My 5 Top Performing Medium Stories in the Past 6 Months

These are my best-performing stories from August 2021 through January 2022 measured by the number of views. These stories go on and on earning money every month.

I thought you might be interested to know about my writing mindset and how my stories have performed.

I have published 123 stories on Medium in the past 6 months. I have also answered over 100 questions on Quora and published over 100 Tweets.

My main publishing objectives have been:

1. To write about a lot of different subjects on which I consider myself to be knowledgeable.
2. To write a high proportion of online content creation stories so that I can better understand how this “dark art” works. Also so that I can improve the quality of my writing. To this end, I managed to secure a weekly column on The Writing Cooperative. This has proved highly beneficial as a writing discipline.
3. To publish in as many Medium top 20 publications as possible. There are 8 of 20 that are suitable for my type of content. I have, so far, managed to get my work published in 3 of 8. (I only submit to top publications on the rare occasions that I consider my story up to their standards.)
4. To gather a sufficient quantity of data to enable me to discover what my readers find valuable about my writing.

The benefits of this approach to publishing

Simply by studying my data both on Medium and on Quora it is now absolutely clear to me what my followers want of my writing.

• There are 4 outstanding areas of interest. I now have 4 points of focus for my future work. These are, Change, Mind, Success and Habit. These are all areas in which I have considerable knowledge and coaching experience.
• 4 other clear areas of interest have also emerged as having strong possibilities for growing my income and following. These are, Good Life, Improve, Smart and Fear. Again, these are all areas in which I have considerable knowledge and coaching experience.
• To some degree, I think the quality of my writing has improved. However, I believe I still need to be a lot more disciplined about my approach to writing. And I need to do more work to improve the “emotional pull” of my stories.
• I have developed a writing habit (discipline?) that is making it easier for me to write every day.
• Writing has become enjoyable if still challenging.

The most important lessons for aspiring writers

In my opinion, these are the most important lessons I have learned.

• Write a lot.
• Publish as often as you can.
• Publish in publications. The larger circulation publications usually get you more views, although this does not always happen.
• Don’t worry too much about the quality of your writing, this will improve with practice and feedback.
• Don’t get over-concerned about adverse feedback, not everyone will agree with you — just keep going like a bull in a china shop. As long as you keep learning and keep writing you will get there.
• You will not get rich quick, but income builds up over time. I now have one story that has earned me over $100 and still earns money for me every month.
• You will get to know yourself a lot better.
• Pay attention to your stats, they contain valuable information. The more you publish the more informative and valuable your stats become.
• Always talk to the people who talk to you through your responses.
• You will build an audience and start to spot your superconsumers who become like friends.
• The more success you enjoy the more you will believe in your capabilities as a content creator. And the more you believe in your abilities the better you will become. This is the great benefit of the Expectation Effect.

My top-performing stories from the past 6 months

I have measured these stories by the number of views they have received, rather than by the amount they have earned. I think the two measures would have produced similar results.

1. Writer Bios That Attract Hundreds of New Readers Work Like This
2. Online Writing Tip That’s So Easy To Use It Feels Like Cheating
3. The Actual Process Used by Successful Entrepreneurs They Don’t Teach in Business Schools
4. The Safe Way To Quit Your Job and Be Your Own Boss
5. 5 Specific Content Creation Skills Needed for Online Writing Success

P.S. To grow your writing practice and earn more money online, please subscribe below to get help from my free weekly online content creation column — see “Get an email whenever David Ferrers publishes”.

P.P.S. If you’re new to writing on Medium you can get a free Medium subscription to all the publications in which you can publish your articles by clicking this link.