6,000 Followers In 3 Months — But Is My Success Duplicatable?
A case study of a new writer following my advice
I’ve been on Medium now for just under 3 months, having joined on November 20th. I have just hit 6,000 followers. It’s difficult to attempt to put into words how grateful I am, to all the people who have supported me, just know your contribution towards my journey is appreciated beyond what you may think.
There are some people on here who I consider great friends, they’ve supported me and always have kind comments to leave. I truly appreciate them and would tag people but I don’t want to clog up their inbox, but you know who you are!
Anyway, after hitting 6,000 I decided to ask myself a question. Is my success duplicatable? I firmly believed it was, but I know others have disagreed. They are skeptical, totally understandable, it’s a huge number and trust me, I did not expect to get this far so soon, if ever.
But, what if they were right? What if I was giving out advice that didn’t work, and I just got ‘lucky’? It’s a possibility, I tried what I thought would work and it did. So, what it pure luck that got me to this point? Or do I know, at least a little, of what I’m talking about?
Well, I can answer that question today because of my good friend JaffaBranding. Joseph is a new writer on Medium, who started regularly posting two weeks ago to this day, following my advice.
Now before I can continue, I am in no way taking credit for his achievements. I lent out a helping hand, that’s all. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t force it to drink. I could tell him everything he needs to do, if he doesn’t do it then he doesn’t do it.
But he did, he put the work in and is reaping the benefits. Just to further ensure that I don’t come off as Mr. Cocky, I’ll add some humility. If it weren’t for Joseph I wouldn’t have a brand, in fact, I would’ve made a grand total of $0 online. He convinced me to start, so it was only fair I told him how I succeeded on Medium!
Want to know the best part about all this? Here is an exact sentence I spoke to Joseph on the phone a few days ago:
“All the advice I’ve given you is in my articles mate, anyone can use it, it’s just about reading it, and then taking action, most people won’t though unfortunately”.
Everything I’ve told on how to succeed on Medium is available in my articles and if it isn’t it’s not because I’m keeping it secret, I just haven’t got around to posting about it yet because it’s minor compared to the other things I’ve posted.
Anyway, enough waffle. Let’s case study this mf.
(P.S. Thank you all so much for your support since I joined Medium. It truly is incredible how welcomed I’ve felt, again thank you).
JaffaBranding Case Study
Joseph started writing consistently on Medium on the 1st of February. He had seen the impact it was having on my life. I was happier, earning money and building a universal skill every day.
He, like any normal person, said “I want a piece of that” and signed up. I have seen this man go to the gym 8 times a week, 25 hours a day. He is a machine and his commitment cannot be questioned once he sets his mind on something. I knew he meant business.
What happened next? We spent hours on the phone, he would ask me for advice and I would give it, if the roles were reversed, and they have been, he would do the same for me. Here are some of the main pointers I gave him.
Get Your Face In Every Shop Window
Now, in this case, you can replace shop with publication. When you first join Medium no one knows who you are. Even if you are the best writer ever, you are an unknown. So, get your face about. Join a variety of publications and start posting in them.
Publications already have an audience for you to write to. You are now publishing to your followers and theirs. It’s a win all around. The only issue is that you are sort of at their mercy when it comes to when they publish your piece.
But let’s face it, in the beginning, you have no idea when the best time to publish is anyway, hell, I have no idea even now, does anyone?
Consistency, Consistency, and Volume
The same principle applies here. No, you don’t need to post ten articles a day but the higher volume in the beginning will correlate to quicker growth. How long this is true I can’t say.
But who are you more likely to follow, someone who posts an article that you like and then you don’t see a post again for a couple of days, or someone who has two pieces a day? It’s harsh but Medium will forget who you are quickly if you aren’t consistent early on. That’s not to say you won’t grow if you can only post one every other day, it’ll just be slower.
Remember though, don’t jeopardize quality for quantity. Find how many posts you can write per day without damaging quality and aim for that each day at the beginning of your Medium journey.
Bits and Bobs
I also advised other things like using horizontal images, and ensuring that paragraphs weren’t too long (something Joseph taught me) or too short either.
I told him about the structure I used, the publications I posted in, and why I liked them.
As well as, general writing tips. That’s it. Doesn’t sound too hard to follow right? So how did he do?
JaffaBranding Stats
As I mentioned previously, Joseph has now been consistently writing on Medium for two weeks. Here is his stats post:
To sum it up for you:
Views: 3,400
Reads: 2,000
Followers: 435
Email subscribers: 19
Posts: 61
Earnings: $204.75
For just two weeks of consistent writing on Medium, they are his stats. Insane. I think this is living proof that the advice I share here isn’t based on luck. I’m not a chancer, I share what works because when I do well, you do well, and when you do well, I do well. Get it? This is the Medium ecosystem.
We can all grow together. As writers, and as people.
I will say, that becoming successful on Medium requires one thing:
Hard-work.
When you see someone doing well, don’t get jealous, instead see what they are doing and implement it. That’s what the best in any field do. See what the winners are doing and add it to their game, while still remaining themselves.
Don’t become a con artist, a copycat. Be you, but be willing to learn from others. Don’t be ignorant of what others achieve, learn from them, use their information as a resource, and use them as a friend. I’ve met some brilliant people on here, just by starting a conversation.
Finally, congratulations to JaffaBranding you are working your socks off, we all see it, proud of you man.
And one more time, thank you to all of you, on the days when I have none, you are my motivation. Medium is the best, and so are all of you.
Thanks For Reading
How I can help you:
- Join The Fabledwords newsletter for a free writing course.
- Follow me for more writing tips!
Until next time,
Jeff.
