Summary

An emerging Medium writer shares their strategy for gaining over 100 followers in 21 days by focusing on consistent content production, leveraging publications, and crafting compelling titles.

Abstract

The author of the article joined Medium's Partner Program with no initial following and managed to amass over 100 followers within three weeks. The strategy involved a high volume of posts, combining both short and long-form content, and adhering to a consistent publishing schedule. The writer emphasizes the importance of joining Medium publications to reach an established audience and suggests that the quality of the title can significantly influence a blog's success. The article concludes with the author's commitment to transparency, promising to share monthly stats and offering advice based on their experiences.

Opinions

The author believes that both quality and quantity of content are crucial for growth on Medium.
They suggest that a mix of short and long-form blogs can help maintain consistent output without compromising quality.
Publications on Medium are seen as valuable platforms for new writers to gain exposure to an existing readership.
The title of a blog post is considered a critical element that can determine its virality and reader engagement.
The writer advocates for a pay-it-forward philosophy, offering to help others grow their Medium presence by sharing insights and data.
They plan to provide tangible results and earnings from their Medium endeavors in future updates, demonstrating the potential of their strategy.

From 0–100 Followers In 21 Days: Here’s How

I joined Medium’s Partner Program on November the 20th 2023, no followers, no blogs, no idea of how the Medium algorithm worked.

21 days later, as of writing this, I have now surpassed 100 legendary readers.

Was it luck? Was it strategy?

I can’t tell you I know Medium like the back of my hand, because I don’t.

But what I can do is share what I did, and hopefully it will help you to reach a further audience.

So without further ado, here was my strategy.

Volume

Put down your remote, I’m talking about a different kind of volume. I’m talking about how many blogs I uploaded during my first 3 week period on Medium.

The exact number was 31, which of course is equal to more than 1 per day.

So how did I write so many without sacrificing quality? Well the secret is in how many blogs I wrote, not how many words.

What do I mean?

I have written my share of longer form content blogs, but I have also added in a lot of short form content blogs too.

I would’ve struggled to write that many blogs with a large length, and so instead I mixed both shorter and longer blogs.

This was the ratio I went for in the end:

2x Short form blogs
1x Long form blog 1x short form blog

And I would repeat this every other day.

This allowed me to practice both writing styles and put out consistent work without hindering the quality of said work.

So, start out with this strategy and see if it works for you too!

Day 1: 2x short form blogs

Day 2: 1x long form blog 1x short form blog

And repeat this continuously.

Publications

Publications are a godsend for new writers. They allow you to publish your work for an already established audience, even better if you decide to join a particular publication you know what their readers are interested in and can adjust your content accordingly.

So here is a list of some of publications I recommend:

The Shortform and Short. Sweet. Valuable. are both short form centred publications, with word caps to ensure readers are delivered a digestible short piece of quality content.

The other publications are for long form content and mainly accept a wide variety of topics.

All of these publications have been great for me to use as a writer, with my blogs being published soon after submitting them,

So big thanks to all those involved with these.

How do you join a publication?

Simple, find a publication you want to join, click on their page and they will have information on how you can become a writer for them, follow their instructions and just like that you are in!

Title

Some on Medium say that your title is the most important thing for a blog to go viral.

And to be honest from what I’ve seen so far, they don’t seem to far off the money.

Your title is the gateway from the ‘for you’ page to your blog, it is the only thing your reader will see to convince them to click on, and then read your writing.

So it starts to become apparent just how important a great title can be for your work.

Knowing how to write good hooks is a perfect way to grab readers attention and in my opinion is an absolute must for a successful piece of writing.

I have a blog on how to craft irresistible hooks below:

Grab Readers Attention: How To Craft Irresistible Hooks

How to MAKE your writing impossible to scroll past.

medium.com

Wrapping Up

I have covered everything I believe helped me get to my first 100 followers within 21 days, and will continue to be an open book when it comes to helping others.

I believe in the philosophy: “Cast your arm down to help someone up, for once you are on the same platform, they can repay the favour”.

If you are interested in my stats and how much I make from my articles I will be posting a monthly stats blog, well… monthly, and I joined the Medium Partner Program 21 days ago.

So in 9 days I will show my stats for my first month including:

Views
Blogs
Best performing blog
Earnings
Followers

As well as any advice from things I experiment with that work.

If that sounds interesting feel free to follow me here for when I drop that, as well as subscribing to my newsletter where I drop writing and personal brand tips weekly.

Until next time,

Jeff.