My Journey to 1000 followers | Learnings and Earnings |

Many similar kind of posts motivated me a lot, hence I thought I will share my journey on Medium.

First and foremost my sincere gratitude to this wonderful community. It is touching on how we engage, share, encourage and try to help each other!

Here are a couple of things I keep in mind when writing something:

Am I solving a problem or just trying to sell — a product or myself?

Would this article have benefitted me, if someone else had written it?

Am I implementing my learnings on writing better?

Storytelling is both an art and a science, which can help us create deep connections with people. We all naturally seek connections, which contributes to our overall well-being, including physical, mental and emotional health. Among the many ways to connect with others, storytelling stands out as a particularly powerful art form.

My journey on Medium began 5 months ago..

I know there are people on Medium who get 1000 followers in less than 5 mins, so I claim to be in the average bucket. But Boy, once you have these connections, do you feel that you are on way to climbing Everest or something steeper!

I read somewhere - ‘Inch wide and mile deep’ — is a mantra for success. Few variations of this have cropped up: ‘Research by the mile and write by the inch’

This leads to my list of suggestion, the top being:

1. Research, and more research…: How much time do we typically spend on researching or are we in a rush to publish something?

Here are a few simple tips on researching:

i) Read read read…: Reading widely on a topic you want to write about, can help you gain a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. Assesses yourself to see if you have understood something relevant and meaningful to share.

ii) Use search engines effectively: Use few different search engines not just one. (Google, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, WebOpedia, Internet Archives) Here is a good article to read on Search engines with their pros and cons.

iii) Reach out to an expert: Contacting experts in your topic can provide valuable insights which can help create a more compelling and informative article. These days we can search online and connect with an expert through their preferred mode of communications.

iv) Aim for primary sources: Primary sources such academic studies, white papers, government reports and historical documents can provide in-depth information on your topic.

2. How do you keep track of all the information you gather while researching?

i) Leverage note-taking apps (technology): Apps like Evernote, OneNote, and Google Keep are great for taking notes, organizing your research, and syncing your data across all your devices.

ii) Create bookmarks and folders: Organize bookmarks well into folders.

3. Writing Quality Content:

Quality content is the foundation of any successful article. We need to focus on providing helpful, informative and engaging content that resonates with our audience. Taking time to write and avoid publishing rush is key.

4. Consistency:

Regularly publishing quality content is important to growing in any platform. Consistency helps build our writing with our audience and helps reaching out further.

5. Authenticity:

There are many superb writers but copying anyone’s style or content may not land us success in the long run (in my opinion). Be extra careful with copying and pasting AI generated articles. I try to write in my own voice and style and try to be true to myself. Authenticity gives our writing individuality and readers can relate to a writer.

6. Headlines:

A captivating headline can make or break our article’s success. These days you can use chatGPT (or other AI’s) to craft a good headline. “ChatGPT give me 10 variations of this title…”

Avoid clickbait headlines, as they can can harm your credibility. I personally dislike them and completely avoid them in future.

7. Subheadings:

Subheadings break up long paragraphs and make our content easier to read. They also help readers quickly identify the main points of our article.

8. Images and pictures:

I use Canva and Mid-journey to create my own images. As the old adage goes “A picture is worth a thousand words”.

9. Engaging with fellow readers and writers:

Respond to comments promptly and thank people who have taken their valuable time to clap or write a comment.

10. Try to participate in the publications:

Publications are Medium’s way of curating content around a specific topic. They obviously give our articles a big boost.

My Earnings:

I have made < $5 monthly from Medium so far but it is growing. But, who is complaining when you have a 1000 friends and growing! I wanted to touch 1k connections before getting into Affiliate Marketing/other gigs.

So, what’s next:

Based on gaining some writing speed & proficiency and figuring out good sources of help, I am planning to write my first book and self publish in KDP soon. All the articles on KDP Self Publishing posted on Medium are immensely helpful.

I have read about several people who were consistent for 1 year+ and created good income. A big shout out to all people who make hundreds of $$ from your writing. You Inspire us greatly!!

In closing, I believe if we provide genuine value, money will follow. We should not be overly focussed on results but rather on providing value!

Thank you for reading. Your comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

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