What Writing Consistently for a Month on Medium Has Taught Me

Successful writers share great tips but don’t often discuss their early stats

I’ve been a part of the Medium writing community for a few years. My productivity has been on and off for almost two and a half years. I became more consistent when the pandemic started in March 2020 but dropped off again during the summer and wrote sparingly through the end of the year.

I came back recharged at the start of February 2021. I decided I wanted to challenge myself. I wanted to see if I could make a habit out of writing on the platform.

I’ve taken many courses from top writers on Medium. I’ve followed their articles and each piece of their content has given me valuable ideas and has been an incredible resource. The only thing is they never really shared stats or their frustrations from their humble beginnings. We do, after all, have to start somewhere.

They talk about consistency and suddenly getting lucky with a viral article that pulls in readers. Of course, there’s truth to this and getting into big publications helps with exposure, but what if there’s something more to it?

I decided to document my journey. If I’m successful, then perhaps I’ll be one of the first to record the numbers so the hopefuls out there can see that consistency, hard work, and dedication will pay off if you keep grinding.

My humble start

First I started the process of committing to writing on Medium on February 9.

As you can see, I had 14 views with an article I published on February 9. I started getting the ball rolling with some content and then starting picking up momentum with content development around February 15 with 36 views.

As the weeks went on later into February and through the start of March, I’ve noticed my numbers doubled over 26 days to 46 views.

As you can see, there is a drop-off of numbers on the weekends. I do have a full-time job during the week, so I do most of my writing on the weekends to create a bank of articles to release Monday through Friday.

Now, these numbers are incredibly humble compared to many writers on the platform, but it’s a great example to share, especially for those just starting on the platform.

My hypothesis

I’m in the middle of a 20-day writing challenge for myself. So far, I’m on course to complete it.

While Medium’s algorithm is impossible to understand, my guess is that if the trend I see continues, I could gain 10 views per week if I keep up my writing consistency.

If that’s the case, then I could potentially reach 300+ views per article within six months. Now, I’m very conservative with this guestimate. Of course, if an article does go viral, that does speed up the process significantly.

Top writers have been writing on this platform for years, so it’d make sense that they’d have the threshold of 1,000 views per article after more than a year of paying their dues.

If my hypothesis is accurate, then that may be why some writers get frustrated and quit or lack consistency with their writing. Everyone wants success quickly, without putting in the hard work and commitment that’s required.

If that’s the case, you need to understand that Medium is still a fantastic platform that can open up many other opportunities. I know it has allowed me the opportunity to make a living as a freelance writer.

If you want to take the guesswork out of which websites will offer you the best paying opportunities, then click here to subscribe to my e-mail list and I’ll send you my FREE guide to websites that will pay for your writing.