How I Got 48 Followers on Medium in 4.5 Years

First off, I want to congratulate everyone who has more than 48 followers on this quality writing site, and I want to encourage those with less to not worry, within only a few years of hard work, you too can achieve this milestone of success.

Well, in reality, it wasn’t hard work, but the time that elapsed before I achieved the nearly 50 club is sort of a wonder. I hope it doesn’t take me until I turn 50 years old before I reach 100 (only 7 years away!).

At the rate I’ve been going, earning 48 followers in 4.5 years, I’ll just make the 100 club before I turn 50 — that is, if I’m still alive, the world is still intact, and Medium is still a thing. Of course, I’m praying for all those things to be set in place for this to happen.

Starting before many of the younger users here were still in high school (maybe junior high, wow), I began my journey on Medium (August 9, 2018) with an article about HubSpot — not a bad piece, yet I didn’t use the canonical link thing and it was originally on my blog, oh well.

Anyways, it is now December 14, 2022, which makes it roughly 4.5 years since I published my first article here at Medium. How many articles do I have on here you may ask? Believe it or not, 23 articles.

Before anyone is tempted with pangs of envy, just remember there are many nuts on the almond tree of success.

The highlight of this success is within the last week when 15 intrepid writers/readers decided to follow me and put me in such a lofty position. That means for nearly 4.5 years I actually earned 33 followers, but keep in mind some came and went along the way.

To be honest, and you may have well guessed, I have never taken the opportunity to write here very seriously. Sounds horrible, I know, but there is life outside of writing and this site, as you know. Essentially, my writing strategy wasn’t fully developed and refined, it was stuck in development mode and I was a ghostwriter trying to find a place for articles I couldn’t sell.

Now that the truth is out, I want to plead ignorance and ask for leniency, for I see this place differently and want to make amends. From now on my writing strategy aligns with my efforts here to express the sincere voice I longed to share, yet found only developer distractions within the maze of blogging blues.

I have also noticed a trend since being back and embracing this long-lost writing haven, that is, articles speaking of grand marks of success and gains. Is it wrong to want to take part? To share my sliver of success in the plains of boasting. I trow not friend, not so. For every gain with sincere creative parlance, this old writer grows with gratitude and glee.

I truly am excited for my fellow writers and not a bit envious of their success (my sarcastic article gives me away). While it may take some only a week or two to gain 100 followers, maybe 1,000, the meaning is in the journey, and the longer the journey, the more we have to write about — or maybe it is how unique the journey is…either or and both.

Some things take time to fall into place; once we realize something, it is like we should have known it all along; hindsight is 20/20 with no regrets; in God’s time, we will find peace and a song to lead us to paradise. It does give me warm fuzzies when things finally align.

Originally published at Medium Dec. 14, 2022

NewsBreak vs. Medium/30-day Comparison

February was the first month for me being monetized at NewsBreak and the second month for Medium. The results are in and they are drastically different. In this article, I’ll share the details and some thoughts about them. To make this easier with how both of these writing sites show stats, let’s compare the stats from Feb. 4 to March 4, or the last 30 days. NewsBreak Articles: 20 Views: 60k Likes: 1,104 Money made: $440 Medium Articles: 14 Views: 1,734 Claps: 124 Money made: $10.75 ----------------- Although my Medium account goes back to August 2018, I’ve only started seriously writing there since early Dec. 2022 (three months ago). I started writing at NewsBreak in late Dec. 2022. Here are some stats on my overall efforts at these platforms: NewsBreak Followers: 803 Articles: 44 Medium Followers: 417 Articles: 69 -------------- While I’m grateful for any money made on both platforms, the difference is fairly drastic. NewsBreak is a place where you can actually make decent money for ...

Rocky (1976) Movie Review

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An Ode to Grandpa Lee

An old-time pioneer amid modern vanity and "progress." The man stood tall in the wind with the sun beating down on his flat-brim cowboy hat. He was a working man, focused on his pioneer family in the western country they called home. Building and designing structures high and wide, the man skipped across wooden beams high in the air, under shadows cast only by moving clouds; wide open spaces watched the scene as death-defying feats were carried out in relative obscurity, as just another day of work. The man was an old-timer with relatively few years to boast, a before his time pioneer with an adventurous and loving wife plotting business in sagebrush lands far beyond the hyped city life bustling with seemingly meaningless activities. His skin was as leather, scorched in the sun and beaten with high winds containing drifting sand mixed with alkaline dirt. The dry mountain air in the high desert cleansed his heart with comfortable respite from the high temps and harsh weather e...

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