My 4 Step Strategy For Finding Success on Medium
Lessons Learned From Writing 200 Articles in the Past Year
Most people give up too soon on Medium.
When they put in a month or two of effort on Medium and don’t see any substantial results, they leave the platform.
I’ve been on Medium and wasn’t having much results for the last couple of years. When the pandemic struck around this time last year, I decided to go all-in on Medium. I’ve spent at least 2 hours a day on Medium and written on Medium regularly for the past year.
While my earnings are in the low three-figure earnings per month, I’m beginning to sense a shift of momentum. I had my second highest earning month last month and wrote my top-earning article. I’m writing more articles that are getting hundreds of views each month. I picked up a couple hundred followers in the last month and am continuing to move forward on my Medium writing journey .
As I’ve taken this journey, I’ve made some observations of what’s been working and what has helped move the ball forward for me.
I want to share with you the 4 step strategy that I’ve been using to increase the number of people reading and that has led to increased earnings. I hope it will help you on your writing journey as well.
4 Step Strategy For Succeeding On Medium
One of the reasons to write on Medium is to have more people read your work and to be able to earn money on the platform. Everyone has the potential to earn but you may not start earning money for a while.
Let me walk you through the steps I’ve taken for the past one year to help me get to the place I am today. While I’ve not “made it” on Medium, this is what I’ve been doing to get closer to Medium success.
1. Build a writing habit.
To achieve Medium success, you have to have a writing habit. The most effective habits are the ones where you write a certain number of words every day or write for a certain amount of time each day. The whole Medium strategy I’m going to describe revolves around becoming a prolific writer.
It takes volume to succeed on Medium so you’re going to have a write a lot. Start with the smallest word count you can and try to meet that word count every day. For example, my current word count for Medium is 1000 words a day but I regularly hit 2000 words a day. Once you sit down and get started, achieving your word count isn’t terribly hard. Sitting down is the hard part.
Once you write a post, publish your posts in many different types of publications. Small publications, in my opinion, seem to do better than bigger publications. There’s more engagement and a niche audience ready to read your content in smaller publications. I wrote more about writing for small publications here.
Also, you’re going to have to find the internal motivation to write other than wanting to make money on Medium. Reflect on your deepest reasons for wanting to become a writer and keep this idea alive within you. You’re going to need this motivation every day as you sit down to write. Also, don’t forget to write about topics you’re passionate about so you feel compelled to write.
To summarize:
- Build a writing habit with a daily word count
- Publish regularly in different publications
- Know your why so you have the motivation to write daily
- Write about topics you’re passionate about and enjoying writing
2. Listen to what your audience wants
The way to succeed on Medium is to listen to your audience. The best part about Medium is that Medium is your partner in promoting your stories. Yet, they are not promoting every story. They are going to see how interesting your story are to your readers. If your readers will like it, Medium is more likely to show it to them. Medium wants to get as many stories people will read in front of them so it takes your reader’s preferences into account.
Your job is to publish, write and watch how your audience reacts to your stories. You want to see which stories get the most reads, which gets the most comments and which earns the most money. As you might be able to tell that I have some evidence that my writing posts have done well over the last few months so I’m writing more posts related to writing.
Notice which publications your posts do well in. Take note of the topics and subjects that resonate with your audience. Keep track of which headlines are working. The entire strategy is an experimental one where you write, publish and get feedback.
To summarize:
- Observe how your readers react to each post and over a period of time
- Be aware of which publications your posts do well in
- Pay attention to headline formats and which headlines are connecting
3. Find a few topics that resonate.
As you’re figuring out what your audience wants, you’ll stumble upon a few topics that they want to read more than others. If you publish ten posts, you’ll have no idea but once you publish 100 posts, you’ll know what your audience wants to read.
Not only experiment with various topics but try different types of writing. The best part about Medium is that it allows you to experiment freely. Write poetry but don’t only write poetry. Write fiction, non-fiction, humor, personal essays and educational ones. Try out different kinds of writing as well as topics to figure out what resonates
In my case, I’ve noticed that my readers like posts about culture, humor, relationships, writing and personal growth. Those stories perform better than all the others. Actually, my posts about writing and cultural relationship stories have performed the best according to the statistics. So, what am I doing? I’m planning to write exclusively about writing and relationships with little aspects of the cultural angle. I’m also planning to add some humor when appropriate.
I only found this out because I wrote a couple of hundred posts and checked the statistics and earnings. Incidentally, I’ve received top writer status in creativity, culture, and humor. My audience supports these topics according to their reading preferences and the top status badges support writing more of these posts.
Once you find a few topics that resonate, hone in on those topics and go deeper in on those topics. Try to stay focused on writing better articles on those topics. Brand yourself in that niche so people will know what to expect from you when they come to your page. Keep narrowing to 2–3 topics and get better at those topics.
To summarize:
- Experiment and write in several different topics
- Try different styles of writing to see what resonates with your audience
- Find the topics that get you the most reads, comments, and earnings
- Narrow down your topics and write more posts on those subjects
4. Build a tribe.
You want to build a tribe of readers based on the content you write for them. You want this tribe to read your work, give you feedback on it, comment on it and engage with it. You want them to pose questions and bring up interesting points in the comments. You want them to also write about similar topics that you’re writing about.
The idea here is to learn from your tribe and to educate your tribe. It’s to understand their struggles and challenges so you can write better content for them. It’s to figure out what their big questions are and what they most need help with. It’s to find out what makes them curious and what entertains them. Your tribe becomes the people who help you sharpen your topics, refine your niche and get better at writing articles. You figure out what resonates with them and what doesn’t.
You not only comment and engage with their posts but also connect with them on social media. You email them to run ideas by them and you get feedback from them if they are willing to give it. You are helpful and generous with your time and availability for your tribe of readers.
To summarize:
- Build a tribe around the topics you’re writing about
- Figure out what their challenges and struggles are so you can write content for them.
- Comment on their posts and engage with them on Medium posts
- Connect with them outside of Medium via social media and email
This strategy seems to be working for some of the top writers on the platform. If you’ll notice some of the top writers only write about personal growth or relationships or politics. They may touch on every topic but most of their topics tend to focus on a couple areas.
They figured out which works by using this strategy of experimentation. They wrote a lot, published, analyzed their writing, checked in with their audience, and wrote for an interested tribe of readers. Their reads and earnings have shot up.
Some have even broken away from Medium and have continued to hone in on this particular niche they discovered on Medium. They start blogs about the topics that their Medium audiences enjoyed reading. They have written books and built products on the insights they got from their Medium audiences.
The four-step strategy for getting more efficient and increasing your earnings on Medium is as follows:
- Cultivate a writing habit, experiment, and write a lot
- Listen to your audience and get feedback from them.
- Narrow your topics and go deeper on those topics
- Build a tribe around your topics by engaging with your community
Wishing you the best on your writing success. Consider trying out this experimental strategy and see how it works for you.
Have other tips and suggestions? Please share in the comments below.
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