“Does writing on Medium help writers?”
Whenever I’m asked this question, I respond: “It depends. What do you want to achieve?”
If you’re unfamiliar with Medium, the publishing platform was developed by Evan Williams (co-founder of Blogger and Twitter) in 2012.
The platform has gone through many changes, but it’s lasted all these years and is popular. I find it useful because it collects a lot of interesting writing in one place.
That said, could the platform help you?
Writing on Medium: could it help YOU?
As stated, everything depends on what you want to achieve. Although Medium has a Partner Program, and you can potentially earn money on the site, this is challenging. You’ll need 100 followers to get started—if you’re a completely new writer, you can build your skills and (again, potentially) earn while you learn.
Let’s assume that you’re writing already.
Perhaps you’re a:
- Blogger.
- Self-publishing author.
- Freelance writer.
The platform can definitely help. Let’s look at its potential.
Blogger: publish, and syndicate your blog’s content too
Bloggers want traffic. Writing on Medium can help because Medium gets traffic. According to SimilarWeb, it received 142.3M visits last month. The platform has a global rank of 390, meaning that it’s ranked 390th of all the websites in the world.
You might consider syndicating your content (republishing it) on Medium after you’ve published on your blog. I don’t recommend junking your blog completely. Any platform can change its direction and business model, meaning that your huge audience might vanish in a blink.
Tip: promote your newsletter at the end of your Medium posts. Bloggers are always posting about the number of subscribers they get via the platform, so it might work well for you.
In addition to promoting your blog, if you’re a creator, you can post links to your products.
Strategies for authors: marketing and more
What about authors? Self-publishing is amazing, but you need to market your books—definitely use paid advertising if you can. Some authors spend tens of thousands of dollars on advertising each month. New authors with slim budgets don’t have that option, so marketing can be tough.
Blogging is an inexpensive marketing option: could you use Medium as your blogging platform?
I did a search for “book publishing” on Medium. As you can see below, topics with that keyword seem to be “how to” oriented.
Book publishing: how-to topics
Why not publish some strategies and opinions, and promote your books at the end of your articles? A case study of one of your self-publishing experiences would make an excellent article topic too.
Try performing your own searches on the site. I know that many authors publish short stories and other fiction, so explore. Or simply publish something—the platform’s a great place to test ideas.
Freelance writer: use the site as your portfolio
If you’re freelance writing and don’t have your own site, you can use the platform as an online portfolio. Direct clients to your profile, and call it good.
Other uses:
- Explore niches. Let’s say you’re interested in getting clients in a niche new to you. Write a couple of articles showcasing your writing in the niche. Add a “hire me” snippet at the end of each article, and offer a way for people to contact you.
- Network. I’m a big fan of networking with other writers because I like having a list of writers to whom I can refer prospects. Other writers do too; consider them your colleagues, because they are. Most will be happy to help you, once they know you and the type of writing you do. Consider creating a LinkedIn or Twitter profile, so you can network directly with prospective clients.
- Discover new ways of running your writing business. You’ll find lots of ideas to save time and money in your business, and also increase your income.
Writing on Medium: get started
Yes, writing on Medium is free:
By creating your free account, you can follow your favorite authors and publications, interact with their stories, bookmark them for later, publish your own posts, and more.
The platform is easy to navigate and use and has lots of options for you to explore. Have fun. 🙂
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Copywriter and marketing pro Angela Booth maintains a busy copywriting and ghostwriting practice. Fascinated by online marketing, she wrote one of the first business books for internet marketing, published by Allen & Unwin. She’s been an enthusiastic blogger since the late 1990s.
