How I went from 0 to 305 followers in 117 days.

Summary

The author shares their journey of gaining 305 followers in 117 days on an online writing platform, detailing ten personal strategies that contributed to their success.

Abstract

The article outlines the author's experience in growing their online audience from scratch to 305 followers within 117 days. The author emphasizes the importance of engaging with readers, overcoming self-doubt, and consistently producing quality content. Key strategies include analyzing reader engagement, writing at a dedicated time, utilizing drafts for idea generation, and ensuring the relevancy and clarity of articles. The author also notes the significance of understanding the difference between online writing and other forms of writing, such as academic or personal journaling.

Opinions

The author believes that reaching milestones like 100 followers and going behind the paywall were significant confidence boosters.
They advocate for focusing on the reader's perspective rather than one's own when sharing personal experiences.
Paying attention to which articles receive the most interaction can guide writers on what content resonates with their audience.
Overcoming self-doubt is crucial, and consistent writing is key to gaining confidence.
The author suggests that early morning is an ideal time for undistracted writing.
They find value in maintaining a repository of drafts to overcome writer's block and generate new ideas.
Reviewing published articles for clarity and further research is a practice the author recommends for maintaining quality content.
The author prefers shorter articles to gauge audience response and plans to write longer pieces as they grow more comfortable with the platform.
They stress the importance of writing articles that are insightful, congruent, and free of repetitive or tangential material.
The author endorses an AI service as a cost-effective alternative to ChatGPT Plus (GPT-4), suggesting it could benefit other writers.

Tips Anyone Can Use to Grow An Audience

These 10 things have helped me in my writing journey and I list them here as possible tips and inspiration for beginners.

1.Reaching my first 100 followers. A milestone at 6 weeks. But going behind the paywall happened before I reached 100 followers. Both of these events boosted my confidence as a writer and motivated me to continue.

2. How to share who I am with a focus on the reader’s perspective, not my perspective. This was a big lesson which I’m still learning. I have to say, it’s the most enjoyable aspect of online writing since it requires me to step out of myself and my world.

3. Noticing the articles that get the most claps and comments. This helped me become aware of engagement and begin replying to those readers who commented on my articles. Through this process, I was motivated to click on authors that made comments and read their articles.

4. Not letting self-doubt and insecurity stop me from hitting the publish button. I’m continuing to feel more confident when hitting the publish button, but I think it takes practice, and consistent writing to gain confidence. I’m happy there is an “edit publication” in the drop down menu after publishing which I use quite often to correct grammatical errors and other things.

5. Experiencing writer’s block after publishing my first articles. I stalled for about 10 days after publishing 5 articles. I felt a flood of ideas but unsure who was reading my articles? What ideas I should devote time to and how to craft them. This also required understanding placement of images within blocks of text. Just a side note: writing online is very different than academic peer-reviewed writing and personal journaling. Both of which I was more experienced at.

6. Finding a time to write when I was undistracted. For me it is early morning around 5 am. I’m up with the dog and the house is quiet. It’s become my dedicated writing time.

7. Using the draft section of Medium to craft ideas and compost articles. Some of my drafts are more developed than others. If I’m stuck some mornings, I go to my draft section and comb through it to spark ideas. I have more drafts than published articles. I think this is a good thing. It keeps me generating ideas and become a creative generative resource.

8. Going back to published articles and reviewing them to determine what needs further clarification. This process helps me get centered. I’m an artist and most of my writing is about painting, imagery, and all things visual. I ask myself, what needs further research?

9.The articles READ time. My articles are on average 3 minute reads. My husband asked me why I don’t write longer articles? I said this is my way of feeling into the writing/publishing process and seeing what my audience responds to.

10. Relevancy and clarity of written articles. I’m committed to writing articles that are important, shed insights into the topic area and are congruent. In other words, repetitive phrases, watered down b*ll sh*t and tangential material is deleted.

I hope these writing tips help you if you are new to online writing platforms.