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Medium Blogging: 7 Beneficial Reasons Why You Should Publish a Blog on Medium

This is a guest post by Anne Peterson. She is a poet, speaker, and published author, and a regular top contributor on Medium. In this post-Anne explains why you should start a Medium blog and shares the benefits of writing for Medium.

I wrote my stories. I wasn’t always regular, but still, I did what Hemingway suggested and I bled onto the paper. But then, I listened and all I heard was silence. I wondered if anyone was out there. I even resorted to yelling out, ”Anyone out there?” And still, I heard the sound of silence. And I’m not talking about Paul Simon’s song either.

When I guest post, I found people were there. Some would comment, some would check out my site. I liked the way it felt. It seemed to give my words more value somehow. Then someone told me about blogging on Medium – a world of bloggers and writers within the blogosphere where any writer can build a large following in their niche through good writing – and I decided to try it. And this is what I thought.

Here are at least 7 reasons you should consider writing for Medium;

1) You’ll get your work in front of a fresh audience if you start a blog on Medium

Sometimes we feel like bread left outside the plastic bag. Having new people read our work breathes life into it. Then knowing they will not only get to read it, but you’ll have the opportunity to know if they like it or not. Well, that feels really good.

2) One door may open other doors

When I wrote my first story for Medium, I had no idea how it would go. After all it was just a Medium blog. All I knew was like you, I had a desire to write. To let the words in my mind line up and come out in a wonderful order, making sentences that would confound others.

What I didn’t know is that Medium had many different publications. I soon learned that I could apply to some of them and even get accepted. And that meant, even more, eyes would read my words.

3) You’ll get applause

When I started blogging on Medium they had a system which allowed readers to show when they liked an article by clicking little hearts. Since I am a token reinforcement person, I loved the idea.

When I started walking regularly, I used little metallic stars to mark the days I walked for an hour. There were days I walked merely because I could not face an empty square on my calendar.

Medium replaced the hearts with a new system. Claps. When a reader enjoys an article, they click on the clapping hands. You can get from 1 to as many as 50 claps for your story.

You can imagine how excited this made me. Who doesn’t love applause? Okay, there are some people who liked the hearts better, but that’s because change is hard.

4) You get feedback through a Medium blog

None of us write just for ourselves. We did at first, in journals, but one day we thought, maybe others would like what we put on paper, so we took a step.
Since I have written for Medium I’ve had the privilege of seeing what others think of my writing.  And I’m not just talking about the claps. People who read your work can also highlight different parts of what you’ve written.  And with the user-friendly Medium, they can tweet those portions out there to cyberspace and beyond.

5) You’ll get followers for real

You probably are accustomed to people following you on Twitter, and Instagram, maybe even Facebook. With Medium, when people follow you, they’re able to see other stories you’ve written.
It’s fun seeing that followers are reading not just one story of mine, but maybe three or more. Sometimes it feels like they are just waiting to see what I’m going to write next. That is very motivating.

6) Your writing will get better if you blog on Medium

We’ve all heard that practice makes perfect and while I don’t know we’ll ever be perfect writers, I do know we can always improve, the more we write. I compete with myself.

My son used to run track. And while he was aware of the other runners, he was taught to also compare himself with how he did at the last runs. Was he faster? What could he do to shave more off his time?
With stories on Medium, seeing the stats encourages me to keep trying, keep writing and keep publishing.

7) You can be eclectic

No one likes to be stuck in a rut. With Medium, I can try a variety of publications. There are some that deal with Life, Growth, Writing. There are others which deal with Health, Poetry, Business. I’ve yet to discover them all, and believe me I will try a bunch of them.

I even tried something different for me. You can read that one here. By now, you may be wondering if maybe you should try writing for Medium. Is it worth it?

All I can share is my experience, my results. My email list is growing, I’ve been invited to write for other publications, my confidence is growing, and I am having fun. Real honest to goodness fun.

Further Reading; Problogger: Why Medium is The Best Marketing For Your Blog
                            Frank McKinley: The Medium Experiment (an interview with Paul Ellsworth)

Podcast: Jeff Goins: An In Depth Look at Medium: the Benefits and the Drawbacks   

What about you?

Maybe you should give Medium a try and start a Medium blog. What have you got to lose? What is one thing that appeals to you about Medium?

 

start medium blogAnne Peterson

Anne Peterson is a poet, speaker, and published author of 14 books, including a memoir, Broken. She has also written children’s books and poetry books. Of all her titles, she prefers “Grandma.”Download a free copy of her book Real Love by joining her email list. Website: www.annepeterson.com 

You can also find Anne on;  Facebook  Twitter  Google Plus  Pinterest  Medium

 

 

 

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30 Responses to "Medium Blogging: 7 Beneficial Reasons Why You Should Publish a Blog on Medium"

  1. Hi Anne, I love this post. I’ve been blogging on Medium sporadically over the past few months and after reading your blog, I’m going to get more serious about it. I completely agreee that it improves my writing and it’s a wonderful feeling to have genuine followers. I’ve been wondering if I should post everything I plan to post on Medium on my blog as well or if I should do some posts specific to Medium
    I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for an inspiring post.

