I’ll admit it… when I first started writing for Medium back in September 2017, I got lucky.
The second article I ever wrote went super-viral and single-handedly catapulted me to Top Writer status in over seven categories.
That article went on to get picked up by a couple major news outlets, and even landed me an interview on Canadian public radio.
For the next two months, pretty much every article I wrote benefited from the halo effect and continually boosted my visibility on Medium.
This was, to put it lightly, completely unexpected.
Sure, I’d done copious amounts of research on what sorts of articles trended well on Medium. And I understood the strategies and tactics associated with success because, (like you right now), I read every article I could find from other writers explaining how they achieved Top Writer status.
I just didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.
Somehow instant success felt a little…hollow. Random. Undeserved.
And yeah, more than a bit lucky.
Now, before you get to thinking, “Boohoo, stop complaining about winning,” you have to understand that I come from the fiction publishing world where success never comes instantly, and it never comes easy.
It’s always a long drawn-out affair that leaves you questioning your very existence.
That’s the world I call home.
So I decided to challenge myself. I decided to stop writing on Medium for however long it would take for my Top Writer badges to disappear.
Then, once I’d returned to ground level, I’d try again. I’d implement the same strategies and tactics as before to see if they actually worked, or if I’d just gotten lucky.
In January, I started again. I wrote two articles and they both did relatively well. They both had just over 1,000 views, but it wasn’t enough to get me that hallowed Top Writer Badge.
Okay, so I upped the ante in February and instead of writing 2 articles over the course of the month, I wrote 5!
One of these articles was a complete flop, whereas the others all did relatively well. But again, no Top Writer Badge.
They don’t just give those things away for free, ya know?
You’ve got to be in the top 50 most popular authors within a particular category to get that badge. And, if you didn’t know, there’s a shark infested pool of incredibly talented writers competing to… I dunno, get out of the shark infested pool?
This metaphor has gotten away from me. Leave me alone.
Anyways, I took two weeks off writing and returned on March 11th and wrote 15 articles in the final 3 weeks of the month.
And?
Yahzee!
Those sweet, tasty badges came rolling in (Productivity, Psychology, and Leadership)!
Through this process I’ve identified some key steps to success. If you’ve been dying to earn your Top Writer badge, well, here you go.
Write Every Single Day
This applies to all things in life, but if you want to be better than just good at a thing, you have to do it every single day.
It’s no different with writing.
It’s a skill. It can be developed. But only through persistently consistent practice. What’s peristent consistence? Good question, here’s an article on that very subject.
Post 5–6 Times Per Week
The sad truth is, on Medium, quantity matters. There’s a reason the majority of Top Writers here post a new article every single day.
It’s because there’s an absolute metric-ton of new content being posted daily.
Only posting once a week won’t cut it (though this is a good place to start if you’re just trying to build up a writing habit).
I think at minimum, you should be posting 3 times per week, but ideally you’d throw new content at your readers between 5–6 times per week.
They don’t always have to be long, super in-depth editorials (though the majority of my pieces are about 7 minutes long), they only have to be quality.
Say Something of Value
This ties into quality, and, honestly, it should probably come on the list before quantity. But we’re already here, and there’s no going back, so onward and upward as they say.
People like to talk. Unfortunately, most people don’t have anything particularly interesting to say.
That won’t fly if you want to be a Top Medium Writer. You’ve got to dredge your soul for the good stuff if you want to keep your ravenous fans satisfied.
Not sure where to come up with things worth saying? Check out this article on becoming the most interesting person in the room. It’s the best starting point I can give you.
Here’s How To Be The Most Interesting Person In The Room
What’s in a name? Almost everything!
Seriously, don’t underestimate how important your title is. It’s easy to skimp on the brainstorming energy after you’ve poured your soul into an article and just throw a half-arsed title on the piece and call it a day.
This is a mistake. This is Tonya Harding’ing your baby article before it ever gets on the ice.
I’ve made this same mistake, and seen firsthand what a fresh, crisp title can do to breathe life into an otherwise dying article.
If your articles aren’t gaining traction after the first day or two, consider rebooting the title.
Don’t know what makes for a great title? Well, stick around and hit that subscribe button, I’ve got an article scheduled for later this week that should help you out.
Use Publications
Publications are a fantastic way of getting your story in front of more eye-balls. Personally, I write most frequently for The Startup and The Mission (two of the biggest publications on Medium).
The additional exposure offered by a good publication can make or break your article.
Don’t know where to find the top publications and how to pitch them an article? I got your back.
Smedian is a solidresource for finding and connecting with a wide variety of publications. A couple minutes spent on this site will save you hours of trawling through Medium’s search bar.
Use Consistent Keywords
This should be a no-brainer, but if you want to become a Top Writer in a particular category, then it stands to reason you should write as many articles as possible within that category as possible.
Figure out your niche and then stick to it.
Consistency is key when it comes to building an audience.
For myself, I targeted Leadership, Psychology, and Productivity because these three disciplines are somewhat interrelated.
People reading about Leadership are typically interested in the psychology of human interactions. As it turns out, people interested in productivity are quite often trying to understand how to leverage their psychology to gain maximum results.
The take away here: Find synergistic categories and consistently apply keywords.
Engage, Engage, Engage
If somebody takes the time to read your article, then goes one step further and takes the time to write a comment, then the least you can do is take a minute out of your day to respond.
Doesn’t matter if the comment is positive or negative, take the time to engage.
Show interest in the people who’ve taken an interest in you. This is how you build a loyal following.
You’d be surprised how few ravenous fans you need to survive in this world. A handful of uber-loyal fans who comment and clap on all your articles can be like jet fuel on a fire.
Take care of your fans and they’ll take care of you.
Now That You Know What To Do, What’re You Waiting For?
You’ll notice that none of these steps are brain-surgery. There is no mystical trick to becoming a Top Medium Writer.
It’s all about consistent application of skill over time.
That’s it.
Seriously, don’t make it any more complicated than it is. And, and, and, please, for the love of god, stop thinking that this is beyond you.
You can do this.
I promise.
Now do me a favor and go prove me right.
