What I’ve Learned From Managing 2 Medium Accounts — One Successful, One Not
Main Account = $3,087.96 | Secondary Account = $7.89
This is the secondary account, in case you were wondering.
My main account is about six months old, whereas this account I started just two months ago. Over the past few weeks, I’ve had a lot of time to compare the stats and earnings from both and see not only how vastly different they are, but why.
On my main account, I’ve earned a grand total of $3,087.96, the bulk of which came in February and March, while this account has earned just $7.89.
Here are just a few of the factors that impact both my accounts very differently:
Curation/Distribution
On my main account, my curation rate is over 90%. When I first started writing, it could take days or weeks for my pieces to get curated, but I experienced curation before I even understood what it was or meant for my stories. Nowadays, my pieces are typically “distributed” within a few hours of me publishing them.
Once I hit a certain curation rate on my main account, it drastically increased the chances that more of my stories would be distributed.
Only a few of my articles have achieved curation/distribution here on my second account. Being the same person with generally the same quality of writing, it’s been hard trying to figure out exactly what is going wrong in one place and right in the other. Before starting this second account, I didn’t think curation made a big difference. I was still seeing many of my stories struggle to break 100 views. Now, without curation on my side, getting over 20 views on a story with this account is a victory.
Curation does not translate to virality, but it definitely makes a difference, and it seems that once I hit a certain curation rate on my main account, it drastically increased the chances that more of my stories would be distributed.
Getting Rejected
Being perceived as a Medium newbie by larger publications can make the process of getting in as writer and getting drafts accepted pretty tough. I’ve been turned away on this account by publications that have approached my main account asking for my stories to be added there. I sometimes wake up and find that I’ve been added as a writer to publications that I’ve never even heard of on my main account.
With this account, it’s harder to apply to be a writer when I don’t have a huge bank of stories that editors can look at to assess my skill level. I also believe there’s a bit of bias towards perceived newbies. Looking at my profile, it’s pretty obvious that I’m (seemingly) new to Medium. But that doesn’t mean I’m new to writing.
In some cases, I’ve found it necessary to link to writing clips from my main account when applying to be a writer for publications, just so that I’m taken more seriously.
Medium’s Favor
Over the past month, I’ve learned that having the Medium gods on your side plays a massive role in the success of an account.
Gaining the favor of the Medium gods isn’t something I can even pretend to understand…
On my main account, Medium themselves have done quite a lot to help me grow. They’ve shared my articles on Twitter and Instagram, promoted me in The Edition newsletter, and featured a few of my stories on the homepage. These very deliberate interventions have contributed directly to my views, reads, and follower count.
Needless to say, this account has gotten no such recognition. Gaining the favor of the Medium gods isn’t something I can even pretend to understand, so this isn’t something I have any concrete plans to try and change. I’ll just live with being overlooked in some cases.
Membership (Free vs Paid)
It will probably come as no surprise that I wasn’t interested in paying for two Medium subscriptions just because I have two accounts that I write from. So naturally, my paid subscription is linked to my primary, more successful account. If I were more into conspiracies, I might say that it’s interesting that Medium seems to promote that account while ignoring this one.
Do I think Medium favors writers who are paid subscribers? No.
I think the real difference is that being able to read unlimited stories on my main account gives me more access to interact with other writers. I can leave more comments on stories and engage with more people in ways that result in higher engagement on my own content. I’ve connected with dozens of great writers through my main account that have invited me to write for their publications and who share my stuff in ways that are mutually beneficial.
That is my one regret with this account. I’ve already found a great many writers that I’d love to interact with more.
All of these factors have shaped the way I view the potential for this second account. The frequency with which I publish, the kinds of publications I go for, and my long-term writing goals will continue to branch off in new directions, but I’m confident that they will ultimately lead me to becoming the kind of writer I want and need to be.
