The Vanity Metrics You're Chasing Are Worthless

Here's what actually matters if you want to make 6-figures from your content

I have:

• 19,000 Medium followers

• 100,000 visitors on my blog

• 8,000+ Substack subscribers

Sounds like I've "made it" as a writer?

But I’ll add that to my list of things I don’t care about.

For years, I was obsessed with the wrong numbers.

Instead of focusing on what actually fills my heart with fulfillment and puts money in my pocket, I was chasing:

• badges

• follower counts

• and external validation

Let me show you why that badge under your name is worthless – and what you should focus on instead (if you want to build a $100,00/year business writing content.)

Your thirst for badges indicates a deeper issue

I'll be brutally honest with you.

When I first started writing content, those follower counts felt like the world. They felt like validation that I was finally "somebody."

But here's what nobody tells you: You can have all the badges in the world and still be broke.

There are YouTubers with hundreds of thousands of subscribers who still depend on NordVPN sponsorships to pay their rent. They've built massive audiences. But never learned how to monetize them properly.

The badge becomes a prison. You're trapped serving an audience that doesn't pay while trying to maintain numbers that don't matter.

Yes, the badge gives you social approval. It makes you feel important. But it won't change your life.

What changed my life was learning to focus on the people who actually valued my work enough to pay for it.

Not the ones who just clicked "follow".

Badges lead to shitty content

To get your badges of approval, you have to appeal to the masses.

Specific content doesn't go viral.

Appealing to the masses means diluting your message until it speaks to a lot of people.

But specificity is precisely what your audience wants.

Because this is what positions you automatically as a leader and not just another "content creator".

Vanity metrics make you a people pleaser instead of a problem-solver.

What matters is this

After a decade of building online businesses, I've learned that only three things actually matter:

Number one: The money you make.

This isn't about being greedy, but realistic.

If you can't justify the time you're spending on your content with actual revenue, you're running a hobby, not a business.

You need to be able to meet your needs. Pay your bills. Support your family. Create the life you want.

Money matters.

Number two: The enjoyment and fulfillment you get.

What's the point of making money if you're miserable doing it?

I've built several businesses in the past, and they led to money.

But also to burnout.

I hated my life. The numbers were growing, but I was dying inside.

Now I write daily emails, and I love it. It energizes me instead of draining me.

Number three: How well you serve your audience.

This isn't measured by subscriber count.

It's measured by how many lives you can actually change.

Most of this happens in your inbox, where nobody else can see it.

People email me about breakthroughs they've had, courses they've launched, or problems they've solved because of something I taught them.

Those emails are worth more than any badge or follower milestone.

You can have 10 people whose lives you've genuinely transformed, or 10,000 people who barely remember your name.

Which one sounds more valuable to you?

The skills that really matter are these

The real skills that helped me earn money weren't about growing follower counts or gaming algorithms.

They were about understanding my audience's problems, developing empathy, and creating solutions that actually work.

When I shifted my focus from vanity metrics to these three things:

• My income grew.

• My fulfillment increased.

• And ironically, my audience became more engaged because I was serving them better.

It's easy to get caught chasing badges.

But please don't. Resist.