    Reply
    1. Stephanie,
      If you write something you want to ensure doesn’t miss anyone’s eyes, then post it on both. But if you want to keep your site with a few nuggets no one has seen, like fine china in your chine cabinet, then you are free to do that. I’m still working on this myself. Thank you for taking the time to share your comments. It IS exciting to know that our words are not just floating around, but being read.

      Reply
  2. I’ve started writing again since the release of my book over a year ago and I’ve experienced explosive growth since posting on Medium. It’s awesome how many people are willing to applaud our work and share it.

    Reply
    1. Thanks Frank,
      I have seen that happen with me as far as my writing. And when I think back I imagine how different things would have been if I didn’t walk through that first door. Yes, it is about being intentional. Thanks for taking the time to read and to also post a comment.

      Reply
      1. Anne, amazing post here, strong discussion. Thank you! Love #2 as well Frank! And in your case it all helped people literally open doors to attend your live event! Which I’m kind of sad to have missed. But sounds like it’s going on again next year!

        Reply
        1. Greg,
          Thanks for the opportunity to share my thoughts about Medium. It would have been great to have met you at the Tribe conference. You’ll want to attend the next one. I’ve got a whole bunch of info swimming around my tired mind.

          Reply
  3. I’m new to all of this. I started a website this year. It’s anemic. I am not comfortable telling friends yet — yet, I do want people to read it: new people! I recently subscribed to Medium, but unsure as to how it works. I’ll follow along until I get the hang of it.
    Anne Peterson, I loved this post. Timely and informative. Thank you for the insight.
    And yep–I bought your book Broken yesterday. Loving it. Thanks for writing it. Selma.

    Reply
    1. Selma,
      Thanks for getting my book! I’ll be anxious to hear what you think of it.
      It’s funny with friends, Selma, you’ll figure out which ones to tell or not. The ones who will be interested will check it out.
      With Medium, you’ll want to be regular with whatever you choose. Once or twice a week. I know of people who did experiments and posted more often, but then they saw their audience drop a little if they were not consistent. I’m going to try one of those experiments myself, but for now, I’m pretty consistent with at least once a week. I do think it’s very user friendly. Thanks for your kind words about the post. I’m glad you found it helpful.

      Reply
  4. I’ve had many of the same experiences, as well! ‘Wish I’d found Medium sooner! 🙂
    I like the eclectic part of it. I have other types of writing I enjoy, too, but have yet to publish those anywhere. I guess I should get that going on Medium too!

    Reply
    1. Alicia,
      I also used to think maybe it would have been better if I had found Medium sooner, but I kind of think I needed to get more consistent. Being part of a networking group AND doing Medium is a good combination. I’m going to be putting some poetry out there as well and I’m excited about that. I’ll be looking forward to seeing more writing from you.

      Reply
    1. Mike,
      Thanks for taking the time to read and to leave a comment. You know reading Jeff Goin’s book about how we can be creative in more than one area freed me up. I knew I couldn’t choose between poetry AND the other writing I did, so giving myself the freedom to do both, and maybe even other writing was the answer for me. I think that way when the mood strikes us, we can shift to another style. And sometimes, that keeps things fresher.

      Reply
  5. Cori,
    Thank you for your comments. I hope you do take advantage of blogging on Medium. As far as your questions:

    1) You can republish posts from your website and you can mention at the bottom of your post that it was originally seen on ____________. The one thing I’d want to mention is that if you do republish articles, and instead of copying and pasting you elect to export them, which is an option, you will end up having the date on your article of when you first published it.

    2)I have seen an increase of traffic to my blog, but I’ve not seen the growth that others have shared with me. I’m on my way though. And I’m excited about it.

    Reply
    1. Anne,
      I love the star system for days that you run. Great idea and oh, so Medium like. It seems that you and Medium are kinded spirits.
      I’ve been revising old posts from my blog and republishing them on the magazine The Haven to which I applied and was accepted as a writer. I’ve noticed more traffic at my blog but I need to start posting there as well.
      I was having tech issues that prevented me from posting.
      Thanks for sharing your thoughts about publishing on Medium.

      Reply
      1. Lauren,
        You know you’re right, it is Medium-ish with the stars. That reminds me. I used to do a program that had little clapping sounds. I’m not kidding. And once I was talking to my nephew and told him that I missed hearing the clapping and he actually called me and had his class clap for me in the background. Yep, I’m a token reinforcement kind of person, through and through. I have not submitted to The Haven as yet. That’s great that you got accepted with them. I love all the different options we have right within Medium. I’m afraid I do forget to keep posting on my site as well. It’s like I go on vacation and forget to come home. Thanks so much for taking the time to not only read my article but to share your comments as well.

        Reply
  6. Anne this is a great post packed full of so much helpful information about blogging and publishing on Medium. I will definitely begin utilizing Medium! I especially like how you point out that we can put our work in front of a fresh audience.

    Questions: 1. Do you re publish blog posts from your website to Medium? 2. If so have you noticed that has increased traffic to your blog?

    Reply

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