DIY / HIRING THE HEAVENS
How to Get the Celestial Workforce to Work for You
It’s easier than you think to get more claps and pay
When I first started on Medium in September 2023, and for the first few months, I was not at all pleased with my stats.
By mid-December, I think the highest number of claps on any story was 600. I was ready to close this enterprise down.
My only gauge for how my stories were received was claps, highlights, and comments. I was invested in those claps. Because I’m in India, I don’t qualify for the Partner Program.
For me, a huge breakthrough would be to get one story to over one thousand claps. That’s all I wanted.
So I’m out walking one morning, listening to a podcast featuring author Jean Slatter who wrote Hiring the Heavens, a thin volume on enlisting the help of the celestial workforce for whatever: finding lost jewelry, getting a better job, improving finances, finding information, finding a parking place, navigating out of a bad situation, navigating toward a good one.
Big or small, there’s an individual or an entire committee from the heavenly employment agency willing to help.
All you need do is ask.
Clap junkie that I am, I knew immediately that I’d enlist this celestial employment agency for getting more claps!
I bought the book years ago and used it. Maybe over-used it — I had a committee for everything. And at some point, I just stopped, lost track, forgot about it.
But the whole notion of calling on the heavens struck me that day on that walk and I decided to give it a shot. Couldn’t hurt I figured.
So I retrieved an old worksheet I’d created and began. This time, though, I didn’t just write down what I wanted — you know, treating the Divine like a concierge — I called on and talked to these beings on a more personal level until I felt I’d made some sort of connection with them.
Here’s what I did
I asked for writers, editors, publishers, public relations beings, and marketers from the heavenly employment agency for help in increasing my Medium presence. Especially for more claps. Lots more claps.
And once I felt the connection and request was complete, I blessed it and let it go.
Here’s what happened
Immediately, I found Jan Sebastian 🖐👩🦰 piece, link below.
Jan explains how to increase your audience. The key: interacting — reading others’ work and engaging — highlighting, commenting, clapping. If it’s great stuff, saving to a list and sharing.
Another big key is reciprocity. I want 50 claps. You want 50 claps. So I always give 50 claps now. I didn’t before.
When I was new, Jim Webster instructed me that I had 50 claps per story. Not just an one clap. I didn’t know. Thank you, Jim.
Under the number of claps, right-click to see who’s given them and how many. I only have so much reading and engaging time and I will definitely give that precious time to those who are generous. I subscribe to these authors and put their stories on my To Read list if I can’t get to them immediately.
If you give me 50, I will subscribe to receive your work by email. I may not get back to your stories on day one, two, or three, but I will get back to you. Promise.
Boost
Within days of hiring the heavens, I got a boost. Complete surprise.
I had wanted to get into Globetrotters. My first submission was rejected.
Then I noticed a prompt for spiritual themes in December and I submitted Pradakshina. JoAnn Ryan picked it up, with some serious editing — don’t you love it when someone makes your writing so much better?
I made the changes, which involved stripping out a lot of details, and she published it. Thank you so much, JoAnn! And she noted that the story was boosted. Wow.
Thank you celestial workforce!
More tips:
- When there’s not enough time to read a story, I save it to a list, which sooner or later, I get back to.
- I used to do longer pieces but I find that shorter pieces are better received. I do my best to keep stories to no more than eight minutes. Three or five minutes get the most responses.
- Pinned: Once other stories got to 1K claps, I started rotating them out of pinned and I pinned other, lower clap stories. You get to pin five at once. That helped a lot!
- Friend of Medium. I noticed that when FOM was launched, readership went down a lot. It picked up when I joined. And it’s a great way to support other readers, who in turn support you.
The upshot for me is that seven weeks after Hiring the Heavens, I had not one but 18 stories out of 26 with over 1K claps. I know, some writers get more than 2K right outta the chute. Maybe that’s in my future. Our future.
Oh, and another complete and wonderful surprise: a second boost. The story about public speaking. Wondering if Malky McEwan and E3 had anything to do with that?
If you’re new and struggling, or if you’ve been around awhile and are not satisfied with your audience numbers, it pays to follow Jan’s advice on increasing them: interacting — reading others’ work and engaging — highlighting, commenting, clapping.
Were you like me and ready to close it all down? Are you satisfied with your audience numbers, interaction, and pay? If not, what will you do about it?
Here’s Jan Sebastian 🖐👩🦰’s how-to on increasing your audience. Great tips!
Hiring the Heavens author, Jean Slatter. Here’s her website, and you can find lots of podcasts on YouTube.
