I Will Make It on Medium in One Year — Watch Me
Becoming a successful writer/blogger should be realistic
I apologize for the somewhat ignorant title. This is me grasping the “attract attention with the headline” method. Having a massive gap in the craft of marketing is a challenge when you are trying to learn how to write and grab the reader’s attention.
I joined Medium around a month and a half ago, and it seems I have a pretty good understanding of how to make it work. I still have a lot to learn, especially from the top writers and authors. Having that said, Medium doesn’t seem extremely difficult.
I’m giving myself one year to master Medium and to learn a good chunk of marketing- and writing-related craftsmanship. This is a new area for me, as not even once in my life, I have written anything remotely similar to Medium articles. Let’s see if a newbie can make it through a whole year and what kind of results I will achieve.
The Preamble
I am a banker in my mid-20s with zero experience in writing or marketing. While I’ve always respected both of those fields, I never had a reason to deep dive into those great educational areas. Having an interest in business, I know how crucial it is to develop marketing skills and use proper marketing techniques to move forward with your business.
Writing is an art of its own. I recall a short period in my childhood when I wanted to be a writer. I have also been writing poems for fun in my adult life. Therefore, I’d like to think I have 1% of the skills required to become an author. I would have to acquire the rest 99% on my own! Let’s see if Medium can help me with that.
The Big Goal
The grand goal and dream I have are to gain valuable writing skills, improve my stories and articles, and learn how to properly “sell” my work to the audience. Creating a brand seems so foreign to me that I can barely imagine what Joanna, as a brand, would look like. My mind is shooting blanks right now.
To sum this up, we have a completely oblivious and unsuspecting amateur writer, who wishes to become a decent author and master some marketing skills. Strap on your seat belts, fellows! This is going to be a fun year!
What Constitutes “Making It”?
As an analytical and strategic individual, I would like to outline the conditions of me achieving this goal. Yes, I know, I cannot approach this challenge artistically, which is another example of how little I know about art. But, without further ado, here is the list of what my end goal looks like:
- 5000 followers.
- 75,000 views.
- 365 or more articles.
- At least 3 viral or semi-viral stories.
- At least 25% of articles curated by the medium curators (excluding the poems and similar content).
- Accomplish curation in 25 different medium topics.
- Become a top rider in 10 or more topics.
- Have my own publication with 10,000 or more subscribers.
- Get featured in three or more editorial groups.
The Numbers Right Now
If the requirement above seemed rigorous, you should see what I’m working with right now. It’s nowhere near what I’m aiming for. Here is the list of my not so much of accomplishments as of today:
- 283 followers.
- 5000 views
- 33 published articles, plus 25 drafts awaiting confirmation.
- No viral stories.
- 10 of 30 three articles were curated, hence 30% success rate (but it doesn’t mean anything, because I want 25% of my future 365 articles to be curated)
- Curated in 15 different medium topics.
- Top writer in three topics.
- Have two publications with 0 subscribers (laughing out loud).
- Has never been featured in any of the editorial groups.
Extra Challenges
Let’s pretend we’re in a computer game, and I get bonuses for computing a few extra challenges:
- Pitch 3 articles to newspapers and magazines outside of Medium, and get accepted.
- Conduct and publish no less than 10 interviews.
- Right and publish Seven articles within one day, without skimping on quality. Stipulation: articles have to contain 800 or more words each.
Can I Do This?
Here’s a fun fact about me: I have never finished anything in my life. Well, I mean, except for maybe secondary school in college, and hundreds of tasks at work. But I’ve never completed anything artistic, challenging or significant to myself. Entertaining the conventional life goals, such as formal education or career, is excellent; but that victory doesn’t feel sweet enough.
I need to learn time management, as well as to channel my passion and determination. I always have so many ideas, but I drop them halfway through every single time. It’s time we change that, and Medium will become my medium in this journey (you have to appreciate the pun).
Join me in my audacious goal and daring adventure! Either I will accomplish everything I outlined above, and even surpass my goal, or I will give up, and I’ll probably write ten articles about that. Either way, the number one reason I joined medium was to distract myself from quarantine and ensure my mental health doesn’t take a hit. I may or may not get 5000 followers, but I will definitely direct my attention to the pandemic to a new creative venue. There is nothing more inspiring to me than that.
If you’d like to read updates along the way — check out my progress-related articles:
