First Take-Off Steps: Get Featured on Medium’s Top Stories

Everybody wants to feel appreciated and receive positive feedback for their creative work. The same applies to the Medium writers as well. However, we are all aware that Medium is a bit tricky platform that doesn’t openly tell you the exact path to get featured. And sometimes, even when they get featured, writers aren’t completely clear on why one story did better than the other, and so on.

But the ultimate Medium truth is this:

In order to get featured on Top Stories, to get views, followers and claps, you simply need to keep writing quality content that you love.

Enjoying your own content is essential

It’s paramount that you write about things that actually interest you and you thoroughly enjoy.

No one says that your content wouldn’t be top-notch even with topics that are not 100% up your alley, but it’s still always better to have consistently published stories you had fun writing. In the end, the way you perceive your stories will translate into the way you write them, which will speak to the readers on some level as well.

So, don’t hesitate to express yourself in your stories. But don’t let this pressure you either. Just relax and allow yourself to write in a way that feels the most natural to you at that moment. This is key to creating content that’s easy to understand. What’s more, such an attitude might prove to be a must for crafting a properly engaging story for your readers.

When you write on Medium, all you can do really is to be yourself.

This is precisely why I decided to change up the tone of my stories in TechBear publication. As we already had our own blog that deals with the website design and online marketing specifics, I thought that using Medium to talk about the productive and motivational side of creative online businesses would make for a nice and fresh change, while it also allowed me to write about things that I personally find to be essential for the way you’d approach and handle all aspects of life.

This balance between TechBear blog on TechBear website and TechBear publication on Medium acted as a motivational power in my case.

So, just because you may be a part of a certain niche doesn’t mean that you can’t tackle other niches and topics that make you tick.

Speaking of publications — you need them

Many new writers ignore the need for publication posting. But, the unfortunate truth of Medium is that independent stories don’t do as well as those that belong to a publication. This is why I made sure to create TechBear publication instead of just posting stories independently.

Of course, if you want a definite boost in your views, you should take the time to seek publications that accept guest writers. But, as you can see on TechBear example, this isn’t completely necessary for getting featured on medium’s Top Stories if you’re consistent with your publishing schedule and write the way you enjoy the most.

So we come to the question of consistency

This definitely isn’t a very unique tip and you’re probably going to stumble upon it in various articles that deal with blogging success. But, the point is that you can see this tip so often because it actually works.

Now, with that out of the way, the general advice is to publish stories on Medium three times a week. However, this golden rule doesn’t have to be yours as well.

You never want to sacrifice quality for quantity!

If you’re aware that you can’t make three articles per week happen without losing on the usual quality and vibe of your stories, simply don’t do it.

It’s always better to take some time and maybe try some brainstorming alternatives that will help inspire you more. I mentioned this on purpose because one of the featured stories from TechBear publication talks precisely about brainstorming alternatives and idea-generating creative techniques.

Keep on reading

You can NEVER read too much. There’s simply no such thing. It’s an oxymoron. And when you’re trying to make your way as a writer, the more you read the more inspiration you may expect to have.

Reading other people’s stories and drawing inspiration from them doesn’t mean you’re copying someone else’s work. It just means that you’ll have a whole new horizon of topics to put your own view and twist on.

With that said, don’t hesitate to explore Medium and categories that interest you, as you may find the right kind of motivation with just a couple of clicks.

And, of course, even though it’s important to keep your authenticity and individual approach to the topic, you should still make sure that everyone can understand your writing. Unless your goal is to prepare Medium’s users for spelling bee competitions, don’t get overly complicated with your terminology.