In my continuing quest to get more eyes on my stories, I have promoted my work on Facebook, X, and my personal blog. Some time ago, I heard that some writers use LinkedIn to promote their articles, but I never gave it much thought.
I rarely get views from using Facebook, and I think I’ve only had one view from sharing with X. I recently started a newsletter with Kit in an attempt to gain more readers. So far, that has not been fruitful. I’ve also changed my Facebook to the Professional mode.
It wasn’t until I received a great comment on one of my stories by one of our noted authors, Tyler Lubben BBA, who said he had used LinkedIn and gotten good results.
I’ve had a LinkedIn account since I was employed as a Cytologist, but after retiring, I rarely, if ever, used it. I have thought of promoting my stories there, but they didn’t seem to fit in with all the medical and hospital posts. To this day, I still get job offers, even though I have been retired for over 10 years.
Since I am retired and not interested in returning to work in my former career, I decided to close my professional account and open a new one devoted to promoting my Medium stories. I only created my new account yesterday, so I’m going to have to wait a while to see any results.
I’d love to hear from anyone who has had any experience using LinkedIn to share their work.
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If you’ve been writing on Medium for a while, you have seen many writers complaining about their stats and earnings. I am one of those many writers who have done their fair share of bitching. The responses to writers experiencing lackadaisical earnings and stats include the phrase,” We’re in the same boat.” I have said that myself. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that this phrase is inaccurate, at least in my situation.
People on Medium write for several reasons. Some who publish here earn substantial money, which is an excellent part-time income. They most likely also write for other publications or are accomplished novelists or journalists.
These writers are not novice writers, for the most part. They have many years of experience and have a formal journalism or writing education. I’m not saying they all possess these unique qualities, but most likely, the majority do. They have a solid foundation to shore up their writing. They know what works and what doesn’t. They don’t have to chase the numbers like other less experienced writers. To put this in nautical terms, they are aboard a large, sturdy, seaworthy vessel of experience to traverse the vast ocean called Medium. They are in one huge luxurious boat.
Now, for the majority of writers here, it is a different story. Some use Medium as a side hustle to earn extra income to support their families. They don’t have vast experience or formal training but have skills and ambition. They spend a lot of time on Medium, writing, publishing, reading, and commenting. It’s almost like a full-time job. It’s hard work for little compensation. These writers are in a different boat, not as prominent as the luxurious liner, perhaps more like a sailboat. When the winds are favorable, they have smooth sailing.
Then, some writers don’t write for the money. They could care less about their earnings. They write for the love of writing and are happy only to have someone read and appreciate their work. They are floating along the ocean on a comfortable raft close to the shore, not caring where they go.
Others, like myself, write on Medium as a hobby, with the extra benefit of earning a little money. We don’t spend as much time on the site and don’t feel compelled to be here all day. We write when we feel like it. We don’t make a hell of a lot of money, but again, we don’t need to. Yet we still rant and rave in those times when we aren’t earning much. We are all in another type of boat, a pleasure craft. We don’t go boating every day. Just when the weather is good, and we have the time.
Lastly, some writers on Medium want to make a lot of money but don’t necessarily know what they are doing. They join, write, and publish without assuring their work is correctly punctuated and with acceptable spelling and grammar. They don’t read the work of others, nor do they comment unless it is a nonsensical, irrelevant, sparsely worded response. These people are aboard an unseaworthy dingy riddled with holes. They meander at sea until the boat sinks, and they swim away, giving up on their voyage.
Other boats on this Medium ocean are not engaged in a safe and pleasurable cruise. They are pirate ships whose only aim is to steal from all the legitimate sailors at sea. They fly not under the skull and crossbones flag but under AI flags. There are no humans aboard these ships, Only artificial beings pretending to be humans to plunder our hard-earned rewards.
So, I will no longer use the terminology of being in the same boat. We are not all in the same boat. We are on the same ocean but in different boats.
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When asked what they like to read, people say fiction, nonfiction, science fiction, mysteries, poetry, etc. Naturally, their favorite authors are those who write in their favorite genre. When writers, especially novice writers, join Medium, they try to emulate their favorite authors or try something different.
