New writers, there’s hope!
My articles do not get many views. Making money through writing is a far fetched dream, light years away. My writing sits unnoticed in a lonely corner of this vast universe called the internet.
Do you relate?
Like you, I also feel insecure when I see another writer my age winning clients and earning thousands of dollars through their writing. And here we are, with 4 views on that latest write-up we had high hopes from.
And if that isn’t enough, there are these articles talking about how Medium have changed their algorithm. And that it’s no longer a great way to earn money or gain visibility.
I also feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of videos, tips, e-guides and ‘free’ newsletters you find on the internet . All of them written by people apparently making a killing with their online writing.
So what do we do?
I’d say, write. And write some more. Write everyday!
As Biliz Maharjan writes in one of their articles*,
“ The chances of getting a lot of views in your first few articles are extremely low. It’s not because your articles are not good. It’s because you are yet to build the amount of work that makes you visible.”
This makes loads of sense! You wont be able to retain readers if you have only like 5 published stories on your profile.
We’re all spoilt for choice in this attention economy. A reader who visits your profile wants to see stories galore and choose one to read. They’ll skim through your stories; maybe then read and clap for a few.
Feed this expectation. Give them the choice. Write and publish a lot of stories. Stories that provide value to your reader.
The only trick is to be as consistent as possible. I started writing on Medium exactly 10 days ago. I published 7 articles. Starting with 5 followers, I now have 36. I am beyond overjoyed!
And more importantly, I’m thankful for having been fairly consistent.
This motivates me to keep writing more and better. I’ll keep trying to add value to my reader by sharing my thoughts and experiences.
So, to every fellow new writer, there is hope for progress.
And we buy this progress with consistency.
Keeping writing a lot, get better everyday. The followers will follow :)
Here’s the link to the amazing article by Biliz Maharjan that I quoted earlier: New Writers, Nobody Cares About Your Writing. So Just Hit ‘Publish.’
(I just realised it’s a member-only article. If you’re interested to know more, feel free to ping. I’ll be more than happy to discuss the key ideas shared in this article)
