Poor Viewing Figures, Then & Now

A post from 2014 shows a recurring pattern

An image I made for my posts on Bubblews (My own image)

While browsing through old document folders, seeking inspiration and hoping to come across a part-written article I could finish, I came across a post I did for the now long defunct content writing site, Bubblews.

On reading it, I saw that there are distinct similarities with what I posted then, and what I see in posts here on Medium. In fact, I recently made the bottom of the ladder analogy in a post on this site, in relation to poor views. Here is my post from then (posters on Bubblews were called bubblers):

Do You Feel Like You’re Left at the Bottom of the Ladder?

How do you react to other bubblers’ success? When someone who has been here only a few months submits a post marking their tenth redemption, are you encouraged, or do you feel deflated because you’re only on your fifth? Does a post that tells you how to make double figures every day on Bubblews fill you with optimism, or do you see yourself as a failure because you are lucky to claw in three dollars?

Of course there are those who steam ahead, but what works for them might not work for you. You can try all manner of things to increase your traffic: make a gazillion connections (and hope for half a gazillion to connect back), pump out those ten posts a day with machine-like efficiency, or put up a single daily post and spend the rest of the day liking and commenting. Your traffic might soar, or it might not.

Steady as she goes is a sure-fire way forward. It might not take you to the dizzy heights of the gazillion contact redemption king, but you will see progress, and the leisurely pace allows you more time to stop and chat with others on the way.

So if you feel that you’re progress has slowed, and you’re languishing on the lower rungs of the ladder, while other bubblers are trumpeting their success from the roof, have patience. Go for slow, steady progress rather than a dash to the top, and remember the words of Thomas Huxley, who said:

“The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man’s foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher.”