On Medium
I Started With Zero Followers
My journey on Medium so far
I posted my first Medium story on November 4, 2022. Before that, I had been on Medium for many years, yet I had never written anything. Occasionally, maybe once or twice a year, I showed up to read a few stories. Such was my relationship with Medium.
I did most of my writing on my WordPress website. But blogging there was like talking to a brick wall, so yes, I moved to Medium where a large audience was waiting to read everything I would ever write under the sun. Or so I thought.
I was in for a rude awakening.
Almost a week after posting my first story on Medium, it didn’t even have a single view. I was frustrated, to say the least. I had come to Medium for two reasons: first, to grow my audience as a writer. How in the hell could I do that if no one was reading my stories?
Was it a waste of time migrating to Medium from WordPress? Should I just burn everything to the ground and be done with it?
“Okay calm down, drama peasant,” I said to myself. “Remember why you’re really here.”
So, I remembered.
While I was on Medium to grow my audience and reach more readers, I was also here for a second reason; to hone my writing skill. This was actually my topmost priority at the time, and once I remembered that, I stopped caring too much about followers or views.
I reasoned that even if people weren’t reading my stories, I was still practicing my writing.
But as logical as my mind was, my heart had a different agenda. Every time I saw that perfectly round 0 follower count, I died a little inside. When will I get just one follower?
When?
It wasn’t until my third story that I got my very first follower, Laura Penrose ❄️🌏. Seeing that first follower notification ignited a fire I’d never felt inside me for a long time.
For the first time, I was genuinely optimistic about my future as an online writer. This growing-an-audience thing was pretty damn possible, I was certain. And that was all because I had one follower.
Just one.
I had been so close to giving up on Medium but seeing that one follower spurred me to keep writing. Thank you, Laura, for being my first follower.
Laura Penrose ❄️🌏 writes about “freelance writing, traveling, living abroad, and living your best life.” Go follow her if you love reading about cool places.
Of course, today, I have more than one follower. As of February 8, 2023, my followers have grown from zero to 124. I mean, this is nothing but an atom in the vast orderly chaos of the universe. But to start from literally nothing to more than a hundred in about three months is a huge deal to me.
Honestly, I thought it might even take me more than six months to reach my first hundred followers. I’m not even joking.
How did I grow my followers?
Here’s the thing. No one really knows why a complete stranger follows them. Everyone is different with their own sets of beliefs and values. So of course, your followers have their own unique reason for following you.
Some people follow you because they hope you follow them back. They may never read your stories. What they’re most interested in is that you follow them. That’s it. If you’re lucky though, they’ll actually take the time to engage with your content. In the worst-case scenario, they might unfollow you.
Others follow you because you followed them first. Most often, it’s simply out of common courtesy and not necessarily because they’ve read any of your stories.
That was the approach I used for my first five or so followers. I followed them all because they followed me first. However, I took the time to read at least one of their stories. I liked some, and others weren’t really my cup of tea. But I never unfollowed them. Courtesy, remember?
The above types of followers will surely increase your follower count, but they aren’t really the type of followers you’re looking for.
What you really want are followers who genuinely like your stories and can’t wait to read them. This is how I follow people now. If I go through your profile and like the way you write, I’ll definitely follow you.
I believe, in the long run, that’s the more sustainable route to growing your audience. But like most valuable things in life, it doesn’t come on a silver platter.
While we can never control who follows us, there are still useful strategies we can put in place to attract an audience. But this can take a while, of course. Patience is key.
These are the strategies I used to grow my audience from zero to over a hundred followers:
Strategy #1: Write high-quality content
As I said, one of my goals for coming to Medium was to practice and improve as a writer.
With that in mind, I prioritized writing high-quality content above everything else. Now, that doesn’t mean my stories are the second coming of the literary messiah. They aren’t perfect by any means and probably still need a lot of work.
