The United States of Blogging

And how you can make this democracy work for you

“Blah, blah, blog” was my friend’s response in 2010 when I started my first blog. Published writers were pissed at this stupid new medium that was canceling legitimate journalism and ruining the traditional publishing industry.

But blogging did not go the way of hoverboards and Google Glass. Blogging is only gaining traction because it is a way for writers to control their own destiny and take a piece of that gig economy pie.

The gig economy is booming not only because there are fewer traditional jobs to be had, but also because the internet has opened up interesting possibilities for all of us to explore avenues that can be navigated from any high-rise or cabin in the woods, as long as you have wifi and coffee.

Medium is a great place for any writer who is looking for an audience.

And here’s why:

Though I am still fairly new to this platform and (like my real estate choices) I didn’t get in at the exact perfect moment, I can safely say that it’s better to jump in at some point than to sit on the sidelines. Because the secret of Medium is that it’s not just a platform for writers — it’s an ecosystem of writers, editors, publishers, and readers. It’s a little country unto itself.

Medium is a club anyone can join — whether you’re a successful journalist or a college grad checking out writing for the first time — it’s all okay. People come to Medium and click on content that is valuable to them, so for readers, that means there is something for everyone, and for writers it means cut your teeth here, get exposure, and if you create content that people want to read, you will build a following.

Your writing doesn’t need to be flowery or Oprah’s-book-club worthy, it just needs to have value for someone. And, if it has value for more than one person, it gets shared. It may even go viral. It’s not about who you know, or how connected you are, it’s just about the content. I’m not going to say that luck has nothing to do with it, but yeah, if all the stars align, you may end up with one or two articles that pay some of your bills every month.

So whether or not you feel you may have missed the goldrush, here are five personal, professional, and financial reasons why you should dive into this platform today.

Practice makes perfect

Look, it’s a lame expression, because what the hell is perfect anyway? But when Ray Bradbury came to speak to my Screenwriters on Screenwriting class at UCLA he stressed that writers write. Not once in a while, not when their muse visits, no. They sit their asses in chairs and write every day.

As a screenwriter, or any kind of writer, the only way you will master your craft is by working at it. It’s about habit, discipline, and work ethic, and if you happen to have talent as well, good for you. Even more reason to keep writing.

Medium is a good place to get exposure, find your tribe, and interact with readers. You can also learn a lot from editors who make suggestions on making your writing more succinct and effective.

History is on your side

You may not realize that you are living in a dramatic moment in history, but it’s true — you are.

And why is that, you may ask?

Work is changing, and life is changing at a rapid pace. The plates of career opportunity and job security are shifting beneath our feet in significant ways. The gig economy is booming not only because there are fewer traditional jobs to be had, but also because the internet has opened up interesting possibilities for all of us to explore avenues that can be navigated from any high-rise or cabin in the woods, as long as you have wifi and coffee.

From OptinMonster, consider these powerful Blogging Statistics for Marketers

Marketers who prioritize blogging are 13x more likely to have a positive ROI on their efforts.

64% of B2B marketers outsource blog copywriting.

60% of marketers have a documented personalization strategy.

57% of marketers say they’ve gained customers specifically through blogging.

53% of marketers say blogging is their top content marketing priority.

B2B marketers who have blogs get 67% more leads than those who don’t.

Around 60% of marketer will reuse blog content 2–3 times.

60% of B2B marketers struggle with creating engaging content.

Of course not all writers are necessarily interested in digital marketing. But if you are, you should know that every single law firm, university, veterinarian and ice cream parlor has a blog, and they need people who can write clear and compelling copy.

Screw the gatekeepers

As a professional writer who has encountered her share of rejection and non-entry into Hollywood and the publishing world by the gatekeepers — self-publishing on Medium is very freeing. If I wrote a great essay and submitted it to the New Yorker and the Atlantic and the New York Times, chances are it would never get published. I would put it away in a drawer.