We all remember how excited we were to tell family and friends that we started writing on Medium and how they asked, “What’s that?” We then explain how Medium lets us write about anything we want.
After we’ve been joyfully toiling daily to produce what we think are masterpieces of literature, we realize something. No one is reading our stories. We search the Medium site for answers. We see all kinds of advice. We need more followers. We need to publish more often. We need to engage more. Reinvigorated, we get right to it. And still, no one reads our work.
We begin to look around and see who the more successful writers are, the ones who get the most attention and earn the most money, at least according to them. We discover a new genre of writing that only some people outside of Medium have ever heard of: writing about Medium itself!
We begin to realize that most of those articles we searched for advice are very popular. We also realize that the one article we wrote about our questions or frustrations with Medium was our most popular and lucrative article. A light goes on. Why not devote all my attention to writing about Medium?
To hell with becoming another Hemingway, Grisham, or King. We can become famous writers in the new writing genre called Medium. So, now, when friends ask what kind of articles we write? We can proudly say, “I write about Medium?” And then laugh all the way to the bank.
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I often get ideas about what to write in the middle of the night. Sometimes I remember the ideas, and sometimes I don’t. Last night, I woke up at 4 AM to pee, which is not unusual for an old guy like me with BPH. What was remarkable was that instead of an idea popping into my head regarding an idea to write about, I was thinking, why do I even write on Medium if no one pays attention to my stories?
I don’t know why I suddenly started feeling down about what I was doing. Perhaps it’s because I have spent a good deal of time in the past couple of weeks creating a newsletter. Like many on this platform, my readership and earnings have declined dramatically. Last year, at this time, I had about 200 reads daily; today, I am lucky to get 10.I attributed this to the inability of the Medium membership, especially my followers, to find what I publish. I thought using a newsletter would help my readers find my stories.
Creating the newsletter was quite tiresome, as I knew little about web design and the technology used to develop and maintain a newsletter. However, I was quite proud of myself for completing this project. But then, after sending my first newsletter to my Medium subscribers, I began to have second thoughts.
Would my present subscribers unsubscribe once they receive the email with my newsletter? Would they delete it without reading it? Would it end up in the spam folder? Did I waste a lot of time for nothing? I’m not sure.
Soon after sending the first newsletter, I received a strange, if not rude, comment on one of my stories. The commenter basically told me that my stats were low because my work wasn’t very good, and I could improve my reads by following him and reading his stories. I didn’t know how to react. Before I deleted him, I checked his profile.
He joined Medium this month and had a few hundred followers and maybe ten articles published. What was striking was that each of his stories, which could have been better, had over 1.5K claps.
I began to think of all those articles I had read that had accumulated hundreds of claps within the first couple of hours of publication. Many stories I have found as fascinating as dryer lint have also had over a thousand claps. The writers often have fewer followers than me, which causes me to wonder about my followers. I know I shouldn’t compare myself to other writers, but I am human and can’t help but question what is wrong with me.
I used to follow and subscribe to many people, but I no longer do. One in particular is a very prolific writer, publishing several times daily. I tried to read as many of his stories as I could but soon lost interest. He seemed to always talk about himself in a braggadocios manner, but somehow his stories lacked feeling. He was more of a publishing machine than a writer sharing himself.
A few writers I enjoyed reading and getting to know disappeared after continued disappointing results on this platform. One writer I used to read faithfully and commensurate with is now rarely seen. She used to be a faithful follower and reader. Others I came to know have left for reasons unknown.
I publish in only a few publications I like and feel comfortable with, and I self-publish my political articles. I have writers I follow and subscribe to, and I make it a point to read most, if not all, of their articles. I won’t mention their names because I don’t want to drop names to get a few views. But they know who they are.
They may not always write masterpieces, but what they write from the heart about themselves and what they do. Reading their stories is like having a beer or cup of coffee and shooting the shit with a friend. I’ve gotten to know them and let them get to know me. I consider them to be friends. This is what I would miss if I ever left Medium.
