Medium, My Opinion After 2 Years

What I learned and who I follow.

There are many reasons why you are using Medium. Some of you subscribe to learn News and read articles, and some of you, as a writer to make a living writing. I personally came to Medium because of a company I have invested in and Medium was the place where they publish the news about the company.

After a while, I started reading articles about writing on the platform and on other sites, and I was curious to see if I can make it too. I am a person who can't stay in one job for a long time. The reason is that I get bored easily and I feel like a robot executing a task again and again.

One of the hobbies I am fascinated with is blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. Give it a try and write about it, was my thought. So I wrote my first article and the second one. I was waiting for someone to read it and it took time until it happened. It took even more time until someone applauds for it. (only the second one, until now :-( )

The feeling was amazing. This feeling is the best reward you can get as a writer or as a human. The feeling of acknowledgment.

The bad thing is that you can't feed your hunger with acknowledgment, you need food and to get food you need money. So you are curious to know how much I get for these two articles. It was enough to eat for four months if I was an ant. Penny's from a dollar.

I was disappointed, I have put so much effort to write these articles and I get a fraction from a dollar. Nice done Alexandros. How is it possible for other writers to have thousands of claps and I only 17? How is it possible to read articles where the writer claims that he is making a living from writing on Medium and I am starving even as an ant?

Answer: Consistency, a lot of articles, and time.

Time will play a big deal in your journey as a writer. It will test you. It will bring you followers and experience. You only must be consistent and patient and do the hard work of writing. How do I know that? Because I have been there and now I am a step closer to earn more and my articles have more views and claps.

Another fact is that you never know which article will perform best. There are some times you believe you wrote the best article. You believe that it gives value to your readers, that it is a peace of your soul, that it is priceless. You publish and no one read it.

This feeling is the best reward you can get as a writer or as a human. The feeling of acknowledgment.

That happened to me with this article: An Amazing Experiment, to Understand Your Behaviour. I still believe that it is one of my best articles, maybe not in the way it is written but considering what it says.

Another major factor is that you need a publication to publish your articles. That is hard to find and harder to get accepted. Eventually, you will find one, and one brings another one, and so on.

Here I want to congratulate Dr. Mehmet the founder of the publication Illumination. I find a home as a writer. I strongly recommend all new writers to try it. In contrast with other publications, you submit your work and you get an answer. You even get help. I want to thank the editor Marcus who has helped me with some articles.

I say it because I was tired to get rejections without explanation. I was tired of not get help from the editors of other publications. It is supposed that editors are doing exactly that: editing your articles, giving you help. Unfortunately, that's not the case with most publications.

In your journey, you will find people you get connected. People you will follow and read their articles because you are like-mined. I admire Tom Handy, a guy whose first article I read was about quitting quora and why he did it. I did welcome him in the comments. Told him that I believe that he could achieve his goals in Medium.

Guess what? He did it. He is in the 5% who makes more than 100$/ month in Medium. Why did he succeed? Because he put the effort.

Another writer I discovered is Ayodeji Awosika. I like the way he writes and that he is unconventional with the system. The way he sees the world is the same as I see it. Nice to find another person who says the same thing in other words.

Another one is Matt Lillywhite. Continue to read to find out what strange happened with him. He has written some articles that gave me inspiration and courage. Then after a while, I stopped reading his articles. With the algorithm of medium about suggestions, I was trapped in articles about how easy it is to make thousands of dollars $$$ writing.

In the meanwhile, I couldn't make more than 5$, the same amount I pay for the subscription. I was disappointed and a little bit angry. I wanted to write about that. About the fact that making money writing isn't easy. But on the other hand, I didn't want to write with so much negativity. It would be a deterrent, discouraging article. Not my style. I am a believer in the phrase:” Yes I can”.

And then I fall on an article by Matt Lillywhite with the title: How I Earn $1,350 Per Month While Only Working 4 Hours Per Week. I couldn't resist. I clicked on the link and read the article. It was exactly what I would like to write but I didn't know-how. Thanks, man. Humor is a powerful weapon!

Finally, if you want to learn some other facts about making money on Medium and what is going on, it would be nice to read this article, written by Giorgos Pantsios, which opinion I completely agree with.

Conclusion and some facts

• Any beginning is hard but if you stick to your plan you can succeed.
• Time is your ally, don't waste it.
• Without actually writing you will never be a writer.
• Stop excuses. As sooner you do it so sooner you will see results.
• Sometimes it will be easier to write and sometimes you will feel like there is a wall in front of you. Patience my friend, it happens even to the best.
• You will find like-minded writers and it is nice to get inspired by them. Reading other's work can make you a better writer.