But on Medium, you are free to publish whatever you want, whenever you want, and make of the opportunity what you will. If you are already an influencer in the world you will certainly get a lot of attention and tens of thousands of claps.

Yet, if you are completely unknown and you write something interesting, it can be curated and your piece all of a sudden is in front of thousands of eyeballs. It is a democratic system.

What is so great about democracy, anyway? To quote a random person on Quora, it is simple. It isn’t about being great, it’s about not being terrible. There won’t be any great decisions because the people as a whole aren’t great, but neither are they terrible. Democracy is a stable system because it is thoroughly average. No mad king or ruthless dictator to bring it all down around them.

The democracy of Medium is great because it allows us to cooperate under a certain set of common rules that we can all agree on, thereby increasing prosperity for all of us.

Even if a story starts out with just a few claps and comments, it’s so important for writers to have some acknowledgment. For those of us who make a living writing, it’s a very difficult path. Medium legitimizes you as a writer just by helping you get your work seen. If you spend years with scripts and essays in a drawer that pretty much nobody has seen, it can really take the wind out of your sails.

And there are so many niches here where your perspective can be shared and appreciated. You may be an expert on real estate, car parts, human resources, Japanese film noir — you have something to say, and chances are, there’s an audience out there who is interested in whatever obscure, geeky niche you have spent your life becoming an expert on. Share your wisdom!

Build a following

In between working on client assignments and writing my book, I wrote 17 stories these last 12 months and accumulated 218 followers. So this year, if I double my output and publish another 34 stories, I might gain another 400 or 500 followers. Which is awesome because when I have time to focus more on my wordpress blogand Medium, I can leverage my following in any number of ways. I could start a newsletter, teach an online course, create a paid subscription, or start a cult and have hundreds of willing members!

As Neil Patel says in this Medium piece:

We all start with an audience of one. The key to getting traffic back to your site is getting your writing in front of the right audience.

Enter: Medium.

Everyone could use more traffic to their site.

Why not re-publish and repurpose your best, evergreen content on the Medium platform to get more followers to your site?

Medium has grown from over 60 million monthly unique visitors in 2016 to 153 million as of this year, according to SimilarWeb.com.

Stats don’t lie.

What is your target audience? Working adults? College and graduate school graduates?

If that is your ideal audience, Medium could be the best place to connect you with your tribe.

Just check out these metrics from Alexa.com on Medium.

If you build it they will come.

Networking

When you start writing on Medium, you can join any one of the Medium Facebook groups which are great for meeting other Medium writers, asking advice, asking opinions on your latest headline, and sharing your work.

Read every day and check out all the excellent writers out there. When I first joined Medium, I was blown away by reading about one woman’s journey dealing with Krohn’s disease, another woman who realized during lockdown that her relationship wasn’t going to survive, and a hilarious series of cartoons about growing up with a tiger mom who loved and tormented her son (the writer) in equal measure. My favorite:

Christmas present, age 7: Redeem for 1-hour of TV next year

*This can only be used once

*You must have a 4.0 GPA

*The show must be educational

Clap for stories you enjoy, or ones that get to you, for whatever reason. Highlight exerpts. Respond to the work. Mingle with your fellow writers.

And, you never what can come of putting your work out there. In the last two months a woman from Upwork read a blog I wrote for Splitopia and contacted me, and an editor at an online magazine in London read my Medium blog. Both hired me to write for them and I was able to charge a decent amount because they were coming to me. They liked my voice and they wanted me to contribute to their publication. Yay.

I hope your takeaway after reading this is a feelgood moment, like walking out of a great movie and the grass just seems a little bit greener and you want to rescue kittens and go streaking through the quad. Dammit, if Rebecca can do these things after just being here a year, maybe I can too!

And hey, if you want to join my cult, I would be excited to have you! I’m mixing up the Kool Aid right now. I don’t know what my cult will look like yet…mulling a newsletter to come. Email me at [email protected] with the subject line “Sign Me Up!” and you will be the first to know when I get my thing going!

Write on.