150+ Followers in my First Week on Medium — My Success Story
How I gained over 150 organic followers in just one week, with my first post, starting from scratch — My inspiring story and strategy for aspiring writers.
Welcome to FosteringThoughts.
Have you ever wondered how to grow your following on Medium quickly? I imagine you’ve often heard that you have to write every day to reach a large audience, even at the expense of quality.
My story is different.
I’m here to share my journey and reveal the secrets behind my amazing achievement of gaining over 150 organic followers in just one week from scratch.
I think it is important to make a premise.
What I’m going to show you has been my journey to date. Perhaps it is of little relevance to infer from what happened to derive a modus operandi, however I want to explain to you what I think was the pattern that led me to this achievement.
Also remember that:
At the basis of success there must be passion.
While I can’t promise it will work for everyone, I’ve distilled my experience into a 5-step guide that might help you replicate my success.
My experience
A few months ago I launched into the world of Medium. I committed to writing and published my first post. Over time I reached 3 followers. The only views were mine.
Needless to say, the lack of satisfaction made me give up the attempt.
Last week I decided to give it another try. I did something unconventional: I deleted my original post, revamped it by changing steps, and then posted it again.
Incredibly, in just seven days, my follower count has soared to over 150. (If you’re curious about the post that triggered this growth you’ll find the link at the bottom of this post).
I sincerely believe this is a well crafted post and I’m excited to share with you how I achieved these results.
Why Medium?
Before I get into specifics, let me explain why I chose Medium as my platform. I’ve always wanted a place to share my thoughts and participate in discussions, but I’ve been hesitant several times to start a personal WordPress blog.
Medium stood out because it grants you access to a not indifferent audience of readers, and it’s right for me because I value interactions with others. Getting feedback on your posts is very valuable.
Medium Partner Program: join or not?
The Medium Partner Program is an issue that many aspiring writers grapple with. The news is that since August you no longer need 100 followers to sign up.
However, the decision to join involves more than just follower count; it’s about ensuring that your writing resonates with your audience. At the moment, despite my recent success with the previous post, I don’t think I will join the program.
I need to see how my profile follow-up will evolve in the coming weeks to make a decision. My goal is to bring valuable content and not clickbait to earn.
My 5-steps strategy
Now that you’ve heard about my incredible journey of gaining over 150 Medium followers in just one week, it’s time to unravel the inner workings of my success story.
I strongly believe that a well thought out strategy can make all the difference and I am excited to share mine with you. Let’s dive into the heart of my strategy with these five steps:
- Quality over quantity. I prioritized creating high-quality content over churning out numerous posts. I think this is of fundamental importance, at least initially, to convey confidence to the reader.
- Bring value. I aimed to provide value to my readers, making sure the post had a clear meaning. It is important to me that the reader remembers what has read on my profile. My goal is to positively impact someone’s decisions.
- Brand identity. I’ve established a distinct brand identity, complete with a unique logo (P.S. Did you notice the light bulb with the initials FT for FosteringThoughts in my profile picture?). This is a step that works especially well for pseudonymous profiles. However, taking care of the brand is possible — and important — even for personal profiles.
- Get noticed. I started following a lot of people and interacting with potential followers. I actively engaged with stories I was passionate about on Medium, highlighting, commenting, and clapping to foster authentic connections.
- Be Passionate. Last but not least, believe in what you write and do it with passion. A post written because it has to be written is not pleasant to read and is counterproductive. Every time you start writing think of it as your first post.
Thank you for joining me on this journey of growth and discovery. Your support means so much to me and I look forward to sharing more valuable information with you in the future.
If you found value in this post, please consider clapping, highlighting and leaving a comment. If you don’t already follow FosteringThoughts, I encourage you to follow me.
If you are interested in immersing yourself in the world of OKRs, I invite you to read my post on the subject that brought me here.
