How To Succeed On Medium With What Really Works

Five popular pieces of advice that aren’t total BS.

How many articles have you read on Medium offering advice on how to write killer articles that get views, curations, and the admiration of your family and peers?

Chances are pretty high that you consumed a few dozen of these articles during your first month or two here and found that not all pieces of advice were equal. Some worked better than others. Some portions of advice didn’t seem to work at all.

I’ve been a subscribing and contributing member of Medium since December of 2019. Longer than some, not as long as others. I’ve written 140 articles. My curation rate is between 50% and 60%. I’ve published in The Startup, The Ascent, The Writing Cooperative, Illumination, The Innovation, Cambium, and a dozen others.

I’ve got some chops.

Not the most immense chops, but pretty good chops. Chops that show a lot of growth potential if I have the patience and determination to stick with it.

So… laying all that out, I feel I’m qualified to write my own Writing-For-Medium advice piece.

What’s my angle?

Looking at some of the more popular pieces of advice handed out that aren’t bullshit.

It’s the advice that — from my experience — has panned out. That, when followed, grew my readership, and, when ignored, lowered my readership.

Here we go.

Use the headline analyzer

I took way too long to adopt this tool. Like many people, I reasonably assumed I knew how to write a catchy headline that informed readers of the content and would attract their attention.

I wasn’t entirely wrong, but I also wasn’t entirely right, either.

After a slump of low readership and spotty curation, I decided to see if goosing my headlines might not be the solution. I didn’t have anything to lose, right?

So I tried the much-praised free headline analyzer from CoSchedule. It was quick and straightforward to use, so it didn’t add anything significant to production time.

The result? Since starting, readership and curation have both gone measurably up. I try not to settle for any headline rating below 68. I figure getting past two-thirds out of 100 is a worthwhile target, and as I continue to improve my headline game, I’ll push my minimum higher. (That will likely happen soon as I’ve been getting a bit over 70 a lot lately.)

I also try to stick to no more than 100 characters for both headline and subtitle, so nothing gets cut off in Medium’s listing.

And in the interest of full disclosure, the headline to this piece achieved a score of 75.

Grammarly

The free version of Grammarly did a lot to help polish my work. The full subscription version is a thousand times better! Not only is it a more comprehensive review of your work, but it’s good at tailoring its suggestions to various audiences and tones. If you get paid for your writing, invest in the full version. The ROI makes it worthwhile.

I have two caveats, however.

First, it’s not 100% reliable. Some of its suggestions don’t apply to particular contexts or usages.

Ever meet (or be) someone who has only seen the word chutzpah written, but never encountered it spoken out loud? Their instinct is to pronounce the ch as they would for the word chair until gently corrected. (Yes, this is an autobiographical example, shut up.)

That’s what Grammarly is like, sometimes. It can get thrown when it encounters a usage it’s not familiar with — context-wise.

So use with a grain of salt.

Second, don’t use it and not learn from it.

I think one of the best signs that my writing has improved overall is that the number of suggested corrections has gone down over time. I don’t need Grammarly to tell me how to use a comma, for instance. At least not any longer.

Divining the secrets of curation

Curation should absolutely be a goal.

Why?

Aside from the obvious answer that curated pieces get wider readership and tend to earn more, it’s also a validation from experienced readers that your writing has some value.

Don’t try to divine the secrets of curation. That way lies madness.

Instead, push yourself to put out quality work that others will recognize and want to share with others. Ignore curation at your peril.

What to do with publications

The arguments for prioritizing publishing in publications are similar to the arguments for curation — exposure, readership, and earnings. It’s also validation by another person that your work exhibits value.

And unlike the mysteries of curation, publications — at least the ones not owned by Medium — are a little easier to divine and leverage to your advantage.

Writing about mental health? There are a bunch of publications devoted to the subject with wide readerships. Write a piece that fits that publication, and their readers become your readers. Writing about technology? Same deal.

The only real questions involve the sizes of publications. Large publications have thousands of readers, but they also tend to publish a lot of pieces. Your post might end up scrolling out of sight before it had a chance to really engage anyone. Smaller publications put out fewer pieces, but also have fewer eyes on them.

This will take some experimentation. My recommendation is to see what publications have actually helped you gain readers. You may find that publications with a growing number of subscribers will get you the most engagement. Eventually, you become associated with the publication’s brand as a reliably good read. And give smaller publications a boost if you can. Your piece may be curated, but the publication tag at the top of the page may encourage more subscribers. In turn, this gives you more potential readers for later pieces in that publication as it grows.

Quantity vs. quality — two wolves fighting?

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve had highs and lows here on Medium. When I published 4–5 times a week, my readership, engagement, and income were all up. For a couple of months, when I was dealing with real-world issues, I was publishing perhaps 4–5 times a month. Readership and income plummeted.

Now that life has settled somewhat for me again, I’m back to publishing nearly every day. As I get back into the swing of things, I’m watching everything grow again.

Many other writers on Medium stress that this site is not a sprint, it’s a long game.

They aren’t kidding.

While there will always be one or two out of the thousands of writers here who experience some overnight success, the vast majority of us will only attain notable success by sticking to it. We publish frequently, and — more importantly — grow as a writer as we publish.

We come down to that old question of quality vs. quantity. I see no reason why the end goal can’t be both.

I like to think that my writing improves, if not with every piece, then with every week I put in the work. As my freelance writing career has been doing very well lately and shows signs of only getting better, I think I’m on to something with publishing frequently.

It’s like exercise. Daily exercise yields better results than weekly exercise. Weekly exercise is still a plus, but daily is a bigger plus.

To niche or not to niche

Go ahead and niche, but not just in one area. That way lies madness. Niche in technology if that’s your bag, but don’t feel that because you write a lot of tech stuff that you aren’t allowed to write self-help topics, sports pieces, or advice to the lovelorn.

Carving out a niche builds a brand that will help you in the long run as you become a trusted voice in your chosen area.

Going outside your niche helps you grow as a writer and a person.

And no rule says you have to be an expert in only one field.

Results may vary

What an awful thing to say after all this. I mean… you expected guarantees.

I don’t blame you for being upset. I’m upset, too.

The point is that no matter how great the advice is, there are always going to be exceptions or situations where the advice doesn’t apply.

Don’t let that get you down.

Be flexible. Be open-minded.

And have some faith.

The advice laid out here is all good, awesome advice. But not every bit may be for every person.

Take what works, and run with that. You won’t be sorry.

That’s the only advice I’ll actually guarantee.

Thank you for reading. I’d love to share more with you via my Bi-Weekly Word Roundup newsletter sent to subscribers every other Sunday. It will feature news, productivity tips, life hacks, and links to top stories making the rounds on the Internet. You can unsubscribe at any time.