How To Publish on Medium

In this article, we’ll show you everything you need to know about the blog platform, Medium.

As a writer, it’s obvious that you want to get your work out there.

Whether it’s for building a rich portfolio of work or just telling your stories, getting it out there is an important part of building your brand.

In fact, it’s the only way in which you can get exposure.

And with exposure comes opportunities. As a bonus, you can sometimes even make some money while creating some exposure.

Sounds easy enough, right? Well, not exactly.

When you want to get your work out there, you’ll have one major challenge.

This is that there are so many options available out there that it’s often difficult to know where to begin or what platform to use.

You could for example consider a blog, social media, or guest posting for other blogs and websites.

Each of these has its own pros and cons that you must consider when making the decision.

To further complicate matters, you’ll also have to think about where you’ll get the most exposure.

And that’s where medium comes in. It’s a truly unique platform.

You can almost think of it as Twitter for long-form content. Its algorithm shows readers what they’ll be interested in.

So, if you write about finance, the algorithm will place your content in front of readers who are interested in the topic.

If they like what you have to say, they’ll able to follow you and in that way, you build your audience over time.

It, therefore, gives you a perfect platform to build an audience for your content.

It’s no wonder then that many big publications have their own Medium pages and are finding great success with it.

But what exactly is Medium, how does it work, and how do you get started? In this post, we’ll look at these questions in more detail.

What Is Medium?

Medium is a social publishing platform where anyone can publish their content.

It’s perfectly summed up by Ev Williams, Medium founder, and blogger, who wrote, “Medium is not about who you are or whom you know but about what you have to say.”

So, irrespective of your background or chosen niche, you’ll find a place for your content on Medium.

As a result, you’ll also find a diverse array of stories, ideas, and perspectives when using Medium.

With the platform, the writing gets the center stage. It has a minimalistic design that emphasizes the content.

As such, you’ll have limited formatting options and customization choices.

Still, it gives you an excellent opportunity to reach an audience.

This, ultimately, could give it the edge over something like a blog or guest posting for other publications or websites.

For example, with a blog, you have to buy a domain, get a hosting account, set up a website, and only then can you begin to write.

It’s no secret that this takes a lot of time and effort.

Yet, you don’t have any guarantee that you’ll find readers and build an audience.

Likewise, guest posting is a great way to find an audience without the time and effort of setting up a blog, but it doesn’t mean that is your own audience.

With that in mind, let’s look at some of the reasons why you should consider publishing your work on Medium.

Why Should You Publish on Medium?

One of the main benefits of publishing your content on Medium is that you’ll be able to easily find the right audience.

This is simply because the algorithm puts your content in front of the people who are most likely to read it.

And speaking of readers, with Medium you’ll have a massive reach for your content.

At this stage, it has about 100 million monthly active readers.

This number is staggering and gives you an idea of the potential reach you’ll get.

But its benefits go further than just finding an audience.

You can also be discovered by big publishers.

And this is a big plus.

You see, many publishers no longer accept applications from writers.

It’s simply a case of sifting through too many low-quality pitches to find the one or two that are worth their while.

As a result, they now scout places like Medium for quality authors.

And, when they spot you, they could ask you to syndicate one of your posts.

In fact, you could even become a regular contributor. It’s not difficult to see that this has huge potential.

Even if you’re not spotted by one of the big publications, you’ll also be able to start your own publication.

So, if readers don’t follow you specifically, it’s possible that they could follow your publication. In this way, you could build an audience there.

Another benefit of Medium is that it’s easy to set up compared to a blog or pitching publications for guest posts.

You simply need to create an account, which we’ll deal with below, and you can start writing.

As a bonus, it’s also free, so you don’t have to pay anything to the platform to get your content out there.

And when it comes to money, you’ll also be able to get paid through the Medium Partner Program.

With this program, you can make your content part of the membership program and earn money when Medium members read your work.

What To Publish on Medium?

The beauty of Medium is that you can write about almost anything.

You can write about a hobby, something you’re passionate about, or something that piques your interest.

So, you want to write about the newest cars on the market?

Sure.

Want to put some content out there on the best techniques for cleaning koi ponds? Indeed.

But it’s important to remember that the purpose of writing on Medium is to build an audience.

Sure, you may get some readers on topics like the above, but to really build a large audience, you’ll have to focus on topics that do well. Some of these include:

• Business
• Entrepreneurship
• Startups
• Technology
• Culture
• Politics
• Education
• Relationships

If you focus on these topics, you’ll easily be able to build an audience for your writing.

