Simple, but not easy way to gain followers

Four Key Words To Remember When Writing Anything Anywhere

A common-sense way to build your audience on Medium

Okay, you have a problem. Your follower count is not anywhere near what you dreamed of having. What to do? The solution will not be easy, but it’s pretty simple.

Keep these four keywords in mind as you write. Not only on Medium but wherever you put words on paper to win followers.

1. Practice

The more you practice, the better you get, the more freedom you have to create. Jocko Willink, retired U.S. Navy SEAL officer.

Practice alone does not make perfect. But when we continue to learn while practicing our writing, we better our craft.

Our future belongs to what we learn today.

It’s not enough to keep trying unless you’re practicing typing. What’s needed is to compare what we did yesterday with what we should be writing today.

2. Patience

The key to everything is Patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it. Arnold H. Glasow, An American businessman, and humorist.

Ah, Patience, we may not understand what Patience is doing for us. The Bible tells us in James chapter one, verse four, to let Patience work for us. Yes, that is correct; Patience is a worker, not a car sitting beside the road on idle.

I now have over one thousand four hundred followers since I began in March 2018. I’m not saying this because I’m good at this craft, and I’m saying it because I kept at it for four years. So, yes, it takes Patience. I’m retired, so I do have more time than money.

To top it off, I’m seventy-nine and enjoy sharing with others how to make the older years golden. The good news is this, if I can make over one-hundred dollars a month on Medium at seventy-nine, you can.

Each time we publish, it builds our catalog of exciting stories. More important, it delineates the improvements we’re making in our storytelling. We do not like Patience because it takes time, and writing is a marathon, not a fifty-yard dash. Patience becomes our valued assistant in getting to the top of the game. Hey, I’m nowhere at the top on Medium. But, by golly, I’m making a good run at it.

• You might want to read this as a key to getting more followers.

Three Short but Powerful Tips to Build a Thousand Followers on Medium

3. Production

Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment. To either of these ends, there must be forethought, system, along planning. Intelligence, honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing. Thomas A. Edison. (My emphasis).

Years ago, I worked at a factory that ceased production. After my twenty-two years of punching the time clock, the building was empty.

You’ll be empty too when you no longer produce.

Now, I understand collecting paychecks is no concern if you’re writing as a hobby. But, the simple fact is that you must keep publishing stories. Publishing is the only way Medium’s money appears in your bank account, which leads me to my fourth point.

• I published this story in January this year, now it has over 16,000 views. It was one of my few humor pieces, but it took off. This is possible for you too.

I Bought an Air Fryer, and Now I’m Set for Life

My last point acts as the umbrella under which we write our stories.

4. Positive

Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be. Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Fill your stories with optimism.

The newspaper writer knows, “if it bleeds, it leads.” Listen, that’s for newspapers, but not for here. Our readers want to see optimism. Each one is looking for the sunshine, not a dark stormy night full of troubles. It is easy to write the crisis which sells newspapers. But not here. Our readers want a way through their plight so they can see the sunshine again. So, end on a positive note, your readers will love you. When you have a positive opinion of yourself you’ll write better stuff.

My Takeaways

• Practice — Get better every time you practice
• Patience — It takes twenty-one days for the chicken to hatch. Keep writing and you’ll crow like a Rooster someday soon.
• Production — Tom Edison warns us, seeming to do doesn’t get the job done, producing each week will build your follower list.
• Positive — Solving people's problems with optimistic insight will make their day.

I know the importance of headlines and content to have views, reads, and claps. But honing our writing skills by keeping these four words in mind form the mindset of a good writer. Which is what you are.

Thank you for reading, Richard

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