I Have Written 50 Articles Online, Here is What Happened

March 31, 2024 7 minute read

It’s amazing how quickly time flies.

It seems like just a few weeks ago I started writing online at Medium and matthiaskarner.com but now half a year has passed and I’ve written more than 50 articles.

In this article, I’d like to take stock of my writing journey: what went well, what was challenging, and what I learned.


Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash

What went well

Well-received topics

I’ve noticed that in general there is a sweet spot in the length of online articles. Articles with more than 10 minutes of reading time don’t perform that well at e.g. Medium. Very short articles, on the other hand, have mixed stats - some perform really well while others aren’t very successful.

But length alone is not the whole story - there is much more to it like topic, headlines, clarity, etc. But more on that later. At the end of March, my 5 best-performing articles were:

Writing mindset

When I started to write online it was more about learning to put “something” out there. Writing online just seemed like a great way of getting started. Writing the first few articles was difficult - it took tons of time and yet the results were somewhat mediocre.

However, I had something to put out there.

It felt like work.

But, after a few months and about 25 articles into the writing game, my mindset changed.

I didn’t just write to put “something” out there anymore. I started to enjoy the act of writing. It had become a valve to express myself and work out problems circling in my mind.

Writing had become a way of meditation.

Since I made that mindset change, I have written much more than I put out there. It has become a part of me and to share some of my writing openly just feels natural.

The challenging stuff

Difficult topics

There are some difficult topics to write about. But it’s not just about the topic, it is also about how you pack it up. The first articles I wrote, had been with no clear “reader” in mind - I just wrote down my view.

Furthermore, the headline is very important. Clarity is king here.

My 5 worst articles at the end of March are:

Consistency while working in a aemanding job

Already at the beginning, I decided to write consistently. Writing daily just wasn’t an option, because my day job as a Head of Digital Transformation Management demands a lot of attention.

So, I decided to publish two times a week. This still seemed like a stretch, but it didn’t seem impossible. Until now, I was able to keep it up.

However, there have been weeks where it was really difficult to publish two times. Especially, when there were a lot of things going on at work and in my private life at the same time.

What helped, was to prepare articles in advance: I try to have 1-2 finished articles ready. Then I can directly publish them if something comes into the way.

Monetization

I didn’t start writing online solely to earn money. My main reason was to learn how to create and share valuable content and improve my English.

Writing on Medium has a straight-forward monetization plan and I have to admit: yes, it is cool that you earn some additional bucks just by joining the Medium Partner Program. Even if it is just a few dollars per article, it is still very encouraging to earn money from writing - just like a professional writer!

How cool is that?!

I’ve also tried monetization strategies like affiliate links, buy-me-a-coffee, and selling articles via Gumroad. However, these strategies didn’t have much success so far. But again: I’ve learned a lot setting up these accounts and linking them to my writing.

Why did I put monetization under “the challenging stuff”?

Because it is.

Earning money solely through writing is challenging! Even if you add multiple monetization streams. But it is not the goal to earn a lot of money from day 1 onward. It takes time. Think of the successful writers e.g. on Medium: it took Eve Arnold more than 3 years (writing daily) to earn a good income from her writing.

I mean yes, it would be cool to make a living solely through writing online, but out of thousands of authors, just a handful will succeed.

I get that, but that’s not my top priority.

What really fires me up is spreading what I’ve learned with more and more people through my writing!

7 Learnings

Older articles perform worse (that’s a good sign!)

When I analyzed my Medium articles which performed well and which didn’t, a pattern showed up: older articles performed worse in general.

However, I see that as a good sign. To me, it shows two things:

My writing is getting better.
My audience is growing.

Following-up topics from engagement with other articles

I think this is the reason why this article performed well.

I had read a lot of articles on productivity that suggest to stand-up early in the day. I’ve commented on many of them that I think that this is wrong and that you should follow your circadian rhythms instead of forcing yourself to wake up early.

I then decided to write a whole article about it.

Clarity is important

Being clear and writing and not beating about the bush is the key to a successful article.

No one wants to read when you write 1.000 words about something that could’ve been boiled down to two sentences.

An article should be as short as possible to deliver the message you want to deliver. Don’t add fluff to it to artificially make it longer.

Personal stories are well-received

In my top 5 list, there are 3 articles with my personal story or opinion.

I think it is important to give articles a personal note.

If articles are only based on facts, they aren’t usually the best source for readers. Then textbooks might be better. However, adding a personal opinion or (even better) personal experiences changes the game: this is what’s valuable!

Headlines

I didn’t spend a lot of energy and time creating good headlines in the beginning. At Medium I didn’t even include a subtitle in my first articles (I added them later).

After 50 articles I’ve learned the importance of good headlines.

You can write the best article that will help so many people out there, but if no one starts to read it, it doesn’t create value at all.

To make people read your work, you must first convince them, that reading it is well worth the time. And a good headline is a great tool for achieving that.

But don’t do clickbaity headlines - this contradicts the importance of clarity and won’t bring your readers that come back to read your articles in the future.

Some keywords work well in a headline like “proven”, “simple” etc. What I’ve learned personally is, that numbers work really well in headlines. But if an article is a list-type article with X learnings or X strategies, X shouldn’t be 10 or more.

For me, 7 or 9 worked pretty well.

The sweet spot of the reading is between 4 and 8 minutes

With one exception, my top 5 articles are in this range.

I think that it’s a good length - long enough that you can pack in valuable information, but not too long that it seems like too much commitment to read an article.

Mixing in shorter articles

I also regularly mix in shorter articles in the publications The Shortform and Short. Sweet. Valuable.

I do it for two reasons: I enjoy condensing what I want to say in a shorter format and it also adds some articles to read for my readers that want a quick read.

I don’t have the time to keep it short. - unknown

Describing something with hundreds of words is often much easier than keeping things short. Especially writing very short articles takes more time than writing longer ones. It is because you have to summarize it multiple times to condense it to the quintessence.

If you can say something in simple words and keep it short, it shows that you’ve really understood what you are writing about!

What’s Next?

Writing online has been a fantastic journey so far. I’ve had some incredibly wonderful moments, but also some frustrating ones. I’ve learned a lot.

And what’s next?

Let’s keep that short: I will continue to be curious, read & learn, and write about the insights I’ll stumble upon.

Thanks a bunch for hanging in there till the very end!

If you’re already into writing, big thumbs up to you – you’re onto something awesome. And if you haven’t dipped your toes in yet, I totally suggest giving it a shot. Writing is like a cool breeze on a hot day: it’s calming and can really help clear your mind.

Trust me, it’s worth a try!

Share on

Twitter Facebook LinkedIn

Matthias Karner