Increase Your Prominence on Medium

New writers on Medium invariably have the same questions. How do I get noticed? How do I get people to actually engage with my work? How do I get a list of followers who will regularly read my writing?

One of the reasons these questions are often asked by novices is that they fail to use one of the most effective strategies for attracting readers on the site. That is to become as visible as possible.

The Trap of Following a Small Group of Writers

The most frequent advice you see given to writers on Medium is to read a lot. This is a good idea for helping you improve your writing and learn what readers are most interested in which will often lead to an increase in viewers.

But it is also important to be savvy about your reading. Many people on Medium fail to fully leverage their attention to stories. They have a group of writers whose articles they enjoy reading and mostly stick with these. They may have found these writers through avenues like Facebook pages or similar types of groups and they've interacted with them or have received advice from them early on.

As time passes, and many writers on Medium feel encouraged to write more frequently, which decreases their reading time. This means they focus even more on the small group of writers they've made a point of following. Even if they do read other people's content, they will usually only take the time to highlight and comment on work written by those in their small group of writers.

Then something unexpected happens. Their reads, engagement and associated income levels off. So they redouble their efforts and write more, publishing five to six times a week. There is a slight dip in their numbers but they figure it could just be a fluke. They begin publishing daily and then maybe more than once a day. But there's another dip.

At this point, they begin losing steam, wondering why they are writing nonstop when the number of people reading their work isn't going up and is in fact seeming to decrease along with their income. They get discouraged and decrease their writing frequency.

They look at the writers they follow who they interact with and can't understand why they are all so much more successful. They start reading less. Their numbers continue to drop.

If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. This phenomena is something that is experienced by many writers on Medium. It's important to get this downward spiral under control so you don't lose hope regarding your future as a writer and give up on it completely. There are several things you can do to turn this around.

Comment Widely

While ultimately we all want "natural" followers meaning, people who discover your work, love it, and return again and again to read it, it takes work for this to happen. The best thing you can do to gain readers on Medium is to read and comment as widely as possible. Sticking with a small group of writers who you interact with when you first start won't get your brand broadly recognized on the site.

That's not to say you should start ignoring those writers who you've connected with. They provide support, feedback and other positive functions and you were drawn to them for a reason. But there are a lot of great writers on Medium that write content you are bound to enjoy and who can expand your knowledge base as well as provide new ideas for writing your own articles. The more people whose work you comment on, the more your name will be recognized. It also encourages those writers to check out your work.

Highlighting and clapping are great of course, but commenting is a better method of generating interest in your work. While people may notice claps and highlights in their notifications, usually they don't stop to see who it was who engaged and supported their work in these ways. Most people however, will at least look at responses and often reply. This sets up new relationships with other writers.

Comment on Articles Written by Top Writers

Some people say don't bother trying to gain followers or engagement by spending time commenting on articles written by Medium's top writers since they aren't likely to respond. Yet failing to do so will lose you a good opportunity.

While many of the top writers don't read or comment on a lot of other articles or necessarily engage with a lot of writers who aren't in a similar position as they are, these writers obviously have a large following. By commenting on their work, even if you aren't noticed by them, you have the chance to be noticed by everyone else who reads their work, especially the other people who comment. When they see someone who seems knowledgeable about a topic they are interested in, they will often read and engage with your work and follow you as well.

Take the time to compose a thoughtful reply to articles written by some of the top writers. In addition to the names you hear over and over again, try some others such as Darius Foroux who writes about living a life that matters, umair haque who writes about politics, leadership, economics and psychology, and Srinivas Rao who writes about creativity, productivity and entrepreneurship. And there are a lot of others you'll find if you take the time to look.

Comment on Lesser and Little Known Writers

While it's good to spend time reading some of the bigger names on the site, it is also important to read and comment on the work of those that aren't so well known yet. This helps lesser known writers gain more readers and more support. You also have a greater chance of striking up a relationship with newer writers compared to one of the top few writers who have tens of thousands of followers.

Those who are just starting out will always feel gratitude to those who help them at the beginning. When I first started writing on Medium, Elle Fredine and Bebe Nicholson gave me a lot of advice and information about how Medium worked. Even on the days that I may not be on the site as much, I make a point of stopping by their profiles to see what they've written that's new.

You also may be interacting with one of the future influencers on the site. The person could go on to create a popular publication which they might invite you to become a writer or even an editor for. You might even collaborate with them which could increase your popularity by leveraging both sets of fans and enticing new ones.

Tag Other Writers

When you write articles that might be of interest to other writers, especially some of the top writers, tag them. Look into who on the site writes in areas similar to you and create a list of those who might share a point of view. When you write articles that were inspired by someone else's article, make sure to thank them and tag them when you do so.

This is a great way of gaining new supporters of your work. Even top writers have a hard time resisting the urge to see what someone wrote about them or their work when they are notified they've been tagged. They also may comment or at least thank you for mentioning them which will increase your reputation and credibility.

Take Away

When you see your numbers starting to level off or decrease, there a few simple strategies to help correct for this by increasing your visibility on Medium. Comment on lesser known writers for long term relationships. Also comment on some of the bigger names to become better known to their fans and possibly have some of them take an interest in your work based on your response. Finally, be sure to mention other writers, especially top writers, when you can and tag them so that they are intrigued enough to stop by and possibly read and comment on your article.

Natalie Frank (Taye Carrol) has had work featured in Haunted Waters Press, Weirdbook Magazine, Siren's Call Publications, Lycan Valley Press and Zero Fiction among others. Her poetry has been featured in several anthologies. She is Editor for 1-One-Infinity, The Partnered Pen and One Table, One World and is Editor in Chief for Promposity and Mental Gecko. She is also the Managing Editor for Novellas and Serials at LVP Publications.

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