5,000 Followers In Less Than 2 Years — Here’s How I Grew My Medium Publication
4 steps to publication paradise
If you don’t already know, I’m the owner, managing editor and head honcho over at The Side Hustle Club publication.
And if you couldn’t already tell, we write stories about one thing over there: Angsty fan fiction.
Just kidding, we write about side hustles and making extra money!
I started the community in January 2021 and we’re hovering right around 5,000 followers and generate hundreds of thousands of views each month.
If I’m being totally honest, I never thought the publication would grow to be what it is.
I started it on a whim because I was tired of being at the mercy of other publications. No more getting told to make edits or denied, we accept almost every submission over there — even ones we probably shouldn’t!
Here’s how we grew to 5,000 followers in less than 2 years.
Find the right niche
I chose the right niche at the right time. I had no idea that the world would take a financial nosedive in the next 18 months after starting my publication.
So many more people in the world are looking for ways to make money right now because prices are rising and it’s hard out here.
And where do those folks turn? Good ole Marx D’s publication for mo’ money.
Even before the world caught fire, a lot of people tune in to stories about making more money because who doesn’t want a little more money in their pockets?
Be consistent
When the pub first started out, it was just me publishing stories. And it remained that way — for weeks.
I didn’t have another writer publish a story in the publication until my friend Rachel Yerks did me the biggest favor in the world and wrote a few stories for a publication with basically 0 followers.
After a couple hundred views and followers, new writers started to flow in and the pub has consistently published stories every day since.
I’d like to add that consistency isn’t the only key here. Some of those early stories we wrote for the pub were bangers. I mean they obtained thousands of views and really jumpstarted the publication.
So bonus tip: Write bangers :)
Start a newsletter
I start my side hustle newsletter on Substack the same day I created my publication. Two heads are better than one, so to speak.
Anyways, the newsletter and the publication feed off of one another. Readers who find the newsletter eventually find the publication — and vice versa.
Having this parallel platform to publish stories, generate leads and monetize has become crucial to the success of the pub.
Both my newsletter and publication have thousands of subscribers each.
Go for shameless plugs
Lastly, I plug my pub (say that 10x fast) almost everywhere and anywhere I can.
- Quora
- Newsletter
- E-books
- Personal blog
It’s everywhere and I like to think I’m not wasting my time and some of the followers we have come from all those different platforms.
Would I do it all over again?
F*** yes.
Creating and building your own publication gives you the chance to take control of something on Medium, which is a very rare opportunity over here.
If I want to publish a story to thousands of readers at 2 a.m., I have that option now because my publication has made it available to me.
Can you do the same?
