Learn From My Mistake.
New to Medium? Don’t do what I did.
Finding Medium a month ago was quite exciting. This is a platform where writers can actually earn money from writing whatever! The concept is so simple, and as I decided to try out the trial membership, I started reading. I explored many articles on how to write on Medium, on how to gain followers, on how the earning process works once you gain 100 followers, etc. My goal was to gain a following and do it fast to start making money.
And well, I did. After 2 weeks, I had over 100 followers and 7 articles published. Now it’s time to get paid! Although there was one problem…the number of reads I was receiving was declining SHARPLY. Now that I had 100 followers, those that I had followed and had followed me back were no longer reading what I was writing. And confession time…I wasn’t reading many of their stories either.
So what happened? Why has the magic 100 been reached, but nothing has come from it?
I focused on follows, not reads
Being naive, I read a TON of the articles titled “100 Follower Challenge: Let’s Do This!” or “Why I WILL Follow You.” or “I Need 100 Followers, And You Do Too”. The list goes on. I even wrote an article with a similar title where I explored if 100 follower challenges worked. Not surprisingly, this was my best-performing article! However, the comments I received were from some who had no more interest in my writing than I did in theirs. Not that they were bad writers, on the contrary, in reading their work, they were very talented. I just was not in the market to read technology or political writing. Their genres weren't my cup of tea.
I followed along, literally, and began a “follow for follow” approach. If someone clapped or commented or followed me, I did the same for them. However, the more I did that, the less I enjoyed being on Medium.
The stories I was interested in reading were no longer appearing on my feed. Many of my suggested reads had to deal with 100 followers. As I chased the number of followers, I realized that content was not king anymore. Follows now sat on the throne.
My follower count is still increasing, but I am not gaining many reads. My stats still show 5 new followers every couple of days, however the same can not be said for the number of reads on my work.
For this reason, I deleted my 100 Followers article.
I did not want to promise something I no longer believed in. The follow-for-follow approach is great to get people to 100 followers. And if you take that approach, I PROMISE you will reach 100 followers if you keep up with clapping, commenting, and following whoever is on the same route.
The writing community here is incredibly supportive, and I have been so glad to have found this platform. I want to support new and seasoned writers just as they have been supporting me. However, because I wasn’t patient and tried jumping the gun gaining followers instead of readers, I am beginning to rework my approach and evaluate what I write, how I write, and who I write for.
If you are new and looking for the magic 100, here are some tips so you don’t make the same mistake I did:
- Don’t start your Medium experience reading 100 Follower articles. They clog up your feed, and your true interests disappear. Instead, go straight to the writer’s page who wrote that 100 Followers article and read their other work.
- As you explore other authors’ pages, read articles and topics that deal with your interests and your style of writing. If you don’t know your style, explore!
- Interact with the writers who make you feel something. Don’t just comment, follow, or clap so you will get something back. If something does move you, leave multiple claps! Comment! Follow!
- Find your niche. Where is your area of expertise or experience? What do you enjoy writing about?
- Read, read, read. Good writers are good readers. Don’t be here solely for the pay and the attention YOU want to receive. Be a community and be genuine.
Please understand, I am still supporting, following, clapping, and commenting on articles. However, I need to find my niche and grow in it. I will follow a writer if the content they have engages me, and I hope other writers will follow me on the same principle.
Summary:
Don’t chase followers, read the content you are interested in, and write along those same guidelines.
