7 Habits That Will Help Your Articles Reach Over 250,000 People

I just hit the lottery with a quarter-million views — here are 7 things I have learned that will help you on your journey

“What gets measured gets managed.” — Peter Drucker

First of all, I am stoked! Wooohoooo! Breaks into an awkward dance flailing limbs in the air in whatever direction they will go.

According to this paper in the American Psychological Association, humans need to be presented with proof. This is the result of a deeply rooted psychological bias and it is an important factor in determining whether someone will read your article or not.

We are human.

So, here is a screenshot from the day it finally happened. A total reach of 250,230 people.

I have an obsession with stats.

I believe that measuring things is what enables us to get more done. Tracking my stats gives me the reassurance that I am making progress, or it reminds me to check myself when I am stagnating or declining.

I have been waiting for that quarter a million reach for a long time.

About The Journey

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” — Lao Tzu

Or in this case, the journey to quarter a million views started with 1 view.

The journey to my 100,000+ words on this platform started with 1 word.

Writing on Medium has given me the validation I did not know I needed. I enjoy writing but had never considered myself a writer.

18 months down the road, 85 articles, 34,310 total claps, $10,000+ in earnings, almost 2000 followers, over 250,000 views — and I am slowly starting to sprinkle the moniker writer in my bio whenever I introduce myself. My monthly views have steadily grown from about 10 a month to 35,000+ per month. I also now run a publication, Clear Yo Mind, where I have met so many awesome writers.

I believe my success is easily replicable.

“Success always leaves clues.” — Tony Robbins

If you believe in yourself and know you can succeed if you try, here are 9 things I have learned that can help you on your journey.

1. Consistency

“Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.” — Dwayne Johnson

I mention consistency first because it is the one thing I am still struggling with the most. However, it is also what brings the most positive results.

Show up and write even when you do not want to. The best way to do this is to create a system around your writing so that you can not fail.

It could be something as simple as waking up early, switching on the soft background music or binaural beats, and sitting at your computer and typing away without stopping for an hour. And then editing later.

It could be drafting ideas in a notebook on what you want to write about. It could be writing a story before you go to bed at night and editing it first thing in the morning. Or you could join a challenge to write x articles in x days.

The most important thing is that you are a writer. You have to write.

Create a system that sets you up for success.

Right now, I am utilizing the PSST framework I adapted from Shaunta Grimes. The four parts of the framework include Premise, Story, Subheads, Takeaway. (Hence, PSST). You can read more about it here.

It helps me draft out my articles faster and present better-articulated thoughts than I did before. I believe it will help you, too.

Utilize a system that will keep you publishing consistently.

2. Connect With Your Readers

“Your audience gives you everything you need. They tell you. There is no director who can direct you like an audience.” — Fanny Brice

According to this article from the Medium blog, it is clear that the platform prioritizes audience engagement as an important metric for the algorithm.

It states, “there are a few updates on Medium, including a move toward a Medium that is more expressive for you, and a Medium that focuses on the connection between you and your audience.”

Engagement matters.

Also going by the recent emails from Medium, “More updates are on the way. We’re working on additional features to make connecting to devoted and new readers even simpler, like importing email lists and more.”

Audience matters.

I am still behind on my responses but I am trying my best to respond to everyone that ever left a comment on my work.

Connect with your audience and engage with them in the comments section.

3. Quality And Quantity

“In the grand scheme of things, both quality and quantity matter equally.” — Elizabeth Kasujja

For the short term, quality beats quantity. However, I believe that in the grand scheme of things, both quality and quantity matter equally.

If you only write one article every quarter, and I write an article every 4 days. In the long run, my progress is likely to trump yours.

At the beginning of your journey, I recommend that you write as much as possible with an aim of getting your articles distributed. Here is the guiding article for that.

You need to understand what might disqualify your article from getting curated. For example, I know this one will not be because articles about Medium do not get curated.

I am writing it either way as a way of paying it forward. I wish I had found more information like this as I started out here.

Aim for both quality and quantity in your writing.

4. Be Honest To Yourself About Your Why

“When you know your why, you can endure any how.” — Victor Frankl

I have an article in my drafts that I am not yet brave enough to publish. It is currently titled “Why do I feel ashamed to admit that I am partially here for the money?”

