Sorry to Disappoint Those Who Thought Otherwise, but Quantity Still Reigns Supreme On Medium
The new MPP has brought changes, but not to one of the more basic principles of success on Medium.
Sorry to the folks who think the choice is between quantity vs. quality but one day into the new MPP earnings model, and I’m more convinced than ever that writing a lot of good content is the best path to success for most Medium matters.
I’ve already laid out how I feel about the quantity vs. quality debate here:
But it bears revisiting since many writers were suggesting that, with Medium’s switch to Read TIme as the primary metric by which we’re paid, that meant longer more “quality” articles would win out over those of us who post shorter pieces more frequently.
Well, one day in and I can say rather confidently that nope, posting less is probably not going to get most writers the results their looking for.
And here’s why:
On my first day of this new MPP landscape, I wasn’t able to write anything new. A myriad of personal and family min-disasters over the last week has put a real wrench in my writing schedule.
Although I wasn’t able to write a new article, I did spend my time heavily promoting one old article and half-heartedly promoting another older one as well.
But that’s it, that’s all I could do.
When my stats finally updated for the end of the day, I’d made a total of $12.41.
Not bad for a day where I didn’t publish anything and greater than the $10 a day I averaged last month, but that’s not the interesting part.
I made that $12 off of 56 articles.
I currently have 118 published articles on Medium, and not quite 50 percent of them made up my day’s pay.
I’m not a viral writer on Medium and in all honesty, you should assume you won’t be one either.
I regularly joke that I’m a blue-collar writer on the platform.
My articles are well received, and I’ve had my fair share of articles curated, but because I’m only two months in and I don’t really publish in publications, I don’t have a large enough audience to send my articles into the stratosphere.
If I were to just focus on the idea of creating “quality” content, I would have missed out on a lot of those articles that made up my initial $12 payday.
And like I said, I didn’t write anything new, and anyone who has been on Medium for any length of time will tell you articles here die quickly if you aren’t actively trying to keep hem alive.
Here’s an article on how to do that by the way:
When you’re starting out as a writer here, your back catalog is going to mean everything as you try to build up your income each month. The quicker you can get to 100, 200, 500 quality articles, the better chances you have of still earning money even if you can’t publish for a day or two.
And notice that I said quality articles.
As I’ve pointed out, time and time again, it’s not quality vs. quantity.
It’s learning how to create a lot of content that meets the quality standards you’ve set for yourself.
I’d never suggest churning out fluff just to meet some arbitrary article count each day; however, if you think publishing sporadically or only once or twice a week is going to cover it for most writers on Medium…well…I see some disappointed paydays in your future.
So, to end this, I will leave you with three quick tips to get you producing more quality content each day:
1. Set a non-negotiable time for you to write each day
This time is sacrosanct and short of somebody dying (if they already dead it doesn’t matter); you don’t interrupt it for anyone of anything.
2. Decide how often you want to publish and stick with it
If your schedule only allows for three times a week, then that is what is every week, no questions asked. Consistency is key and is the make or break ingredient in any writing career.
3. Plan your ideas in advance
If you’re sitting down to write trying to figure out what to write about for the day, you’re doing it wrong. On Sunday (or whatever day works for you), sit down and plan out your articles for the week.
When you sit down at your scheduled time to write, you already know what you’re writing for that day, and won’t have to spend precious writing time thinking up ideas.
Well, that’s it. A quick breakdown of how I see things thus far, even with the little bit of time we’ve all been apart of this new Medium reality.
At the end of the day, as much as things change, so many stay the same, and — regardless of how many may feel about it — quantity still reigns supreme here on Medium and likely will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
This is How I Made $135 Dollars in My First 30 Days On Medium
Only seven to nine percent of writers make at least $100 each month on Medium. I did it in my first month. Here is what I did each week to achieve my goal, hopefully, you can use my journey to $100 a month to achieve yours.
If you enjoyed this case study check out my latest case study:
How to make $100 a week on Medium.
