Don’t Delete Your Blog and Write On Medium or Substack
There’s a brighter path ahead
On december 2023, my blog took off.
After six months of blogging, I figured it out. For the first time in three years, my blog made more than my Substack and Medium blogs.
Before then, it would make sense for most people to quit, give up, and delete their blogs. I’ve never wanted to delete my blog.
That was never the dream. I wanted a blog to show off my other creativity. It would be a space for my other writing gigs.
And not quitting my blog has been the best decision I’ve ever made.
The decision that set me free forever
I quit freelance writing.
I started getting paid to write as a freelance writer during my sophomore year in college. In those early days, SEO was an alien to me. I questioned my high school English teacher for not setting me up for standard.
I looked for websites to write for, submitted a gazillion CVs and resumes, and wrote many articles, only to get paid after I was dead.
The ones who paid me paid less.
I got paid $1.50 for a 1,000-word article. I had to rewrite and re-edit the articles before they were accepted. After this, I was paid two weeks late after the contract. I couldn’t imagine the life I wanted.
So, I spent the first year writing for Google bots. I was paid peanuts and felt miserable as a writer.
I wanted to earn more. I got discouraged when my hard work didn’t pay off. I started searching for ways to make writing a full-time job. I wondered how people my age were making it in college.
I remember watching a girl on YouTube making $5,000 a month. It felt like a decade to get there. If only I could do the same.
But I figured things out
I stopped watching all those YouTube videos promising to teach me how to make millions overnight. I started grounding myself in reality.
I questioned everything until I realized how good I was with on page SEO. Then I figured out how to use it to my advantage.
The idea of starting my own personal WordPress blog was born. I applied those skills on another traffic generating platform. It worked like magic.
I discovered a different kind of blogging. I learnt how the top 1% get blog traffic via Pinterest. Things started to change.
Traffic came without me burning out.
The beauty of Medium and Substack
The readers are already there.
When I started blogging, I spent unbearable hours writing one perfect post. I felt my audience would get tons of value from it. But no one visited my blog to read my post.
I immediately became frustrated with the process because I had yet to receive feedback on my writing. And if I wanted people to find my blog and get value, I’d need to get traffic, wouldn’t I?
So I did and am loving it.
Medium and Substack already have an audience. People come here to read real stories, both small and significant. Focus on the 1% of readers interested in the topics you have experience in and love to write about.
My thoughts about Medium
The platform boasts an impressive 100 million active monthly readers.
I’ve realized that tons of readers on Medium appreciate blog writing tips that work. I have tons of experience and can get honest feedback from real people. I felt that my hard work blogging could inspire someone to start.
Medium is a safe place for me to practice in public and master long-form and compelling writing. I’d love to read about other people’s stories, share my blogging journey, and write about everything in between.
A finite world of endless opportunities.
My thoughts about Substack
The platform receives substantial traffic, nearly 50 million unique visitors, and about 20 million monthly active subscribers.
The ten email sign-ups I got were from the Substack Network and App, which I find very interesting.
I’ve discovered some intriguing features on Substack.
First is that the audience will build itself
The note features allows you to connect deeply
The psychology behind Sustack makes readers want to pay for it
With this in mind, I’m convinced of this simple truth.
My take on both platforms
I want to attract an audience interested in Pinterest blogging, and everything valuable I’d love to share that could inspire people so I’ll keep writing on Medium.
For the 1% who’d love to go all in on blogging using my exact blueprint, I’ll dedicate writing on Substack to them.
But I’ll keep writing on my personal blog
This is my full-time job. It’s my obsession.
This means that I dedicate the bulk of my time to my blog. I’ve formed an intentional routine where I blog on weekends so I can use weekdays to write on Medium and Substack.
I could delete my blog and focus on Medium or Substack to reduce the workload.
But I love the idea of blogging on all three platforms. I love that they complemented my role as a writer.
I love the different revenue sources each platform offers. I love the various levels of skill stack I’m building from them. I especially love being specific about what I do on each platform.
This is the shot that most writers miss.
Don’t delete your blog
Feeling stuck on writing can tempt you to quit and delete your blog.
Many experienced bloggers have deleted their blogs. Intermediate bloggers are quitting. They feel frustrated. Beginners aren’t even thinking of trying.
Writing on your blog is an asset in disguise.
Your blog gives you more control. It also gives you more freedom. You have more control over your content and audience. Algorithms and policies can affect how much you can see and how much you can earn.
That’s not the holistic writing journey I crave. There’s another option worth considering. It’s about having the best of all three worlds: my blog, Medium, and Substack.
📍I’ve scaled my new blog to $5000 in ten months. If you want my entire blogging framework, get access to it via my private FREE emails.