However, it doesn’t take away the fact that I pour my entire passion into my craft just so I can always write my very best. Even if it’s not good enough, I can always boldly say that it was my best.
So how did I consistently write high-quality content?
1. Write stories you’re passionate about
Creating high-quality content comes easily to me because I write about topics that interest me.
When I first started writing on Medium, I didn’t care about a niche. I still don’t, to be honest.
To me, Medium was a gym for exercising my writing muscles. I never once thought about writing the most popular topics to get more followers. I simply focused on writing the stories I loved.
I wrote about the craft and life of writing, self-development, short stories, and personal essays about my life. It wasn’t until later that I even realized my stories fell under these topics. At the time, all I knew was that I enjoyed writing these things.
So, I wrote them.
2. Do your research
Any writer will tell you how important research is. To write excellent content, you simply cannot do away with research.
Most of my stories were based on my own experiences, and while no library or search engine can tell me about my life, there were still things I researched on.
This was especially the case if I was writing a how-to post. Even if it was based on my experiences, I verified the information so I wouldn’t make ridiculous mistakes that could easily be avoided.
It’s unprofessional to make wild claims and ignorant generalizations when a simple Google search could have saved you from embarrassment.
No matter how well-written an article is, if it’s full of inaccurate information, then it’s pretty much useless.
3. Edit the crap out of it
Once I got an idea, jotted it down, and did all the research I needed, I would let my thoughts flow on the proverbial paper without interrupting it. It never mattered how bad it was. I didn’t care.
That was just the first draft and I never publish it in such a raw state — I’m not a serial killer, thank you very much. My first drafts are always trash. No, that’s not hyperbole. It’s not even self-deprecation — it is fact.
You can’t begin to imagine how horrendous my first drafts are. To put it in perspective, if I publish them today, Medium will instantly ban me for instigating literary terrorism. Facts.
My stories are only readable because I put them through endless rounds of editing with the aid of tools such as ProWritingAid (affiliate link) and Grammarly.
You can’t skip the editing process if you want to write high-quality content. In my experience, it’s the most time-consuming and tedious stage of the writing process, yet I’ll never trade it for anything.
Strategy #2: Write and publish consistently
Having a well-written blog post is all well and good. But if you only publish when you feel like it, that’s not going to be helpful in the long run.
Other than pacifying the algorithm gods with regular updates, anyone who goes through your profile and sees that you’re regularly publishing stories is more likely to follow you.
There have been times when I loved a writer’s story so much that I went over to their profile to follow them only to realize that their last update was during the Jurassic Period. I never follow them since they haven’t been active in such a long time.
As a lesson to myself, I published consistently.
Over 60% of my first hundred followers came in December 2022. That’s not surprising considering that was the month I challenged myself to write daily and publish at least three times a week.
The more I wrote and published, the more my audience grew. If I had stalled and not been consistent, I don’t think I would have reached where I am right now.
Even after my 30-day writing challenge was over, I kept up my consistency. On January 28, 2023, I got my hundredth follower.
There are so many stories on Medium that talk about the importance of being consistent on the platform blah blah blah. You’re probably tired of hearing about it all the time.
What’s this consistency thing people keep yammering about? Such a cliche. Why won’t they let us be lazy in peace?
Well, it might be a cliche, but it’s an undeniable truth. If you want to grow your audience, then you and consistency should share an unbreakable intimacy. Period.
If no one’s reading your work. Don’t worry. I know it’s easier said than done. But really, take your mind off it. Just keep writing. Keep publishing. Stay consistent. It will surely pay off.
Strategy #3: Use the power of storytelling
By now, you’ve probably realized that I’m an avid reader here on Medium.
I don’t only read stories of the people I follow but I also peruse the Medium catalog to read random stories. Many stories are so engaging, I forget I’m actually reading them. Others, on the other hand, make me wonder why I wasted two seconds of my life clicking on them in the first place.
