Escaping the Daily Grind

Initially, my goal on Medium was to generate an income that would free me from my monotonous job. I diligently followed advice about writing daily, sticking to specific niches, maintaining high-quality content, and leveraging social media to share links. After a sluggish start, my earnings began to rise, but they've since plateaued, making my dream of retiring early to cruise in a Tesla seem increasingly unlikely. Ironically, I’ve become less enamored with the Tesla dream recently!

Perhaps my limited success stems from my decision to abandon strict niches in favor of keeping writing enjoyable.

The Enigmatic Medium Algorithm

A significant challenge in charting a path to success on Medium is the platform's algorithm, which often feels like a black box. Despite analyzing my article statistics, I struggle to discern any clear patterns to inform my strategy.

Modest Achievements

Among my articles, the one discussing Britain as a failed state has garnered the most attention. However, I’ve penned several pieces on similar themes, and one must wonder how much more Brexit-related misery readers can endure!

Following that, my article on OpenAI's "GPT Chat" has also found success. I find the subject both intriguing and concerning, as I view AI-generated content as a potential existential threat to Medium and various job sectors, growing at an alarming pace.

Writing for Enjoyment

One of the most enjoyable articles I wrote delved into the history and evolution of Medium itself. Additionally, I crafted a beginner's guide titled "Medium Easy." However, despite producing an average of two articles daily, most yield only modest earnings—certainly welcome, but not transformative.

The statistics I hoped would shed light on my performance often perplex me. For instance, I've encountered articles with no reads but multiple claps, and others that seem to vanish into obscurity.

Peeking Under the Hood

In my quest to understand Medium's mechanics, one writer claims that reading time equates to approximately $0.03 per minute. Thus, to earn a dollar, one would need about 30 minutes of reading time, although this can fluctuate as Medium updates its payment rates.

To quote from the article:

"How do I earn $1 on Medium? First, you only need internal views. Knowing that 1 minute of reading time equals around $0.03, we need about 33 minutes of reading time per article to earn $1."

Thus, internal views are what truly count.

A Sleep-Inducing Strategy

In terms of maximizing reading time, it might be beneficial if readers were to fall asleep halfway through my articles, suggesting a potential new strategy: crafting my writing to be as sleep-inducing as possible! So, dear reader, take a moment to pause, brew some tea, and return in at least ten minutes—you deserve a break from all this reading!

However, calculating reading time isn't straightforward since not all readers provide the same level of reward.

The Reader's Value

To complicate matters, it appears that the rewards aren't solely based on reading time; the number of claps also plays a crucial role. Importantly, the nature of the readers giving those claps matters significantly.

Neil Kakkar offers a compelling analogy:

"Consider Alice and Bob. Alice claps 50 times for every story she reads, while Bob only claps once for about five stories a month. Over the month, Alice might clap 2000 times while Bob claps just five times.

If both started with $5 for the month, each clap from Alice is valued at $0.0025, while each clap from Bob is worth $1. If your article attracts 10 readers like Alice, you'd earn $2.50, but if it attracts just one reader like Bob, you’d earn $1."

Neil further suggests:

"The crucial question is how to attract more Bobs? The answer is simple: keep writing. Improve your craft, seek curation, and focus on what the metrics represent—exceptional writing."

More Bobs Needed

So, if your name is Bob and you're reading this, feel free to follow and clap away!

Ultimately, even with Neil's insights, the intricacies of the Medium algorithm remain enigmatic—a puzzle yet to be solved, perhaps a blend of magic and alchemy! Where is Harry Potter when we need him?

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