Now is the best time to get started writing for Medium.
Take note: Medium is a great place to write. Don’t wait until it's too late before you join this great community of writers.
I love being part of a writing community to grow as a writer. If you are trying to develop as a writer, I encourage you to start writing on Medium.
Consistent Writing is Important
One of the most common tips I see from authors on Medium is being consistent with your writing. Some writers spend a minimum of 30 minutes a day dedicated to writing, and they see a lot of success with high-quality content.
Must I have 100 Followers to Write on Medium?
While I was on a beach vacation, I could only read articles by my Medium friends and discover new authors on Medium with a passion for writing. I saw many articles from new writers with a desire to reach 100 followers because that seems to be everyone’s goal. It is not a requirement to start writing.
100 followers is not a requirement to write on Medium. Having 100 followers is only a minimum requirement for being eligible to join the Medium Partnership Program, otherwise known as “MPP” to Medium writers, and this topic seems to be everyone’s obsession.
If you look closely though, maybe you will see that I do not have 100 followers, yet I have metered articles published.
The MPP is only available in select countries, so my friends in India — for example — can not join the MPP at this time. I wish it was available everywhere.
But I want to share with you a little bit about my history writing for a predecessor of Medium that no longer exists: Yahoo! Voices.
Before Medium, I Wrote for Yahoo! Voices
Over 10 years ago, I started writing on another site very similar to Medium, called Yahoo! Voices.
On this platform (owned by Yahoo!), I was able to write just like on Medium and my articles would pay me per pageview. The editors would offer challenges, and offer paid assignments to write for the Yahoo! websites. I took on my assignments, one was for Yahoo! News, another was for Yahoo! Sports, and I was proud to be published on these major sites.
I had over 100 articles published on Yahoo! and I received the Hot 500! award several times.
On July 31, 2014, Yahoo! announced to all of their writers that it would shut down Yahoo! Voices and the Yahoo! Contributor Network.
I was very sad at this news, and I didn’t do enough to back up my many articles and the articles I was most proud of. Today, I only have a few screenshots to remind me that Yahoo! Voices even existed.
I Wrote on Hubpages…but no longer active
HubPages was an okay place to write, but I didn’t really experience the community aspect of it as much as you get on Medium.
I have 87,360 all-time views on HubPages, with my Top 2 most popular articles:
My #1 Article: “5 Signs You Are Being Spied On” has garnered 15,053 views.
My #2 Article: “What You Should Do If You Find Money Lying On the Ground” has approximately 11,470 views.
Despite all of the views, it really doesn’t pay much.
In addition, I have two blogs with over 500,000 views together.
Is there something to learn from all this?
Medium is a great platform for writers of all skill levels and is a great place to showcase your writing skills and abilities.
Don’t take it for granted that it will always exist. Have fun writing, enjoy it while it is thriving, cherish the friendships that you make, and learn from the journey.
Even if you don’t have access to the MPP in your country, you can publish articles on Medium to highlight and showcase your talent. It is very possible that many good things will come from writing on Medium.
Have you had a similar experience on a writing site?
Editorial: I Was Away on Vacation…
When you enjoy writing on Medium, you will miss it while you are on a beach vacation. Right?
I was away for two weeks and couldn’t post any articles, and returned home in May 2022 after a beach vacation with my wife and family. I had a great vacation but I had to return home to earn a living at my full-time job.
While I was gone, there were times when I really, really, really wanted to write on Medium. Since I only had my smartphone, I couldn’t write for Medium. It’s probably best that I enjoyed that time with my wife and family.
I am very glad that I have the opportunity to write on Medium again. I am thankful to meet so many people from different backgrounds on Medium and look forward to meeting so many more people through your writing and comments.
Next, I want to share with you how I actually got started as a writer — the very beginning. The very first article that I published in the early 2000s received over 1 million views. 😳
The article below shares how I used my online writing portfolio to get paying clients and what my current writing resume looks like. I share all of this in my next article: “4 Lessons to Unlock the Mystery of Making Money as a Writer”.
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