"I realized that once you have a following, no matter how small, your mission should be to make their lives better and to let them know they are never alone."
That's the single most insightful quote I've ever read on Substack. Thank you Neela, I am learning something valuable from you every single day.
Thank you Mack! It's how I feel about everyone in life really! Thank you for restacking - resharing and everything else. Your support means the world to me Mack!
Hello :) thanks for this post! It was cool to hear about Medium boosts! :) I'm curious to know how it works with this...do you get paid from Medium for these posts or are you only paid in views /traffic? I also wanted to know how this translates to actual subscribers on Substack. I've got a Medium account but didnt really notice much translations into a subscriber base. Curious to know your experience:)
Hello - thank you for taking the time. You are paid in views and traffic only but think about an expanded audience. You typically write an article and Medium will share with 1-2% of your current audience. I have 1600 followers on Medium so the impact, earnings, and ability to get a message out is small. With boost Medium puts your article on high visibility but even more than that it targets your ideal audience. People who want to read the topics you write about. I am keeping Medium and Substack separate for now. I have approx 82 subscribers on Medium which I can probably bring over to Substack but I don't like 'selling' or coercing people to do anything. I believe in organic growth so for now my articles on Medium are more social proof that I am an okay writer. I hope this answers your questions. Feel free to reach out if you have any other.
I honestly hated corporate work from the get-go but who gets a degree in Business Admin and doesn't use it? lol - It's just time to move on now lol - Thank you for ALWAYS taking the time Salima.
It all started with a wager Neela? Wow.. look at you soaring like an eagle!! One day I'll find the time to join you on Medium - you're doing awesome work here!
Well you have a unique voice that is worth listening to and I think people are looking for genuine voices to read rather than those who just regurgitate others
Wow! You've had a lot of boosted posts. God bless you. I've only had one boosted story, and it helped financially. I can image you do pretty well on Medium with all of those boosts. I aim to be like you. Congratulations. 👏
THANK YOU Charisse. It helps, doesn't it? Especially these days. Knock on wood it's been a good run but I also know eventually everything comes to an end so while I am grateful for the boosts I am also working on building my following there and finding other ways to monetize my writing which is where Substack comes in. Thank you for taking the time :)
Whether you had 1 or 1M followers I would be standing in line, waiting with high anticipation for your articles, @Neela! Thank you for sharing what you've learned along the way, and for sharing your voice. Thank you for also giving to your community and more importantly to yourself and family.
Thank you for your insightful article. Do you have any recommendations when it comes to learning how to weave narratives like you mentioned here? "I nerded out, studying how to weave narratives using my personal experiences while keeping personal and confidential details hidden."
What I typically do is start with a witty commentary, insert a story and then make recommendations for improvement.
I write mostly business or workplace type articles.
The best I can recommend is to perhaps read a couple of my recent articles mentioned here to see what I do.
In my opinion, I still feel like I was riding a stroke of good luck but this past week I got 3 articles published and boosted and the odd part is they were not even boosted by the editors at the publication... 😂
It seems 99% of successful Medium writers publish around 4 times per week. This makes the Boost ratio very low.
Is it worth it for you?
How long do you spend on an article?
I'm finding that spending hours on a piece isn't fruitful. It doesn't increase my probability to get Boosted. Even when I emulate my other Boosted articles.
I did not add the last article which got boosted here but last week I published 3 articles only and all three were boosted.
It takes me 2 -2.5 hours to write them and I can make anywhere between $300 -600 per article after one week of being boosted. Business Insider pays you $350 for an article and they edit it to pieces. With medium they boost as is. I've also had the added benefit of gaining followers in my niche, industry, interests.
I think honestly this is the biggest win. I see many people with huge following but little engagement. Hope this helps.
The guidelines explicitly mention "no articles about Medium".
But the prejudice against the creator economy is just an intuition of the nominators. And it's contradictory. They say they want to reward expertise. It seems expertise in the creator economy is not so good.
This was a great read. Congrats on all your boosts. I'm curious how you promote it on social media. X, FB, and LinkedIn all "downgrade" (for lack of a better word) my posts that link them - even when I don't put the link in the original post but on a comment underneath. Haven't found it brings me traffic. Curious to your insights! Thanks :).
I really suck at promoting these on LinkedIn. I will try to improve.
It's mostly because I don't like posting and ghosting.
LinkedIn does suppress, but the trick is to drop the link in the comments like you said but....
When you are telling the audience there is an article in the body of the post, say something like "see my article on $ubStack (disguise the spelling) - or you can say "read more in the comments." - This part is essential. Don't mention the words "see links" or "link" in the body of the post because you will get shadow banned.
