Making the Sausage and How to be a Productive Writer on Medium

Should you accept the advice and opinion of a prolific Medium writer?

If I hadn’t just discovered that I’m high on the list of top writers on Medium in the advice and opinion category, I might not have written this story.

Although I take great delight in offering productivity tips, recently, I decided to cut down on the “how to” stories. I must admit, a lot of my sage advice about writing on Medium is worth its’ weight in gold.

Okay, maybe it’s not that valuable, but it’s definitely useful if you’re a new writer on the Medium platform. But I can’t help notice the grumblings of some people in the community, who apparently take issue with people who offer their advice so freely.

So what prompted me to write this story, claiming to reveal how the sausage is made when it comes to producing 330 stories (and counting), in less than 5 months?

I give the blame and the credit to whoever it was yesterday that sent my official follower count over the 1,000 mark. I had no attention on tooting my horn when I reached the highly coveted number, and the reason I mention it now, is not to brag. Quite the opposite.

Having followers, especially in the high numbers is actually a big responsibility, and at some point, that is how we should see it, if we really appreciate our readers.

What responsibility do writers on Medium have to their followers?

Okay class, raise your hands. How many of you writers have given any thought at all, to the responsibility you have to your followers here on Medium?

In all honesty, I’m just now beginning to give serious thought to this question. I’ve been focused on “getting followers” myself, and also on trying to help other writers reach their 100 follower quota.

But now, my thoughts have started to ponder what I can do for my followers, to not only show I appreciate them, but also to help them in their own online endeavors.

That’s when I began to realize, this is not just mighty big of me, because I have a good heart. This is exactly what I ought to do, because it’s the right thing to do, and ultimately, it’s still self-serving.

So the responsibility of engaging and helping promote my followers is really a win-win situation for everyone concerned. Here is what I perceive to be my responsibilities to my followers.

I have the responsibility to:

Not just display and proclaim the amount of followers I have
Not ignore their profiles, and not bother to read their work
Applaud or respond after consuming one of their stories
Try and help them, however I can, learn more about Medium
Try and help them, however I can increase their Medium earnings
Try and help them as much as I can, by promoting them online

If you’re a Medium writer who doesn’t happen to agree with my list of responsibilities, that’s fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinion about how to do things, as I mentioned in a recent story about followers.

But if you really want to show that you recognize the importance of having all those followers, than it’s time to go a little above and beyond.

How I make my sausage and plan to be more productive.

Now that you fully understand where I’m coming from on what my responsibilities are, let me tell you how I plan to carry them out.

To be the best and most loyal writer and follower that I can be, I’ve decided to get more organized. Trust me, this isn’t always easy to do, having so many stories to keep up with. In many ways, it’s a blessing and a malediction.

Since we’re in the sausage factory, let’s talk a little about content.

Providing Regular Content

As it stands, I currently have more than enough stories for readers to find something fresh everyday.

In addition to my existing stories, I’ve also been working on writing and scheduling up to 5 stories at a time, so that I can publish at least one story a day in my Daily Justiss publication.

Anything I publish in excess of that is just gravy (Hmm? Do people eat gravy on sausages?)

Since I don’t have to worry about providing my followers with enough Goode content (pun intended), I can concentrate on another important issue; engagement.

A Schedule for Meaningful Engagement

I’ve tried to engage with followers on a regular basis and in a meaningful way, but more followers require a more effective system.

I believe the system I’ve been using to reach out and engage with followers is a good one, but I need to step it up. I believe I can do that, by designating a specific day of the week to do all may major engagement and interacting on.

I love the idea, because then I can simply read and respond to stories and comments all day, without let up. I normally enjoy doing this, but usually have to stop to write or work on something else, which means shifting my mindset. I hope my new strategy will let me engage with more followers.

A plan to help promote followers on Twitter.

My plan is to help promote followers who are also Medium writers that have accounts on Twitter. I normally don’t do well engaging on Twitter, and all I ever use it for is auto posting links from my Twitter account, back to my Medium stories.

But after a bit of research, I found tons of Medium writers on the Twitter social media site. So now, I plan to start providing links from my Twitter account, back to some of those writers that I follow; aka: my 1000+ followers.

This actually helps me not seem so self-serving on Twitter (though I have no problem with self-promotion). But more importantly, by referring them to some cool stories from other writers on Medium, I’ll always have something good to offer to the Twitter community

Sausage in the making

In order to fully implement all the things I speak about in this story, I’ve got a lot of work to do, but the sausage is in the making.

To help me with my new story promotional plan on Twitter, I’ve begun creating “Moments” on their website. It’s a really cool Twitter feature.

For instance, I made one to talk about the stories I published this past week.

This is an example of how they work: All you do is click to view the tweet you see displayed, and it will expand, enabling you to see several related tweets that you’ve connected (up to ten).

In case you want to know more about a Twitter Moment or how it can benefit you, keep your eyes open for the upcoming story:

Twitter MOMENTS are an Excellent Way to Promote Your Medium Stories

I’ll be publishing it soon, along with a detailed update about my new website, and some valuable information about making money on Quora.

Concluding Thoughts

Many of the activities I’ve mentioned above, are things that I’ve already been performing on a regular basis, and they have helped me stay productive.

But just like most things in life, productivity is relative, and you can not be productive if you’re simply staying in one place. Productivity keeps you in motion, and always looking for ways to be proactive in your approach to things.

If you want to write more, write better, gain more followers, or learn how to show appreciation for the followers you currently have; these things will require you to recognize your responsibility to your followers.

Decide for yourself what your responsibilities are to your followers.
Make a plan to show your appreciation and live up to your responsibility.
Stick to the plan. Do what you say, and say what you do.

DEAR READER: I always enjoy talking to writers on writing. This advice is meant to help writers on Medium get more exposure. Whether you prefer self publishing all your stories, or you submit them to Medium publications, you can still benefit from the information.

Check out the 340 stories I published since I started writing on Medium. | Let’s be friends on TWITTER: @GoodeWriter

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