How to Reach 5k Followers on Medium

How to grow your following on Medium

Parker Klein ✌️

Published in

TwosApp

4 min readFeb 1, 2023

The full story

On August 30th, 2019, I posted my first story.

I started writing on Medium as a way to express myself creatively. I liked the idea of capturing my thoughts on life and sharing what I was learning from books, programming, and my personal experience.

By the end of 2019, I had posted 22 stories.

I’m not sure where my first 25 subscribers came from (may have been a bug), but you can see I wasn’t making much progress 😂.

In 2020, I posted 2 stories :/. I joined a startup and moved multiple times to San Francisco, Austin, and Seattle, so writing wasn’t much of a priority.

In September 2021, I started posting consistently. (25 stories)

I had quit my job at Google and was working for myself which allowed me time to not only focus on the things I cared about but also express my creativity in my spare time.

In May 2022, I had a story go pretty viral.

The story was called “7 Habits That Changed My Life” and it was inspired by my roommate and co-founder who was looking for new, healthy habits he could use in his life. I was happy to share and grateful for the positive feedback from the readers.

In 2022, I posted 183 stories.

I’ve found my groove in terms of writing. I enjoy the process of consolidating what I’m learning into my own words and sharing it with others.

Even if my posts slow down, my joy is anchored in the work itself, which is something I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of.

So far in 2023, I’ve posted 12 stories.

On January 19th, 2023, I reached 5k followers.

What I learned

1. Consistency matters.

Try to post at least once a week.

I keep a list of story ideas and write/edit/post a few of the ideas each week.

I also pull ideas from the books I am reading.

2. Use catchy titles

My best stories give off the impression of simple, but high value.

3. Productivity

Productivity and self-improvement have been the best categories for reaching a large audience.

I would guess this changes over time based on the reader’s interests in Medium, but this is how it currently feels.

4. The algorithm matters

I was surprised when the algorithm started pushing my “7 Habits That Changed My Life” story after sitting idle for many weeks.

I only think this happened because I was consistently trying to put out quality stories and eventually, I wrote one that was simple and of high enough value that it resonated with people.

What’s next?

More stories! I love the activity of writing. I love sharing what I learn, thinking of new ideas, and being creative.

This year I set a goal to reach 20k followers (I know, big leap) because I believe in my ability to share valuable information and stories that can help people in their daily lives.

I look forward to writing better stories, titles, and adding value to many lives.

Help me accomplish my goal this year by following for more stories.

#SharedFromTwos ✌️

Use code “BALLER” for a free feature at www.TwosApp.com

Save this story in Twos: