Joshua Mason's Newsletter

I love mistakes.

If I'm making mistakes, it means I'm out of my comfort zone and growing as a person.

I usually make a bunch of them before I start making any progress. Writing online has been the same.

My first few Medium articles could have been better. I've written 21 of them and made my first $500 on that platform. I hope to help you do the same.

Mistake #1 - Posting a first draft

All of my writing is bad. 

Well, at least before going back for editing. I throw thoughts onto the page, which are often out of order - at least from the reader's perspective.

Now, I spend more time on editing than I do writing. And most of that editing is in the headline and the opening few lines. That is what makes or breaks my articles on Medium.

I also move sentences around, creating a logical flow for the reader.

Mistake #2 -Ignoring Medium's formatting rules

Readers often skim as opposed to reading. My first articles didn't use subheadings or page breaks.

Now, I make all of my articles skimmable and format them in a way that makes them eligible for Medium to boost them. Medium has its own formatting guide; if you don't use that, you're doing yourself a disservice.

You'll need a title in title case, a subheading, and a credited photo immediately underneath the subheading.

Mistake #3 - Not using all five tags or incorrect tags

When you post an article, you can choose up to five tags. Use all of them. It puts your article in front of thousands of additional readers.

Before you pick the tags, check the follower count of the tag (also known as a topic) and the number of stories. A topic or tag like Life Lessons has 1 million followers but a high number of stories with almost 700k. That's a lot of competition for eyeballs. 

A tag like Society has 1.2 million followers with only 102k stories—much less competition.

Guess which one gets you better results?

Mistake #4 - Ignoring engagement

Followers on Medium are more of a vanity metric. It certainly doesn't mean they read your articles. Most of them won't.

But guess who will? The people whose work you read and engage with regularly.

And as opposed to a platform like X, that will actually get you paid.

Having five actual fans who read and engage with your article is worth more than 500 followers.

Mistake #5 - Posting at the wrong time

Post at 3 am on a Sunday and your article is buried in the feed by 7 am on Monday when more people are on the platform.

My articles that post weekday mornings tend to have more reach and engagement.

Remember, many people are competing to make money on Medium. Make sure you maximize your chances. 

Talk soon,

Josh