What My Stats Are Revealing about a Wonderful Writer’s Journey
The new publication ‘Illumination’ is nearly three weeks old now. We care and we share. But how about my stats?
My writing on the Medium platform started in May 2019. Late. I know. The golden oldies out here say that we can never make it big the way they did. And they’re right. It’s a simple fact that it’s easier to stand out among a few hundred writers than among millions.
But I’m so glad I did start! Why? Because I’m discovering myself. Me as a writer. I was published in regular magazines before, but here I can mix serious articles about the environment with prose and poetry. I just love the variety!
And sharing my stories via social media has gained me many new contacts and opportunities. It’s so much easier to share what I am giving to the world in a longer article than in a short post.
LinkedIn is my main channel with 1885 connections. Twitter follows with 1490. On Facebook, I have 903 friends and Instagram is minimal for me: 195.
That’s me. For me no personal branding strategy. No rational plan on how to gain whatever. I just write and share. Intuitive writing and intuitive social media. Discovering along the way what works for me. And I meet so many great people this way!
Although many won’t see my main thread, it’s there alright. It’s Gaia, it’s nature. And her relationship with people. My motto became clear when I started writing here:
“Let’s restore ecosystems and learn as humans how to live within the boundaries of our planet.”
And my articles all have the same wish in them. Let’s create a more beautiful world together. By growing as a person. By changing the economy. By learning from ecology how to design a better world. Be kind. Be supportive.
Love ourselves, others and nature.
Medium (and social media) helps me to discover how I touch my audience. I love to react, get responses and feed dialogues. And along the way, I get to understand what aspects resonate with my audience. If they understand my message, my being in this world. And if it triggers resistance in any way.
Nearly three weeks ago, Dr Mehmet Yildiz asked me if I wanted to be part of a new publication: Illumination.
It’s an experiment. It’s a community of writers who read and support and clap in abundance. Giving each other the courage to shine. Give first, enjoy the connections and then gain by building confidence and our own audience.
That’s the experiment. And as you might notice from my introduction, that’s exactly what I like. Giving and letting go of the results… I’m convinced the abundance will follow…
Why would a person who works so intuitively want to look at her stats, you ask? Well, it’s very simple. I’ve always been very analytical in my professional work. I’m good at that stuff.
So let’s combine rational with intuitive. Let’s have a look at my stats and see if we can already deduct something about my presence in the Illumination community.
This is my top 10 views statistic
Quick analysis:
- 6 stories in this top 10 have been curated by Medium
- All 10 stories have been published in a magazine, none in Illumination (all published before my Illumination time)
- All the articles are rather rational articles (although I write them all with a smile) for an audience interested in sustainable business, regenerative economy.
This is my top 10 reads statistic
Quick analysis:
- 1 story (# 9) is different from the view list
This is my top 10 read-ratio statistic
Quick analysis:
- Wow, this is a completely different list!
- The top 3 stories are either fiction or reality prose
- All stories have a much stronger heartbeat than the view or the read list
- 7 stories of this top 10 have been published in Illumination
- I guess a high read-ratio means that many people who view also read the whole story
- What’s the reason? Perhaps the title fits the content well? Perhaps fiction viewers more than others read a story until the end? Perhaps Illumination readers are more dedicated readers?
This is my top 10 fans statistic
Quick analysis:
- The top 3 is the same as the top 3 views
- After # 3 there is a big gap before # 4 shows up
- 7 stories have been curated
- 2 stories have been published in Illumination
And what about money?
Let me share with you the earnings from my bestselling article that’s in 3 of my top lists (just not in read-ratio) and was published in July 2019, 2 months after I started writing on Medium.
How do stories on Medium earn money? Medium explains it like this (you can find it yourself under Medium Partner Program):
Earnings are calculated based on two components:
- How long members spend reading your story. As Medium members spend more time reading your story (“member reading time”), you’ll earn more. When we calculate your story’s earnings, we’ll also include reading time from non-members if they subscribe to Medium within 30 days of reading your story.
- How much of their monthly reading time members spend on your story. By calculating a share of member reading time, we support authors who write about unique topics and connect with loyal readers. For example, if last month a member spent 10% of their monthly reading time on your story, you will receive 10% of their share (a portion of their subscription fee).
So if you want to earn money with Medium, reads and loyal fans who spend lots of their time with your stories matter!
Conclusions
Well, so far stats. And coming at this point in my article about stats, I must confess that I’m not sure what it all means (yet).
On March 21, I published my first story in Illumination. I have written 14 stories for the publication since. It’s a short time span.
Despite this short time, the stats of my read-ratio include many Illumination stories. And fiction. But what that means exactly, I still have to figure out. Any clues? Ideas? Insights? Welcome to tell me in the comments!
However, if I combine rational stats and heartfelt value, I do have some observations to share about contributing to Illumination:
- We have a strong community and a good sense of sharing and acknowledging
- We unleash the reader in the writer
- We let go of shyness, help each other grow and learn to clap 50 times (abundance) without feeling awkward
- My read-ratio statistic is surprisingly high for Illumination stories and for heartbeat stories
- I still have to figure out what it means and what value this has for me
- And I’m curious to see how the stats will shift with time… Will the read-ratio change? Will it affect the reads too and thus the money?
- Illumination has motivated me to write heartfelt stories, less rational ones. And they resonate with my readers in some way
- I’ve had great conversations with other writers so far and I really feel part of a community now. Not so alone anymore in the vast ocean of writers and readers called Medium
In short, I applaud Illumination for its rational and heartfelt value so far. Let’s keep producing wonderful stories together and see where it gets us.
And don’t forget to have lots of fun in the process!
If you want to connect you can always find me on LinkedIn, Facebook or somewhere under a tree, pondering over what it all means…
