The Only Set Of Big Data You Need To Be Successful In Medium.
SPOILER ALERT: It is a combination of Your “Partner Program Earnings” and “Statistics” page.
If we are serious about becoming successful writing in Medium — we need help. I wrote about publications and software tools earlier. I will cover the build-in tools that Medium has to offer in this story.
Please do not worry about costs or additional extension downloads. These are build-in tools within the Platform itself, and it is there for us to use.
Let me share one perspective about data (or Big Data if you like) per se before getting into the story proper — Data has to be actionable to be useful.
Most of us overthink it. We imagine Data Analysts having all the comparative advantage through watching a giant multi-split screen with terabytes of data presented in various slice-and-dice formats.
I do not see that as a source of comparative advantage.
It is not about what we can get. It is about what we can do with it. The Bloomberg terminal provides the most up-to-date financial data at the point of access from currency pairs, interest rate trends to Treasury Yield Curve.
Do we understand them?
Data is just data if we cannot act on it.
Therefore, it is better to start with the tools that we already have. Foundation matters.
Let us begin.
There are 2 pages within Medium where I derive insights for writing within this platform. The first one is the “Partner Program Earnings” page. The second is the “Statistics” page. They tell a story.
Combining them provides a course of action for the near future.
We Start With “Your Partner Program Earnings” Page.
This page is the easiest to interpret and is a treasure trove of information. In my opinion, this piece of information is way superior to any other pieces of information that others share within the Medium Universe.
Here’s why — What works for them may not work for us. We are different.
The information presented on our Partner Program Earnings page works for us. We have to revisit this page now and then, for a pulse check and listen to what our readers are telling us.
Our readers tell us what they read from us.
Of course, you can choose to check your earnings if you want.
Next, The Statistics Page.
Before we get to our statistics page — We need to understand one thing. The internet has a long tail. Most of our stories go through 2 dominant patterns over time: -
- Pattern 1 — A Spike on Viewership and Readership on Day 1, followed by a long tail.
- Pattern 2 — No viewers and readers on Day 1, followed by sudden blips of viewership and readership months after.
Many writers have been around for months. Some of our stories have been amassing impressions since the month they were published, and most of our stories follow Pattern 2. The screenshots below illustrate what I mean.
This is the story where the statistics are presented above.
Now, we can start answering interesting questions using Big Data from the above.
Question 1a — Should I Stop Writing? My Story Earned $0.
There are many angles to this question. I will focus on the value over time.
The Internet has a long tail. Your story might earn $0 today, but that doesn’t mean it will earn $0 forever.
It may seem like we have no chance today. However, the daily publication of new stories increases the circulation of our existing stories.
That increases the number of exposure and followers.
When we have more follower-readers, our previous stories might be read by them at a later date.
Keep writing.
Question 1b— Most Of My Stories Earned $0.01 A Month. Should I Be Bothered?
This is a permutation to the previous question and is the most common one I get on Linkedin.
Most of our stories earn $0.01 that month. Note, I mean, THAT month.
If we choose to take a cut-off for the month where our stories are published — I agree with you. It can be terribly demoralizing staring at the Partner Program Earnings page, where we see stories earning $0.01 scroll after scroll.
What about the stories we have written in the past 3 months? Are they appearing on your current month’s Partner Program Earnings page?
If they do, it means that we should not just focus on today, tomorrow, or this month (see screenshots above).
We should focus on writing daily, especially on those genres that often hit the Top 5 story earnings status month after month. For me, that is on writing, money, and automation.
You got to find out what works for you.
In Summary.
Data alone is irrelevant unless we can derive actionable insights.
We should not invest in advanced tools before exploring the platform’s built-in features. After all, they do not come with additional charges.
When it comes to these features, I tend towards the “Partner Program Earnings” and “Statistics” pages to conduct a pulse check on my stories’ performance. I build experience from there.
The Internet has a long tail. And that means Day 1 is important for committing our effort. Results come after. We may not earn from a story published in August 2020. We might earn from that story in December 2020.
The key is to keep writing.
So, do that.
Seek Actionable Insights!
Aldric
Related Stories from the Author.
About the Author:
As a content contributor, I write my observations from daily life and my business exposure.
Because our life experience is the bedrock of our unique perspectives.
As a Consultant by training, I believe in making the complex simple.
Because simplicity adds value.
And with clarity — We grow.
Follow me for my stories on Medium!
This is more “About Me”.
