It’s a chase for friends, not followers
The 100-follower hype is real, I got caught up too
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I’ve chosen to ignore the 24-hour 100 follower challenge.
There are thousands of articles out there telling you different strategies about how to gain 100 followers overnight. The truth is, getting to that mark is only the first step. The second step is getting them to stay and enjoy reading your work. Writers with over 100 followers explain how easy it is to be successful on this platform, but what they don’t explain is that it’s going to take more than 24 hours.
It’s going to take several days, months of getting to know others, reaching out, letting people know who you are, and most importantly reading their work. It’s about discovering who you are as a writer, what you’re going to be writing about, how you’re going to motivate yourself to write on the days you don’t want to.
I’ve learned that Medium isn’t like other social media platforms.
This isn’t like Instagram or Twitter; on Medium you can’t follow people and then unfollow them afterward. You’re not writing social statuses; you’re writing about something that matters to you. On social media people can follow you but not engage in any of your content, on Medium it’s a different story.
People follow you and subscribe to stay up to date with what you’re posting. They take time out of their day to give attention to your work. I’ve learned that the most beneficial type of follower is one that takes time out of their day to focus on reading your words.
It’s about creating friendships, genuine connections, and supporting other writers.
You would be surprised how far a few kind words can go. Over the past three days I’ve gained four followers I didn’t have last month. I’ve been on Medium for a short time, and it wasn’t until recently that I started setting aside time to grow my blog.
Here are two ways to start building connections on Medium:
(1) Clap, highlight, and comment on other articles.
Mind you, I didn’t just leave a one-liner. I wrote a greeting, a short paragraph or two about how it helped me, and a thank you note. What’s great about this is that you can include these comments on your profile. Including them on your profile allows other readers to get to know more about who you are as a writer, reader, and individual. This process takes quite a bit of time, but that’s the point. If you want your blog to succeed, you’re going to have to put in the work. Before you receive, you first have to give.
(2) Introduce yourself, write a post about who you are, and why you’re here.
My first article was an introduction about who I am, what I believe in, and the service I can provide to others. I created an outlet for people to get to know more about me. I made the first step in relationship building by being the first one to say hi. I know not everyone is going to like or want to read my content, but that’s okay, my target is to attract readers who want the same thing.
Remember, growth takes time, be patient, and trust the process.
The biggest turn off is not getting the response you were expecting. The greatest lesson I’ve learned is to stop expecting everything for little work. This past month I was casually writing and expecting big results. I was naive to think that by doing little work, I would get the most out of it. However, I wasn’t discouraged I received the reality check I needed.
From one writer to another, I’m here to give advice, assistance, and tips if you need anything.
The one thing I’m trying to remember is the power and importance of human connection. On the internet it seems hard to achieve, but I’m hopeful I’ll come across people who share a similar perspective. If by any chance you read this all the way to then end, thank you. I appreciate you taking the time to read this. Don’t be shy, let me know more about you in the comments, and I’ll try my best to support your content as well!
Check out my socials to support my other platforms. Peace and love.
