I like this version of the game.
I subscribed to Medium in May 2021. Up to that point, I kept landing on Medium articles when searching for the answers to life and became increasingly more frustrated that I only had 1 / 3 articles or whatever left for that month.
Each time I read through a free article 10 more caught my eye and the rabbit hole called my name so loudly I finally purchased a year subscription.
Honestly, why I ever questioned $5 per month when I spend $5 per week on Starbucks, or $40 some weeks at Amazon, makes no sense, because I gain a lot of enjoyment and insight through Medium.
Fast forward to December 2021 when it came to my attention people were writing for Medium and making money — like actual dollars, legit dinero, cash - all from their ramblings and experiences.
I couldn’t resist this temptation, the object was too shiny (and ya’ll know I love shiny objects).
So I get myself situated, spend a week or so doing research, reading articles more critically, asking myself what are they writing about? What angle are they taking? What about grammar and spelling and formatting, how strong does it have to be? Are we comparing the quality of articles to Pulitzer prize winners or high school essays (news flash it’s both).
This research goes on until you get the courage to go for it. You decide to contribute a story to the platform. My first story went live on December 31, 2021. Which fits ideally with the calendar/ timelines person that I am (I’m curious does anyone know if there is a name for loving this kind of thing?)
If this is you right now and you’re in the research phase thinking you’d write a bunch of articles, get all these views, and start gathering pennies right after you hit publish, you’ll be disappointed to realize you need 100 followers before you’ll be accepted into the Medium Partner Program.
But wait, this isn’t as hard to do on Medium as it is on other platforms.
Anyone who has set out to gain followers on social media can tell you it’s not as easy as you think. Sure there are folks who start an account and within minutes they are off to the races — gathering loyal fans with a few words of wisdom or couple images of their cats.
I don’t have that kind of charisma.
I’ve started many Twitter, TikTok and Instagram accounts and truth be told I can barely get 100 followers after months of being on the platforms. Sure there are a dozen or so spam bots that give the appearance I’m gaining an audience, but it’s short lived.
I haven’t exactly given my full attention to the recommended growth strategies out there to see if they work and honestly I don’t want to put in the time to drop fire emojis on everyone’s page and flatter those around me in an attempt to gather views.
So when I clicked the monetize this story button and read the rules of acceptance to the Medium Partner Program and saw you needed 100 followers before applying, my first thought was, how long is this going to take and was I willing to play this game going story-to-story leaving comments in an attempt to be noticed hoping followers flock to my page?
I decided I would.
I would give it the ol’ college try for maybe a week, but then I’m out. I’ll do what I have to do to get by, but frankly I’m over the whole like-unlike -follow-me-please game that social media forces you to play. I’m tired and getting too cynical. Besides, if I’m following someone I want to enjoy their work and hope those who choose to follow me feel the same way. Genuine reciprocity.
Here’s the follower plan that I created on day 3:
Day 1 — December 31
Followers: 6
- Apparently a few comments I left since joining Medium led 6 lovely people to my door, thank you for the initial boost!
- Publish my first article
Day 2 — January 1
Followers: 10
- I’m not really sure what reads, views, and fans mean or why my comments are part of my stats? Do these count as stories? Surely not. Still need to figure out how to read my stats page.
- Story views 2
- I engaged a bit more on the platform, left comments, read stories, genuinely clapped if it was interesting.
Day 3 — January 2
Followers: 11
- Wrote and edited my articles and planned which ones I want to release with no monetization, frankly not any if I can help it. I decided I’d like to focus on getting 100 followers first, and be accepted to the partner program before releasing more of my articles. <insert batch posting>
- Medium stories about gaining followers keep popping up in my feed. It’s like the app knows…! Good app.
- Came across Noelle Beauregard’s article Why I “Cheated” to Get to the 100 Follower Mark, and saw how she gained 100 followers in like 24 hours in a way that was genuine and respectful. I really liked her approach and Lazy Brea was sold on the quick turnaround this strategy offered. Because as you can see, it will be April 1, 2022 when I finally hit the 100 follower mark based on gaining 1 per day.
- I decided to write this article, publish, and begin the recommended engagement strategy of following writers and stories I can relate to, engage with, or find interesting. Let’s do this!
Day 4 — January 3
Followers: currently writing this on January 2 around 5pm, strategy in progress
- Strategy update: TBD
If you come across this article and stick around for the future, thank you kindly; I look forward to chatting with you.
Please don’t feel obligated to stay or be offended if I don’t reciprocate. I wish us all the best with making the most of this platform!
