I’ve been away.
To tell the truth, I’ve been so far away from any writing platform that I haven’t even thought about my articles.
Last month was the first time I’ve taken it seriously in half a year, and man, did I miss it.
Let’s address the elephant in the room
Wah wah, my stats (views, reads, new subscribers) are down. It seems like everyone’s metrics took a tumble.
At least, that’s what I read 6 months ago before I took a long overdue hiatus from blogging. Everyone and their chihuahuas were crying to the algorithm gods.
I was tired of reading articles by complainers. I don’t come here to hear people whining that their metrics aren’t hitting their quarterly goals; I could go get a corporate job for that.
I’m here to learn from people two steps ahead of me. I’m 2. I’m learning how to live life on my own as a young adult living in a city on Mountain time.
My $5 Medium membership is a tool I don’t want to waste.
Why I left (briefly)
Complainers aside, my life got busy.
I started a new job, moved halfway across the country, and met a girl.
Writing on Medium and Substack was a passion born from the hell of Covid. I got caught up in the wave of writers looking to fill their time by growing an online audience.
I knew it was a fad. Check Google — searches for “how to start a blog” are way down. I knew this, but I had no intention of quitting, not even during my short hiatus this year.
No, sir, I know this is where I want to be; things just got busy for a while, that’s all.
What I learned from my half-year break
In my first month back, I hit the ground running.
My stats are better than ever, and Medium opened its checkbook to me for the first time in a while. I’ll be damned. My girl and I are set for next month’s date nights.
I don’t care about Medium money, though, and neither should you. It’s the sweet, sweet cherry on top of writing for a built-in audience. You’re getting paid to write on a social media platform.
Write what the people want, as the people want, and you’ll gain followers. Remember, though, from the start, followers are a vanity metric. All that matters are the topics and answers to real problems real people have.
The people want:
Money advice
Work advice
Relationship advice
To learn how to get more time in their day
The people want you to write like a witty yet experienced person who is both relatable and a high-valued individual.
Be funny, be bold, be valuable, but most importantly, be simple.
Most of us don’t have reading skills past the 5 level, so dumb your writing down, duh.
Take a Hiatus (and subscribe)
Truly, this break was the best thing to happen for me and my writing.
I’ve learned so much on the job about marketing and living on my own over the last half a year. Now I have new things to share.
Consider taking a short break from content creation for content consumption.