The first three lessons every new writer in Medium must learn to succeed.
New writers join the Medium platform with expectations that take time to realise. Here are the first three lessons they must learn to succeed.
Writing on Medium is interesting. The prospect of getting your stories read by millions of people worldwide is very tempting. As a result, many writers join Medium with high hopes of succeeding. But with a limited understanding of how the platform operates, they face initial hurdles growing on the forum.
Writers are usually disappointed when they fail to achieve their desired writing goals. Every new writer on Medium shares this feeling of disappointment. But new writers should know the hurdles with writing on Medium and how to surmount them to succeed. Here are three crucial lessons every new writer in Medium should learn.
1. There is a big gap between your expectations and reality.
Many writers join Medium expecting to achieve three things:
1. They want to tell their stories or share their ideas.
2. They want to grow their reading audience.
3. They look forward to making money writing online.
Telling your stories or sharing your ideas with the world
The Medium platform can help you achieve your dream of telling your stories or sharing your ideas with the world. Medium provides a platform to reach over 100 million readers across the globe. It does not restrict entry to new writers. Instead, it provides the tools to help new writers connect and tell their stories, share their ideas and get helpful feedback on their writings. Of course, you must keep to the platform’s writing rules.
Telling your stories or sharing your ideas means nothing if they do not reach the desired audience. The opportunity to get a broad reading audience through Medium is limitless. Yet, you will be fortunate to attract thousands of these readers as your regular reading audience. But, even with good writing experience, new writers need help getting the right audience to read their stories. So, your first reality check as a writer on Medium is identifying your audience from the large crowd and getting them to read your stories.
Growing the desired reading audience
Attracting, growing and retaining your desired reading audience is another major hurdle. First, you must identify what stories your audience likes reading. Then, you must write to engage their attention. Otherwise, the expectation of growing your reading audience may not materialise.
As a new writer, I have struggled to grow my reading audience. But I have also learned valuable lessons doing so. So here are a few helpful tips from my experience about writing to grow your audience.
1. Write stories that solve your audience’s problems.
2. Present simple but innovative ideas for handling your readers’ everyday challenges.
3. Shake your audience’s long-held beliefs on issues but be factual about the alternatives you present.
4. Dare to be different. Only write about popular topics if you bring a new perspective.
5. Write regularly but thoughtfully. Do not sperm your readers’ inbox.
Making money through your writings on Medium
Finally, new writers always need help to realise their expectations of making money writing on Medium.
The primary source of income for writers in Medium is the Medium Partner Program (MPP). New writers must have at least a hundred followers before hoping to join the MPP. However, earning money through the MPP is challenging for writers from Africa and Asia. The reason is that Stripe, the payment platform for MPP, is not supported in these regions.
Earning money from your writing must never be a primary goal for joining Medium. The reason is that the journey to becoming a paid writer on Medium is long. As a new writer, if making money is your primary goal, you will get frustrated.
New writers must establish authority in their niches and attract reasonable followership to earn money writing on Medium. After that, they may explore affiliate marketing, ghostwriting, and advertising income opportunities.
New writers must first establish their brand voice and get organic followership. Then earning money will follow as a natural reward for consistency and effort.
2. Managing your fears and doubts
The biggest lesson new writers in Medium must learn is how to manage their fears and doubts. New writers have doubts about whether their stories will interest anyone. They also worry that negative feedback will affect their writing.
New writers are always afraid that they may infringe on any writing rules in Medium. Many new writers are anxious to grow their audience and make money. So, they are always concerned about how fast these goals may be realised.
These fears are realistic, and managing them is always challenging for new Medium writers. As a new writer, I have read suggestions for tackling my fears and doubts about writing on Medium. One of the suggestions is to understudy successful writers in my niche and follow the path they worked to success.
The above approach often ends up cloning the writer in the form of their ideal medium writers. But in my experience, what works better is testing your fears through writing in Medium and obtaining feedback.
3. Managing the information overflow
Every writer on Medium suffers an information overflow. There are too many articles and stories on how-to or how-not-to do things. Amid the various conflicting information sources, staying focused is a big task.
As a new writer on Medium, I started reading too many stories to help me develop a writing strategy. This approach was helpful. But I often got confused learning the same subjects from too many sources. Also, there was always conflicting information cancelling what I already knew, leaving me even more confused.
New writers in Medium should read to get an understanding of any subject of their interest. But after that, step down the learning process and practice. Practice makes you perfect. Make mistakes, find what works and does not, and learn from your mistakes.
Individual circumstances will always be different. So, trading on the path that led someone to success may only lead to a mediocre performance. Instead, learn from the experience of others. But develop your way to victory through practice, consistency and applying feedback.
The last word
Writing in Medium is rewarding but tasking. New writers face many hurdles due to unrealistic expectations, fears and information overflow. Good knowledge of the challenges ahead is the vital tool you need to succeed. As a new writer in Medium, I’m hopeful this article provided the knowledge. Good luck.
I am Francis Osuagwu. I write about entrepreneurship, personal development, career success and tech. Please follow me on Medium for more stories.
You may also visit my blog at https://www.researchaids.net for related stories.
