth sustainable? I grew a lot this month — by every measure. This growth may not be repeatable. I have no idea what to expect next month. Is 15% growth too little or too much?
Competition is stiffer: I’m officially in the top 6.2% of the active writers on this platform (only 6.2% make more than $100/month). It doesn’t get any tougher than this. I have to now compete with the Tem Dennings of the world. That makes me happy and very nervous. Can I survive this?
Can I continue the intensity? These 28 days were intense. I published almost twice a day. Can I continue the focus? Does success depend on so much work? I love writing, so I’ll continue writing. I’m not sure if 2X per day is possible.
Focus on Niche: I have been going crazy with this. I don’t care to build a niche anymore. Medium already thinks my niche is ‘Writing’ and ‘Future.’ But I would like to expand that to Career, AI, Personal Finance, Creativity, Climate change, Productivity. I have strong opinions but have never written on Politics. I’m questioning my stand now.

What do I look forward to in the next month?

Hits: I celebrated my first post to get to 1K claps in early January. I now have six posts that have gone past that milestone. I have to rethink my goals and find the balance between ambition & absurdity.

6 posts with over 1K claps. Screenshot — Ilam Padmanabhan

Views/Reads: The overall ‘views’ increased almost 3.5X, but the View/Read ratio slightly decreased. Should I just accept that that ratio will drop as more eyeballs look at my content? Or do I have to think more about getting the more ‘Views’ converted into ‘Reads’?

Money: This isn’t a serious motivation for me (for now). I use money as an indicator of growth rather than an absolute measure of success. $120/month is the poorest return I’ve had (rate/hour) if I consider writing as a professional job. I write because I love to. I’ll take whatever money comes.

Learnings: I would like to learn to become a more productive writer. I have been running a few experiments on increasing my productivity. I will share more next month if it works.

Help: A couple of young writers have approached me and asked if I could help improve their writing. I want to, but not sure if I’m qualified to help. I’m still reflecting.

That’s it. And why do I measure so much? — If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it — Peter Drucker

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By the way, I write on a lot of other topics. More about what I write here!

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