Low Number of Medium Followers? Get More with These 3 Steps
Five minutes a day is all it takes…
It’s a chicken-egg thing. The process is frustrating. Even if your story gets published on one of the majors, if you don’t have a following, you won’t get many reads.
If you don’t get many reads you won’t get paid.
If you don’t get paid you’ll be demotivated to write the next amazing piece of content.
Now, followers aren’t everything. So don’t get all weepy-eyed.
There’s the algorithm and such to contend with. When you publish a story, only a small percentage of your followers actually see it on the dash-thingy.
But some will see it. And it’s important for as many people to see your story within the first hour of publishing. This gives the algorithm a tickle. The algorithm will see your story as something new and exciting.
Medium will begin to tell the others.
We want the others to know.
Also, a growing following means you’re doing something right. You create a steady stream of content readers want to read.
I niched myself into a fairly tight space, so my following might not grow as fast as yours — with your self-care stories and those viral, personal anecdotes.
…we all grow at different rates.
But when you’re new, it sucks. You look at the top of your thing and it says “20 followers.” Maybe a couple fewer.
You publish. You get a big, hot zero reads and claps.
That story took you three hours to write and it feels like you crumpled it and tossed the thing in the digital trash.
Professor Dan Ariely teaches us that recognition for our work is one of the key motivators. There’s nothing more de-motivating than zero recognition.
We need to get you more followers.
Followers get you attention from other readers.
Which get you more followers.
See how this works?
3 steps to get more followers today (and tomorrow)
1. Follow the others —
Find big-time writers in your niche and follow ten of them. Tomorrow, follow ten more.
Click on stories in your niche that you appreciate. Click the hand next to the clapper. This will list all the people who clapped.
Follow some of them.
Go to the comment section of your favorite stories. Follow the people who made comments.
If you follow a couple active Medium subscribers every day, you’ll slowly build a group of active followers yourself. Look for the blue or green ring around their avatar.
The ring means they’re a paid subscriber.
Follow more paid subscribers than non-paid. You want to build a list of folks whose reads will help earn you money from your writing. If you follow a bunch of free folks, you’ll get reads, but they won’t count to your partner income.
Don’t follow more than say, 50 people a day.
Then you won’t look like you’re trying to game the system. Medium is watching all the time. They don’t want a bunch of follow-hungry people trying to cheat their way to millions of followers in a week.
It only takes a couple minutes a day. Tomorrow you can do it again. By the end of the week you’ll have a hundred new people under your name.
Next week you’ll have a hundred more.
2. Engage —
This is where you’ll get your follow-value the most. Engage with other people’s content. A lot. This means more than a simple clap. Leave a thoughtful comment.
Add tags to your comments (you can tag up to five)
Your comments will also show up under those tags when you do.
And. Sometimes. If you’re good. The story you commented on, will refer to one of the stories you’ve written, because of your thoughtful comment.
When you’re active on Medium, Medium will reward you with more views. They want you to stay on the platform. Go all Shepard Fairey on them and Obey.
Engagement brings engagement.
Write meaningful comments. Do not copy/paste the same comment on multiple stories. I get these all the time on mine and it grinds my ass. Fake comments are clearly insincere and won’t get you any street cred.
Please don’t write “great story!” on 100 different stories.
Instead, tell the writer what you learned in a couple sentences. Other people will see it. They might even clap on your literary work of commenting genius.
3. Cull your list —
This one will hurt some feelings. But part of having many followers is the ratio at the top of your screen. If you follow more people than follow you in return, you’ll look desperate.
If you’ve got an equal number, you’ll look like a follow-backer, which is a five year old social media strategy to collect as many followers who follow you, afraid they’ll leave you if you don’t.
When you cull your list, occasionally un-follow those who don’t provide stories you actually read.
If you recognize their names on your home screen, keep them. If they have a huge following, keep them. If you’ve got Gary from Georgia on your list and Gary has never published anything, he’s got three followers, and hasn’t added a thing to your knowledge, give old Gary the boot.
Don’t go through and un-follow like a maniac.
Maybe 10 folks a day.
Take it easy and be deliberate in your choosing. You can’t game the system on Medium. They’re watching. You’ll get yourself banned, low-trafficked, or a whole host of things if you go through and try to follow-unfollow people all day long.
You need to practice these three steps almost daily if you want to grow your following.
Medium won’t do it for you.
Followers bring reads. We need reads. Reads buy groceries.
Now, gather your followers to your own tribe
When you own your traffic your own your writing business. Now, Medium owns your followers. They can take away your income any moment.
If you want an insurance policy against losing all your eggs — email is the ticket out.
Email is the long-game for your creative business.
Maybe you’ve got no idea how to grow your own email list. Maybe you’ve got a little list, but you want a bigger one.
I’ve got the thing for you.
I developed an email masterclass called the Tribe 1K. I’ll show you how to get your first 1,000 (or your next 1,000) readers without spending a hot nickel on ads.
Enrollment is free.
…until I change my mind.
Guarantee your seat.
We’re waiting for you.
Enroll in my Email Masterclass. Get Your First 1,000 Subscribers
August Birch (AKA the Book Mechanic) is both a fiction and non-fiction author from Michigan, USA. As a self-appointed guardian of writers and creators, August teaches indies how to make work that sells and how to sell more of that work once it’s created. When he’s not writing or thinking about writing, August carries a pocket knife and shaves his head with a safety razor.