In the Process of Reaching 100 Followers, I Discovered What Medium Amazingly Means to Me and (Probably) You
It surprisingly stokes my innate creativity and marketing curiosity
A professional investment manager mentioned Medium to me for the first time in 2018. I turned curious about the platform because compelling articles kept popping up on Medium.
I became a member in December 2018, mainly as a reader.
The Medium articles initially got me interested were related to data science.
Though my background is in fund management and investments — working with troves of data is no stranger to me — I am a beginner in Data Science and the application of machine learning and AI to various industries.
From the beginning, I did not think of writing on Medium and was just a curious reader to learn different subjects from various domain experts.
My first idea of writing came as I was very involved in event-organizing for 100 Women in Finance, a non-profit for women in investments and finance. Naturally, my first article was about how to organize an event — with knowledge and soul! I want to share with the world my 10-plus years of event organizing experience.
In the next 2 years, I discovered that not just domain experts write on Medium, professional news sources like the Financial Times, The Economist, and The Atlantic are all part of this. The various chapters of the U.S. Federal Reserve (New York, San Francisco, etc.) are also on Medium.
But more interesting to me as an entrepreneur, prominent VCs and entrepreneurs have long been writing on Medium with my favourite writers/publishers being Nicole Quinn @Nicole Quinn, Greylock, and Lightspeed.
Then the Pandemic came, and the platform became filled with analyses like this one by Tomas Pueyo: Coronavirus: Why You Must Act Now, which received over 40 million views in just one week.
Later on, I followed many more publications including Towards Data Science, Elemental (health and wellness), Better Humans, and Entrepreneur’s Handbook.
Medium is truly a place where everyone can have a voice on the internet to exchange and spread ideas — whether you are an expert or not.
Fast forward to the present, something curious has happened to my Medium account in early March this year.
The Medium Creators informed me for me to stay on the Medium Partners Program, instead of just writing every 6 months, I need a minimum of 100 followers by the end of March or else I would be removed from the Program (but can still write).
I checked I only had 50 followers as was more a reader than an “influencer”.
Suddenly, the idea of gaining at least 100 followers has become urgent. I wanted to learn how and had a go at it.
I studied how other writers gained their 100 writers. There are several ways:
- Write for popular publications you have a passion for and ask them to add you. When accepted, you can submit previously written articles for exclusive publication.
- Tell people you want to gain 100 followers and say that if they follow you, you will be followed back thanks to Helen Miao’s idea @Helen Miao Yu. Tell your friends you need to increase followers, and they will likely follow you on Medium.
- Consistently write unique personal stories or fact-based articles to increase your chance of being read internally or externally. Share your articles appropriately on Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Most importantly, as Arpit Falcon mentioned, “provide value to readers.”
- Use a headline analyzer like Coschedule to improve your impact. After all, the headline (title and subtitle) is your first impression.
- Regularly comment on other people’s posts. If you write helpful comments, you will likely be noticed and followed.
- Refer to previous posts in your content or at the end to highlight your work.
- Read Medium Creators Hub on how to write better articles and better represent yourself on Medium, like following this article to improve your “About” page.
Which Actions Did I Take?
I did all of the above.
Thank you to Dr. Mehmet Yildiz @Dr Mehmet Yildiz, the founder of the popular Medium publication, Illumination, who did not hesitate to include me as a writer with this article to elevate female investors and founders; to Todd Lincoln Todd Lincoln, MBA, founder of Investor’s Handbook with this wealth management trend article; and to Data Driven Investor.
Thank you to the many supporting writers whom I enjoyed learning from and reading. Their cultural stories here and here, writing tips, wellness ideas, philosophy with illustration, and lifestyle lessons are incredible and make living fun. This particularly rags to riches story touched me, elucidating the world of someone living in Durazno, Uruguary selling food to working in Silicon Valley top tech firms.
What Medium Did to Me
I discovered the creative side of me and realized I wanted to share my culture, life experiences, professional knowledge, local encounters, and interests in health and music. Ideas for writing keep swirling in my head.
My day job as an investment manager and entrepreneur means I work with hard data and uncertain markets and lead a tough entrepreneurial journey daily.
Medium provides a different world for me to explore and open my eyes, comfortably from my home with my PC or phone, creating balance for me. I look forward to reading my Medium Daily Digest in my email every day.
It also helps me write better, represent myself to the outside, and stand for what I believe.
Most importantly, Medium teaches me how to build and support a community and to (re-)discover myself.
Thank you for reading.
Epilogue 1: A friend received a Talkwalker alert in her email which led her to this article — she became my 100th follower! Thank you so much!
Epilogue 2: Recently, I discovered and love this idea by Indigo of “Read For Read” which makes a ton of sense because the reading time is one of the most important earnings metrics on Medium. I am a fan of this group!
If you are interested to follow curated topics and many great writers, please consider joining Medium. Your membership supports me and other writers you read at no extra cost. You can read and listen to Medium articles!
