What Does Success on Medium Mean to Me

#15 December Challenge

“Your success took a shot at you. What are you going to do now? How are you gonna kill it? You’re gonna become unsuccessful? Frank, you can be successful and have enemies, uh? Be unsuccessful too, and even have friends.” Intro: Armand Assante from American Gangster

Prompt: How do you measure success on Medium? Number of followers? Number of reads? Earnings? Email subscribers? Claps? Highlights? Boosts? Comments? What means the most to you? We’re all writers, and we’re on here to put our words out into the world, but these are things that people are constantly writing about on Medium — so I’m asking you to measure your success on your terms. It is up to you to include stats, numbers, and dollar amounts. I don’t do it, so I don’t ask other people to, but I won’t say you can’t either.

Please do a personal Medium-related self-reflection and discuss how you feel about this platform and WHY. Have you ever thought about leaving? Do you write on other platforms as well? If so — why? If not — why not? Don’t give stock responses — search yourself and the time you spend here, what makes you feel good and what makes you feel bad, and what keeps you coming back, then tell us about it all.

If I sat here and said, “I’ve never thought about it,” I would lie. Yes, I’ve thought about my success and what I want that success to look like on this platform. I will make this short and sweet because if I get to the point and manifest my success, the universe will know what I’m talking about and provide me with the desired success.

While writing on Vocal.Media I measure my success by how many tips I receive. Although Medium has that option to tip creators, this is the first time I’ve experienced information on this platform. My suggestions outweigh how much my stories will get in a month. It felt good to not wait until next month to bask in your success with my earnings. Tips gave me the extra boost I needed to keep going and write things catered to my audience of tippers.

Moving to Medium, I have a sense of community here, and there have been writers on this platform who have taken the time to read my work, comment, clap, and highlight.

I want:

• 3,000 followers on Medium
• 3,000 email subscribers on Medium
• I want every article, essay, and story to have at least 1,000 claps.
• I want it highlighted from the beginning of the report to the very end.
• I want every piece to have over 300 comments.
• I want to be boosted.
• Have Medium articles populate on Google.
• I want to be watching a show, and someone mentions my article on TV or in another paper.

I want my writing to give me deals to write books and sit on panels. I want to be interviewed, and I want to be invited to be a keynote speaker.

Have I reached any of these milestones? No. I can only reflect on where I am now to plan and be excited about my future on Medium.

My current success is based on the effort and time I’ve put into Medium tackling every of this December. The Challenge has already earned me three extra dollars this month, which is surprising because I usually average the same readers and claps per article. I’ve met many people on this platform, some of whom I can call my writer friends. They can continue to support and encourage me not to quit on the days when I want to throw in the towel.

I’ve stopped paying attention to followers because some follow you to get a follow back and then unfollow you. My followers fluctuate daily, and if I keep focusing on that, it will drive me insane. I’ve let part of that obsession go. I am the most accomplished when readers comment on how I provided a new perspective. Some people have read my work and felt “seen.” Other times, I’ve written something and get comments reflecting their current feelings. That brings me more joy than any number.

I want to inspire people and give them the space to feel seen and heard, and if my words help, that’s success to me. Two things can be true. I can feel warm and fuzzy inside about how my work inspires people, but I also want book deals and speaker engagements.

I would love to get to a place where I can disappear, and people still find my work and read my work. On Medium, my earnings and engagement take a hit once I disappear for a few months. It’s one of those things where once you have momentum, it’s best to ride the train and produce as much content as possible. That’s the frustrating part when dealing with this platform.

I will always succeed if I dare to speak and display my flaws and hiccups.

I love Medium, although sometimes I don’t think it’s fair after being on Vocal. Media since 2018, I’ve made more money on Medium than Vocal. I still haven’t joined the “friend link” program because I’m broke and not 100% on board yet. I have to wait and see.

Since you’re here, I would love you to read these articles without claps, reads, or highlights.

Tagging Ruby Noir 😈