I screwed up my Medium strategy

Do as I say, not as I do? It's a classic case...

Yes, you read that right - the guy who will soon launch his first ever live, cohort-based online coaching sessions for people who want to be successful on Medium, messed up his own strategy on the platform.

Maybe I’m being a bit too hard on myself here, but it’s a cautionary tale, nonetheless.

There are three things you need to be successful as an online writer:

• your crosshair aimed firmly at a tightly-defined sub-niche;

• a writing regime that makes you consistent; and

• a bullet-proof process.

They’re all important, but without the first one, you’ll get nowhere.

Like any good magazine or column writer, a Medium writer is at his or her best when they stick to one topic and become a master of that topic. This is a particularly important tactic in the digital age where algorithms play the role of the distributor; flit between topics, interests, and niches, and you’ll never find a consistent audience.

For the last couple of years, I’ve been straddling two niches - tech and solopreneurship. It hasn’t harmed my progress on Medium; I now stand at over 16,000 subscribers and continue to earn over $2,000 on the platform each month. But this strategy probably has slowed my growth as a writer there. More worryingly, it has likely cheesed off more than a couple of subscribers.

Imagine discovering my musings on Apple and enjoying them enough to follow me on Medium and subscribe to the email feed. All would be fine and dandy until, one day each week, you’re hit with an article I’ve written about how to build a newsletter list, or how YouTubers should construct their videos.

That wouldn’t make much sense, would it? You only came here for my rants about the AirPods Max case, after all.

I have, therefore, made quite a big decision recently, which is to stop writing about writing, YouTubering, and audience building on Medium. That platform is now solely for my tech ramblings.

Instead, I’m turning my attention to Twitter, LinkedIn and this newsletter for all things solopreneurship. In doing so, I’ve completely siloed the two brands I’m now running (Mark Ellis Reviews and Solo Club) and, more importantly, given my audiences a far easier time of it.

My parting advice today is, therefore, extremely simple. As frustrating and limiting as it might feel at times, you must stick to one sub-niche if you want to be a successful content creator. If you want to target more than one audience, just make sure you create two separate and very distinct brands for each.

When you have the time, of course!

New free webinars added!

Before I go, I should make note of the fact that I’ve added two new webinar dates to the calendar this month.

If you weren’t aware, these are completely free, totally live, and give you an opportunity to ‘meet’ me and find out more about what it takes to be successful on Medium. Reserve your spot here.