Why You’re Not Too Late on Medium

You can still become successful on this platform

With any new opportunity, there are two general ways to become successful:

1. Be the first one to try it.
2. Be the best, smartest, coolest, highest-quality.

Both of them work. The first one is easier.

However, you’re rarely the very first one on board. And once you see other people reaping the rewards, immediately your brain starts thinking, “I’m too late:”

• There’s too much competition!
• The boat has sailed!
• Who am I to beat THESE guys?!

I saw this with Amazon FBA, podcasts, Bitcoin, and now, Medium. But it’s never too late. You can still become successful on Medium (and in all of the other gigs) — even if you’re just starting.

You’re Not Late

First of all, there’s no such thing as “late.” There’s no clock, no gatekeeper, and no guardian locking the door once the countdown is up. There’s not even a countdown.

Second, it’s a great excuse. And anything that sounds like an excuse is probably, well, an excuse.

I was “late” when I started trading Bitcoin in 2016. Yet I made a few tens of thousands of dollars (I lost most of my own and other people’s money eventually). But it still worked, even if for a while.

I was “late” to start writing on Medium last October. Yet I wrote 150 pieces in 90 days, and I turned my hobby into a part-time income.

It’s Easier to Start When You’re Early

That’s true.

If you were the first to discover YouTube, you had all the opportunities at your disposal.

If you discovered Bitcoin in 2010, it was much easier to buy it when it cost one cent. And if you would have started writing on Medium in 2014, it would have been easier to get publicity, audience, and exposure (organically at least).

But even though it’s more challenging to start now, it’s not impossible. It’s harder to grow, yes. It’s slower, yes. But not impossible.

That’s also good news. You have LESS competition than you think.

When People Discover the Opportunity, They Start Talking About It

And that’s all they’re doing. Talking. Thinking. Pondering.

A small percentage of these people will START doing something. And an even smaller percentage will get somewhere by sticking to it for the long term.

I did research for a startup company I now work for as Head of Content. Among the 1 million new sellers registering on Amazon each year, 30% have an active account with sales. What does the other 70% do? They talk.

There’s a difference between thinking, talking, starting, and doing.

The Third Strategy

Even though being the first or the best are the two best strategies to win, there’s also a third strategy. And it doesn’t have a deadline, nor a significant threshold. It’s available to you right now, even if you are a terrible writer, and also if you first learned about Medium 30 minutes ago.

Anyone can do it.

Here’s that strategy: be the last one to quit.

It’s hard to remember the number of ideas I came up with. There were too many. It’s hard to remember the number of times I wanted to start something — a new blog, a business, a fund, etc. I would think, I would talk, I would start, and then I would quit.

If only I knew then that starting doesn’t count.

What Counts

What’s the probability of you being the first one? Not much. What’s the likelihood of you being the BEST, the number one, the ultra top-earning writer on Medium, vlogger on YouTube, or seller on Amazon? Again, not much.

But you can always be the most disciplined, the most persistent, and the most hard-working.

Stick to anything and improve at it daily for a year — you’ll be better than 99% of the world at it.

I went to Draper University for two months in 2018. I asked Tim Draper, the billionaire venture capitalist, what the secret to success was. He replied, “Sticking to it.”

What counts is not the thinking (i.e., who got the idea first), not the talking (i.e., making bold statements to your friends), and not the starting (i.e., creating an account on Medium).

What counts is, are you showing up every day? Are you writing those posts? Are they good? No? Are they shit? Good. Keep on writing. You’ll get better.

Be the Last One to Quit

Yup, you were not the first one. Yup, it’s harder to get views, followers, and claps now. But if what you’re writing is good, you’ll get noticed. That’s the beauty of this platform: It allows anyone, without having an audience, to get noticed.

But if you’re just starting, you’re probably bad. That’s OK. I was terrible when I started writing on Medium five months ago. I’m still bad. But I keep going.

Below are a few tips on how you can slowly go from “bad” to “better” and eventually “good.” These principles help me and help many others.

Remember: On Medium, your income and exposure will grow proportionally to your ability to write. And also remember that anyone who starts is terrible at first.

Quantity Is the Key

Bestselling authors like Tim Ferriss or Ryan Holiday don’t blog (that often at least), they don’t tweet, and they write a book every two to five years. They don’t sell themselves short with the small stuff; they leave the energy for the big things.

When you’re just starting, the opposite works. You’ve got to keep on showing up — writing as much as possible.

That’s why I decided to write every single day. Since October 2, 2019, I haven’t missed a day. And that’s why I decided to write 12 books this year. Do I think they’ll all be good? No. It doesn’t matter.

What matters is that I will learn.

If you’re starting on Medium, write every single day. Two hundred words, 300 words, 1,000 words — it doesn’t matter how long your piece is, as long as you keep showing up and keep learning.

Quantity is the road to quality. And a good writer is a prolific writer.

The Six-Month-Rule

A lot of people told me they like the “six-month-rule,” so it’s worth mentioning twice.

I first heard about this from Tim Ferriss when he told the story of starting his podcast. I then adapted this rule and now use it for any new project I start.

Write down a date that’s six months from now. Today is February 1, so for me, it’s August 1. Tell yourself that from now until the end of the following six months, you won’t:

• Judge your success
• Quit
• Change your tactic or strategy
• Complain
• Be jealous of others
• Look at the results and make conclusions

You’ll have time for all of these after the six months are up. Right now, you need to get to escape velocity.

You will be tempted to quit. Every new project (and “becoming a writer on Medium” is just like any other project) has what Seth Godin calls, “The Dip.” Things will get complicated. You will have to push on.

You will be tempted to judge yourself. You won’t see any follower growth (or money) for the first two to three months, and you’ll start thinking to yourself, “This Medium thing is not working.” Not true: It’s you complaining.

You will be tempted to jump around. Change tactics, try new things, etc. There’s nothing bad in this, but it’s essential that you give each decision time to bring in the results.

I’m lured continuously into checking stats, claps, and into wanting to quit when my view, claps, and follower growth is low. But I use the “six-month rule,” and it helps me to keep going.

All You Need to Know About Medium

After five months of daily blogging on this platform, I realized that there’s no secret to success on Medium as a new blogger. All you need is to follow these guidelines:

1. Always come up with a catchy headline, subtitle, and a juicy featured image. That’s the holy trinity of success on Medium.
2. Use publications and publish only in them. I recommend using top-20 publications. (Here’s a spreadsheet I created for myself, it might help.)
3. As James Altucher teaches, delete the first and the last paragraph. Even if you know this rule, it works. Your writing will be much better. Stephen King says about editing, “Kill your darlings, kill them…”
4. Cut 30%. Always spend time editing what you write. Also, write today, edit tomorrow.
5. Keep it short. There are a lot of things your readers teach you, and the number one thing you’ll learn is to keep things simple (something a third-grader would understand) and short. Medium loves the three to five minute reads.
6. Publish only when you feel scared. When I look back, I see that my best pieces (from a financial and exposure standpoint) were the ones that I felt frightened shitless to publish. It’s good to feel afraid. Use that as a compass. The more afraid you are, the more critical it is that you hit ‘publish.’
7. Build an emailing list (I suggest using ConvertKit for that). That way, you’ll have a tangible asset — you’ll decide later what you’ll do with it.
8. If you want to learn from other writers, do so. But keep in mind that you should learn not from what they say, but from what they DO.
9. But most importantly: write, write, write. Go to sleep, wake up, and write.

If You Think You’re Too Late, You’re Right

If you think you’re not late, you’re also right. Your perception defines your reality.

Writers who dwell don’t succeed. Writers who write and show up the longest get all the rewards. Even in 2020.