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Lessons from a Writer's Journey Through the Blogosphere

Lessons from a Writer's Journey Through the Blogosphere

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 Blogger is a term used for a writer who writes articles and posts them online for an audience to read. The word “log” as in a captain’s ship log, forms the core of the word. I first “blogged” on a Google-owned site called Blogger in the early 2000s. The white screen with a blinking cursor would beckon me to spill my soul, and I tapped away after a long day at work. The page welcomed me. It didn’t talk back. It just listened.However, I worked an IT job by day, and ninety percent of my eye and mind-numbing work involved me facing the screen and typing until my fingers literally hurt. I stopped blogging to gain my equilibrium.After I left Blogger, blogging became a fixture in the gig economy, with many writers making a living from it. Mainstream media outlets paid attention to what leading writers said. Some drew hundreds of thousands of followers.When I left my full-time job in 2021, I set out to write what I wanted. However, using my retraining money from my layoff package, I attended Writers Digest University, where I learned the art of novel and short story writing, so my focus became fiction writing. The instructors could be brutally honest, as were fellow students when we interacted. It bruised my ego, but I learned story structure, grammar and usage.However, long-form writing felt like an insurmountable mountain. I wanted a quicker path to publication. It was then that I discovered Zulie Rane on YouTube. Her unbound enthusiasm for a blog site called Medium was infectious. She said it was a great place to write and earn. Her face shone, and her articulate voice beckoned me. I thought back to Blogger and all the writing I did. I had discovered the missing link. My personal non-fiction stories!In 2023, I wrote my first articles on Medium. Months went by, and I saw little reaction. I had three followers and no readers. I stopped trying and went back to fiction and published a short story book instead.A turning point came in 2024 when I received an invitation from Medium to attend an online seminar. My eyes widened as I realized all I had missed. I learned I could apply to write for publications where editing teams under the leadership of publishers like Susan Brearley and Kiki Walter would review my writing and give me the feedback I missed. Once again, I learned my writing required refinement, and I learned that following a process, could lift my words to a higher level.In parallel, I signed up for courses with a company called Write, Build, and Scale that showed me an in-depth view of Medium from every angle. Their lighthearted, professional and detailed approach raised my writing to even greater heights. Zulie appeared again, acting as a consultant to the creators of the course.My writing centers on memoir, humor and self-improvement, and I have achieved success at it. In one year, my follower count increased dramatically, with people who are not friends and family and not “follow for follow” users showing interest. Also, curators on Medium boosted my articles so they would get more reads, which translated to more earnings.My article views and earnings skyrocketed. I encouraged other writers to join Medium. “Join Medium where you can earn instantly.” A statement like that is music to a writer’s ears.However, in 2025 my reads and earnings dropped despite my working hard on each article. Unfortunately, a shift had occurred as Medium adjusted to the proliferation of “gig economy” listicle articles, AI-generated material, and spammers imitating writers. They entered an era of quality control to ensure genuine writers wrote genuine stories. I believe the expression “baby thrown out with the dirty bathwater” applied because although I enjoyed a boost here or there, overall, I lost the attention of readers.My next adventure brought me to Substack, where the business model centers on earning money from a newsletter. I joined Write Build Scale to learn the ropes. The course, just like the Medium course, is well planned and detailed, but I didn’t gain traction.Between my experience on Medium and Substack, I wondered if I belonged in the blogosphere at all.Then I viewed an article that compared Substack to Medium by Zulie. Remembering her expert advice as YouTuber and consultant, I invited her to my podcast to talk about her history as a blogger, AI and its impact, changes at Medium and how I can find a target audience.As I suspected, her effervescent personality and charismatic voice burst through the screen.Like me, she started out slow as a blogger. She needed to learn the ins and outs of what made an article successful. Not only did she do that, but she built a business to teach others how to.Last I looked, she had 175,000 followers on Medium on her personal blog page. Lately, she has transitioned to a new page in her life and career as a Medium employee who guides readers and writers on how to navigate and appreciate the site.Zulie was forthcoming with me when I asked what ...
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