How to Write Posts on Medium That Beg to be Shared
3 Key Questions To Getting the Views You Deserve
It can feel frustrating to write on Medium, especially when you’re starting out.
When you look around you, you see all those successful writers with tens of thousands of followers and hundreds of recommends on their posts, and all you have is a handful of recommends and little more than your immediate family in your audience.
I know what that feels like. I’ve been writing on Medium for over a year now and I’m just starting to see the results I envisioned myself creating when I started out.
Luckily, if you’re already good at writing, it probably won’t take you that long to see results — even if you’re not, you can still apply these tactics to grow your following as soon as this week.
Read on to find out how you can immediately apply 3 key tactics to amplify your reach and grow your follower base on Medium.
The 3 Key Questions You Must Ask to Be an Effective Writer
Any good writer knows that if they want to get their work read, they have to focus on 3 things. You can do this by asking:
- Who Are My Readers? (Who Am I Creating This For?)
- What’s My Message/Vision? (What’s the Aim of the Content Itself?)
- How Am I Packaging/Positioning My Content? (How Is It Attractive to Somebody Else?)
Some of these questions are more important than one another.
Yet, without solid answers to all 3, your writing won’t get clicked on. Even if it does get read, it will never truly take off (or get shared and engaged with). And without that engagement, it will be hard to keep going as you construct post after post in mind for your readers.
If you’re ready to start writing posts readers will love, start by tailoring your writing to a specific person in mind.
1. Who’s Your Ideal Reader? What Problems Do They Struggle With?
If you’re not writing to a specific person when you post here on Medium, you’re already making a huge mistake.
You see, people like reading content that feels like it was made for them.
If you don’t write to a specific audience, you write to no one.
Imagine addressing your post like a letter. Who are you writing to? What are they like? What are their fears, goals, obsessions?
Who are they, and why should they read your stuff? What will attract them to your writing? Why are you the best person to entertain them and/or inspire them to become their best self?
If you can answer these questions, you’ll be in a good spot to write content that engages people on their level. If you can do that and do it well, they’ll feel like you’re pulling their words directly out of their head and giving them solutions with your content as you do so. And people love to have a solution to a problem, especially if it’s on that’s plagued them for most of their life.
So if you can provide that solution for them, they will follow you to the ends of the earth for doing so (or just click on that ❤ below your post — you know, whatever works).
For example, I address my posts to the person I was 2 years ago when I was really struggling to get started and move past these problems I talk about here. I still struggle with them, of course, but I know now that it helps to share them with others — so then by sharing them, I open myself up to help them along in their journey whenever I possibly can.
2. What’s Your Message? Why Should Others Care?
After you’ve figured out who you’re writing to, you need to figure out what kind of message you want to send to the world.
What’s in the content of your letter? What are you trying to say? What’s your mission?
What change do you envision yourself making with your writing in the world?
The clearer you are on your message, the clearer your readers will be and the more likely they’ll connect with your message. However, the more confused you are about your message, the more confused your readers will be.
Always strive to provide so much value to your readers so they’ll think of you as someone they enjoy reading, rather than someone else. If you can be valuable to them time and time again, they’ll never forget you.
And if you’re in their hearts and minds, they will read and engage with your content for years to come.
3. Is Your Message Enticing? Does It Beg to Be Clicked?
I mentioned before that if you don’t give readers a good enough reason to click on your article, it’ll never get read. There are 3 ways to do this, and the first one comes down to the title of your content (yes, your headline matters).
How to Craft a Headline That Begs to Be Clicked On
How often have you clicked on an article and shared it before you ever read the full thing, mainly because the headline was so good?
If you want to be that writer whose content others desperately want to share, you have to start by creating a good headline yourself.
So give them that reason. Don’t settle for writing a ‘good enough’ headline, but write one that knocks them out of the park.
However, this isn’t a steadfast rule, as sometimes the best articles I’ve read have had terrible headlines. Either they are too long, too short, or they give everything away in one go.
Regardless, it’s best to stick to what works here rather than take a chance with weird titles. Here are some good guidelines to writing good headlines/sub-headlines:
- You should always tease a reader, but not too much. Be enticing and invite your readers to look at your words.
- You should always over-deliver on your promise. I will repeat that: you must always over-deliver on the promise you make to your readers that are implicit with your headlines. Never promise something you can’t deliver. Instead, over-deliver like crazy. And satisfy them in a way that leaves them always wanting more.
- Solve their problems. If you can write a headline and a helpful post to solve their problems, you’re way ahead of most. People read articles because they’re useful — don’t leave them in the dark with how they can use the advice or the stories you give. Always come back to ask “is this helpful and can others use it?” before you hit publish.
Besides the headline, the way your post opens is also very important. And that starts with creating a compelling intro.
Lead Your Readers To Your Solution With a Solid Intro
It’s true that everything in a post is important. How it looks, how it reads, and how it’s presented to the reader are all important.
But besides writing a good headline to draw readers in, writing a great intro is just as important.
Once your readers get past your headline, they will dive into your content. An intro gives them a closer look (a ‘tease’ if you will) on what they’ll really get from reading your post. And if you can solve the question of “how can I use this in my life?” for them early on, you’re golden. That’s what will save them from exiting the tab and leaving your article alone to be forgotten by them forever.
Good quality content is a given. But writing a solid intro that hooks others in will give you the leverage you need to make your writing dreams come true.
And if you can tie it up with a solid conclusion, too, you’ll set yourself up for the writing success others only dream of.
How to Package Your Post Up With a Pretty Bow that Readers Will Love
On Medium, there are many ways to make your message enticing, like a good image. You can always use images within the article, videos, or bullet-point lists to break up your content.
How you present your message is important, so you want to do it in as clear a way as you can. Don’t waste your reader’s time. Don’t do them a disservice. You are here to serve them, and anything else would be a grave error on your part.
You can always use good tags and supplement your advice with embeddable content. Linking to good resources is always a good thing to do, too, if it’s appropriate.
Also, edit furiously to tighten up your writing and make it flow.
The easier it is for someone to read, the easier it will be for them to glean how they can implement its advice as they move forward in their lives.
The more your readers can use your post, the better off they’ll be.
So be the conduit for somebody else to help them grow. Use your knowledge and expertise to spark someone else along on their journey.
Because if you can inspire them to action with your words, you give them a fighting chance to become the person they know they can be.
And when you provide that leverage for people to grow in some aspect of their lives, no matter what it may be, they’ll never forget you.
In fact, they’ll love you for the rest of their lives.
Call to Action
If you’re struggling with writer’s block, you can download a FREE copy of “The Bulletproof Writer’s Handbook: A Proven Guide to Conquer the Blank Page Forever” today.