Let’s Take A Deeper Look at the “How Many $$$ I Made” Trend

Is it just to rake in the money?

I know, these articles are everywhere at the moment.

Sigh…

But, as much as it might get a little boring seeing the repetitive topic in the feed, there are some great reasons to share real stories of success.

I recently read an article that criticised this trend. In this article, the author was speaking about one story in particular.

She claimed it was misleading; that the success had only come about because its author had used money-making as clickbait in her titles in the first place, and that had ultimately got her a lot of reads, and thus money.

You know…make the claim, suck the audience in, rake in the cash, then show the results of doing so.

The author whose example she was using was Jenn Leach, who has risen to popularity fast in the last few months. She didn’t mention her name, but it was obvious because no one else has the stories or the figures that Jenn is sharing.

The reason why the author was so critical was that she felt that it’s unsustainable to teach how to make that kind of money when, if everyone was writing articles about making money, the market for these stories would be inundated.

(You could argue that it already is)

However, I think she’s missed the point.

You see, this tactic isn’t going to work for everyone who jumps aboard, and here’s why…

Jenn wrote authentically about her experiences

Jenn is not new to making money online. Just go and look at her profile and you will see what I mean.

She discusses the numerous YouTube channels that she has built, her TikTok account with many thousands of followers, and the other places that she writes.

It’s clear that she has been doing this for some years now, even though her success on Medium has only been in the last four or five months.

In other words, Jenn has a wealth of experience that she can talk about.

Her original stories that began to get the traction that has led to this quick rise to success were based on real experiences.

I have seen other fairly new writers to Medium doing well quickly from writing about their successful entrepreneurial ventures. Again, because they have had real experiences, prior to writing on Medium, that they worked hard to create for themselves.

Those who started last week simply don’t have the experiences to sustain any kind of readership or success.

As the old saying goes:

Overnight success takes years to achieve.

Other writers writing on writing

It’s true that there are many sharing their success on Medium in a variety of areas.

There are some who reached 100 followers in a week, and others who were making $5 per day consistently within a few weeks. They see some success and so they write about it.

Is it misleading and wrong to write about these things?

We are social creatures and we like to share the good things that happen.

We know that people are going to want to read about our successful experiments and accomplishments.

We like to help our fellow humans but we also know that our acquired skills can be used to both help others and monetise. And why shouldn’t we be paid for our accomplishments?

We can easily say that this is wrong, misleading and taking advantage of others’ vulnerability, but let’s just be clear about something:

Sharing a valuable and encouraging story-guide is not taking anything from anyone except for their time.

We get their read time, but they haven’t sacrificed anything that they wouldn’t have given somewhere anyway.

If the story has value to offer, they are profiting by reading it.

If, on the other hand, a story has no real value, that may be the last story that the author has many clicks on. And, ultimately, create a negative feeling towards the multitude of stories that follow.

And there’s something else…

We also have an innate desire to connect with people.

We want to see others’ success stories; it’s what keeps us optimistic and driven. But, ultimately, we want to get to know the person.

What Jenn shares with her audience is a little peek behind the scenes of her life; how she schedules out her day, where she searches for popular topics and ideas, etc.

And this is key to the attraction of her stories.

Far from being clickbait, it is a big welcome to her readers inside her world.

This is what building a personal brand online is.

Public profiles on social media grow their followings by being authentic and open about their lives, sharing insights and small details.

And being real.

The money is the result, but the relatability is the drive.

We need to realise that there is a place for these topics. We all want to have success and it’s those who have achieved it who we look to for the encouragement and a bit of guidance.

Can we just remember a few tiny things:

1. We are adults and only we are responsible for what we choose to read and believe

Unless we have been living under a rock, we know that there’s no such thing as overnight success.

I doubt many of those readers are naive enough to think that, just because Jenn is making $5 K per month in a short time on Medium, they also will.

At no point does Jenn claim that anyone can do exactly what she is doing and get the results she is getting. Anyone would be crazy to think they could, without having put in years of hard work. But she does share some helpful tips to how she comes up with desirable content, and that is a different thing.

All of the successful writers on Medium, Jenn included, make it completely clear that success doesn’t come without working hard and showing up daily for months, if not years, before the thing you have been building starts to operate without your constant input.

Anyone who might be reading Jenn’s articles and is thinking that they will be earning four figures per month within a couple of months is only fooling themselves. Anyone with any grasp on reality knows that they need to put in the hard work first,

2. Experiences sell

These kinds of articles sell because people love to read about the lives of others. We are all human and we love to hear success stories. It’s how we’re built.

Whether it’s financial success, escaping an abusive relationship, or building an eco-home, we love to read about people who have achieved something of note.

Earning from a high readership is a fabulous silver lining to having a great story to tell. And having something to inspire others with is magic.

It’s kind of a win-win.

3. Humans have very good instincts

Most of the time we know when someone isn’t being authentic and true.

Yes, some people will just make stuff up, or hype things up, to get clicks.

Yes, there are some pathological liars around who know how to fool anyone.

But there are also many, many smart and genuine people out there too.

It’s up to us to use our own intuitive judgement to filter out those that we just don’t wish to see.

Social proof and humility is what sets the genuine success stories apart from the wannabes.

There is no BS, no pointless tactics shared, and no sense of claiming they are better than anyone else.

That is why they not only sell their stories to many hungry eyes, but continue to hold the attention and the hearts of their followers.

Final thoughts

We thrive on stories as humans. And sharing stories is, ultimately, why we are all here.

Honestly, it has become a little bit of an avalanche of stories about the same kind thing, but we can humour them (kindly), and choose not to click on any of them if we don’t really want to see them.

If the community who are sharing stories about making money online isn’t for you, search out the community who are writing about the topics that you love.

Medium, and the entire online world, are big enough to find our corner and nurture our spirits. Let’s live and let live and clap for those who are doing good things in the world, whatever they may be.

And now, I want to just award Paul Combs the prize for the best clickbait title suggestion, in his chuckle-worthy piece sharing his journey on Medium:

“How I Made $1 Million By Selling Feet Pics to Tibetan Sherpas and How You Can Too.”

And a shout out to Kirsty Kendall, who, I think, managed to actually convince some people with this one:

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