How Did I Develop My First 100 Followers on Medium?
Sharing my thoughts and insights to find my first 100 followers
Have you reached your first 100 followers? If you are trying, you must read on. I joined Medium at the end of Nov 2022. Being new to Medium, I quickly read other writers’ writings. It seems like every new writer has the same concern about reaching their first 100 followers. Of course, it was also my concern.
However, the standard advice is to ask someone to follow you, and you will follow back. In the beginning, I did that, especially to writers who explicitly asked for this favour.
After following a couple of people, and they followed me back, I began to read and scrutinise the articles they wrote. I realised that I wasn’t interested in their articles. It may be an article on cryptocurrency, computer software, or other unfamiliar subjects.
At the same time, I came across some writers who wrote and shared stories about their lives that I can relate to and am interested in, but there is no communication about following each other. Despite that, I followed them because I thought their writings were worth reading.
It dawned on me that if someone followed me out of an obligation, they might not be interested in reading my articles. Hence it will be unproductive to have ghost followers instead of genuine followers.
I decided to stop being concerned about reaching 100 followers. Instead, I focused on improving my writing. I realise I will have a unique writing style because our thoughts are processed differently.
It freed me from following people I did not wish to follow. Before I follow any writers, I will read a few of their recent articles to see if I can relate to or understand them.
There is no point in following someone who writes about a subject you do not appreciate.
To attract new followers, I worked on the following areas:
1. Create articles that are helpful to your audience
Most of my writings are on lifestyle, inspiration, or self-improvement. I also wrote some poems.
When we add value to our writings, beware of lengthening an article unnecessarily. It takes more effort to write a short essay explaining your points than a long one. We must find the right words and phrases to express our thoughts concisely.
2. Avoid plagiarism
I did some research to understand more about this subject. Plagiarism is copying someone’s article in its totality. I found that copying and paraphrasing the points would be a partial plagiaristic attempt.
Most of us need to get ideas from Google to fill an article. It is challenging not to borrow some ideas from another writer.
One way to avoid plagiarism is to share our perspective on things we have learned. It is unlikely what you learned is precisely similar to someone else’s points. It will be your original thoughts and writing.
If we try to share some personal stories and experiences, our audience will be more able to relate to us, finding us authentic.
3. Write frequently
Most of us joined Medium because we like to write. However, we encounter difficulties in writing if we run out of topics.
To prevent running out of subjects, I wrote a list of topics to write about in my journal. Daily, I add to the list any ideas that come to mind.
We all live in different parts of the world and have different cultures. If you share things that happen in your life, others will find it refreshing to see things from your perspective.
We need not be perfect in our role as a writer. As long as we are learning, we will grow. The test of it is seeing more and more followers each week. The numbers will increase as you write.
In summary, I encourage anyone starting in Medium to focus on their writing and write regularly on diverse topics. Share issues you have experienced within your daily life.
Write in simple language so that the one who reads can follow you. You are writing not to impress but to communicate your thoughts and ideas.
I hope you have caught a point or two from me.
Happy writing, and enjoy your journey!
Thank you for reading. Here are my other articles on Lifestyle and Inspiration.