My Earnings Dropped 62% in July 2022
Disappointing is an understatement
July 2022 turned out to be the worst month since I joined Medium back in October last year. I know it’s summer, but this is a real slump. But all is good. I’m still very grateful to be earning money here. It’s still my favorite platform and I plan to continue writing here
So, let’s get right into the figures.
Views
Views for July came in at 18,814, which is a 42% drop from June. I previously wrote about how Medium isn’t all roses. My views fluctuate wildly. They have been 90% down and 600% up, all in a matter of weeks.
The figures above don’t match up with the July views because they only show the last 30 days’ views.
You can also see a gap of 7 days near the end of the month when I didn’t publish any stories. I took 7 days off writing. I needed a break.
A 42% drop during the summer months doesn’t seem too bad at all. It’s my first summer here though, so I’m not sure what to expect. All I do know is that over the last 20 years, almost all my internet businesses have shown big dips over the summer months. I can only assume it’s the same here.
Most other writers are also reporting much lower views, although I know a few writers that have substantially increased their views and earnings this month.
I won’t cover the number of reads and fans, because they always move in line with the views. There is nothing of note worth reporting.
My read ratio is 44.29%. That’s a very good number. It shows that readers are interested in my stories, which is a good thing.
Audience
The screenshot above shows that my followers grew at the lowest monthly rate ever. It shows that I gained 296 followers to give a total of 4,008.
However, I’m not sure if this figure is correct. The Medium support page shows the following message:
The new follower count is 26% lower than June, so that seems about right when I consider that views are down 42%.
Email subscribers are up 10 to 122.
Referrals have remained at 13. This hasn’t increased, because I stopped showing my referral link at the end of stories. I may experiment with including them again this month.
Stories
I published 32 stories in July, which is two fewer than in June.
If this month is as slow as July, I’ll stick to around one story a day. If my views start picking up, I’ll aim for 2 stories a day. I feel like my stories are wasted if I’m publishing them in summer when many people are away on holiday.
But not writing at all may mean losing traction. I also need to write to get enough practice to improve.
Earnings
Earnings came in at $360.98, which is a drop of 62% from June.
My earnings have dropped 79% since my all-time high of $1695.06 in April. Ouch!
The most disappointing part is that my earnings are down by a much higher percentage than my views — down 62%, compared to 42% for views. Maybe the reading time has dropped. There’s no easy way for me to see those figures.
My top story in July earned $166.56. It was 9 Things That Will Disappear From Our Lives Within 20 Years.
My top story in July earned $43.87. It was Average Net Worth By Age — How Do You Compare?
A few big earners can make a huge difference to the final earnings total.
Other July News
The website I’m planning is also progressing too slowly. I’ve still at the keyword research stage.
I’ve just signed up for a writing course from one of the top writers on this platform. My writing should improve over the coming months. Hopefully, that will lead to more followers, views, and earnings. I’ll need to put in a lot of time to complete the course and the exercises. It’s quite probable that this will mean publishing fewer stories this month. I will try to keep to my target though.
I’m wondering if I’m starting to overstretch myself. Maybe I should just focus on Medium for the time being.
How has July been for you?
