3 Things Medium Top Writers Do That Won’t Work For You
And what you can do instead
And what you can do instead
Have you ever wondered why your articles are not getting any views or making much money on Medium?
The top writers on the platform are doing the same things you do, but their stories make thousands of dollars when you barely get a few cents.
If that’s the case, this article is just what you’re looking for. Here, I’ve discussed three things top writers on Medium do that won’t work for you and why you should stop doing these things immediately. I’m also going to share some tips on what you can do instead to make sure your story gets more views.
But before we get started, you can watch the same in video format:
1. Speaking In Absolutes
You must have heard many top writers publish stories with titles like The One Trick That Will Change Your Life Forever or X Quotes by Y That Will Change the Way You Think and Live.
You must have seen stories like that earning thousands of dollars. You might have even tried the same title format out yourself with little or no success.
Why it works for top writers but won’t work for you
The reason can be summed up in one word: credibility.
Such titles work for top writers because they’ve been on the platform for quite a while. They’ve built a huge follower base for themselves.
When a reader sees a person with 20,000 followers writing about the tip that changed their life, they feel that this person must know something because 20000 people are following them. There must be some weight in their words.
But if you’re new to the platform, have only 200 followers, and claim your advice will change the reader’s life forever, people will be skeptical.
At the end of the day, Medium is a form of social media.
And on any social media platform, the readers are obsessed with numbers.
If your follower count is less, or the number of stories you’ve written is less, people would be less likely to trust you.
And that’s why speaking in absolutes won’t work for you when you’re a beginner.
What you can do instead
Don’t speak in absolutes.
Instead of The One Trick That Will Change Your Life Forever, write The Mindset Shift That Helped Me 3x My Income And Pursue My Passion.
By doing this, you’re essentially adding proof in the article that your tricks work. This way, you are building credibility for yourself.
Even if you don’t have thousands of followers, people will still be interested in reading your article because they see proof in the title that your advice worked for you, so there must be some weight in it.
Here are some more tips on writing better titles:
2. Writing Only For Big Publications
The thing with big publications like Mind Cafe, The Ascent, Better Marketing. etc., is that they publish 20, 30, sometimes even 40 articles each day.
Why it works for top writers but won’t work for you
Of those 30 articles, at least five or six are by people who have lots of followers.
So, when a new reader goes to the homepage of these publications and sees all these big names on the homepage, they may be more likely to read stories by those big names rather than reading the stories by someone new on the platform.
What you can do instead
Choose to write for a smaller publication that publishes five or six stories each day. That way, your story will stay on the homepage for a longer duration. And since most “famous” writers don’t write for small publications, more readers will likely read your story.
3. Writing Only About Self-Improvement
While it’s true that many readers on medium come to read stories of personal development, again, the credibility factor comes into play here.
If they see a story of amazing self-improvement tricks written by someone who has 200 followers, readers may be doubtful to trust something like that. It doesn’t matter how high-quality the article is or how effective your tips are. If you don’t have that credibility on Medium or off-platform, people are not very likely to read that.
Why it works for top writers but won’t work for you
The reason why it works for top writers is that they have already made a name for themselves. They’ve been writing about self-improvement for so long that their readers trust them.
To reach that level where every story of yours works, you need to work harder. You need to stay on the platform for at least two or three years before readers start to trust your voice.
What you can do instead
Don’t limit yourself to only writing about self-improvement.
Think outside the box, play to your strengths.
If you are a writer who has self-published your book, you can write about your book publishing journey. That way, even if you don’t have thousands of followers, if you add that line in your bio that you are a published author and you are writing about your experience in the publishing industry, that’s when you’re building credibility for yourself.
So to avoid falling into the self-improvement trap, here’s what you can do:
- Play to your strength
- Utilize your superpower
- Think about the stories that only you can write, and nobody else on the platform can write and publish those stories.
For more tips and tricks like this, make sure you follow the series of super informative interviews I’ve had with amazing writers on Medium.
I have a three-month-long course called Project Medium: Make Your First $100 on Medium for those of you who don't know. There are six modules regarding how you can improve your writing and how you can establish yourself as a force to be reckoned with on Medium.
And the best part about the course is that we have group coaching calls every week where we do brainstorming rounds, feedback sessions, idea testing, and accountability checks. So basically, it will be a group call where all the cohort members are there, and we talk about how we can make it big on Medium.
If you’re a writer on Medium passionate about growing and supporting other writers on their journey, feel free to join this amazing community on Discord for FREE.