Summary

The author, James Julian, experienced a significant drop in Medium views after a successful September, leading to discouragement and reduced publishing frequency, but turned the situation around by accepting responsibility, refocusing on successful topics, and increasing content output, ultimately surpassing previous earnings.

Abstract

James Julian, a Medium writer, faced a slump in his article views at the beginning of October, following a highly successful September. This downturn, compounded by his diversion into starting a YouTube channel and the natural decline of his articles' momentum, caused frustration and a decrease in his writing output. However, recognizing that his success was within his control, Julian took initiative by analyzing past successful content and increasing his publishing rate. This strategic shift led to a surge in views and earnings, surpassing those of the previous month. He likens the experience to a mining story from "Think and Grow Rich," where persistence near the point of giving up led to a massive gold discovery. Julian encourages other writers not to succumb to despondency over statistics but to continue writing and enjoy the creative process, as success may be just around the corner.

Opinions

The author believes that a writer's success on Medium is primarily within their control, particularly the effort they put into their work.
Julian criticizes the tendency of some Medium writers to blame external factors, such as the platform's algorithm or views being down, for their lack of success.
He emphasizes the importance of not giving up and instead, analyzing what has worked in the past to inform future content creation.
The author suggests that maintaining a consistent writing schedule and focusing on topics that resonate with the audience are key to increasing viewership and earnings.
Julian advocates for persistence and hard work, encouraging writers to keep producing content regardless of immediate results, as breakthroughs can occur unexpectedly.
He promotes a positive mindset, urging writers to enjoy the process of writing and to let the statistics improve naturally over time.

You’re depressed over low views on Medium — this is how to fix it

Your views on Medium are lower than you think they should be and you’re depressed. What can you do?

I experienced this back in October after a stellar start on this platform in September.

I was rolling along at my main account James Julian thinking, “man, this is easy, just non-stop hits! Just a straight march up the mountain!”

Yes, everything was rolling along smoothly.

Then this happened at the start of October:

Woof. Forget 400 views per day, for close to two weeks, I was struggling just to get to 100.

Part of the reason was that I didn’t publish much in early October because I was trying to get my YouTube channel going.

But to be completely honest, I was also a little discouraged.

As my views tapered off from a hot September, I was getting annoyed that the momentum was fading and that was sapping my motivation to write.

It’s up to you

Part of getting over it was accepting that this was all my fault.

It’s always our fault. All we can control is our effort — the rest is out of our hands.

I could have pumped the brakes on YouTube here and there to ensure I was getting enough articles out.

I could have done a deep dive on what had worked for me in the past and focused my efforts there.

But I didn’t, so it was my fault that my views fell off a cliff.

There is all too much whining on this site about views being down or the algorithm being unfair or whatever.

It’s always something or someone else’s fault.

After getting annoyed for a bit, I decided to stop being a baby and get back to work.

I started publishing a couple of articles a day again and stopped writing on topics that were falling flat (even though I thought they were interesting).

What happened after that?

One of the first stories I wrote after going pedal-down again went gangbusters, contributing to my hightest-ever day for views (600+).

It also supercharged my October earnings, allowing me to actually surpass September by around 25%.

Have you ever heard of the book Think and Grow Rich (affiliate link) before? In it, the author tells a story about an amateur miner who buys some equipment to join in on the Gold Rush.

He digs and digs, to no avail, before finally giving up and selling his gear and mining rights to a junk man.

That man hires a geologist to reassess the site, and the geologist locates a vein of gold just three feet from where the original miner stopped digging.

The moral of the story is, if you’re feeling down about where your stats are, don’t stop writing and have a weeks-long pity party.

Look back at what you wrote in the past.

And then write more.

Keep grinding, enjoy the process, and let the stats take care of themselves.

You never know: your next article just might strike gold.

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More of my posts about making money online with Medium:

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