I do not know if I will ever publish it.

In a nutshell, it was a detailed rant about why we live in a society that believes money is evil. And why I should either fit in the mould that creatives are poor (hence terms like ‘starving artist’) or evil people only after money.

Truth is, writing brings me so much joy. I love it when people connect with my words. I love it when I make friends because an article they wrote resonated so deeply. I love it when people leave comments on my articles and highlight parts of the text that resonate with them the most.

However, being financially compensated for my skills brings me even more joy. I am finally a paid author. I celebrate the fact that I am finally getting paid (fairly well if I may add) for sharing my thoughts with others. For now, I only write on this platform. In due time, I might adopt another platform, but probably not.

If you are writing for the sake of writing, or because you need a release for your thoughts, that is also okay. Be honest with yourself about your why, and then create a strategy to keep you in the direction towards achieving your goals.

Medium has taught me that there is enough sun for everybody. We can all win on this platform. And we can help each other earn more than the peanuts most of us are used to for sharing our creativity with the world.

When I became honest about my why — writing for money on this platform — everything else seemed to fall into place. My strategy also changed. I stopped pretending that I did not care about my follower count, my stats, my engagement, etc, and actually did things to help improve those things.

5. Use The Most Appropriate Tags For Your Article

“Building a brand means knowing your story, and building and sharing that story.” — Tamara Mccleary

Using the appropriate tags will help you discover and really refine your niche as you grow in your writing journey here.

Medium’s algorithm picks 50 Top Writers in each of 74 writer tags that can be applied to stories, and these are presented as top writers.

For example, I am considered a top writer in love, relationships, psychology, and mental health. I think this is because I consistently use these tags in my stories and they are part of the 74 writer tags that Medium considers for the Top Writer status.

Using appropriate tags for your stories will enable you to appear more prominently in searches and helps your work receive more views. On top of that, it adds credibility to your work.

6. Replicate What Works

I always think part of success is being able to replicate results, taking what is interesting or viable about yourself as a professional person and seeing if you bring it into different situations with similar results. — Robert Downey, Jr.

Learn from those who have found success on the platform.

Follow the good advice on using lots of white space in your articles, creating headlines that work, choosing the right feature image, deciding the best publication for each of your stories, among others.

At the beginning of my journey on Medium, I read a lot of stories that the algorithm thought I would enjoy. I did not know myself well enough so my interests were all over the place.

The longer I have stayed here, the better the algorithm understands the kind of articles I resonate towards and sends more of those my way. However, what I needed at the start was clear guidelines on what to do and how to do it.

Cynthia Marinakos is phenomenal for all things headlines and subtitles that get you views and engagement.

Casey Botticello’s Blogging Guide is still one of my favourite resources when I need a reminder on how to navigate the platform.

Tom Kuegler has figured out how to retain high engagement. He also hosted an amazing Side Hustle Summit where I learned so much from people that are thriving on the platform. I have been a super fan since.

J.J. Pryor’s article “332 incredible headlines with over 10,000 claps each” is bookmarked on my computer and I visit it often. It will give you an insight into how the greats headline their articles to make us click on them.

Tim Denning is a star on this platform for good reason. He churns out binge-worthy content at unbelievable speeds. And he frequently shares his writing process. You can learn a thing or two.

7. Believe In Yourself — You Can Do This!

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” ― Dr. Seuss

If there is only one thing you take from this article, let it be this, you can do it.

I know you can. I believe you will. Do you?

Believe in yourself. Do not doubt yourself. As a writer, I know first-hand how it feels to have doubts about my creativity. However, do not let the “fear” suppress you or stop you from achieving the success that is meant for you.

Believe in yourself.

Final Thoughts

Like in most other instances in life, success is a lot like falling asleep. Really slow at first and then all at once.

“If you think you can do it, you can. You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can.” — John Burroughs

I know you can do it. I know you are going to do it. I am cheering you on!

In writing this article, I have also discovered that I have learned more than I had realized since I started writing on Medium. I am grateful for the ones that came before me and left their clues of success for me to find.

I wish you continued success in your writing.

You are a writer. Write. Edit. Publish. Repeat.

And now your thoughts…

Please share your own personal experience with me in the comments section. If there is anything specific you would like to know that I did not capture in the article, please ask me as many questions as you’d like.

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