Diversify Your Writing
Or, why you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one Medium basket.
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When I worked in fundraising, I learned how crucial it is for nonprofit organizations to diversify their revenue streams. Relying on just one donor type (corporation, foundation, individual) for funding is risky, as there’s always a chance that a sponsorship will fall through, or a grant won’t be renewed, or an individual will pass away. And if said sponsorship/grant/individual is the organization’s primary source of income, it could hinder its ability to serve the local community.
It’s a lesson that can be applied to many areas of life. You’d think I would have used it in my current writing career, but no.
Needing that Dopamine Hit
When I switched from employed grant writer to freelance writer, my plan was to publish on Medium occasionally while also working on other forms of writing. I figured I could use Medium to build a portfolio, gain followers, and make connections, but it would be more of a side project, something I’d do between writing for print publications.
In little time, I grew addicted to the platform’s nearly instant feedback loop. With Medium, I can publish something and within minutes see that little bell at the top of the page light up green. A new reader! A new follower! A new comment!
Soon, publishing through other mediums (no pun intended) seemed, well, boring.
So, I have to submit this piece to an editor and wait weeks to find out if they’ll even publish it? And then it could take up to a year to appear in print? F that. I’m posting this article on Medium right now.
I kept writing and kept posting, and every Wednesday I’d check my dashboard to get the latest update on how much money I’d made. Each week the amount ticked just a bit higher, leading me to believe this was a rational formula. The more I publish, the more readers I’ll get, and the more readers I get, the more money I’ll make. This is amazing!
I shoved my long-term writing goals aside for a short-term dopamine fix and kept adding egg after egg into my Medium basket.
Then, the basket fell.