I hope this helps.
Feel free to let me know if you have any additional questions.
Simple but brilliant... I have been putting "see link in first comment" in the main post. These algorithms are smarter than me some days! lol jk. This is helpful, very helpful. I will give it a renewed shot on LI. Thank you for the response and tip!
Thank you so much for sharing Kristina.
I appreciate you!
CROSS_POSTED, my dear!! Hopefully more people will see you and feel inspired by you. Hugs! You're awesome and I'll also recommend you
Hey Kristina - I moved last Thursday to a new home and it's been slightly hellish. I hate moving LOL
Thank you so so so much!
I truly appreciate you!
"I realized that once you have a following, no matter how small, your mission should be to make their lives better and to let them know they are never alone."
That's the single most insightful quote I've ever read on Substack. Thank you Neela, I am learning something valuable from you every single day.
Thank you Mack! It's how I feel about everyone in life really! Thank you for restacking - resharing and everything else. Your support means the world to me Mack!
“Can you support someone too much?”
I am going to test that theory with you, my friend!
Yea if you make me cry then you've gone too far. LOL
Hello :) thanks for this post! It was cool to hear about Medium boosts! :) I'm curious to know how it works with this...do you get paid from Medium for these posts or are you only paid in views /traffic? I also wanted to know how this translates to actual subscribers on Substack. I've got a Medium account but didnt really notice much translations into a subscriber base. Curious to know your experience:)
Hello - thank you for taking the time. You are paid in views and traffic only but think about an expanded audience. You typically write an article and Medium will share with 1-2% of your current audience. I have 1600 followers on Medium so the impact, earnings, and ability to get a message out is small. With boost Medium puts your article on high visibility but even more than that it targets your ideal audience. People who want to read the topics you write about. I am keeping Medium and Substack separate for now. I have approx 82 subscribers on Medium which I can probably bring over to Substack but I don't like 'selling' or coercing people to do anything. I believe in organic growth so for now my articles on Medium are more social proof that I am an okay writer. I hope this answers your questions. Feel free to reach out if you have any other.
OK awesome thanks for breaking this down in such detail Neela. Im going to experiment with this one day :)
Best of luck :)
“I’m really good at what I do, but I don’t love what I do.” — This hits home.
Neela, your stories have depth and you have a unique way of delivering your intended message. 👏👏👏👏
May you have many more boosted articles. 💗🤗✨
I honestly hated corporate work from the get-go but who gets a degree in Business Admin and doesn't use it? lol - It's just time to move on now lol - Thank you for ALWAYS taking the time Salima.
It all started with a wager Neela? Wow.. look at you soaring like an eagle!! One day I'll find the time to join you on Medium - you're doing awesome work here!
That's how it started. With a cocky dare. To be honest that guy did not think I had the courage to post 😂
Oh well 🤣
I am here when you decide to join. Thank you bro 🙌
Ha ha I love that you proved him wrong!
Congratulations, Neela. Great work and I can see why you are collecting those boosts! I have one under my belt and am very slowly working on more.
Congratulations Lisa. It's always nice to have your work recognized. Cheers to many more boosts for you and a little extra spending money 😉 🙌
Medium, well done
They have been fantastic to newbie writers. It's been a good run thus far.
Thank you David!
Well you have a unique voice that is worth listening to and I think people are looking for genuine voices to read rather than those who just regurgitate others
I think you are right. From what I've gathered they are also looking for people to give them a balanced perspective so they can make decisions.
It seems like it's my way or the highway with advice these days. That's just unfortunate. Thank you David.
Wow! You've had a lot of boosted posts. God bless you. I've only had one boosted story, and it helped financially. I can image you do pretty well on Medium with all of those boosts. I aim to be like you. Congratulations. 👏
THANK YOU Charisse. It helps, doesn't it? Especially these days. Knock on wood it's been a good run but I also know eventually everything comes to an end so while I am grateful for the boosts I am also working on building my following there and finding other ways to monetize my writing which is where Substack comes in. Thank you for taking the time :)
Whether you had 1 or 1M followers I would be standing in line, waiting with high anticipation for your articles, @Neela! Thank you for sharing what you've learned along the way, and for sharing your voice. Thank you for also giving to your community and more importantly to yourself and family.
I do not doubt that for a second Chason. I am just following your lead, my friend!
GRACIAS A NOBODYS Y WORKMAN SHIT
Thank you!
