How To
How to Achieve Success: Observations about Medium After 4 Months
I’m going to let you in on a secret most miss and point you to some people who are killing it on Medium
Wanna get rich?
Want to make it big on Medium? We all do. It depends on what our definition of success is.
Do you want to write articles that change lives? You have the ability to do that here. Especially here at The Bad Influence where that’s the mission statement of our humble publication. Kristen Hill, Xavier Van Holde, Reuben Salsa
Is going viral your jam? If you write the right story at the right time and everything aligns perfectly, you can make it big in reads, views, likes and maybe even payment.
I consider myself successful — even though I haven’t been curated or broken into the 8% of writers.
Writing for the last 4 months — really three months since I didn’t really get started until December — has made my life better. Writing is enjoyable, it stimulates my brain, it lets me work out solutions to problems, and connects me with other great people around the world.
I have learned to not fear writing haikus. (Thanks Pierre Trudel and American Haiku). Poetry intimidated me. Writing was okay. I did a lot of that in my work life. But, it was all template based — even though we didn’t call it that. Everything was similar. It had to be tried and true. Maybe even something that was prescribed by someone higher up the ladder.
Even writing online is a lot like that. Search engine optimization requires repeating words different ways and thinking about H1 and H2 and H3 tags. Interlinking. Reaching out to other sites to get back links.
It’s fun, but it wasn’t always creative. I’ve written to try to drive traffic to various places using blog posts. It is a lot of writing the same content in different ways and linking it to where you want the traffic or link juice to go.
Medium is different because I can experiment
I feel free to write whatever I want. And, I might earn a little money for it. Or, maybe I’ll get lucky and lot of members will like it and I’ll hit a jackpot.
It is freeing to know I can earn while experimenting. I make enough money to pay my transitioning medicine, hormones and doctor’s fee. I consider that a win. Writing about my transition is fun, therapeutic, and maybe even helps someone else who is interested in taking their own journey or learning about people they love.
The people here are the true wealth of Medium
Everyone I’ve met is thoughtful and interesting. A lot of places online cannot necessarily say that. I am glad the community here is the way it is. It’s a place where we can be vulnerable and open without worrying about trolls. Not that I’m worried about that, but running my own blogs meant automating processes to block spammers, trolls, and others who don’t contribute. I find the commenting here goes against the online trend. In fact, I don’t read comments outside of Medium. The commentators here contribute meaning.
Medium has been a form of therapy
Medium has made me happier. It works well in conjunction with my HRT, therapy and medicines. Writing gives me a sense of purpose. Working doesn’t necessarily always do that. I spent years working in an office that did work for companies you probably deal with every day. I never felt like I was contributing to the world. I might have been contributing to my own success, but in the end, it didn’t make me happy.
I’ve found that human connections are more important than blind money hording just to horde. I remember having my palm read when I was out a bar in college and the reader told me that money wouldn’t be a problem and that it would just come and go. She was on the point. I am happier if I have enough money to meet my needs of food, shelter, health, and immediate needs. But, spending my life trying to make more doesn’t contribute to my need to create or do something beyond creating shareholder wealth.
I hope to continue doing well on Medium
Making connections and I hope contributing something that helps someone is my form of success. Money is nice, but after a certain point, it just becomes something else to collect. Now, I wouldn’t turn down success, but I’ve found that I am happier if I don’t measure my happiness using money as the yard stick. These days, our society is designed to make that yardstick slap to keep you on the hamster wheel. Work, buy stuff, sleep, repeat.
I am happy I get to spend time with my son and his grandparents. It is rewarding being able to help them. When I was younger and had more time, I volunteered. Those times were when I was at my happiest. I didn’t feel nervous, or anxious, or like I wasn’t working hard enough. I felt peace and happiness.
I am feeling that now. The profit in helping family is the warm feeling I get from helping. I know people who work and never see their families. They would pay money to be able to reconnect with their loved ones. Once they are in the daily grind, it’s hard to break out.
I love reading all of your work
Every day, I read someone’s writing that strikes me in some way. Here are a few people I consider successful on Medium because they impact me with their writing
Bridget Webber always has great insights into life. I love her slices of life she brings to us in her stories and MicroMyths.
Simran Kankas is a lovely poet filled with love and an inspiration for my love poetry. I always smile when I read her poetry.
James Finn always is up-to-date with LGBTQ issues and writes an excellent cold war thriller / love story.
Meaghan Ward and Demeter deLune are inspiring women who teach me things about life and sex and love and I thought I knew everything (I’m joking about knowing everything).
umair haque scares the hell out of me about the potential collapse of our society and reminds me to not get hung up on pronouns (call me whatever I look like when you see me, I’m cool). We all love apocalypse predictions because it causes the pendulum to swing back to center from whatever extreme it has swung to.
Krissy Ruiz is a new writer who wrote a thought provoking piece about what it is like to be a temp let go. I know how that is. I did the temp life back in 1992 for a year after graduating from college while trying to find a full-time job. (I went back to school — doesn’t it seem like the economy fails after the GOP is in power doing their thing for the 1%).
Britni Pepper is thought provoking as well — you should keep up with her because she covers politics, travel as a woman, and is always interesting: Iranian airplanes always stand out in my mind. Britni gets a medal for being a cool traveler and giving us a non-US perspective.
I’d tag other people too, but I’ve tagged them recently, so check out my other posts to find out about great writing from Livia Dabs and Jezebel as they take time away from the daily grind to find more fulfillment in life. (I ended up mentioning them because I think their writing is worthwhile, especially when we want to measure our success by terms that are foreign to our human needs of connection with each other).
And, Christine Graves and her fun writing as “Mama” in the Never End Tavern. And, her recent post showing her bad-ass trike that scares me, but is also fascinating. I know how to drive a 26,000lbs truck, but motorcycles scare me more than being in charge of 40 tons. But, I do recognize the thrill of feeling the wind and being right there in the elements. I bet it’s a blast.
Plus, craig rory lombardi, bronx born and his insights. I think he has done everything at one point. Lived on the east coast (where it’s rough — I grew up in suburban NJ and it was tough, so I can’t even imagine the Bronx) to raising horses. His writing and poetry is always needed to slice through the onion of life to get to the core. kurt gasbarra is another poet who always shines the light of illumination in this strange world.
I could go on and on because I read a lot here. I learn and am inspired so much by everyone. Thanks for doing what you do. For giving everyone the gifts of what is in your mind.
💗💗💗
Love,
Chris