Getting Started

Now that you know what Medium is and why you should publish your content on it, you’re probably eager to get started.

So, let’s take a look at the process to create an account, and publish your first post.

To get started, you’ll need to go to the Medium home page.

From there, you’ll need to click on the “Get Started” button at the top of the page.

When you do, you’ll get the “Join Medium” popup box. From here you’ll be able to sign up with Google, Facebook, or with your email. For this example, we’ll be signing up with an email address.

To do this, click on the “Sign up with email” button.

You’ll then be taken to another popup box where you can enter your email address.

Once you’ve entered your email address you can click “Continue.”

You’ll then receive an email to finish setting up your account.

In the email you receive, just click on the link to create your account.

Clicking this link will take you to a new page where you’ll have to enter your full name or the name for your account.

Once you’ve entered a name, you can click “Create Account”.

Once you’re done, you’ll be taken to your home page.

On the right of the page, you’ll find people who you can follow or recommended topics you can click on to see posts relating to that topic.

At the top of the page, you’ll also be able to select the topics that you want to follow.

This will then make it easier for the algorithm to provide you with articles you’d like to read.

But you’re here to write and not to read, so, let’s look at how you would create your first post.

To do this, you’ll click on your avatar in the top right-hand corner of the page.

In the drop-down box that appears, just click on “Write a Story.”

You’ll then be taken to an almost blank page where you can start writing by providing a title for your post and writing the content.

Once you’re done, you can click on “Publish”.

Keep in mind that, although you’re not able to do much formatting, you’ll be able to do some formatting like changing heading sizes or changing text to bold or italic.

There you go, it’s as easy as that to set up an account and write your first post.

How To Be Successful on Medium

Now that your account is set up, let’s look at some of the things you could do to stand out from the crowd and make finding your audience easier.

Focus on Your Goals

The first step to being successful on Medium is to focus on your goals. In other words, you should consider what the goals you want to reach through writing on Medium are.

So, it could be building a portfolio or driving visitors to your website or blog if you have one.

It can even be as simple as just sharing new ideas and perspectives with the Medium community.

Whatever your goals, you should then craft your content according to these goals.

Write Regularly

This is probably one of the most important things you can do when writing on Medium.

In fact, the importance of writing regularly can’t be overstated. It gives you several benefits.

By writing regularly, your content stays fresh in the minds of readers.

This, in turn, gives you greater traction on your content. In contrast, if you only post occasionally, you don’t have that traction.

This happens not only because your audience remembers and follows your content but also due to new readers being taken back to the wealth of older content you have when they discover your writing.

Apart from this, writing regularly also allows you to build discipline and form a writing habit.

Write for Publications

Writing for publications is a great way to build an audience, especially when you’re just starting out.

Because they already have established audiences, it’s a great way for you to reach new readers.

To do this, you’ll need to look at some of the publications in your niche and apply to them.

When you apply, though, make sure to follow the rules and requirements for their posts.

In this way, you’re more likely to be accepted.

If you are, and readers like what you write on the publication, they could in all probability go to your page and follow you.

Social Sharing

Another excellent way to get some traction on your writing is to share every post you write on social media.

In this way, you’ll drive readers to your Medium page. In simple terms, you’ll be marketing your Medium content.

You could even consider using paid ads on social media to drive readers to your medium content.

Obviously, this doesn’t make much sense if you’re just starting out, but it can be helpful.

Use Images and SEO

Images are a powerful way to draw readers to your content.

It increases engagement because a captivating image at the top of your content will make readers more interested in finding out what you have to say.

Also, if you include an image in your post, the teaser on Medium will include that image.

This makes it more likely that users will click on it.

To attract the attention of readers outside of the Medium platform and allow them to find your content on search pages, you should also consider using SEO optimization in your posts.

To do this, you’ll need to do these do some keyword research to make sure you find and use the right keywords.

And it’s simple, the higher you rank on search engines, the more likely is it that you build an audience quicker.

See What Works

Another strategy you can use, apart from writing, is also reading a lot of other Medium posts.

In this way, you can see what works, what doesn’t, and what’s popular under the Medium reader community.

In this way, you can tailor your content to make more readers find and love it.

Final Thoughts

Medium can be a simple and effortless way to get your content out there.

In fact, you can be set up and ready to write your first post in a matter of minutes.

Hopefully, this post helped illustrate why you should consider publishing your content on Medium and how to get started.