I’ve Had an Uptick in Followers on Medium Lately
I don’t know why, but I’m not complaining
One of my pet peeves about the internet is that everybody is trying to sell you some magical formula about how to make money writing. Yes, I’m aware that’s the name of my newsletter. The difference between me and all those jokers is that I’m not going to lie and say it’s easy to make money because it’s not.
Also, I’m one of the few writers who’s willing to admit that I second guess myself all the time.
The truth is that most writers don’t make that much. Go through this article for some surprises about what some famous titles actually earned for their authors. If you’re going to make money writing, most of it is probably going to come from advertising copy or content writing. Novels don’t pay well.
However, that doesn’t stop everyone and their mother from offering expensive “writer retreats” to provide “the secret” that will have you rolling in dough. Do you know what the secret is? The secret is to get paid to host expensive writing retreats. There you go, I just saved you some money, leave me a tip on Ko-Fi.
Sometimes, lighting does strike twice
For some reason, I’m coming off my biggest ever month for recruiting new followers on Medium. Normally I get around 300-400 new followers in a month. I had over 1k in June and I exceeded that number in the first week of July.
What’s happening?
If I was malicious, I could take the above screenshot and combine it with a title like “How I tripled my followers and how you can too!”
But, the honest truth is that I have no idea why I have so many more followers now. Maybe it’s because Umair Haque linked to one of my articles here. Thank you Mr. Haque, I really appreciate that!
I used to always follow back, but these days I exceed my follow limit if I try to follow everyone back. As a result, now I’m only following people who leave comments (comments I like, not the mean ones).
You need subscribers, not followers
I’ve had an uptick in email subscribers too. That’s really the thing you need to focus on. I started to notice more consistent earnings on Medium when my subscriber list got to 100. You should periodically download the list to have a copy of it. That’s your bread and butter.
When I’m wearing my “boost nominator” hat, I am on the lookout for articles that don’t have a bunch of superfluous junk at the bottom. I’ve mentioned this before, but seriously people, you’ve got to start listening. Please quit putting link after link after link at the bottom of your stories.
Lately, here’s the line I use to signify the article has ended:
Thanks for reading, please subscribe to my emails.
Short and sweet. Sometimes I mix it up a little bit, but really capturing a new subscriber should be the main objective for every single one of your articles.
Getting a new referred member is nice, but it’s too much work for too little reward. My advice is to not even think about it. Get the subscriber. Think about one thing. Do it well.
The truth is, I have absolutely no idea what works
Last week I was working with one of my author friends to polish off one of her articles. On the one hand, it felt a little embarrassing to offer advice because she’s a very accomplished writer. However, I kept having to remind myself that every platform is different.
What works in a magazine won’t work on a blog
What works on a blog won’t work in an online journal
What works in an online journal won’t work in a novel
What works in a novel won’t work in a newspaper
What works in a newspaper won’t work in a magazine
These days, it’s more than just “know your audience.” You can’t just consider who is going to be reading your work, you also have to be mindful of where the work will appear and how the readers are going to interact with it.
A couple little tweeks can be the difference between moderate success and absolute, cataclysmic, embarrassing FAILURE!!! (so tweek).
Why do all of my articles and stories fail?
One of the big takeaways I got from the article I was editing was the importance of headers. Actually, a good rule of thumb is to use your headers to ask questions. Questions entice people to scroll down for an answer.
Instead of a heading like: The importance of good headings
Use: Why do all of my articles and stories fail?
See how much more dynamic that is?
Oh, and the answer to why your work is failing is because you aren’t using good headings. For more great writing advice, please sign up for my writing retreat.
Today might be the day, so put your shoes on (and pants)
You can’t predict when opportunity will show up at your door, but you can get up at a reasonable hour and put your pants on. That way when opportunity does come knocking, you don’t have to keep it waiting while you look for your pants.
These days, I don’t get too excited when I see what appears to be good news. In fact, the only time I get excited about anything writing related is when I get a deposit in my bank account. That’s your one focus (that and expanding your email list). There’s zero reason to celebrate until the money is actually in your hands.
This is easier said than done, but I’ve been disappointed enough times by empty promises that I’ve gone numb.
If you have a lot of followers, that’s great. However, it might not lead to any money. If you have zero followers, that’s fine too. People with zero followers get paid all the time.
If you’re new, please take a look at my latest Medium story. I like this one, I seem to write better when I start off by telling a story about my kids.
Now, for the grand finale:
Killer, epic, dynamic header that obliterates the competition!
To summarize:
Your first focus should be on getting paid
Your other first focus should be on getting email subscribers
Your final first focus should be on staying level headed (unless you get paid, then you can jump around a bit... even if it’s just a few cents)
Thanks to all my new followers for, er... following me. I appreciate you. Please, don’t sign up for any writer’s retreats. If you have any questions, just leave them in the comment section below. I might not tell you what you want to hear, but I promise to at least try to tell you the truth (as far as the truth is known to me).
Good luck with whatever you’re trying to do today. It’s gonna be great, you’ll see!