Yes, Anyone Can Write on the Internet

But not everyone will succeed

Photo by Benjamin Dada on Unsplash

When I retired more than ten years ago, I moved to Malaysia to be with my now-husband. Since I was not allowed to work, I searched for ways to occupy my time. While surfing the Internet, I discovered blogging. According to the articles, anyone could be a writer and start a blog, and the best part was that you could make money by blogging. This was precisely what I was looking for.

Of the many blogging platforms, I chose Google’s Blogger, primarily because it was free and because Google said it was the most user-friendly. As a person with absolutely no technical skills, I knew Blogger was perfect for me.

I immediately went to work creating my new blog. Thanks to Blogger, it was easy. I didn’t even have to know any coding or SEO—I didn’t even know what it was at the time. I was well on my way to being a writer and blogger, or so I thought.

I had so much fun writing blog posts about life as an expat in Malaysia that I decided to start a couple more blogs. This is when the problems started.

My Malaysian blog was moderately successful, with a good following. I even earned a few bucks. I was quite proud of myself and considered myself a writer, so writing my new blogs would be a snap. Unfortunately, nobody followed or even read my new blogs. I was writing for a nonexistent audience.

I ran into more problems. When you use Blogger, Google Analytics comes with it. This tool analyzes your website and notifies you of any problems that are found. My website had numerous problems, according to Google, but I had no idea what their analyses meant. To make matters worse, Google doesn’t tell you how to fix the problems. It’s like going to your doctor, and he says you are sick but doesn’t tell you how to get better.

I still have one blog on Blogger today, and I still have the same problems with Google. My biggest complaint with Google is that it is impossible to contact customer support. They’re so big they don’t care.

Today, I write predominantly on Medium, where I don’t have to know HTML, SEO, or any other technical skills. I can be a writer here on Medium, but that doesn’t guarantee I can be a successful writer. I still have to work hard to promote my work and engage with other writers.

The Internet may be correct in saying anyone can write or, for that matter, anyone can paint. It’s what you write or what you paint that makes the difference. You can write your diary or paint your house; neither one makes you a writer or painter. The lesson to be learned here is not to take everything you read on the Internet too literally.

Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed reading this article and wish to subscribe to my Newsletter, click on my photo below.

I Have a Hard Time Promoting My Articles,

Maybe I should try something different.

Photo by JJ Ying on Unsplash

I don’t know about you, but I have difficulty getting people to read my articles. If people can’t see them, they can’t read them. I share my stories on Facebook, X, and my blog, Steve Sovie’s World. I also tell my friends whenever I publish something they may be interested in.

I hardly ever get any results from sharing on X. Using Facebook, I see a little better results, but nothing great. I recently started a Newsletter to promote my stories within Medium. So far, I haven’t seen any results. For some reason, people click on the Medium subscribe icon instead of my huge Newsletter subscribe image.

When I tell my friends that I write on Medium, they say they have no idea what Medium is. No one I have ever talked to, either in my family, my neighbors, my long-time friends, or former colleagues, has ever heard of Medium. Why is that?

I consider most of my friends to be well-educated and informed, and many of them are avid readers. But they have no idea of what Medium is. Therefore, I not only have to convince them to read my articles but also to join Medium to do so. Convincing people to shell out money to read is the most difficult part.

After some thought about this matter, I have decided to change the way I promote my articles. While I promote my stories, I will also promote Medium. If people make the connection between my stories and Medium, they might be enticed to join Medium. It’s worth a try.

I would love to hear your thoughts about what I have written and what I intend to do.

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Why I Don’t Click on Your Link

 

And why nobody clicks on mine?

                                                             Photo by henry perks on Unsplash

Please Click On The Following Link.

We have all seen this or similar prompts in the Medium stories we read and on other sites we visit. But how many of us actually click on the prompt?

If you’re like me, you ignore it. With the numerous phishing scams exploding on the internet, we all have to be highly vigilant. Unless we know exactly what clicking on a link will lead us to, we should ignore it.

Many writers here on Medium have a website, blog, newsletter, or Substack account we are hoping to promote, and we place a link at the bottom of our article, urging the reader to click to subscribe. You will see my subscription link below this article.

Most readers don’t click on these links because they are unsure where the link will take them or don’t want to receive any more emails in their inbox.

Promoting a blog or newsletter can be a real challenge, but using a promotion link on our stories is one of the best ways to get the word out. I’ve recently started my own newsletter and am now using the promotion link. It’s not easy to get readers to click on my link. I know others share the same feeling.

My advice to anyone planning to use a link to promote their website or newsletter is to explain clearly where the link will lead. If you plan to sell a product, be honest with your readers and tell them. Explain this to your reader if you promote an informative newsletter or personal blog.

If I see a prompt link that is confusing, either with a picture or slogan that does not relate to the article I have just read, I will ignore it. I do not want to risk my computer being infected with malware or other viruses that could be disastrous.

Thank you for reading. Please support and subscribe to the writers you like, but be careful.

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