I’m a firm believer in not wasting time reading something that you don’t enjoy. Life is too short for that shit. Sorry, not sorry.
That being said, I expect people to treat my stories in the same manner. If you find it badly written and absolutely hate it, throw the whole damn thing away. I promise I won’t be offended. On the contrary, it’s on me to get better.
But of course, since I didn’t want readers to lose interest in my writing as a newbie, I began to study Medium stories so I could learn how to keep my readers engaged.
I asked myself what got me so hooked on certain stories while others made me wish I was illiterate?
After studying hundreds of stories, I found something common to all amazing stories.
Other than the common-sense rules that all writers should know — proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation — there was something more, something profound, that made a story stand out.
And it was quite simple: storytelling.
It’s the power of storytelling, from the headline to the very end of the story, that attracts readers to you, like a moth to a flame.
Headline
The first thing that makes me click on any story is the headline.
From what I’ve observed on Medium, a good headline (and by good, I mean one that gets me to open the story) performs one of three functions:
1. It tells me exactly what the story is about. If I’m looking for a story about how to grow my audience on Medium, I expect the headline to say so. Straight to the point. No confusion.
2. It’s humorous or a pun. I love humor. I love puns. I see it in the headlines, I click. That simple.
3. It’s so shocking or bizarre that I’m too curious to ignore it.
There are probably other functions headlines perform, but these are the three that stood out to me. Once I understood what got my interest, I adopted them for myself.
Before that, my headlines looked like they were making the reader decipher hieroglyphics. I wanted to keep the reader in suspense, so I kept my headline as obscure as possible.
It wasn’t the best approach, so I stopped using it.
Depending on the purpose of my story (whether to educate, inspire or entertain), I use a headline that reflects such a purpose.
If my story is a how-to post or has something to do with giving information or educating the audience, I write a headline that performs the first function. The headline tells you exactly what to expect in the story.
An example is How I Revise My Novel in Three Simple Steps.
If the story is meant to inspire or entertain, then I go for humor or shock. My story, Feminism is Stupid, falls under the shocking category.
Headlines are the gateway to your story. Pay as much attention to them as you do your stories.
Subheading
When you read all my old posts, you’ll see that they don’t have any subheadings, but my new posts usually do.
Not all posts need subheadings, however, they are still very important. Most of the stories I love reading have subheadings. So that must count for something, right?
What do subheadings do exactly?
They give additional context to what the post is about. The subheading can be a sentence or two that sums up your story.
I’m not sure how it affects viewership, but all I know is that I have more views on stories with subheadings than on stories without them.
The body
Now comes the writing of the story itself. Your headline and subheading have done their job well — they have a reader’s attention. But is that enough?
Absolutely not.
It’s time to deliver on your promise and give the reader exactly what you told them you were going to give them.
Remember how I said some stories hook me to the very end while I can’t get past the first paragraph of others? Yes. This is the stage where your storytelling prowess is tested.
I’ve even come across a few stories on Medium where the grammar and spelling were catastrophic, to put it mildly. Yet, I couldn’t stop reading.
How was that even possible? Well, that was all because the author compellingly wrote the story so that you even forget you’re reading it. The story puts you in a trance, and only until you’re done do you come back to your senses.
Now, I’m not saying to ignore grammar and spelling. Please don’t. But I’m saying that combine your error-free post with storytelling. At least, that’s what I did.
I can’t get into posts if they read like a textbook. I discard them quicker than a deadbeat father abandons his kids. Since this is something I hate to read, I try not to write like that either.
Even if I’m writing a technical subject full of jargon, I try to make it relatable to the general audience. That’s unless I’m writing for a client who specifically wants the tone to be formal.
How do I use storytelling?
I do that by including my experiences. If my topic is on something as technical as how to edit a novel, I include personal stories of how I edit my own novels. It becomes less about what you think people should do and more about what worked for you. That way, you don’t sound like a pretentious know-it-all.