I have done everything I can, within the limits of my ability as what others would call a writer. When talking with friends, neighbors, or family members, I cannot bring myself to say, “I am a writer.” But I cannot find a way to make my work interesting enough for people to read. I thought creating a newsletter would help, but it’s probably just another misadventure, like my futile attempts at writing blogs on WordPress and Blogger. Maybe someday I’ll learn.
I’ll continue sending my newsletter until my free plan runs out. Who knows, maybe things will pick up. Being an opinionated old fart, I probably won’t be able to swallow my pride and throw in the towel. So, I’ll stick around and rethink what I am doing on Medium. Thank you for allowing me to vent and wallow in self-pity for a while.
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I am working on creating a weekly newsletter to send to my subscribers. My newsletter will contain the articles I published in the previous week and possibly a photo or some interesting tidbit of what I have experienced in my everyday life.
My newsletter will be free to subscribe to. That’s right, it won’t cost you a cent. It will be a weekly newsletter, so I won’t clog up your email inbox.
Once I have finished tweaking my newsletter, I will be ready to send it to my current subscribers. For new subscribers, I will include a link to subscribe at the end of my future articles.
My newsletter will not be hosted on Medium but by Kit.com. Once again, it will be free to subscribe to. At some point in the future, I may try to monetize it with a donate button or an affiliate ad, but it will always be free for my readers.
If any of my current subscribers do not want to receive my newsletter, please unsubscribe to receive Medium email notifications. I will be importing the current list in a couple of days. Whatever you decide to do, I thank you for your past support. Wish me luck!
Yesterday, I published a story titled “You Can’t Read What You Can’t See.” Today, I have been thinking about how there must be some way to circumvent the algorithm and let readers choose what they want to read.
Some people say that following a favorite writer or subscribing to their work is the best way to ensure people who want to read your work can find your articles. However, since I have been a member of Medium for quite some time, I feel this is not correct.
Even though most of us have numerous followers, we realize that often, once some of those followers follow us, we never hear from them again. Also, the fact someone is following us does not necessarily mean they will see our work once it’s published,
I think hitting the Medium subscribe button is entirely unreliable. I have had some bad experiences with subscribing to writers. In one incident, I noticed I was not receiving email notifications from those I subscribed to about newly published articles. After researching, I discovered that Medium had unsubscribed me from every writer I had previously subscribed to. The same thing happened to some of my subscribers.
I know some Medium writers publish newsletters in which they promote their work and offer products or services. I’m not interested in starting an e-business or making a bundle of cash, but I wonder if I could publish a weekly newsletter with my published stories for the week.
I plan to start a newsletter and place a link to subscribe to it in each of the articles I publish. If someone subscribes, they will receive one email each week that includes the stories I have published. I won’t try to sell them anything, either products or services, but I may share an interesting fact or something about my life. They will also have the option to unsubscribe.
If my newsletter is well-received, I may monetize it through ads in the future. But that’s wishful thinking for now. I will continue to publish my stories on Medium, as usual. If anyone feels they connect to my work or enjoy reading and interacting, they can subscribe. Otherwise, they can scroll on.
In the past, I tried something similar to a newsletter by creating a publication where I published a weekly summary of what I had published that week. The same problem existed — no one saw it. I also considered using Substack but soon realized it wasn’t right for me. I didn’t want my readers to pay for reading my work. I am also not a super prolific writer, which would hinder my progress on that site.
The problem with both Substack and Medium’s subscriber notification processes is that the subscriber’s mailbox is inundated with emails on a daily basis. If I implement my newsletter, I will only publish and email it once a week.
My newsletter is only an idea right now. I don’t know that much about starting and maintaining a newsletter at this time. It could be just another hair-brained idea that came to mind and will soon disappear, but I think it’s worth further thought.
I would appreciate it if any of my readers could share their thoughts about what I have just proposed doing. I am not tech-savvy or an entrepreneur, so I may be way over my head considering a newsletter. Thanks in advance for your input.
