Why Should You Keep Publishing Despite 0 Views, 0 Reads, and 0 Followers?
Understand the power of creating a binge bank
Imagine spending hours crafting an article, only to be met with 0 views, 0 reads, and 0 followers. Many of us face a roller coaster of disappointment on Medium.
Many times, I’ve tried to quit because it’s discouraging. I spend over three hours on most articles, yet they receive little engagement. As someone who did poorly in English in high school, my inner critic often says, “You’re horrible at this. Just go back to your engineering career and focus on math and science.”
Even as I write this article, I find it intimidating. I have deep-rooted limiting beliefs about my language skills that I’m working hard to overcome.
I have been writing on Medium since January 2023, and I’m still waiting for traction. It’s hard to stay consistent, making me want to quit my writing career and return to my familiar day job.
What is a “binge bank”
In an episode of My First Million podcast featuring David Perell on How To Master Storytelling, I discovered a powerful writing strategy to combat the urge to quit: the “binge bank.”
The host, Shaan Puri, narrated how he met two young creators making videos that barely got any views. He asked why they kept creating and publishing despite the low numbers. The young creators replied that they were building a binge bank.
So, let me explain what a binge bank is.
A binge bank is a collection of content that may not get much attention initially, but over time, it accumulates into a substantial library. The idea is that when someone eventually becomes curious about you and wants to learn more, they can dive into your binge bank. After spending an hour or so going through your content, they should walk away with a much higher opinion of you — they should feel like
- They know you,
- They like you, and
- They trust you.
Why a binge bank matters
Shift your mindset from chasing short-term gains like going viral or achieving immediate success to focusing on long-term growth and bigger achievements. Your content might yield little results, but if you consistently create valuable material and build your library, people will eventually take notice and come knocking.
You should understand the power of a binge bank — content that might start with no audience can still hold value years later. People will find and learn from it even 5, 10, or 20 years later.
Create intentional content
Ask yourself what 10 pieces of content you’d want someone to consume to understand and appreciate your work. Focus on creating those, knowing they’ll help build a strong foundation for your binge bank.
The binge bank of TV shows like friends
In September 2004, my housemate was watching an episode of Friends, the famous American TV sitcom.
Curious, I sat with him and watched the sitcom for the first time. I loved that episode. Can you guess what happened next? You guessed right — I binge-watched all 236 episodes from the entire 10 seasons, and sometimes, I watched many episodes twice or thrice.
The TV show Friends began in September 1994 and ended in May 2004 and had a huge binge bank. Imagine if they had given up after seasons 1, 2, or 3 because they couldn’t compete with the big TV shows back then. Friends wouldn’t have become the cult classic it is today or generated revenue for the TV studios long after the show ended.
Do you want to quit your writing career after just a few or even 100 articles? Remember, I started watching Friends after it ended, with well over 88 hours of TV content made over 10 years.
A binge bank is the key to success as a creator.
Creating a “binge bank” is a strategy many successful creators have used. Think about some of the early podcasts, articles, or YouTube videos from creators who are now well-known. At the start, they had zero views, zero subscribers, and no popularity. However, as they gained recognition over time, people began to seek out those early pieces of content.
Endure long enough to get noticed.
In the book Traffic Secrets, Russell Brunson said that Pat Flynn, a popular YouTube/podcast creator, had already released at least 100 episodes of his podcast before he even knew Pat Flynn existed.
It’s hard to believe, but even someone as successful as Pat Flynn was virtually invisible for his first 100 podcast episodes. It’s a powerful reminder that persistence pays off.
The truth is that there is so much content out there that, at the beginning, it is hard to get noticed, and you have to wait for your content to float to the surface. It is part luck and also hard work.
You must endure until your content is shown to your audience, but keep creating your binge bank.
One of my favorite quotes to stay motivated is by Khe Hy:
“Write a weekly newsletter for 52 weeks and watch it change your life. Simply share what it is you’re reading and learning. Worst case, you’ll understand it better. Best case, you’ll attract a group of like-minded people and accelerate your career trajectory.”
So create content every day or week and watch it change your life. Even in the worst-case scenario, you’ll still benefit by gaining new skills, understanding, and learning new things.
Wrapping up
So keep going even if you have 1 or 2 people clapping for your article. If one random person claps, comments, or views your article or video, that is validation — it proves that you are creating some value.
The algorithm may not work in your favour, but when it does, you better have a binge bank that anyone can go through, get lost in, and binge-watch all your content. Eventually, they’ll know you, like you, and trust you.
That’s how you create a long-life audience and build 1,000 true fans.
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