How I Reached 113 New Followers in 30 Days as a Medium Newbie
By: David Majister
Tags: Followers, Marketing, Audience Engagement, Ｍedium, Writing Tips

How I Reached 113 New Followers in 30 Days as a Medium Newbie

The fastest growth I’ve ever seen on any writing platform

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

I started publishing on Medium less than a month ago, and in the past 30 days, 113 people have followed me.

Data from Better Medium Stats, screenshot provided by the author

That’s the fastest audience growth I’ve seen on any writing platform. Thank you to everyone who has enjoyed my writing enough to click the follow button.

At this rate, within a year I’ll reach over 1,000 new followers — which to me seems an incredible number of people to be interested in my writing. It’s pretty humbling to think about.

I Only Started Writing on Medium 19 Days Ago

For transparency, I’ve been a Medium member since 2014, when I published a couple of stories, so I have some legacy followers from that time. But it’s the new growth over the past month that has astonished me. This has all happened since I restarted posting articles 19 days ago.

I’m aware there are other Medium writers who have seen much faster growth than myself. I’m not saying the follower growth I’ve seen is particularly extraordinary. None of my articles has gone viral, at last count, I have 601 views on my content, and my earnings for the month are around $10. I believe what I’ve done is achievable for anyone who is willing to invest the time.

The medium doesn’t share how new followers discover me. So while I can’t give exact insights into the reasons people follow me, I can be open about what I’ve done on Medium during the past 19 days. I believe it’s a combination of these behaviours that’s been the cause of my follower growth.

Here are the actions I’ve taken, that I believe have resulted in my follower count growing:

I Spend a Ton of Time Reading on Medium Every Day

I usually spend 60–90 minutes a day on Medium. Sometimes a little less, sometimes a lot more. There was one day this week I spent over 3 hours on the Medium app. I sometimes write articles in the app, but most of this time is reading.

I’m engaged and invested in the Medium community and platform, and I enjoy seeking out content that I love. Medium is a community, and it’s good to see that being active in the community means that other people want to engage with my writing.

I Highlight Sentences or Paragraphs that Give me an “Aha” Moment

My follower count started growing as soon as I started reading on Medium, even before I was publishing. I can only attribute this to the fact that I was highlighting articles on a regular basis.

My guess is that readers resonate with the content I’m highlighting, and they choose to follow me for that reason.

I Leave Occasional Comments

I haven’t left a lot of comments, but when I’ve been particularly struck or moved by a piece of content, I have left a reply. I also reply to any comments left on my own articles. I’ve found that when I comment on an article and follow the writer, they usually follow me back.

I’ve Published a Ton of Articles

In the past 19 days, I’ve published 14 articles. Writing a lot means that I’m being read a lot, and so gives more opportunity for people to follow me. It also means that readers have more chances to see my content, and that builds familiarity and trust.

I Submit All My Articles into a Publication

So far, I’ve only published articles in publications. With limited subscribers myself, this seemed the best way to reach new readers who might be interested in what I have to say. I’m glad I discovered publications early, thanks to advice from Zulie Rane, as having readers engaged with my work has kept me motivated to write and publish more content.

I Spread My Articles Wide

I’ve made sure to publish my articles across a range of publications. This means I’m reaching a wider spread of readers compared to if I simply focused on one publication.

I enjoy trying out different writing styles, and writing on a range of topics, so the option to write for a range of publications has worked well for me. My writing has developed as a result of the feedback I’ve gained from editors.

My Simple Formula for Building a Medium Audience

If you want to build an audience of readers, fast, I know of no better platform than Medium. It’s the perfect place for writers who like feedback and being part of a supportive community.

My simple formula for building an audience on Medium is to:

Read a lot

Engage with what you read through highlights and comments

Write a lot

Submit to a range of publications

If you’re just starting your Medium journey, I wish you luck. It’s a rollercoaster ride, but so far it’s very much been worth it for me.

How have you found Medium for building up a community of followers? Let me know in a comment, and I promise to read and reply.