How I Got Started on Medium

A newbie’s perspective including a simple Getting Started toolkit

I’m only a few months new here

I became a Medium member in early February 2019, so I’m only a few months new here. But what a time I’ve had so far! I’m so excited to share some of the highlights. Below you will find several valuable links to posts/articles to help new members get started on reading and writing on Medium.

You can use links below to start your toolkit.

Click the flag on the side or bottom of any post you want to keep for reference. This will add it to your personal Reading List, which becomes your toolkit.

Links included here represent only some of the posts I found useful in my early navigation around Medium. There are many other great posts available. Click search, and type Medium, to see for yourself. One click, and all the learning you need is at your fingertips.

The #1 thing I love about Medium. It’s a melting pot of knowledge, learning, and creativity, supplied mainly by people whose intentions are to help others.

Where to start

It was tough getting started once I joined Medium because I found it all so overwhelming. Tech-savvy I’m not. I know my way around the internet and have worked with computers for decades however, so far, I’ve avoided many Social Media aspects of the online world. I have a personal Facebook account and two other Facebook pages. I’ve not ventured into the realm of Twitter or Instagram…yet.

However, I would still highly recommend you have a Twitter account.

Medium direct links to Twitter

An awesome tool within each post you read on Medium is the highlight function. From there you can choose to Tweet what you just highlighted, directly to your Twitter feed. More on this later.

Money well spent

I joined Medium after being introduced to it by an author-friend of mine who had just recently become a member herself. It’s the best $50 I’ve ever spent! With that pittance, comes a year-long subscription to Medium, which offers me unlimited access to read and publish all I want. In addition, I have the option to join the Medium Partner Program, which allows me to get paid for what I write.

It’s a pretty awesome set-up if you ask me!

The first thing I did was complete my profile.

My profile includes a description of myself to help readers understand me and why I’m here. In a sense, my profile is where I sell myself. Readers often want to know the author of a post has some familiarity, and even expertise, with the topics they write about.

The authors’ profile shows up on each of their published posts.

Some people also include links in the text part of their profile, to link to their other Social Media accounts (websites, blogs, Facebook, Twitter).

Include a good picture with your profile.

Start reading

Before I published anything, I read…and I read…and I read. I was so amazed by the wealth of information available on Medium, I just learned for a while. As I read post after post, I became familiar with the embedded functions that allowed me to highlight, comment and share text from the post.

I love the interactive aspect of reading and learning

There are icons to the side and at the bottom of each post which allow the reader to share the entire post to either their Facebook page or their Twitter feed. To ensure the required connections to Facebook and Twitter are enabled, update your Medium Settings.

Clapping is also an option. Click on the pair of hands and clap up to 50 times (applause) for each post.

There are many ways to give encouraging support to authors. A great and quick resource covering this is Tips to Write on Medium.

My first few posts on Medium were Listicles, a term I learned here

A Listicle wasn’t my intention, at least not at the time. I didn’t even know what a Listicle was. I just wrote what I knew.

The more I read, the more I learn.

Read what interests you

Medium funnels all published posts into categories which I find very helpful. There are Publications, Collection, Topics, and Tags, as well as the search function.

Settings and Customizing your interests

You can choose to Customize your interests (an option under your profile picture) as well as tick boxes in your Settings to allow Medium to refer things of interest directly to you through email.

Both options will ensure more posts-of-interest come your way.

Get engaged — gather a following

As I read, I started following authors whose writing and topics I enjoyed. I went on to follow people they follow and people who follow them. I was encouraged by fellow writers to increase my reach and invite as many readers as possible. As I continue to follow new people, more people follow me. I’m working to establish a vast following and broad network with which to share writings.

Okay, time to get writing

Rules for writers are outlined on the Medium homepage, as well as many other helpful posts to inform, encourage, and grow the Medium community.

Medium has a blog called 3 min read where you can also find numerous quick-read posts with further insights into Medium.

Getting published

Once I got serious about writing I found so many helpful posts on technique, style, formatting, editing, you name it, it’s here. One publication I publish through is Koinonia which is a Christian publication. Like many publications, the owners publish information to help their members. One such post I found extremely helpful, titled Resources for Writers on Medium, is chock-full of helpful hints and link for beginners.

Another publication I publish through, The Ascent, published a great resource on How to Succeed on Medium.

There are also publications geared specifically to writing, like The Writing Cooperative and The Creative Cafe. Check them out for helpful resources.

Everyone is helping everyone in Medium.

Another extremely helpful and very comprehensive guide for beginners is titled The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Medium. This post includes many valuable links to explore.

There are posts on How to Write and Publish Articles that get Noticed and How to become a top writer in 7 days. The supply of helpful information is almost endless.

Join a like-minded community

My publication Koinonia also offers a Facebook page for their members, and another Facebook page specifically for learning. They charge a small one-time fee to access the learning site. This site is an evergreen product where pertinent info is kept up-to-date and members’ questions are answered. Such sites offer a perfect venue for building community and support with fellow writers.

It’s one of the perks of publishing through a publication.

You can choose to publish directly to Medium or you can publish through a publication. There are many publications still wanting writers to join them.

Get your writing seen — Get curated

Once I got comfortable with the basics of writing I moved on to bigger challenges. I became interested in curation and reviewed Medium’s Curation Guidelines. This is a process whereby Medium editorial teams review posts, and ones that meet their criteria get Featured. Curated pieces also get circulated to interested subscribers of that topic, so a curated post has a much broader viewing audience.

You can get paid by Medium to write

Another helpful resource How Medium’s Curation, Distribution and Paywall Systems Work for Writers talks more about curation, and the Medium Partnership Program.

I’m a newbie writer too

I have had two posts curated so far. This is very exciting for me as a newbie writer. Yeah, I’m not only new to Medium, but I’m also new to writing too. I’ve learned almost everything I know about writing here on Medium.

Sharing with friends

Once you’ve published something you can share it with friends by using the Share Friend Link. This option is accessible from within your published post, on the top, under the cogwheel — Writers Controls. By sharing via the Friend Link, you give people free access to your post. Non-Medium-members get a limited number of free views each month.

I continue to read and write on Medium almost every day

I find the posts are inspiring and educational, the community is engaging, helpful, and supportive, and the Medium framework is user-friendly and interactive.

It all comes together to create an online community like no other I’ve ever experienced.

I’m sure I’ve only scratched the surface regarding the ins-and-outs of Medium, however, there’s enough here to get you started. A quick review is below.

Steps to getting started on Medium

• Sign up to become a Medium member and get an account
• Complete your profile with text, picture and links
• Start your toolkit by adding posts to your Reading List
• View your Settings to make sure you’ve personalized each area
• Customize your interests
• Sign up for the Medium Partnership Program
• Start interacting with the Medium community by reading posts (remember to clap for, highlight, comment on, and share posts, words or phrases that interest you).
• Start following people
• Join a publication
• Join or begin a support group (search Medium on Facebook for existing groups)
• Start publishing your own posts for other members to enjoy
• Share your posts with friends for free with Share Friend Link
• Read the curation guidelines to strive for more exposure
• Keep reading, writing, learning, and sharing