MEDIUM ADVICE

Writing a Great “Subscribe Via My Link” Promo for the End of Your Stories

A collection of the best ones I could find

You want to get some of that sweet, sweet referred member earnings but no fish are biting on the wiggly worm you’ve tacked to the end of your stories. Is it you? Is it your lame call to action? Do only already subscribed members read your stories? What gives here?

I have one and only one referred member so don’t look to me for great heaping gobs of success. What I do have is a desire to research things way beyond reasonable levels of profitable time versus earnings. Reading stories on Medium with one eye tuned to best practices is a hobby of mine.

One of the fun things you can do on Medium is to look around at what all the cool writers are doing. Not only is this a place to post your own stories and read a huge variety of awesome content, but if you pay attention you can learn a lot about writing without even skimming through the oodles of writing advice stories.

I like to collect examples of great stuff as I read. When I have enough for an article I pull it together and share it with all of you. In this story, I give you my favorite end of story “please subscribe/join through my referral link”s.

Answering the question “Why?”

You don’t have many referred members or maybe you don’t have any. Why? Let’s look at the questions from my intro paragraph.

Is it you?

You have to post interesting stories people want to read. There is no finagling your way around this one. Unfortunately writing the good stuff isn’t enough on its own to gain you reads, follows, or referred members but it is a necessary first step. Start here.

Is it your lame call to action?

Maybe. First question is do you even have a link posted? If you don’t ask people to subscribe your odds go way down of picking up referred members.

Look, I get that many writers don’t want to sully their stories with a begging call to action at the end. I’ve got no judgment for that choice. Some of them may even pick up members anyway. But if you don’t ask you are less likely to receive. There is nothing wrong with asking politely. If you can also do it entertainingly so much the better, which is the point of this entire story.

Do only already subscribed members read your stories?

I thought this was my problem. Turns out I wasn’t paying enough attention to my stats. My new stories don’t usually get a lot of off-platform hits because I’m terrible at social media self-promotion and put no effort into SEO. But, when I look at some of my older stuff, there are tons of stories that get regular google hits and reads.

Medium really is magic for helping your well-written stories find readers over time. You may be getting more non-member views than you think.

What gives here?

Aye, there’s the rub. I can’t answer this question for sure or I would be swimming in referred members like Scrooge McDuck in his vault of gold coins. But what I can do is highlight some of the calls to action I’ve found which really jumped out at me in a good way.

Most CTAs at the end of a story are very unobtrusive. We writers are kind of embarrassed to even be asking so we make it as small and unassuming as possible so as not to distract from our writing. This isn’t necessarily a bad strategy.

I’m not suggesting your subscribe link needs to be bracketed with blinking lights and a blaring soundtrack. But maybe paying a little more attention to your wording could help. In the large pond that is Medium sometimes zigging when others zag can help you become a bigger fish. Leap into the ocean that is online writing and you need even more bling to do your thing.

Look at the examples below of people who put a little thought and creativity into their subscription calls. Don’t cut and paste their originality but get inspired to consider your own twist.

Enough preamble, on to the good stuff

Finally, on to the content you clicked for. Here — in my completely biased opinion — are examples of people who have done something original and compelling in their end-of-story CTA.

Classic sales pitch

Since becoming a Medium Paid Member in September 2020, I learned a boatload about marketing strategy & data-driven marketing — resulting in better performance at my work. Articles on personal growth also helped me in my personal growth. If you are not a member, become one by clicking the link below. It’s only $5 a month and the content you’d get is incredibly good.

[Mofrad’s link appears here]

A portion of your membership will go to support the author & other Medium contributors at no extra cost to you.

Mofrad Muntasir’s CTA is a classic sales pitch in all the right ways. It is focused on benefits to the potential customer. Here is how this product helped me, Muntasir begins. It’s affordable. Click here. You can feel good about your choice because you’ll help me and other authors.

Most CTAs start with “If you like my stories, do this to help me and other authors.” Do you hear the “me, me, me?”

Muntasir’s appeal is perfect because he is a marketer writing for marketers. Your audience is different but the basic principle applies. What does your reader have to gain? You aren’t begging for a handout. You have a quality product to sell.

Make ’em laugh, make ’em laugh, make ’em laugh

Humor is always a good choice.