This is such a great read. I’m not a Medium writer but there’s food for thought for Substack from this. Looking forward to more Neela 💞
Happy New Week Danusia.
I love that name 🙌
Thank you for the feedback and support ☺️
Thank you for your insightful article. Do you have any recommendations when it comes to learning how to weave narratives like you mentioned here? "I nerded out, studying how to weave narratives using my personal experiences while keeping personal and confidential details hidden."
That's a skill I wouldn't mind improving on.
Hey Mili
What I typically do is start with a witty commentary, insert a story and then make recommendations for improvement.
I write mostly business or workplace type articles.
The best I can recommend is to perhaps read a couple of my recent articles mentioned here to see what I do.
In my opinion, I still feel like I was riding a stroke of good luck but this past week I got 3 articles published and boosted and the odd part is they were not even boosted by the editors at the publication... 😂
Thanks for that, Neela. Will definitely check it out.
Congrats on getting boosted too. 👏🏼
You’ve had quite the journey here, Neela and it keeps growing. You quite to inspire so many of us and I look forward to your unique insights.
Keep going, sis!
Thank you so much sis.
It's been a wild ride on Medium but having so much fun.
Thank you for restacking.
PS we are now in the process of unpacking 🙈
Enjoy your weekend.
Congrats!
It seems 99% of successful Medium writers publish around 4 times per week. This makes the Boost ratio very low.
Is it worth it for you?
How long do you spend on an article?
I'm finding that spending hours on a piece isn't fruitful. It doesn't increase my probability to get Boosted. Even when I emulate my other Boosted articles.
Hey Alberto
Thank you 🙏
I think it's worthwhile for me.
I did not add the last article which got boosted here but last week I published 3 articles only and all three were boosted.
It takes me 2 -2.5 hours to write them and I can make anywhere between $300 -600 per article after one week of being boosted. Business Insider pays you $350 for an article and they edit it to pieces. With medium they boost as is. I've also had the added benefit of gaining followers in my niche, industry, interests.
I think honestly this is the biggest win. I see many people with huge following but little engagement. Hope this helps.
Thank you I see you post opinion pieces. I write mainly tutorials based in my personal experience.
Many keep getting nominated and rejected. Without a feedback, neither I nor the nominators can say what to improve, it’s becoming discouraging.
Hey Alberto
Yes that is very frustrating.
We were trying having a difficult time with submissions in February and they don't give feedback.
On this article I shared my editor has us follow a formula...
https://code.likeagirl.io/boostonomics-a-tale-of-trials-tribulations-and-triumphs-7b7d5a2b698f
I've been using this as a guideline...
It works..
My articles always has 3 things.
A true story
Data and links to back this up
A framework on how to solve a problem
Only my business articles get boosted which was shocking at first.
None of my personal essays were boosted.
I hope this helps.
You are free to message if you need anything else. Have a good week.
Thank you. But all my articles aiming for the Boost are like this.
Some got Boosted. Others were nominated but rejected, surprising the nominators...
They say there's a bit of a prejudice against articles about the "creator economy".
And also articles about Medium lol
They don't boost those either ..........
Yes, but it's different.
The guidelines explicitly mention "no articles about Medium".
But the prejudice against the creator economy is just an intuition of the nominators. And it's contradictory. They say they want to reward expertise. It seems expertise in the creator economy is not so good.
super insightful, thank you for sharing!!
Hope your week is going well Husun. thank you so much for taking the time.
This was a great read. Congrats on all your boosts. I'm curious how you promote it on social media. X, FB, and LinkedIn all "downgrade" (for lack of a better word) my posts that link them - even when I don't put the link in the original post but on a comment underneath. Haven't found it brings me traffic. Curious to your insights! Thanks :).
Hi Karen
Thank you so much.
I only use three platforms
LI
Medium
Substack
I really suck at promoting these on LinkedIn. I will try to improve.
It's mostly because I don't like posting and ghosting.
LinkedIn does suppress, but the trick is to drop the link in the comments like you said but....
When you are telling the audience there is an article in the body of the post, say something like "see my article on $ubStack (disguise the spelling) - or you can say "read more in the comments." - This part is essential. Don't mention the words "see links" or "link" in the body of the post because you will get shadow banned.
I hope this helps.
Feel free to let me know if you have any additional questions.
Simple but brilliant... I have been putting "see link in first comment" in the main post. These algorithms are smarter than me some days! lol jk. This is helpful, very helpful. I will give it a renewed shot on LI. Thank you for the response and tip!
LI is such a pain, and they did another algorithm update last week. It has me scratching my head. Anytime Karen. Goodluck!