Three Simple Rules to Build a Successful Publication on Medium
There’s no magic wand (don’t believe anyone who tells you this), but there are some key universal principles
Medium has increasingly become a dumping ground for listicles. Whether you need to know the ten things all successful writers do, or you’re trying to figure out how to be as mindful as possible while taking on three side-hustles, I’m sure there’s something for you here.
I promise I’m only being slightly facetious. If you can separate the wheat from the chaff, you’re bound to find some genuinely great, practical advice that you can actually use.
For the longest time, I have fought the urge to write one of these pieces myself, for fear of triggering my own gag reflex. But I have received enough questions through my many interactions with writers on Medium that I thought I’d have a crack. Specifically, I want to share some insights on how you can build a successful publication on Medium.
And the thing is, it’s not terribly complicated. But — crucially — it takes time, hard work, and serious commitment. One of the reasons listicles can be pernicious is that they may leave readers with the impression that “you’ll achieve that outcome if you just do these ten things”. In addition, anyone can seem like an expert on the internet. You can write about being a great entrepreneur without ever having started a business (let alone actually making money from it).
So, let me start by telling you where I’m coming from. I’m the founder and Editor in Chief of SUPERJUMP. We are the largest gaming publication on Medium, and we’ve grown more than 700% in the last year in terms of monthly views and daily visitors. Last year, we won the inaugural Samsung I.T. Journalism Award for Best Independent Media.
If you had asked me how to build a successful publication on Medium a couple of years ago, I’d have directed you elsewhere. But now, enough time has passed and enough results are in, that I feel confident to offer some reflections. In true listicle style, I thought I’d keep to three key “rules”. Truthfully, these are three key priorities and the specific way they articulate for your publication may vary.
1. Find your purpose
This is simultaneously the most important, most obvious, and most elusive rule. It’s beautifully captured by Simon Sinek in his TED Talk entitled “Start With Why”.
Simon draws a diagram with concentric circles. WHY sits in the centre, and is enveloped by HOW and then WHAT. When I talk to writers who want to start their own publication, they are almost guaranteed to begin with the WHAT. “We’re going to write video game reviews” or “We’ll probably start by doing weekly news wrap-ups and then we’ll add previews and reviews and then…”
You’re not guaranteed to fail if you start with WHAT, but as Simon asks: Why should anyone care in the first place?
SUPERJUMP started with a manifesto. This was articulated before we had a logo, or even our first article. Defining the WHY gives you a north star, and defining the HOW establishes guide rails to keep you consistently travelling in that direction (making it far easier to know what you should accept or reject in terms of content and ideas). This makes the WHAT largely trivial, because it naturally emerges from your purpose.
Starting a publication is like getting married. You are embarking on a commitment that will require your time and effort over a long period. If you aren’t in love — if you don’t have a compelling WHY — then you’re unlikely to keep working at it, especially when the road gets bumpy (and it will; I guarantee).
2. Keep walking forward
It can be frighteningly easy to get stuck in planning paralysis. You could spend weeks workshopping your WHY/HOW/WHAT and never actually produce anything.
This extends to worrying about things like logo/branding, social media presence, article format, publishing frequency, and more. It’s not that these things aren’t all important in some way, but they can become a prison of inaction. You might have created a folder full of concepts and ideas, but they’re largely meaningless until you’re publishing content for people to read.
When I started SUPERJUMP, I was the only writer. I had no specific article format or guidelines. And, crucially, I had no audience. But I did have a WHY. The HOW and WHAT evolved through many small iterative steps. Essentially, I was operating in lean start-up mode. Extensive planning gave way to flexibility and experimentation.
There are many things that could stop you from taking forward steps — including the fear that the work you’re doing “isn’t good enough” or isn’t meeting your own standards of perfection. I’m sure the SUPERJUMP editors will agree that I can be a stickler when it comes to the HOW and WHAT of editing and production. Just remember, you won’t always get it right. You will make mistakes. But the only way to get better is to keep writing, editing, and publishing. There is no other way.
3. Cultivate great relationships
It goes without saying that if you’re developing a publication of your own, you want to build up a great content pipeline, fuelled by the very best writers who really know their stuff and whose work is a pleasure to read. Every great publication is only great because of its writers.
That’s why it is critical to build great relationships with everyone on the team. “The team” extends to anyone who has ever written for your publication, even if they’ve only submitted one article and you publish dozens every month.
Cultivating great relationships with writers isn’t just the right thing to do as a human being. It’s also something that has limitless benefits and zero downsides. You will form close relationships with folks who end up becoming regular contributors, who believe in your WHY, and who work with you to shape and enhance the HOW and WHAT. These people will continuously fill the creativity tank. They will give your publication a life of its own, and help it reach unimaginable heights.
It is important to ensure that writers always feel like they are having a good experience with your publication, even if their submission is not accepted. Remember that it takes time and effort to write a piece in the first place. Submitting it to a publication is an act of vulnerability and trust. Make sure you always honour that, and you approach each submission as a collaboration rather than a transaction.
Remember too that you and your editors (should you be fortunate enough to end up with one or more of them) aren’t simply tidying up drafts for publication. They are also leaders and champions of your publication’s WHY, HOW, and WHAT.
I hope you enjoyed this article. There’s so much more to say about running a publication; if you found this useful and you’d like to read more from me on the topic, let me know in the comments. I’d also love to read the insights of writers, editors, product managers, growth-hackers, bitcoin-miners, dogecoin-collectors or anyone else who would like to share them.