Besides, who doesn’t like reading about other people’s experiences? We put ourselves in their shoes and imagine what it will be like for us. You want your story to be full of empathy. This is the key to great storytelling.
Basically, if you don’t want your post to sound like Siri and Alexa having a conversation about Marxism, then add storytelling.
Strategy #4: Engage with the Medium community
All the above strategies probably helped grow my audience. Yes, probably. I can’t say for sure.
However, if there’s one strategy I’m absolutely sure grew my audience, then it’s engaging with writers and readers on the platform. In fact, I’m so sure about this that I can tell you who followed me simply by engagement.
You might be able to grow your audience without engaging with your fellow writers or readers. However, you’ll definitely do it faster if you engage.
How do you do that though?
For starters, whenever you read a story you genuinely like, clap for it. Seriously. It’s so important.
I’m an introvert both offline and online. I feel like I’m even more of an introvert online. I would read a lot of things on social media, yet I never reacted to any of them no matter how much I liked them. No likes, no comments, nothing.
I just never thought it was a big deal.
Then I came to Medium. And that’s when I learned firsthand how important these things were.
It was pretty disheartening how I always took my time to write a post and yet got no engagement. I wondered if other online creators felt the same way too. After putting myself in their shoes, I knew they did.
I remember when I saw my first clap and comment on my Medium story. The extreme feeling of high I got from it was enough to keep me motivated for days. Since then, I vowed to always engage with content I liked on social media.
Anytime I read something or watched a video, I would press the like button. On Facebook, if something made me laugh, I would leave the laughing reaction, if I thought it was amazing, I left a love reaction, and so on and so forth. I did the same on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
It took me a personal experience on Medium to acquire this kind of self-awareness. I didn’t think that was important, but I realized how wrong I was.
If I loved a story and I read it to the very end, I would leave fifty claps. Actually, I never knew you could give up to fifty claps on a story. I learned that after reading about it from someone’s story. I thought only one clap was possible. But once I found out you could leave up to fifty claps, I gave it out as much as I could.
I’m not stingy with the claps. As long as I like a story and read the whole thing, I will give you all fifty claps. If I started reading, liked it for a while, but couldn’t finish reading for various reasons, I would leave between twenty to thirty claps.
The only time I never give a clap is when I truly don’t like the story or don’t relate to it in any way.
Most stories I come across, whether I’m following the author or not, get my claps as long as I find them valuable.
Now here’s how clapping for other writers helps you. Because what’s in it for us, right?
When you clap for someone, they get a notification from you. This means that they suddenly know about you and now they can check your profile. If they like what they see, it can earn you a follow.
This is how I ended up following Illinto&Dicinto.
I saw that they had clapped for a comment I made under an author’s post. Their unique name was the first thing that intrigued me. Like, what in the seven hells is an Illinto and a Dicinto?
And did their bio just call them “the BEST writers you could ever stumble upon?” Well damn. Let me see that for myself.
So I went to their profile, and beloved, when Illinto&Dicinto said they were the best writers you’d ever meet, they weren’t joking.
I loved everything about them, from their narrative voice to the way they used words. Before I knew it, I had clicked the follow button. All they had done was clap for my comment and just like that, I knew about their existence. Now, I’m a superfan of their amazing work.
See how engagement works?
It’s not only about clapping though. I also leave comments. Of course, if I have nothing to say, I don’t comment. However, when I find a post insightful, I go ahead to let the author know about it. And I don’t simply leave things like, “nice post,” “good” or “wowza”.
I leave thoughtful messages that either confirm the author’s posts or encourage them to keep going.
I don’t waste my energy commenting on stories I don’t agree with. I’m not about that kind of drama. If something is going to bring unnecessary attention, I don’t do it. I truly don’t have the energy for that.
Besides, people check out your profile simply based on your comments. You can gain or lose your audience simply by how you conduct yourself in comments. So do be mindful.
