In May 2023, I created a brand new Medium account, for two reasons: 1) I wanted to separate my creative writing from content writing, and 2) I challenged myself to get at least 100 followers on Medium fast so I could show a Medium newbie how to do it 🙂

And I’m delighted to share with you now that I have successfully gained 100 followers as of writing this—just two months after I created the account—without cheating. None of the first 100 followers there are my family members or friends. How cool is that?!

If you’re curious, here’s the brand new Medium account. Do check it out and give it a follow 🙂

Not on Medium yet? Then join now!

In any case, today’s post is about here’s how I gained 100 followers with a brand-new Medium account.

Here’s the timeline for my brand new Medium account

• I created the new account and published my first story on May 12, 2023.
• Shortly after, I applied to a couple of publications because I know submitting stories to publication will get me more views, and eventually, more followers, faster.
• I published 24 stories in the next two months; that’s 3 stories per week on average.
• On July 11, 2023, I gained my 100th follower.

Can you replicate my little success?

Most likely, because I’ve heard of writers who got 100 followers in just a few days! Compared to that, two months isn’t that big of a deal.

Why do we care about followers on Medium?

Until recently, it used to be that you needed to have at least 100 followers to apply for the Medium Partner Program—the program that allows writers to make money with their writing.

But that policy has been reversed and writers do not need a minimum follower count to join the Partner Program.

However, followers still matter!

In fact, under the recently updated rules, writers can make more money when one of their existing followers reads and engages with their stories! So having more followers is to the benefit of the writer.

How I gained my first 100 followers

The number “100” is just the start! I’ll show you what I did to gain the first 100 followers, but the journey doesn’t end at 100. The more followers you have, the better! And I believe that the things that can get you to your first 100 followers can also get you to your first 1,000 followers, and even your first 10k followers!

So, here’s how it happened — how I went from 0 to 100 followers in two months.

I published a few times a week

I published 24 stories in two months or a little over eight weeks — so about three (3) stories per week on average.

Whenever I published a new story, I got a few followers.

My guess is that if you publish more, you’ll get followers even faster!

I joined publications

Right away, I knew I had to join some publications if I wanted more eyeballs on my stories.

New members don’t get a lot of views on their stories, so publications were my answer. I applied to three: The Writing Cooperative, Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs, and The Startup. I got into the first two pubs, but not the third.

That said, I’ve only been publishing to Bouncin’ and Behavin’ because the pub owner —Jason Provencio— publishes stories lightning fast, in just a few hours, whereas The Writing Cooperative takes daaaaayyys to publish a story. I do plan on submitting stories there eventually, but until I reached the first 100 followers, I needed to prioritize speediness.

If you need help with understanding what Medium publications are or how to join them, read the following blog post:

I published useful and actionable stories

Basically, before writing a story I ask myself, does it either help my readers learn something or inspire them to take action?

Not all stories have to be utilitarian, of course, but they must still be at least entertaining in some way.

I followed those who followed me

When I made this brand new account, I followed some writers I liked, not expecting a follow-back in return. However, a few of them did follow me back!

That said, I made sure to follow back everyone who followed me, so they won’t unfollow me. 😉 What can I say? I challenged myself to get 100 followers fast, so I focused on that.

A few things to remember regarding followers:

Some gurus claim that you should follow some 20–50 writers a day in the hope that some of them will follow you back, especially when you’re brand new to the platform, so you may gain followers quickly. And the more followers you have, the more people will see your stories, read and engage, so the more money you’ll likely make.

That’s the idea anyway.

But here’s the thing. People who follow you because they want you to follow them back aren’t always true followers. They follow you but never read or engage with your stories. And those followers are, ultimately, useless.

The followers who matter are those who follow you because they love what you write, and they don’t care whether you follow them back or not. And what’s more Medium rewards a writer with true followers. Under some of the latest rules on Medium, when an existing follower reads a story by a writer on the Partner Program, they make more money! Or, if a reader starts following a writer after reading their story, then that too results in the writer making more money. So, as you can see, true (and organic) following matters to Medium.

I may have followed people indiscriminately for the sake of the 100-follower challenge I set for myself, but that’s not something I wish to continue going forward.

Going forward, I plan to be much more selective about who I follow [back.]

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So, here’s a little recap if you’re trying to get to your first 100 followers on Medium:

• Publish 3+ stories per week.
• Publish in established publications for more views.
• Joining one or two good pubs should be enough. Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs is great for newbies regardless of the niche. Contact Jason (email in the link above) to be added as a writer!
• Write stories that are useful, and/or entertaining, and/or inspiring to readers.
• You can follow a bunch of people and hope they’ll follow you back, or keep writing good stories and the followers will come! The second method (which is what I did) may take a bit longer, but not too long.

Good luck!

If you’re new to Medium, make sure to read this beginner’s guide.