I Just Passed 100 Followers on Medium; Here’s 5 Lessons I Learned
I’ve been taking this blogging stuff seriously.
Despite passing 100 a few weeks back, I decided to hold off on publishing this story because you realise that a lot of what is out there is the same, and I wanted to really look into and analyse the growth of my writing.
I actually added it to my CV a while ago, “I own a blog on the publication site, Medium, that generates 2000+ views a month”, and when I went in for my interview they asked me about it! That was such a great feeling.
Alas, I digress. After a few days of close analysis and in-depth research, I have assembled a list of 5 things that I actually learned from this experience.
And just like this story, here goes lesson #1;
It literally takes forever, but the fun is in the wait
At first, it completely sucks. You have 0 views and 0 followers, meaning no one will even see your story once it’s out. Even if you start at 99, unless you’ve done your research or are naturally gifted, it’ll take a while before you even get good.
But that’s what makes it so fun!
Everyone starts at 0, and thankfully, 0 is the lowest number of followers or views you’ll ever have — the only way is up, you just have to put the work in.
Your stories are only as inspirational as the number of people it positively influences.
What you learn from writing over 100 stories is that your message sources its power from the number of people it reaches — a story becomes great when it reaches great people!
Writing is good for many reasons outside of publicity and fame, but you clicked on this post for community building and follower tactics, not creative prowess and storytelling.
Check out my Storytelling Masterclass on YouTube if you want to know more about what makes a great story!
If you want to influence a large amount of people, your message is secondary to your ability to capture attention. People often overlook this, and frankly that’s the reason why so many people fail on the internet.
Clickbait is a necessary evil in this game, as is bold subtitles and an eye catching format. Layering this with a strong message and a shareable story is what brings in the big bucks.
Medium wants you to succeed
Medium is very, very good at turning everyday people into world class authors, and you can find these authors in literally two seconds. We’re one scroll away. Genuinely.
Unlike YouTube’s algorithm, Medium literally tells you each month what type of stories are going to get the nod, while the presence of publications on the site make it impossible to have nothing to read.
Publications are a win for everyone.
You want to read great stories? Follow a publication that publishes stories you care about!
You want more views? Write for a publication and leverage its huge audience. Trade your content for their eye balls.
Along side all of this, Medium’s Partner Program makes it possible for all writers to make money from writing, and it’s safe to say that these stories are of the highest quality.
Every follower is special, they’re like party-goers and you’re the host
Something that’s so extreme on YouTube is people begging for subscribers in the comments section of basically every video…
Unlike YouTube, Medium offers a very genuine, passionate fan base where every one off your followers is like a raving fan that actually enjoys what you have to say, and isn’t just following for a follow back… So I hope.
The best way to grow is to keep the party going. Post frequently and interact with your guests. Who needs drinks, when you have tales?
I feel like this party is fuelled by everyone sharing life stories and lessons — that’s amazing!
A great blog post isn’t the same as a great story
I touched on this before, but I’ll say it again… A great story doesn’t make for a great blog post.
Blogging is different to writing, and writing is different to storytelling.
Each to their own, each as an art.
A great blog needs to be short and snappy. White space is a blessing, so keep your paragraphs short and sweet. It’s okay for your story to go on, provided you keep your readers engaged.
Thick walls of text are a nightmare for blog readers, but naturally a dream come true for writers and authors.
It’s also great to vary, well, everything. Long sentences followed by short sentences. One line paragraphs followed by a quote, followed by a title leading into a 4 line paragraph.
Titles and pictures are so important here in a world with such a low attention span. The abundance of content makes the battle for eyes a free for all.
Is that five already? Damn… Alright, here’s a bonus lesson:
The platform is bigger than us
The biggest problem I ran into initially was that I was writing for me. A lot of my stories were from the perspective of “Me”, “Myself” and “I” instead of “You”, “Yourself” or “They”.
The biggest lesson I had to learn was that Medium is bigger than just me, in fact, it’s bigger than all the writers put together. When you write, write for the people.
The people are what makes this platform what it is, so make sure that while you’re staying true to yourself and making content that sticks to your values, your integrity is something that comes as a unique edge to the natural art.
Creativity is your ability to believe in your perspective of the world so much that you can make an art form out of it. The art is inherently interesting where the challenge is to package it in a way that other people find inspirational.
That’s all from today folks! It’s a well known fact that winners are generally boring 99% of the time, want to know why? Read this! It’s free and takes about 2 minutes to read, plus you can work on it right away… Enjoy!
Also thanks to anyone who’s made it this far, I hope this post was of use to someone.
Finally, hit follow if you found this interesting. Let’s get to 1000 ;)
My social media links: Twitter, Instagram (Main), Instagram (Daily), YouTube, Flickr, blog
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