What’s Wrong With My Stats? — How I Got 6x Curated and Increased My Visibility 10x In (Less Than) A Month

And within less than 2 months of my Medium membership.

I found myself asking ‘’What’s wrong with my stats’’ this Monday morning when I had an obligatory look over my Medium stats to monitor my progress and my eyes almost popped out.

I couldn’t believe how I got here:

From being here before:

As you can see, my journey with Medium is not long, it’s not even 2 months so far. Thus, I first, naturally, thought that this ain’t real and Medium must have some technical issue that made my stats skyrocket. That’s why I also took that screenshot — so I can remember how shockingly good it felt to see it, once this goes back to “normal”. Only that it didn’t go back, not within that day and neither the next day. That made me re-think that just maybe, they are for real.

And then, assertively, I had to applaud myself for managing to gain this kind of exposure in less than 2 months of my Medium membership and around a month and 2 weeks of writing. I could have hardly dreamt of reaching more than 2300 readers and gaining over 1500 reads (by today) within a month — before joining Medium.

There’s clearly a link between this and my 6 curated stories over the past 3 weeks, but to be honest — this visibility doesn’t come solely from curation. Only 3 out of 6 curated articles managed to get an exposure of over 150 views and 100 reads, the remaining didn’t even make it to 30 full reads each.

So it’s good to aim for perfection but stay somewhat realistic as well — don’t expect amounts of magic work from the curation either. They have a lot of (other) great writers to promote as well.

For the record, I am mostly getting curated in Self (5 of 6 stories), but there was also Travel, Relationships and Sexuality topic.

What does this all mean?

What it means for me is that I keep growing as a writer and a writer on Medium and that my content:

a.) found a reader — there’s an interest in my stories and my developing voice,

b.) has a quality that’s widely expected and appreciated by Medium editors.

And that’s enough for me to continue writing.

Now, if you’re looking for an advice or a key to your own progress and success in writing through my experience and that’s why you clicked on this article, let me tell you one thing. By the way, it’s the only advice that you need and in fact, a very simple key that you already have and know of.

Write. Write more. And keep writing until you feel good about it and it works for you too.

Why am I making it that simple?

Well, simply because there are no one-fits-all solutions and also because we don’t all start our writing journey the same way, at the same time and level.

Meaning, I might have just started writing over Medium, but that doesn’t imply that I haven’t been writing previously and that I don’t have a good experience with it already. Thus, the results or success could come in a way easier to me than someone who might be completely new to writing as well as Medium and is just kick-starting this blogging voyage altogether.

I’ve actually been writing before joining Medium. I’ve been writing since being a child. So, I’ve already done quite a bit of practice and experimenting with my voice and worked on developing it — until I reached here, where I am now. (Although, it’s also worth a mention that I stopped somewhere in the middle for a pretty long 20 years when I’ve not produced almost anything.) Some of you might have done something similar and already are good enough to pretty good writers anyway.

But others might have just started writing for the very first time recently, and so to expect the same kind of evolution and returns from your writing as the people who do already possess some solid experience with it would not be wise.

Also, it’d not be fair on you if I try giving you a piece of universal how-to-win-it advice if our experience and level of ‘expertise’ differ much, right?

In other words, you need to give it and yourself the time it takes to reach your own success. Because, there are no shortcuts, no one fits all solutions or universal routes to it — the success.

Okay, they used to be, to some extent, mostly in business though and even that is transforming now.

Because what makes people win in life, business as well as in writing?

Uniqueness does. Their unique story and voice. The story of transformation. And the voice that talks authenticity.

This journey is always unique and individual for each and every one of us. Thus, it can hardly be copied and followed the same way as a process guide. What I do — tried and what works for me may not suit you and work for you. There are indeed no shortcuts and guarantees.

It is your uniqueness — your unique voice, honesty, openness and authenticity that will never fail you.

And that’s exactly how I’ve been writing since the beginning as well as for the past month-plus and then I’ve seen the rapid growth and some first successes.

I’ve been writing passionately and truthfully since my very start. Mostly, because that’s the only way that I can write. And the results are coming.

But in case you’d benefit from some guidance about how to improve your writing — rather than how to succeed in it — given by my experience, I am more than happy to share my insights with you.

How do I write?

Here’s one of the first articles I wrote that summarizes my writing journey and approach to Medium so far — it’s been produced 2 weeks after me joining. And I still follow the same principles. All in!

