Lessons from Medium
After 1 month of Medium membership
Its been over a month since I took the Medium membership and I have published a few articles. Also, I have completed 100 followers even though I am not eligible for MPP since India is yet to be added to its program.
Below are my stats so far:
- 104 followers
- 4 Articles published (from the last one month)
- 350 views
- 800 claps ( Half of the claps are from my own family 😉)
- Comments
- and finally some sense of accomplishment 😊
It feels great to see your articles online on some platform and I am proud of my decision for enrolling in the Medium membership program. During the same period, I have learned a few valuable lessons. Today, I want to share here the lessons that I have learned so far.
1. Take It Slow
If you have been on Medium for a little longer time, you might conclude the secret to success here is “Write every day, Publish every day”. While this can be a mantra for most successful writers since it will get more views and in turn, earn a lot for them. But for a novice writer(like me), one cannot write as many articles as these pro writers. Even though if one tries, I think the quality of the content will be compromised or the tone of the article will still be the same. You may see improvement in the number of words you write daily in a short time but there won’t be any improvement in the words/topics you choose.
Writing every day is helpful but you don’t need to publish every thought that comes to you. This is journaling.
I would suggest one should not follow such a strategy in the initial days if your primary objective is to improve your craft of writing. As I mentioned in my previous article that the main reason I decided to join Medium was to start writing and improve my writing skills. If I try to be in a race and publish more often, I will certainly miss the main point of being here.
Don’t be in a rush to publish more articles. Take it slow. Relax.
Focus on Quality, not Quantity if you are new to writing.
2. Be Consistent
Show up for your work consistently. One article a week is fine. Initially don’t focus on the word count in your articles. There are thousands of writers on Medium, not everyone will get noticed in a short span, but if you show up consistently with your quality content, you will get noticed over time. Consistency pays off.
Also regularly post content on various topics to attract more readers in the process. Slowly, you can discover your niche.
Focus on the process, not the outcome.
3. Chase Readers, Not Followers
When I started with the Medium, I became enamored with it and I too participated in the trend ‘Follow Me to Follow You’. Finally, I got 104 followers with a similar strategy. One thing I can confidently say is that these followers didn’t show any increase in the number of views for my articles. This gave me the obvious conclusion that there is not much importance to followers on this platform, as opposed to other social platforms like Twitter and Instagram.
In my view, the only benefit for writers is to get the minimum eligibility criteria for the new MPP rules. Also, I don’t see any benefit for Medium as well with this new rule other than holding the money in their pockets for a while.
The lesson I learned here is your followers are not always your readers who will engage in your writing. Stop chasing followers. Keep true to the reason you chose the Medium in the first place.
Chase readers, not followers. Focus on improving your writing skills, your vocabulary, and your craft.
4. Read Daily, Engage Daily
Read daily, Engage daily. The more you read quality writing, the more you can improve your quality of writing. Read the articles that entice you. If you like the articles, please leave a comment or give them some claps. Comment on what you liked the most, what you are connected with, and what are your thoughts or how can you add more value to them.
If you like someone’s articles, give them at least 5 claps. I find it funny that the Medium allows one clap. This doesn’t make sense. In general, you will never clap once whenever you want to show some appreciation. In my opinion, there should be a minimum of 5 claps and then subsequent multiples of 5.
I see people getting engaged with the comments I have posted on their articles rather than engaging in reading my articles. This is how people start engaging with your comments and may read your articles to learn more about your thoughts. If you post your genuine comments about the articles you read, your chances of getting views on your article will be more and also in the process attract a few followers.
Reading other writers' work can also help you get writing prompts for your articles, which you can then elaborate on from your own thoughts.
Focus on reading quality content and engaging with other writers.
If you like reading this post, please show your support by clapping and/or leaving your comments. It helps me in improving my writing and boosts up my motivation.