When people take the time to comment on your stories, reply to them. That’s a great way to engage with others and strengthen your audience.
When you find the profile of an author you love, follow them. No, you don’t have to follow everyone and their dog on Medium. However, if you like their posts and want to see more of them, go ahead and do it.
Other than the first few people I followed purely based on follow-for-follow, I follow everyone else simply because I enjoy reading their posts. As to whether they follow me back or not, I couldn’t care less.
One such author who I followed because I always look forward to her stories is Clavia Fidelity. It was actually through her that I got to know about Illinto&Dicinto in the first place. They are all amazing writers, and you should definitely follow them if you love reading about authentic personal stories.
Other authors whose posts I love to read are Zohvib 🌱 and Hazel Paradise.
Zohvib is an inspiration. They (I’m not sure if they’re he or she) write about writing and self-productivity. Their posts are in-depth and full of value. Running low on inspiration lately? Check Zohvib 🌱out.
From Hazel Paradise, I learn a lot about the marketing and business side of writing. They (wow, it seems I don’t know anyone’s gender on Medium) are knowledgeable about the topic and produce valuable content on making money online. Hazel Paradise was the first person to ever comment and clap on my stories.
Seeing that positive comment was a big motivation for me. Thank you, Hazel Paradise. That means a lot to me.
Okay, there’s one more person I’d like to shout out. When I still had zero followers and was learning everything I could about Medium, this author was my go-to teacher. Meet Biliz Maharjan. He (yes, I’m sure about this one) was, and still is, one of my biggest inspirations on Medium.
I learned almost everything I know about this platform from his stories. Everything he wrote fueled my desire to succeed on Medium. His stories encouraged me to keep going and never give up. Thank you so much, Biliz Maharjan. You’re an inspiration.
I follow all these authors because they’re amazing and I love their content. When I read their stories, I clap for them. And if I have anything to say, I leave a comment.
Ever since I started engaging more, I have seen a rise in my own audience. People also clap for my post and leave comments. I reply to their comments, and sometimes, we have a meaningful or fun discussion in the comment section.
How do I plan to get an even larger audience in future?
Most days, I believe I’m on the right track. I’m writing and publishing high-quality content consistently. I’m also engaging with the community. That’s slowly but surely building my audience and I don’t plan to stop it.
In fact, I plan to kick things up a notch. And that’s why I recently did two things:
First, I became a Medium member on February 3, 2023. I didn’t think I would actually pay to read metered stories here. But once I did, I can’t stop asking myself why I didn’t do it a long time ago.
I used to get frustrated that I couldn’t read all those valuable stories by pro writers here. Now that I’m a member, I can read everything to my heart’s content. Besides, it gives me great joy to know that writers get paid after I read their stories. Awesome. Get that money, will you?
Secondly, on that same day, I requested to join four publications. Actually, this was one of the reasons why I became a Medium member. Most of the submission guidelines of publications were behind paywalls and I really wanted to read them and follow the guidelines.
Well, now I have been accepted as a writer for all four publications. As to whether they’ll accept my submissions is another issue. But I’m optimistic.
I don’t know how things will turn out. But based on sheer logic, I estimate that joining a publication will help boost my audience in the future. Whatever happens, whether positive or negative, I’ll write a story later about how joining a publication affected my audience growth.
Let’s see how things turn out.
How much money have I earned on Medium?
Well, since you asked (yes, you did), I’ll gladly tell you.
I have made a whopping $0.00 right here on Medium. As a member of the prestigious Zeronaires Cub, I’ve never felt so rich, I tell you.
I’ve reached the follower threshold to join the Medium Partner Program (MPP). Unfortunately, I’m from Ghana, so yeah, that makes me ineligible.
But that’s alright. I mean, it’ll be nice to earn money from my writing through the MPP. But that’s not really why I joined Medium anyway. As I said, I came here to hone my craft and build my audience. So, it’s not a problem if I haven’t earned money directly from Medium.
That being said, while I cannot earn through the MPP because of my location, that doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways I can earn money using the platform.
If you’re in such a situation too where the MPP is unavailable to you, don’t fret. There are so many opportunities everywhere. And this is coming from someone living in Ghana where it’s hard as hell (literally) to make money online. Don’t get me started on how I was banned from PayPal three times, but that’s a story for another time.
I haven’t lost hope though. There are other means for me to earn money online.
For starters, you can always support my work through either a monthly membership or by buying me a coffee.
I’m also a freelance content writer. If you want well-researched and engaging blog articles to attract more leads and grow your traffic, then I’m available now.
Currently, this is how I’m earning on Medium, though not directly. In the future, I’ll be marketing my fiction and non-fiction books. I’m currently working on self-publishing one of my novels. I have big goals for the future and I’m very much looking forward to them.
If you’d like to receive updates about my novels, short stories, writing in progress, and all things fiction, then subscribe to my Substack.
Download my first novel, Vanquisher: Awakening, a book inspired by the TV show, Wynona Earp and the anime, Demon Slayer.
Do you want to grow your audience?
Of course, you do. We all do. We may not admit it, but deep down, we crave it. There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, it makes no sense to publish your work and not want people reading it. Of course, we all want a lot of readers who love our work.
While it’s not impossible to grow your audience, it’s also not easy.
If you’re still a new writer on Medium with less than a hundred followers, always remember that the top writers all started at zero.
Yes, zero. El cero.
Everyone starts at zero. Even those who have over fifty thousand followers. They eventually got to where they were through consistency, patience, and a lot of work over a relatively long period of time. So don’t worry if you still have twelve followers after a whole month. Jesus had twelve followers too and now he has over a billion.
Okay, that helps no one. You’re not Jesus. But my point still stands.
Don’t lose hope. Keep writing, stay consistent, engage with the community, and join publications.
Those are the things you can control, so focus on them. As for whether people follow you or not, that’s beyond your control. So why worry about that? Do what you have to do. If you don’t earn a single cent on Medium, at least you’re improving your writing. It’s still a win-win situation.
As I’ve already pointed out, there are other ways you can earn on Medium without depending on the MPP. Just keep calm and figure things out. It’s possible. You’ll get there.
If you’re having a hard time writing consistently, read this.
Back when I had zero followers, I saw a hundred followers as something that could happen in a century or two. But in less than three months, I got there. Had I given up the first few days I started, I would never have reached where I am today.
My goal is to reach a thousand followers and a hundred subscribers before the end of 2023. However, if I don’t reach this goal, that’s also fine. It’s not the end of the world. As I said, this is purely out of my control so I’m not even going to waste my time thinking about it.
This is the attitude I have in all aspects of my life, and it does wonders for my mental health.
Final thoughts
Damn, this post was a long one — the longest I’ve ever written on Medium.
If you read to the end, thank you. I’m starting to think I was just rambling and probably lost you somewhere on Strategy #2. But thanks for sticking with me.
This is my journey so far on this amazing platform. As time goes on, and I chalk more successes, I’ll update the story to reflect my new reality.
Before I end this notoriously long post, I want to remind you to stay true to your own journey. Yes, it’s good to learn from others who have come before you, and others who have achieved the success you envision for yourself.
But even as you learn from them, be kind to yourself and never compete with them. That’s unfair to you.
They had a lot of time to grow and get to where they are today. They were once like you. They once had doubts like you. They once had few followers and views like you. They once earned nothing from their writing like you. However, with persistence and consistency, which probably took years, they finally got to where they are today.
So be patient with yourself. Be in competition with yourself and yourself only. Compare your current progress only to your previous self.
Competing with others who are far ahead of you will only make you miserable. And so will obsessively checking your follower count.
Be passionate about your craft. Be obsessed, if you will. But never at the expense of your mental health.
Stay healthy. And I wish you all the success in your writing career.
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