Your Existence and Good Content Aren’t Good Enough
By: Fatim Hemraj
Tags: Advice, Writers On Writing, Writing, Writers On Medium, Writer

Have you ever stumbled upon a writer’s page and noticed the number of their following and the number of claps on their stories don’t add up?

I have.

They have followers in the thousands, I’m talking 5k to 10k, yet the claps on their stories never exceed 200 to 500.

Sure, claps don’t tell you how many people read the story, but a low number of claps is a telltale sign that the view count isn’t particularly high, either.

Haven’t you ever wondered why that is?

I’m constantly seeing the same piece of advice floating around on Medium about how to get more followers, usually titled something like, “How to get 10,000 followers in three months!” or “Get 200 to 500 followers a week with this one simple trick!”

Its:

Follow 50 people everyday

It doesn’t matter who they are, what they write about, or whether they write at all, just follow fifty people a day, and 10 to 15 people might follow you back.

It suddenly hit me.

This is why the claps don’t add up.

Followers Vs. Engagement

What are the benefits of having a large number of followers? Well, for one the larger the number, the nicer it looks on your profile page and the more brag-worthy it is.

But, let’s say a writer has 7k followers. How many of those 7,000 people are actually clicking on their stories?

It depends.

Here’s a question: Would you rather have a group of ten below average friends who aren’t very dependable and can’t be trusted or two really good friends who you can trust with your life? They’re always there for you and they always show up.

Obviously, the latter, right?

Quality over quantity.

Well, that’s the same way followers work (or should work.)

Following fifty people a day trying to hit 10k followers as quickly as you can is good for you in the short-term if your only goal is to have a nice number to show off on your profile page, but what does it do for you long-term?

In the long run, most of those followers aren’t actually going to be reading your stories. They aren’t going to be sharing your work on Twitter and they certainly aren’t going to be a direct component of your success level on Medium.

This is why you need to engage.

‘Enhanced Stats’ a Google Chrome plug-in with more…well, enhanced stats, tells me I have seventy-one articles, but 869 responses. That means, I’m engaging. I’m responding to comments and I’m leaving them.

A lot.

This is how I’ve made so many great connections on Medium. This is how, with a smaller following than others, even some of my non-curated stories have significantly more views than they would have otherwise.

But, the best part is, a lot of them have really genuine, heartwarming and valuable comments from other writers.

The type of comments that, even when you’re suffering from a vile case of writer’s block, motivate and inspire you to keep writing, like how I began writing this piece.

Compliments leave lasting impressions

Engaging on Medium is what has helped me build my tribe (you know who you are!) and make invaluable connections with other writers.

Every day, the first thing I do when I sit down with my morning coffee is open up Medium and spend at least an hour (sometimes two) engaging. Responding to comments, reading other writers’ stories and of course, leaving well-thought-out comments.

It also gives me something to take my mind off of writing. Rather than stress about my next story, I use my downtime to read and engage.

Believe it or not, I refer to my Medium tribe in my real life when I talk about writing with my significant other. I call them my Medium friends and I acknowledge that without their friendship, I wouldn’t be as successful.

Your existence and good content aren’t good enough

Followers and readers are two vastly different things. Followers see your stories but most won’t click on them. Readers are there to do just that; read your stories.

Getting others to follow you requires only your existence. Getting others to follow you who actually read your work requires your existence, good content and engagement.

Writers want to feel like their work is unique and appreciated. We like specifics; did you like my introduction? The punch line? The style?

We like feedback. We want to know what exactly it was that made you click on a story, or finish it all the way through. What worked, what didn’t?

Criticism is welcomed and helpful when it’s constructive.

Most writers aren’t in it for the money (obviously) — they’re in it for passion.

Here’s my question to you: Do you want followers or readers?

If you want followers, go ahead and follow fifty random people a day. But, if you want readers, you need to engage. Leave comments on other writers' works and not generic comments like, “Great piece!” or “well done.” I’m talking about real, genuine, thought-provoking comments.

Comments that implant you in other writers’ minds, that when they see your name pop up in their feed they think, “Oh, right, we had a great conversation about —” and they actually click on your story.

If you’re a writer you’re most likely a reader, too

I’m not going to sugarcoat this though, don’t bother leaving empty praise-comments and engaging with writers whose works you don’t actually like or on pieces you didn’t actually read, maybe just skimmed the body and headed straight to the conclusion to highlight the closing sentence.

It’s not as subtle as you may think.

If you’re a writer you’re most likely a reader, too. You don’t really want your Medium feed cluttered with stories you don’t have any intention of reading, but with stories that you can’t wait to open.

Engage with writers whose work you genuinely enjoy reading. Engage with writers who show reciprocity and engage back.

This is how two people can gain a reader for life.

Slow and steady wins the race

Sure, it might take longer to reach your goal, whatever it may be, but I would rather it take me two years to reach 10,000 followers who actively read and enjoy my work, than wake up to 10,000 followers tomorrow who:

Don’t know me and don’t care to

Don’t read my stories

Are only following me in hopes I’ll follow them back so they can grow their number of followers they’ll never engage with

When you use the follow-for-follow approach, Medium turns into a popularity contest. Medium is meant to be a platform for content creators, not social media. We have Twitter for that.

I used to follow every single person I stumbled upon, regardless of whether they actually published articles on Medium or engaged with my work. What resulted was a disastrous feed riddled with stories that although may be fantastically well-written, are not in topics that I enjoy reading about or something I would ever actually click on.

In addition, it was nearly impossible to find the stories of the writers whose works I truly do enjoy and look forward to. I felt like I was missing out on all these great stories because they were getting buried in my feed.

Now, I only follow writers whose works I genuinely enjoy and those who engage with me and show reciprocity.

Some writers say you need to follow fifty random people a day if you want to increase your following. But, say you don’t want to increase your following, you want to increase your readers and consequently, your views.

How do you do that? It’s simple.

Leave ten comments a day.

Every day, read ten different stories by ten different writers and leave a valuable comment on each story you genuinely enjoyed, explaining why you enjoyed it.

Create a bond, a friendship, a tribe, and gain lifelong readers.

And remember, slow and steady wins the race. 🐢