Jean Campbell is a 4x top Medium writer who used to make an okay living until the algorithm changed. Now she is looking for a real job. If you liked this post, please subscribe to get her stories in your inbox.

Are you going to read the CTA above and groan about greedy writers trying to get into your pockets? No, you are going to giggle or at least smile, which vastly increases the odds you click to subscribe. Who doesn’t want more humor in their inbox.

Note that Campbell isn’t pushing a Medium membership. Maybe she doesn’t feel comfortable shilling for Medium. Fair enough. Or maybe she’s playing the long game. If someone subscribes to your stories by email, Medium is going to suggest they become a paying member so they can read all your stories.

This makes Medium the pushy salesperson while you reap the benefits. Either you end up with just a new email subscriber — Win! — or they go on to become a referred member — Win, Win! This is a perfectly reasonable strategy.

The soft sell

Margery Bayne is a librarian by day and a writer by night. Like a superhero but with more paper cuts.

If my story was the one that perhaps pushed you over the edge into wanting to get a Medium membership, please consider signing up through my membership link. It’s no extra cost to you and helps support my writing efforts.

Margery Bayne masters the soft sell. She eases in with a humorous bio. I love her acknowledgment that many Medium readers have likely been reading around before deciding to subscribe. This endears her to the already a member reader/writer who could be annoyed by a CTA.

Note the order of the last sentence. “No extra cost to you” comes ahead of “support my writing.” Always put the needs of the customer first.

Self-deprecation for the win

Open up your inbox to a writer in need. I may not auto-fill on Google, but I can auto-fill your inbox. Or, maybe it’s more of me you want. More of this supple young man’s supple young words. If that’s the case, click this link right here and join Medium. You’ll also get access to other, better writers.

Gunner Barrett brings the humor big time, mostly by poking fun at himself. What I think is genius here is Gunner is also entertaining his faithful readers. After all, money comes from the reads around here. Keeping your regulars happy is probably more important than the slim chance of nabbing a referred member.

Barrett continues the theme in his email subscription plea :

Open Up Your Inbox to a Writer in Need

Man, it’s cold outside. Why don’t you let me in? Come on. It’s just me out here. Me and the snow. Just crack open your inbox. Do it. Now.

Thank Barrett for the giggle. It was much appreciated.

My approach

I wanted to find a balance between connecting with current Medium members and not missing out on the possibility of a recurring referral bonus each month. So I try to kill two birds with one stone. Lists are key to my strategy.

I write on a wide variety of topics. This keeps me happy but doesn’t lead to quick fame and fortune in the online writing world. The problem is someone who likes my humor may not be interested in my fiction or history writing. How can I easily direct someone to more of the type of my writing they like? Lists.

You can read about my list strategy in depth here, but basically, everything I write gets sorted into a list. At the end of each new story, I post a CTA which begins with a link to the list containing stories in the same category. For example:

Read all of my best fiction here. Join Medium to read not just my stories but all the other fantastic content lurking around every corner. If you like to write you can even post your own stories and make money. Use this link and I’ll get a small commission when you sign up.

I keep a notes file on my desktop with versions of this paragraph for all my various types of stories. I choose the correct one and plunk it in at the end of each post.

The referred memberships aren’t exactly pouring in, but occasionally I can see the link to lists working. When a new story of mine is going well I often notice a bump up in old stories from the same list.

You do you, boo

Maybe you’d rather have the final words of your story linger in your reader’s brain like the taste of a fine wine on your lover’s lips. No problem. Nobody says you need any kind of call to action. That’s the beauty of this site. Have it your way.

You can go big and bold, and really chase the referrals or minimal and low key trusting your writing to build your audience and your income. Whatever choice you make tailor your approach to fit your own style. This site doesn’t pay enough to make it worth trying to jump through hoops unless you are enjoying the circus.

Want to check out my other stories where I spend way too much time looking at what everyone else was doing instead of writing myself? Here they are:

How to Write the Perfect Medium Bio

The Best First Sentences From the Contest Entries

Learn How to Write a Great First Sentence From About Me Stories

You can find all of my stories about writing here. Join Medium to read not just my stories but all the other fantastic content lurking around every corner. If you like to write you can even post your own stories and make money. Use this link and I’ll get a small commission when you sign up.