3 Ways to Succeed on Medium Without Publishing in Big Publications
The unconventional ways no one’s talking about

Fans > followers
Are you feeling frustrated from getting rejected by big publications multiple times?
So do I.
As you submit your unpublished draft, the wave of thoughts crosses your mind, that this is the one getting selected. But, a private note leaves all your hopes in dismay.
Writing to match someone else standards is always a tough task to execute. It only gets difficult for an amateur writer.
If you don’t publish in big publications, how will your work get recognition? Does that mean your game is over on Medium?
Short answer — Nope.
You can publish in small publications in addition to the 3 tips we are going to discuss below to find yourself a comforting home on Medium.
Let’s dig right into it.
1. Create your portfolio
Who are you? What skills do you master? How can you help us with your skills? Are you willing to work with us and expand your writing career?
Do you have answers to the above questions? If yes, how will you display them?
Medium has more to offer than just a partner program.
It’s a pool of endless opportunities to collab with like-minded people and expand your career. Money follow opportunities.
Craft your writing portfolio, showcase your best writings, share your social links, provide them with your contact details and keep updating it with your latest work.
A platform for marketing your freelancing skills.
If you are unable to earn hundreds of dollars from Medium, you can market your freelancing skills by promoting your portfolio page by leaving a link of it at the last of every article you publish on this platform.
You can also drop your portfolio’s link in your bio.
Bonus:
Google sites provide you with an opportunity to build your portfolio for free.
Here’s mine, you can copy if you wish to.
Your next freelancing client can be from Medium reading one of your articles.
2. Earning a commission
Medium provides you an opportunity to share affiliate links in your stories.
Please make sure you comply with Medium policies regarding affiliate links. For example: putting a disclaimer at the end that you will earn a small commission every time someone purchases a product or service from your given link.
Medium’s affiliate marketing policies. Check it out here.
There is an affiliate program for every niche you want to write about, ranging from software products to doormats.
If you are planning to endorse a physical product with an affiliate link, Amazon, Clickbank, Commission Junction, and ShareASale are the best to choose from.
I would recommend promoting products or services that you have personally used or have experience with. Don’t market shady products. Promote products that you think are really capable of solving people’s problems.
3. Money is in the list
Even if people read one of your articles, what is the guarantee that they will return to read more of your blogs?
The harsh truth — they won’t.
How can you make them visit your pages time and again?
By creating an email list.
Every 1$ invested in email marketing earns you a profit of 38$.
Rewarding you a return on investment (ROI) of an astonishing 3,800%
So, how are you going to attract people to join your list? Just a “ Join my newsletter for weekly updates” won’t work if you don’t have a solid audience who trust you beforehand.
If you are new to this, an easy and full-proof way to make people join your list is by giving away a freebie as an exchange for their email addresses.
You can gift a checklist, an Ebook, a free course, a 5- day email course, or anything that educates them more and helps them in their life.
I reward people with a Self Improvement Tips Checklist to collect their emails. You can check it out here.
I made it using mailerlite. As a beginner, it is the best email marketing platform. Not only do they provide a free plan, up to 1000 subscribers but also give you automation services for your email just for free. You can smoothly create landing pages and automate your emails without spending a penny.
Get $20 credit for free as you sign up.
What are you waiting for? Go and build your email list right now.
The most important thing to remember
Fans> followers
To succeed on Medium or any other platform, one thing to revise every day and work towards it is that — you need to attract and earn fans for your work, not followers.
Followers are merely people who read some of your work and will engage with it sometimes.
Fans are the ones that are the hardest to earn but are the most worthy of your online success.
Fans will interact, engage and share your content and will end up buying your services or products if you sell them.
A writer with 1000 followers on Medium doesn’t guarantee success but a one with 100 fans does.
It’s important to have a handful of fans rather than hundreds and thousands of followers.
You can earn these fans by publishing consistently, interacting with them, replying to their comments, providing them freebies, and educating them.
Even if 10–15 people read your work on Medium, make sure your content is so good that these people tend to convert into fans after a couple of months and so.
So, don’t get discouraged with only a handful of people reading your articles, be super encouraged that you have the opportunity to turn these people into fans by posting consistently quality articles.
Thank You for reading! Have a nice day
Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links, clicking on them and buying their service will help me earn a small commission.
