Summary

A new Medium writer reflects on reaching 100 followers, sharing strategies and future plans for monetization and content creation.

Abstract

The author celebrates reaching 100 followers on Medium, attributing success to engagement with the community, follow-to-follow strategies, and leveraging paid membership benefits. They express gratitude to influential figures and Facebook groups that facilitated growth and acknowledge the role of content quality and quantity in building an audience. The writer emphasizes the importance of the Medium Partner Program as a component of their income strategy and outlines plans to diversify revenue through affiliate marketing while providing value to readers. The journey ahead involves continuous learning, experimentation, and a commitment to personal finance, career development, and personal growth topics.

Opinions

The author values the advice from Matt Boutte and the exposure from Nick Loper's Side Hustle Nation podcast.
Engagement in Facebook groups and connecting with other new writers were beneficial but not the primary source of followers.
Targeting writers with under 100 followers and participating in "Follower to Follower" initiatives were effective strategies.
Being a paid Medium member significantly accelerated the process of gaining followers.
The writer acknowledges the criticism of "follow to follow" tactics but defends their use for initial growth and social proof.
The author sees their articles as assets and advocates for leveraging them beyond the Medium Partner Program, including affiliate marketing.
They plan to mix shorter and longer pieces, focusing on personal finance, career development, and personal development, aiming to stand out in a crowded field.
The writer is aware of the need to adhere to Medium's rules while exploring creative income opportunities.
They are open about the learning process and the inevitability of making mistakes as they refine their strategy.

New Writer to 100 Followers, With a Bit of Follow to Follow — What’s Next?

Monetize your Medium articles

“100 followers” posts are like a rite of passage. So here I am.

Firstly, a big thank you to all that have helped me reach the magic number. I’ve actually learned a lot browsing a whole heap of articles and profiles.

I went in pretty blind but it only took about 10 days once I got going.

Let me chart my approach:

I must thank Matt Boutte who was featured on Nick Loper’s Side Hustle Nation podcast talking about his Medium journey. Had it not been for that, I wouldn’t be writing this. Check out episode 519. It’s a path that has allowed me to take a deep dive into side hustles, including in Nick’s book Buy Buttons. My copy’s not as fresh as it once was…

I joined a few Facebook groups. They have been a good place to get a few claps, though less of a follow-to-follow crowd. I did manage to pick up a few followers, though. And a big shout out to Jaja Equa, who engaged there and introduced me to the “100 followers” post concept. Check out her post Who needs 100 Followers by Tomorrow?!?.
One strategy I had was to search Medium in general for others with under 100 followers. I knew they would be happy to follow-to-follow. At times it was like searching for a needle in a haystack. But I managed to collect plenty that way.
Fine-tuning that, I searched under “100 followers” or “new writers” to see what articles popped up. Any that were more than a few weeks old I ignored. This proved to be a treasure trove. All I needed to do was to go to the comments section, say that I was looking for followers, and sit and wait. Particularly useful was The Accidental Monster, whose regular Follower to Follower articles were invaluable.
I rarely targeted writers with 1k+ followings. Unless our worlds aligned, why would they care? I even found one writer that had 1.9k followers but was following zero. Zero…
But one approach I did use after reading Radia Hennessey’s I Gained 100 Followers. So Can You! article was to highlight that I was a paid member. In other words, I’m exactly the type of follower Mr “I’ve got 5k followers” would want.
On the point of being a paid member, I feel it was invaluable in accelerating my process. There’s no way I would have been able to connect with so many writers on a daily basis otherwise. I figured that even if I canceled my membership after one month (which I won’t do), that $5 was the price worth paying to accelerate my accumulation of followers. If that makes sense to you, consider joining here.
I know there’s criticism surrounding “follow to follow”. It’s not an organic way of building an audience. But from my viewpoint, it was all about quantity in the beginning. Getting to the 100. Quality + quantity will come. Plus, social proof is very important. If you have no followers, there’s little incentive for the more established to follow.

Photo by Free Walking Tour Salzburg on Unsplash

What happens next?

Now the hard work begins.

I’ve had a varied career as an investment advisor, career and life coach, and resume writer.

So I’m all about personal finance, career development and personal development. It’s what I know. This is where I can add a ton of value.

My first two articles touched on the world of work (Recession-Proof Your Life — Part 1) and personal finance (Recession-Proof Your Life — Part 2). The next in the series will cover personal development. But in general, I’ll mix up shorter and longer pieces covering these worlds.

That doesn’t mean people will read what I have to say. There are thousands of others that swim in the same pools.

So, to set myself up for success I’ve been shaping a strategy. It’s still being developed but will partly also fall back on my experiences blogging and freelance writing.

The Role of the Medium Partner Program

Fundamentally, I see the Medium Partner Program as only one part of the income jigsaw.

Your articles are assets. They are prime real estate. You need to think beyond just writing a ton of words. Sure, we all have something interesting to say. You may even think you’re the next Bill Shakespeare. But if you want to earn you need to not only get eyeballs on your writing, you have to be smart with it.

Make sure you do everything within the confines of the Medium rules. There are rules about promotion and marketing. But your articles provide a platform for you to earn in different ways.

Take affiliate fees, for example. I signed up for one with market research firm Respondent a while back. Regardless of whether you do any of their standard gigs, you’re still able to earn through referrals.

Feel free to join via the affiliate link here

Approaches like this also provide value to those writers on Medium that aren’t able to join the Medium Partner Program. They can still earn regardless of their status. So value for them and value for you.

Onwards and upwards

The truth is, I’m still learning. I have all these ideas of how to make the most of Medium.

I have a pipeline of ideas. There are a few people I plan to reach out to.

And I’ll make mistakes. Big ones. Money-costing ones. But perfect is the enemy of good. So I will test and iterate along the way. That’s where I am now.

I look forward to growing my strategy over time.

I’m a finance guy by trade with a background in career and life coaching.

Essentially, I created Spiritworth with the ambitious goal to help others “raise their spirit and raise their (net and self) worth.” A bit grandiose, perhaps, but you’ve got to shoot for something.

Join me on the journey by joining as a member to support Medium writers https://medium.com/@spiritworth/membership

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