I write deep and personal stories. Deep — they’re all more thorough, meaning longer reads (anywhere between 6 to 12 mins) and represent some kind of my own — personal experience.

And I write every time that there’s an inspiration.

I write about what I love and what I am passionate about — like arts and culture, exciting places and experiences

About what encourages and inspires me — such as self-development

About what I know well and have an opinion about

About what I’ve learned from and that what helped me grow — both professionally and personally

As well as about what I am deeply concerned about — all kind of things that I resonate or don’t resonate with and want to share awareness about

By the way, all mentioned above are my curated pieces. First was written on 16th May and my last was yesterday, the 10th of May.

What else do I follow?

What I’ve learned the most from in my month and a half writing journey over Medium is the feedback on my writing. I ask for and listen to the feedback on my writing carefully. Wherever it comes from. I don’t judge the subject, their expertise, neither their opinion.

I do love both my fans and critics and guess who I’ve learned more from so far?

I love receiving feedback generally and even more on my writing. And I do love both the praise and the criticism. Why?

Because in 99% of cases, it is true and well-meant and comes on a fertile soil. Which means — it benefits me. I’ve learned a lot about my writing which enabled me to grow thanks to listening to the feedback from my critics.

One of the last feedback I received was from P.S. I Love You about my submitted piece which I thought was good enough already. And guess what? It was not. I realized it only once the editor has kindly given me the feedback and some brilliant advice on how I can improve that piece. I have rejoiced!

Not because the initial piece was rejected, obviously. But because the feedback and advice were brilliant! Because it was well-meant. And because it’s something that actually helps me become better at what I do — it helps me grow as a writer and a person — enhancing my awareness and how I share the message and what I share as the message. I rejoiced that there was still a space to improve my piece! Which there probably always is.

And I was also blown away by my own arrogance that my piece was already good enough. I actually love when people bring my ego down from time to time. It’s so incredibly essential. It reminds me to stay down to earth and humble no matter what. What the future may bring.

The feedback helps me grow as a writer and a person — enhancing my awareness about how I share the message and what I share as the message.

And what I loved the most about this feedback was that I learned something new — I learned that my story was more one-sided than two-sided. Meaning, it was written benefiting me more than the reader. I actually forgot about the reader’s takeaway! So excited I was about sharing my story that I forgot to summarize on all essential points that they could take away from me sharing the experience. And so, the feedback expanded me. It always does.

Anything else?

There are a few more things, also mentioned here, that help me immensely.

1. I always look for the best place for my articles and it works like a charm. I publish for a certain pub for a reason. And I think before I chose which one.

And also, as this one may surprise you — choosing the right pub is more important than getting your piece curated. The pubs’ matter way more than curation itself — based on my experience.

2. I try to keep the quality standards high — not only on the formatting, grammar and structural front.

Mostly the content. I re-read my stuff and edit it as many times as I feel. I play with it for as long as I feel it’s needed for the piece to feel complete.

I don’t like sharing half-messages where I am myself not completely sure about what am I even saying or why? I wait until both my what’s and why’s are clear.

And then I publish.

3. I still continue writing 3 to 4 articles a week. Both because that works the best for me and I have enough time and inspiration to manage it this way.

As well as — it seems to work just fine with the Medium algorithm that manages our visibility and gives me some exposure to readers.

4. The curation — I don’t aim for it, it just happens. And I trust that’s the best advice to follow.

Don’t write to be curated — limiting yourself in a way you’re expressing yourself, hoping you’ll get there. Write forgetting about it completely!

5. Oh, and I write for my soul.

I don’t write for either the money or publicity.

I write for myself and for the reader. For self-realization, healing and my inner peace. And for that, I have a life full of rises and falls, mindblowing learnings and experiences, insights and ideas that would go waste if not shared with the world.

So, this summarizes the month and a half of my writing journey over here. And how I achieved having 6 pieces curated in less than a month, as well as to increase my visibility 10x.

Good luck with your writing! Wherever you are on your journey and regardless of your proficiency and level of confidence — it will all change and transform as you grow. I am there for you if you wish to discuss anything.

Much love from a writer to writer,

Lucy

Here’s what I do when I am not checking stats or writing about them. Feel free to connect for a personal conversation here or at [email protected]

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