Inspiration for New Writers
Brutal Fact: No Writing, No Audience
Here’s how I gained more than 100 followers to qualify for Medium Partner Program in a few weeks
This post aims to inspire new writers joining to this platform.
Dear reader,
This is my first story about my progress on this platform. This post is not intended to boast about my humble stats, as I don’t have any noteworthy figures to boast about yet.
Instead, my purpose is to inspire aspiring writers to consistent writing, which might ultimately lead them to acquire the necessary number of followers and become eligible for the MPP (Medium Partner Program).
Writing consistently is crucial to developing our skills and building an engaged readership. New writers can gradually attract and captivate a growing audience by dedicating time and effort to hone their craft.
While the path to success might vary for each writer, the common theme lies in the commitment to regularly producing quality and engaging content to attract the attention of avid readers.
Through this post, I aim to ignite motivation for aspiring writers, encouraging them to persist in their writing endeavors.
The journey may not be easy, but perseverance and dedication can pave the way toward achieving our goals.
The MPP program offers an exciting opportunity for writers to monetize their work and establish themselves as recognized voices within the Medium platform.
By reaching the required number of followers (100), writers can join this program and access its benefits and incentives.
Every writer possesses a unique voice and perspective that deserves recognition.
I hope by sharing this message, aspiring writers will feel empowered to embrace their creativity and uniqueness, share their stories confidently, and consistently contribute to Medium’s vibrant and diverse community of writers, readers, and publications.
In this post, I want to share a few stats to give you an idea. But I know numerical values do not define success. It is instead by the impact and meaningful connections we create through writing and engagement.
A Quick Overview of Key Stats in June 2023
I will start with the progress of my followers, as this post’s primary purpose is to inspire beginners to join Medium, as writing appears to be the only way that makes a real difference in building an audience.
As an avid reader, I joined Medium in April 2022, as invited by Dr Mehmet Yildiz. His stories were captivating for me. He also shared the stories of many great writers.
Until May 2023, for over 12 months, I remained an avid reader and gained only around 20 followers. When I posted my story in May, suddenly, my followers tripled. And after writing five stories in June, I gained 246 followers and qualified for the MPP.
My five stories generated $3.32 in the MPP. It might seem negligible to some, but I am grateful for this as it means a lot to me as a small gift for my first month.
Yesterday I read a story from a top writer Jerry Keszka who started earning only 77 cents in February 2022, and now he earns a few thousand dollars in a month. I think Jerry has earned around $28K so far. You may check his inspiring story at this link.
I learned that writers like Sinem Günel, Ayodeji Awosika, and Tim Denning contributing to Illumination publications earn thousands of dollars.
I read a story by S M Mamunur Rahman, which earned $20K last year, receiving half a million views on Illumination. This is mind-boggling how much a story has the potential to earn on this platform.
But my goal is not to earn money as I have my retirement funds. It is just for inspiration. My goal is to share valuable life lessons which might help some people. I am a retired scientist and educator with grown-up kids.
I am grateful to Dr. Yildiz, who introduced me to this platform and volunteered to mentor me. I enjoy being part of his writing and reading community. He graciously mentors hundreds of new writers like me through his free and moderated Slack workspace.
Here is the list of stories I published in June 2023.
My best performing story was my first story about my retirement years. I assume it resonated with many retirees. It was published on Illumination.
Here are the links if you want to read these stories.
5 Reasons I Enjoy My Retirement Years More Than Working Ones.
Views, Reads, and Fans
They got 665 views and 404 reads, bringing 189 fans to my profile.
I won’t bore you with more stats as I only shared them to give a perspective to absolute beginners. I’d like to briefly touch on meaningful engagement and sharing content on social media.
Why We Should Use Social Media to Amplify Stories to a Different Audience
As a reader, I enjoy expressing my appreciation for stories by clapping and offering brief feedback. However, as a writer, I greatly appreciate such engagement, as it has tremendous significance.
I believe that every writer yearns for meaningful engagement from their readers, as it can bring immeasurable happiness and fulfillment.
Even a few heartfelt lines of positive feedback can brighten a writer’s day and create a sense of connection. So, let us spread positivity and share our thoughts, as leaving feedback can make a person’s spirit soar.
After reading this inspiring story titled How Writers and Readers Can Use Social Media Productively, I created new LinkedIn and Twitter accounts to separate my writing engagements. In a week, I gained 25 followers on LinkedIn and 58 followers on Twitter, mainly from Medium.
As a reader or editor, whenever I read a new story, I share it on Twitter and LinkedIn as advised by my mentors.
What surprised me was one of my posts on LinkedIn got over 5K impressions with only 25 followers. This shows that our stories may reach a broader LinkedIn audience and bring a new audience to Medium. So we should leverage the sharing features on stories.
The story was about an interview with Yogesh Haribhau Kulkarni (PhD), an AI professional and lead editor of the Technology Hits publication on Medium. It is part of the Illumination family of publications.
Here is the link to the story that I posted from Vocal Media which I also joined as a reader recently.
Here is the screen capture from my LinkedIn profile showing 5194 impressions of the post.
Final Words
I hope this optimistic story gives some inspiration to new writers joining Medium.
If you want to gain 100 followers like me in a month, you might check this story by Dr. Yildiz, who guides and inspires new writers.
After reading his story about how to become a top writer in three months, I made it a goal to post a story a day for the upcoming months.
He also inspired me to write viral stories and content guaranteed to get views and reads.
As a giveback activity, I volunteered to be an editor for Illumination, Synergy, Book Chapters, and Readers Hope publications supporting many writers recently joining Medium like me.
Thank you for reading my story. I look forward to your feedback.
If you want to write for these publications, you may send your Medium ID via this weblink.
You may connect with me on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Quora, where I share stories I read. I plan to share stories I read and edit on the Quora Space of the Illumination-Curated publication.
If you enjoy reading, you may join Medium using my referral link to gain unlimited access to stories written by me and other writers.