I Just Passed 10,000 Medium Followers; Here’s 5 Lessons I Learned Here
Medium has been the saving grace to my blogging career.
16 months ago I started a travel blog called Finding Tom, and pretty much failed to get more than 15 views on ANY new posts of mine.
It sucked.
I did that for months and months. I tried guest posting, getting into major publications, and social media outreach.
It all didn’t do much for me.
Not only that, but Wordpress was insanely difficult to understand. I remember one day spending 10 hours figuring out why my site was loading so slow and saying to myself I just want to write, damnit!
I can’t recall when I “officially” joined Medium, but it was pretty clear right off the bat that this platform was EXTREMELY simple to use. Not only that, but it loaded up quickly every single time. *Score!*
After I started The Post-Grad Survival Guide on a whim one night in October, I was off to the races.
I didn’t even know it.
Here’s what I’ve learned over my time gaining ten thousand followers on Medium.
1. It Won’t Happen Overnight, But You Wouldn’t Enjoy It If It Did Anyway
I like to encourage people to write here. I like to engage with whoever reads my stuff and hopefully see some of their own work later so I can return the favor.
It’s a beautiful thing.
What’s not so beautiful?
When those same people decide to stop writing because of reasons A, B and C. It sucks, because I KNOW if they kept going they would cultivate a following.
It’s actually pretty easy for me to write here every day. For some reason I’m motivated to do it 99% of the time, but it’s crazy how many people aren’t.
I think that’s what separates me from a lot of other people here.
I just love it, guys. I love feeling heard. I love that I can turn to this beautiful white canvas and not be interrupted or ignored. Medium is therapy for me.
For a lot of people, they only write when they want to write. Then they miss a day, or two, or seven, or 20. I guess they expected more to happen.
The fact is it will happen, and you will feel that sense of accomplishment when you get 1,000 followers, because you know what it took to get there.
While everybody else was watching Netflix and talking about writing tomorrow, you were there putting in the work. That’s why I’m happy now.
2. There’s ALWAYS Something To Write About
Here I am a year later and I still have a notepad full of article topics. Even when that’s barren and I sit here wondering what to write about, something always comes to mind.
It sucks, (catching the theme, here?) but something WILL come to you. Out of nowhere, too. Then you’ll get excited like a kid at Christmas and fire away at the keyboard.
All you have to do is dedicate yourself to sit in the chair for 30 minutes to an hour every day. Once you’ve blocked off that time, you’ve climbed 90 percent of the mountain, my friend.
3. Medium Was, Is, And Always Will Be Fantastic
I’m not a fan of the claps, but that doesn’t matter. I’m not a fan of a lot of stuff Medium does, but that would be like me finding a problem with the constellations, or the moon, or an In-N-Out burger.
They’re already perfect, so why nit-pick?
Medium’s core competency has ALWAYS been the CMS. The white canvas on which we write that’s simplistic yet beautiful. For one I’m here for that, but more importantly I’m here for the audience.
Medium was founded on a couple core ideas — one being that anybody should have a voice and place to write down their thoughts for an AUDIENCE.
My numbers show that I have indeed found an audience here, but moreso what I’m talking about are all the responses from those telling me they either liked my writing or that I should take a hike.
I enjoy both — one slightly better than the other ;)
In both of these aspects, Medium has NEVER faltered. That’s why I feel absolutely no remorse for becoming a member and staying a member. I don’t read member content. I don’t care about the stories I pay to read.
I pay because I love Medium. I want to support it, and I’m so, so thankful for what they did for me the past year. If I could pay $10 a month, I would. You can hold me to this, Medium if you ever bump up the membership level.
4. With Medium, You Can Actually Make An Impact On People’s Lives
A couple months back I received an email from an Indian boy who was having trouble at school. He felt pretty depressed, and his words really resonated with me because he was only 14 years old.
How did he find me?
Medium. He found me here. He found one of my articles and decided to rummage through the online maze to find my personal email. Then he sent me a couple paragraphs.
I responded to him. I wrote up one of my most personal articles and sent it over so he could read. I teared up the entire time I wrote.
This all happened because of Medium.
5. It’s Not About Me Anymore
As I’ve grown my follower count from 100 to 10,000, I’ve realized that my writing has become less and less about me along the way.
Every night I spend an hour connecting with those who comment on my articles. I try to return the favor and read some of their stuff, too.
If they don’t have any posts, I tell them they should write sometime, and that I would gladly read some of their articles if they did.
It’s such an ironic thing.
I set out one year ago to tell my story, but now I know the stories of so many others, too. I received comments that have made me question my own understanding — my own sanity at times — and that’s been a blessing in disguise.
I’ve become more empathetic, less aggressive, and hopefully a little more knowledgable along the way.
All because of Medium.
If you asked me to boil down what I’ve learned while writing here, it’s that I am just a drop in the pond. There are tons of voices out there beckoning for attention — each with their own beautiful perspectives and personalities — who deserve to be heard.
Medium isn’t great because of one person, or one publication; it’s great because of everybody. It’s great because anyone can be heard here, and if you think otherwise, take a look at me.
I never even majored in English or Journalism. I still don’t know what I’m doing with my life, but I’ve found comfort and my voice in this white box.
I will be forever grateful to Ev Williams for that.
