Need Your 100 Followers? Here Are 4 Things You Should Be Doing

A comprehensive and authentic guide to crossing that threshold

Ever since Medium announced the changes to the Partner Program in early August, any new writers to the platform, as well as any existing members with less than 100 followers, have had a job to do.

Having only joined, myself, after this change was announced, I completely understand the desire to get to that magic 100 as quickly as possible, so that all the hard work you are putting in can be monetised. Some people have managed it amazingly fast, such as I am Valerio, who reached 500 followers after only 3 weeks.

After reading his impressive article in which he explains how he did it, I realise how my own slower start (I reached 100 followers in 3 weeks) lacked proper strategy.

Therefore, I figured that it’s worth sharing what I would do differently now, so that other newbies don’t have to make the same mistakes.

PLUS…there are some fabulous things that have been put into place over the last couple of months, that can make your journey to 100 even better!

1️⃣ Use Valerio’s strategy, as he explains in the above article, to follow a specific number of people each day and clap, highlight, and comment on their stories.

This makes people aware of you and may well then decide to check out your profile and stories and follow back. Some people may follow back, even if you don’t engage with their work, but that also decreases the likelihood of them reading and engaging with your work. People respond to others accordingly.

Following you without engaging will not be valuable to you, because you want to build a community, not just a number. A high number of followers with no engagement has no use at all; it will not get you more views or reads if they are not aware of you.

2️⃣ Add this tag (topic or keyword) to your first post.

Another fabulous tip that I learned from Kristina God recently was that Medium is featuring new writers weekly in the Creator’s Hub.

The tag that you need to add is Hello World to get noticed by the Medium Gods. If you don’t know how to add tags then follow Medium’s guide to do so.

Now, you may have already published some posts. I have no idea on the overall rules, so these are only reflections and not advice but consider whether, if it’s only a couple so far with little to no views or engagement, you might want to delete them and republish them with the tag added to one.

If you have a good story to tell, then I would personally do whatever I can to get seen.

3️⃣ Write every day from day one and publish regularly, but aim to spend more time following and engaging until you hit that magic 100.

Most of us have a limited amount of time to spend on Medium. Therefore, you need to be mindful of how you use that time.

Writing daily is vital to succeeding long-term on the platform, as well as creating a habit and a discipline so that you don’t struggle to remain consistent once you have been approved for the Partner Program. So, set aside a block of time each day to write.

However, in the beginning, publishing daily is less important than gaining followers. It’s still the ideal so that the people coming to your profile are seeing that you are putting out a regular flow of content but if you only hit the “Publish” button every couple of days, that’s perfectly good.

Obviously, you will want to apply to join the Partner Program as soon as you hit your 100 followers so it’s vital that you strike a balance between time spent engaging and gaining followers, and time writing. When you do apply to join, Medium will want to see that you have been publishing thoughtful stories using the conventions of the basic Medium formatting guidelines.

You can also begin to draft a number of stories so that they will be easier to complete and publish in quick succession as you start to gain momentum in your interactions with others.

For additional brownie points, follow Medium’s Curation Guidelines when publishing your stories.

4️⃣ Apply to become a writer on publications that publish content that aligns with the kinds of topics that you like to write on.

Publications are the best way to utilise existing and ready-made audiences and have your work seen by more people. Nikki Waterson created this fabulous list of a selection of small publications currently accepting new writers.

Also worth mentioning here, even though Nikki discusses both of these, are two publications that are specifically for new writers.

First up is New Writer’s Welcome, created and owned by Robert Ralph, which was the first publication that I published work in.

Next is one only for those looking to hit the 100 follower mark, 100 and Under, owned by JS Adam and Carrie. A. Kelly.

And finally, let’s make use of the comments, and network

Let’s use this opportunity to engage with others still needing their quota of 100. Comment the words Building My Following and I will happily give you a follow, read one of your stories, and respond.

This also gives all those who are in similar positions to get seen by one another and help one another out. There is no obligation to follow others who are commenting but, by checking out everyone’s profiles, you can get a feel of whether or not you feel aligned with their personality and writing.

I hope this article has been of value to you. I look forward to engaging with others still new to this space, and helping everyone to reach great places!

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