Grow on Medium
Use the KISS principle on Medium — Keep it Social Stupid.
Engaging more writers and stories doubled my follower count in a week.
Want to increase your followers and gain quality connections? Then be social on Medium. Enough writers and creators say it, but for me it took doing it, to learn it. Keep it Social Stupid (KISS).
But don’t get too carried away shouting claims of clickbait. Keeping it real: I’ve gone from 40 followers to over 80 in a week. Not 2,000 to 4,000. Or 10,000 to 20,000.
But doubling is doubling.
I started on Medium in June 2022. I’ve been on here for five months. For the first four months, Medium had not been my main platform of focus. LinkedIn was. Many of my Medium stories are extended LinkedIn posts.
I am now approaching 90 stories published on Medium. None of them in Publications until this past week. Attracting followers was slow going. Up until last week I had about 40. A few trickling in each week. I felt like I was writing decent stories, but I also haven’t been too attached to follower count and I haven’t been very social on the platform.
Last week, I decided to change that. I did some more research on Publications. I applied to write for a few and was successful. I began looking for quality articles and writers to engage and support. I started leaving more claps and comments beyond “great post” and “thanks for sharing”.
Last week, my first article went out in a Publication: New Writers Welcome. I included a little illustration I had done.
Almost immediately, follower numbers started going up. I received some thoughtful comments on other articles.
And then a longer story about my decision to leave a six-figure position after more than a decade was published in Illumination.
A few more stories have now been published in other Publications, and the follower growth was immediate. In a week, I doubled the number of followers. I am now very close to reaching 100 and being eligible to apply for the Medium Partner Program.
Today one of my longest articles was published in a new Publication: A Smiling World. I entered this article into a competition running in that Publication, focussed on New Year’s resolutions.
The choice to use the KISS principle is paying dividends. Keep it Social Stupid.
As I invest more time and energy into Medium, I have set some ambitious goals for my growth on Medium and am keen to enter the Partner Program.
This article below ran yesterday in the Publication: Synergy.
As it went out in the Publication, five new followers came within an hour.
KISS engagement. Be social then watch the growth.
The KISS principle goes for Medium and other social media platforms. On LinkedIn, I have more than doubled my connections and followers in the last 3 months through engagement, commenting, and connecting.
Similarly, not huge numbers. I have gone from 1,000 to almost 2,400.
On the same path, in the past month, I have begun to engage more on Twitter. I have been on the platform since 2009, but never very engaged. In the past few weeks, through engagement, I have almost doubled my follower count from 70 to 135.
On all three platforms, as I’ve engaged the KISS principle, I have also made some great connections. Some of these are clear across the globe from where I live. In time zones that are almost a complete flip of the clock.
I’m looking forward to continuing that growth and engagement.
When I left paid employment after more than a decade, my wife and I committed to giving this digital creation and digital writing gig 12 months. In the past month, I have secured two small writing contracts through LinkedIn.
In the past two months, I have also launched a Substack page and will publish my 7th weekly newsletter (free) this weekend.
It’s a fitting theme that I wrote about in the most recent newsletter. This world of digital creation and writing takes time. Thankfully in our household we have the means for me to be able to step away from full-time work to take on this new gig.
Building online takes persistent and consistent writing and creation, along with engagement.
In the coming months I plan to continue to engage the KISS principle in my social media channels. Watch for regular articles and engagement here on Medium.
How about you? What have you experienced as you build here on Medium?
