I Can Help Members with Less than 100 Followers Reach the New Quota

Have you heard about the new member quota that Medium members will soon have to meet?

Those of you who tend to get your Medium news second hand may have not heard about the new member quota that Medium members will soon have to meet.

I imagine that a lot of you may have gotten the news about the new Member Referral Program, where we can actually earn money for helping recruit new members. Everybody is probably writing about that, even me.

How to Get Paid with the New Membership Referral Program

News about making money seems to spread like wildfire around here, but the bad news, not so much, at least not until it’s too late for some people.

That’s why I’m writing about this new rule about followers. It won’t go into effect until later on, but it’s best that everyone knows about it now, so they can make sure not to get caught off guard, and with your pants down.

Keep reading and I’ll tell you all about the new policy, and why I think it sucks, so I want to help everyone I can.

Building Followers Can Be Tough

Everyone knows how tough it can be to build followers, unless you already have a following on social media, or some other platform that can give you a significant boost.

Right now, I have 421 Followers — in spite of having published over 250 stories in the past 3 months. Even though some writers who have managed to build one or two thousand followers would laugh at my small list, I’m grateful for even that amount.

The good thing is: I can still manage to earn money on Medium because I have so many stories. So even when just a few loyal followers read from my huge portfolio, I can still profit.

But what about those writers who may not be all that new to Medium, but they haven’t been able to reach even 100 followers? Based on the new rule that will be implemented, they will have to bring their numbers up by the end of the year.

Yep. That’s what’s happening, and the end of the year will be here before you know it. Here is what Medium put in the OFFICIAL email they sent out — the same email with the news about the Membership Referral details.

New Partner Program eligibility criteria

“We are instating a simple application process, which is common to most platforms, that requires writers to meet basic criteria. New Partner Program writers must have at least 100 followers and have published at least one story in order to apply. As a current Partner Program writer, you are automatically enrolled through the end of the year and do not need to apply at this time, though you will need to meet the same criteria by the end of 2021.”

So you see, those of you who have been quite content with 10 or 20 followers, and going on your merry way, without sweating it; it’s time to start sweating it! The same thing will be true of brand new Medium Members who we’ve been tasked to help recruit.

I don’t know about you, but I’m going to feel kind of bad, knowing that all those potential writers I help recruit (because that’s all I know is writers), they’ll have to bust their butts getting 100 followers, before they can start getting paid.

I know exactly how that feels from trying to go write for Newsbreak. I just wrote a story, trying to get Medium writers who also write for Newsbreak, to come follow me there. This is the story:

Calling ALL NewsBreak Writers: Can You Please Help a Fellow Medium Member Out?

I wrote that because they have new rules at NewsBreak, so you have to have a minimum of 200 followers before you can start earning. The day I published the above title, I had a NewsBreak story with over 20k impressions (in a 3 day period — and about 700 views). I’m not exactly sure, but I think that’s pretty good.

Then, I published another story just yesterday, and it currently has 25k impressions and over 1,000 views. My point being, whatever that’s equivalent to in cash is meaningless, until I get the followers (currently up to 13).

That’s why I can so readily sympathize with newbies who will be joining Medium.

The way I understand it, all new signups will be subject to the new policy (right away).

All current Members who are already in the Partner Program, they’ll be good until the end of the year, but in January, they’ll be bound by the same 100 followers rule.

Some will find themselves in the same situation I’m in at Newsbreak — earning money, but not eligible to collect it.

How to Help Members Reach their Quota

Here is my solution for helping new and existing members build their following and reach their quota.

What I Propose is:

Any member with LESS than 100 followers leave a “Comment” containing your username and the words “follow quota”

Any member leaving a comment and request to be followed MUST select 10 members from the comments to follow.

This is on the honor system, so any member who doesn’t honor the 10 follow requirement will receive BAD KARMA (I’m not wishing it on you, that’s just how life works :-)

What I DON’T want:

This is not a follow for follow. No one needs to aimlessly follow someone whose writing they don’t want to read. The point is to actually follow and read, and hopefully stay connected.

Members don’t need to disclose who they select to follow, and they don’t need to limit their selection to only 10.

The whole point of this, is to help everyone successfully reach their follower quota in the next four months. This list will help single out who needs help.

If nothing else, you should see your follows increase by ELEVEN —Yep, I’ll also be following EVERYONE who leaves a response.

If all goes well, we might begin to see a snowball effect, and all your followers should start increasing, possibly more than you imagine.

Your earnings might also see a boost, because at least 11 of your new followers will be reading your stories, and on a regular basis.

Fellow Members Can Also Help

Since the whole point of this exercise is to help those who have less than us, IF you currently have over 100 followers, please do NOT leave your user name and request followers. That wouldn’t be fair to the process.

I believe this to be a supportive writing community. Writers on Medium are a special breed. So I know there will be some writers like myself, who currently have more than 100 followers, but they will still want to jump in and help.

I say GREAT! Just copy a few usernames from the comments, and go check their writing out. See which writers you’d like to follow and continue reading their stories. If we truly support one another, I think this will work.

Summary

In summary, here’s what you need to remember:

• Medium rolled out a new Membership Referral program, so don’t forget to read about it [The title and link is above].
• Keep in mind that Medium’s new policy about followers will be going into effect sooner than you think.
• Recall my NewsBreak experience and how new Medium members will have the same problem soon.
• Consider whether my plan to help increase your followers really has the potential to help.
• Join us, whether you need followers and want to add your name to the list, or whether you have more than enough followers and you just want to lend your support.

It’s true, some members may be a long way from reaching 100, so just getting another 11 followers may seem like a drop in the bucket. But you never know how things will go. This is just one more proactive thing you can do, to make sure you have the followers you need in the next four months.

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