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Abstract

pain point? Yes.</p><p id="8145">Does the body of the article make good on the promise in the title? Yes.</p><p id="43af">Is it clear and easy to understand? That is correct.</p><p id="d7fb">Does it feature pictures of bikini supermodels who have a bust size higher than their IQ? No, because I think using sex to sell something is distasteful and degrading. And I’m pretty sure all those models aren’t all dumb anyway.</p><p id="01bd">Despite all of that, you can see the story only received 71 claps and one comment.</p><p id="6266">But that one commenter told me what went wrong, even if they didn’t mean to:</p><figure id="82f1"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*9WCaY_UDKL-JcD1oyyyUpA.png"><figcaption>Screenshot by Author</figcaption></figure><p id="8be1">Did you catch it?</p><p id="f4be">The mistake I made became obvious to me with the word <i>thorough</i>. A moment of reflection made it clear to me what had happened.</p><blockquote id="dd38"><p>The article was saying too much.</p></blockquote><p id="06b5">It covered what the piece was supposed to be about, but then went a couple hundred words longer than it needed.</p><h2 id="ebd9">What’s the One Thing?</h2><p id="8184">The lesson here is to make each story about one thing.</p><p id="6f4f">If your writing starts going too long or becomes about a related, but still distinct, idea, then an easy fix is to make it into two articles.That way you can have double the output and potentially more than double the reads and earnings.</p><p id="712e">More importantly, your re

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aders will be better off because of it.</p><blockquote id="6588"><p>Don’t try to say too much at one time.</p></blockquote><p id="930f">Now I’m going to take my own advice and sink this sh—I mean, land this plane.</p><h2 id="69d9">Thank You for Reading</h2><div id="2dd9" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/read-or-die-publication-rules-03813fc16904"> <div> <div> <h2>Read or Die — Publication Rules</h2> <div><h3>Updated January 2024 Guidelines</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*12VP38Uw7-aiufW2DP5Ohw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><figure id="bea5"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/0*3NNPSvFmwa4rK9Mf"><figcaption>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@flipsnack?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">Flipsnack</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure><p id="aabc">Time is valuable, and I’m truly grateful you’ve spent yours reading my work. Thank you many times over.</p><p id="2060"><b>I help people by:</b></p><ul><li>Giving tips and insights daily</li><li>Connecting them to ideas that matter, and</li><li>Hopefully giving them some entertainment as they read.</li></ul><p id="5b7d">I hope to see you next time,</p><p id="9475">David.</p></article></body>

I Made a Mistake That Cost Me Reads and Money (At Least It’s Easy to Look Out for in the Future)

Don’t be as foolish as I was

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

Sometimes it feels like someone just socked it to you, but you have only yourself to blame. You realize there was an error on your part that could have been avoided. But you made it anyway. So you go to your freezer, pour as much ice cream into a bowl as it can possibly hold, and you watch your favorite show on Netflix (one that has people for you to laugh at).

That’s how I felt after a blunder here on Medium.

Well, okay, I actually didn’t feel too bad. But I did make a mistake, and I would like to spare you the “I’m an idiot” sensation that comes from realizing you just did something stupid.

What Happened?

Ten days ago I published a story that flopped.

I thought the piece answered the relevant questions.

Does it have a clickable title that addresses a pain point? Yes.

Does the body of the article make good on the promise in the title? Yes.

Is it clear and easy to understand? That is correct.

Does it feature pictures of bikini supermodels who have a bust size higher than their IQ? No, because I think using sex to sell something is distasteful and degrading. And I’m pretty sure all those models aren’t all dumb anyway.

Despite all of that, you can see the story only received 71 claps and one comment.

But that one commenter told me what went wrong, even if they didn’t mean to:

Did you catch it?

The mistake I made became obvious to me with the word thorough. A moment of reflection made it clear to me what had happened.

The article was saying too much.

It covered what the piece was supposed to be about, but then went a couple hundred words longer than it needed.

What’s the One Thing?

The lesson here is to make each story about one thing.

If your writing starts going too long or becomes about a related, but still distinct, idea, then an easy fix is to make it into two articles.That way you can have double the output and potentially more than double the reads and earnings.

More importantly, your readers will be better off because of it.

Don’t try to say too much at one time.

Now I’m going to take my own advice and sink this sh—I mean, land this plane.

Thank You for Reading

Read or Die — Publication Rules

Updated January 2024 Guidelines

medium.com

Time is valuable, and I’m truly grateful you’ve spent yours reading my work. Thank you many times over.

I help people by:

Giving tips and insights daily
Connecting them to ideas that matter, and
Hopefully giving them some entertainment as they read.

I hope to see you next time,

David.